Nighthawk
Nighthawk is one of those comics that might have been too risky and too smart for its own good, which is the only way I can really explain its cancellation. It places its vigilante hero right in the middle of real-world racial tensions in Chicago, a city with a long and loaded history of them. He’s something of an African-American riff on Batman, a wealthy man whose only superpower is the mountains of cash at his disposal. But Raymond Kane is a man driven by an even darker, more powerful rage. Rage at the racists who murdered his pacifist parents, rage that his parents didn’t do more to fight back, and rage at the many injustices he witnesses in the city he calls home. He knows his anger may be consuming and transforming him, and he takes out his anger on the neo-Nazis (he has a habit of murdering them after they’re subdued), as well as cops who harass unarmed citizens. He is a deeply flawed, brutal man, but he’s also trying to revitalize the parts of Chicago many fear to tread. However, we get a harsh reminder that Raymond could be worse after a serial killer called the Revelator begins murdering people who exploit the poor, and who apparently thinks nothing of killing any innocent family members present when he comes calling. Like the best foes, the Revelator is a dark mirror of what Nighthawk could become if he continues to let his demons twist him. Plus, there’s a bit of comic relief and shaky moral guidance in the form of his techie sidekick Tilda, who has an interesting history of her own.
Advertisement
