The Hawks can't seem to get a break in the romance department.

Sure, they've had countless lifetimes of love and happiness to look back on. But in this life, Hawkman remembers all that and still loves Hawkgirl, but her memory's a blank and she isn't all that keen on him. Friends, from Green Arrow in the previous collection and the Atom in this one, urge him to back off, maybe wait 'til the next life to get all lovey again. And now, Doctor Fate (a mystical power now occupying the reincarnated body of Hawkman's son, Hector) warns him that winning Hawkgirl's love will seal their destiny and bring about their deaths.

It's at times like this you're almost glad to see a dead yeti come smashing through the ceiling with a threat knifed into its chest.

Allies & Enemies takes our winged heroes to Tibet, where they'll face a whole tribe of abominable snowmen along with the soul of a long-dead foe who wants to steal their karma. It also takes them back to the days of the Old West, when prior incarnations of the couple fought for justice as Nighthawk and Cinnamon (a clever reuse of moldy characters from the DC archives). But the best sequence is at the end, when Hawkgirl is accused of killing a police officer, and the man who murdered her parents 10 years before is finally revealed.

Oh, and there's a dapper ghost lurking about, and he's not at all friendly.

I'm really happy with the way this series is going. It's taken characters I cared little for and made them an exciting part of my routine reading. Nice job, guys!

by Tom Knapp
Rambles.NET
3 March 2007