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One of Marvel’s cosmic heroes of the 90s has made his triumphant return in the first issue of an all-new Darkhawk series with a new host.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Darkhawk #1, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Marvel has just brought back a 90s cosmic hero for a new generation. In his last appearance, the hero known as Darkhawk sacrificed himself to make sure humanity could win the coming Shadow War. In celebration of the hero’s 30th anniversary, Darkhawk’s amulet has just found a new host for the cosmic powerhouse.
Darkhawk #1 (by Kyle Higgins, Juanan Ramirez, Erick Arciniega, and VC’s Travis Lanham) debuts an all-new Darkhawk. Connor Young was a high school basketball star on track for a bright future because of his athleticism who was plagued by sudden attacks of dizziness and sensory loss for some time. He ignored the attacks even as they increased in frequency. One day, he went for a morning run only to suffer another attack that caused him to lose consciousness. Conner was then diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder that affects the body’s central nervous system. After visiting the doctor, his father, his coach, and his best friend Derek met at his house to discuss the diagnosis and how it would affect his future. While they were hopeful, Connor wasn’t so optimistic and concluded that his life as he had known it was over. He succumbed to the pressure during his school’s next basketball game, and fled to get away from it all.
Connor went to the docks to clear his head. Suddenly, the powerful Raptor amulet crashed into the building behind him. Connor ran to the crash site but a combination of an MS attack and falling debris threw him to the ground. He reached for the amulet and as soon as he wrapped his fingers around it, he was imbued with power. Using his newly acquired powers, he saved a construction worker who told him that he resembled the classic hero Darkhawk. Afterwards, he was pulled to the site of a sudden explosion, where a trio of costumed henchmen were trying to rob a bank. While he initially struggled with his powers, he was able to defeat the criminals. When he returned home, he hugged his father and told him they would face the Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis together. At the henchmen’s base, one of them was revealed to be Connor’s best friend Derek.
The original Darkhawk first debuted in 1991’s Darkhawk #1 by Tom DeFalco, Mike Manley, and Danny Fingeroth. After witnessing his policeman dad take a bribe, Christopher Powell stumbled onto the Raptor Amulet. The amulet allowed him to switch places with a Raptor android while simultaneously placing his consciousness inside the android at will. The Darkhawk armor was created from combining Shi’ar technology with magic, which gave him super strength, flight, and self-regeneration, as well as the ability to fire concussion blasts and summon extra-dimensional weaponry. Powell used the Darkhawk armor to patrol the streets of New York but eventually found himself in the middle of an intergalactic war in the “War of Kings.” During the storyline, he fused with the Raptor android, greatly increasing his power. Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk #1 (by Danny Fingeroth, Kyle Higgins, Dan Abnett, Mike Manley, and Andrea DI Vito) chronicled his history since first becoming Darkhawk and ended with him recording all of his memories in the Raptor Amulet’s Datasong, then sending it off to find a new host.
Now that the amulet has claimed a new host and Connor Young has become the new Darkhawk, only time will tell if Powell’s sacrifice worked.
Given that this is only the first issue, it’s still not clear exactly how Conner’s new powers work. But it is clear that Connor has replaced his bright future as a basketball star with a bright future as Marvel’s newest cosmic superhero.
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