The Hawk & The Dove: The Silver Age

The Hawk and the Dove: The Silver Age by Steve Ditko
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Hawk and the Dove: The Silver Age collects Showcase #75, The Hawk and the Dove #1-6 and Teen Titans #21.

I was on a Ditko kick when I grabbed this on the cheap. Created by Steve Ditko after he left Marvel in the late '60s, Hawk and Dove are a pair of brothers. Hawk is a hot head that solves everything with violence and is fairly conservative. Dove is a peaceful liberal pacifist. Together, they fight crime and each other.

The stories are very political for comics of the time period, dealing with hippies and war protests. Hank and Don Hall are given powers by an all powerful voice and their natural abilities are amplified when they transform into Hawk and Dove. Apart from a costumed gang called The Dropouts, they mostly fight ordinary street criminals but their biggest battles are between their conflicting personalities.

This feels way more like a Marvel book than a DC book. The Hall brothers spend more time bickering than fighting crime. The stories are okay, with Ditko, Steve Skeats, and Neal Adams handling the writing. The art is the cream of the crop for the time period, though. Steve Ditko does three comics, Gil Kane does four, one with Wally Wood inks, and a young up and comer named Neal Adams handles the Teen Titans issue. Silver Age DC books have a reputation for being stodgy and bland but this one is a visual feast.

And that's that. The Hawk and the Dove: The Silver Age is an overlooked gem from the late Silver Age of comics. Get it on the cheap from InstockTrades while supplies last.

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