HAWKMAN (Carter Hall, Prince Khufu Kha-Tarr)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville

Hawkman (Carter Hall); Art by Andrew Robinson.

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Carter Hall, Prince Khufu Kha-Tarr
Occupation: Multimillionaire archaeologist. Chairman of the JSA, Research Scientist, Weapons Collector
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives: Shiera Sanders-Hall (wife), Hector Hall (son), Hippolyta Hall (daughter-in-law), Norda (godson), Daniel Hall (grandson)
Base of Operation: New York City, later Midway City, later St. Roch
Group Affiliation(s): Justice Society of America, Justice League of America (original), All-Star Squadron
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 195 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1/3 (January 1940)
Creators: Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville

HISTORY

About a thousand years after Vandal Savage (as the Pharaoh Cheops) had built the Great Pyramids the country of Egypt had declined. The Hyksos conquered Lower Egypt and founded the Fifteenth dynasty, ruled by a cruel Pharaoh and his even crueler high priest Hath-Set. There was rebellion however from Prince Khufu Kha-Tarr the latest in the long line of Hawk Avatars, helped by his true love a Hyksos Noblewoman called Chay-Ara who despised the cruelty of her own people. Khufu used a mysterious Ninth Metal (which when charged with crude electrical cells allowed him levitated) to fashion a harness, he also learnt to control his flight by using special wings. The Ninth Metal was a gift from the Hawk God whom Khufu recognized as Horus (a different God in his own right).

In a desperate plan Chay-Ara allowed herself to be captured, Khufu then staged an attack where he made it look as if he was trying to kill Chay-Ara to stop her talking. He was captured and she then fed her captors counterintelligence telling them that she no longer trusted Khufu after he tried to kill her. It all worked. Chay-Ara gave the Pharaoh a rigged Ninth Metal harness, when he tried it on without the wings he disappeared into the stratosphere only returning to Earth then he took the harness and died on impact with the ground. In the confusion a band of rebels in Ninth Metal harness and wings attacked. Hath-Set mortally wounded Khufu with a Crystal Dagger before being cut down by Khufu's archers. With his dying words he cursed Khufu that they would meet once again on the cycle of reincarnation. Shortly afterwards Khufu died from his wounds.

In the beginning of the 20th century Prince Khufu was reincarnated as Carter Hall. Carter would grow up to become a multimillionaire archaeologist with an interest in anti-gravity, or more specifically in the Ninth Metal used by the ancient Egyptians. In the late 1930's Carter Hall met Perry Carter, who had mutual interests, and Carter quickly befriended Hall and helped him research the Ninth Metal of the pharaohs. Unknown to Hall, Perry was actually Paran Katar, a Thanagarian who had been assigned as an invasion scout to the planet Earth. Of all the Thanagarians Paran Katar was perhaps the greatest born for generations. His interest in anti-gravity made him study metallurgy, biology, alchemy and sorcery in an effort to unlock its secrets. It was this that let Paran unlock the key to the anti-gravity properties of Ninth Metal. Paran out of interest substituted some of his own alloy in the experiments of Hall to see what he would do with it.

For a time Hall didn't really do much with the metal until via archaeological circles he obtained quite by chance the Crystal Dagger that had ended the life of Khufu. Hall then had a dream that reawakened him to his Egyptian origins. Quite accidentally he ran into Shiera Sanders a journalist for the Sentinel, he instantly recognized her as the reincarnation of Chay-Ara and tried to convince her that she was reincarnated. Their discussion was cut short by an electrical blackout caused by Dr Anton Hastor (the reincarnation of Hath-Set) who demanded that the city surrender to him. Knowing that he must act Hall cobbled together a costume and decided to try out a Ninth Metal harness and wings that he had been working on. He confronted Hastor and the two old enemies recognizing each other did battle. Hastor was seemingly killed, through he survived and would come back and attack Hall time and time again. Deciding to continue operating with the mask and wings Hall created the identity of Hawkman and became one of the new breed of "Mystery Men".

Hawkman was an instant success in the skies above New York and he was one of the heroes summoned by Doctor Fate to battle the Nazi invasion fleet heading for England. With the intervention of the Spectre the eight heroes won the day and at the suggestion of the President formed the Justice Society of America. Carter as Hawkman became the first Chairman of the JSA and would later become the longest serving chairperson and one of the most active members full stop. His adventures led him across the world from the hidden city of Fiethera in Greenland to many archaeological digs in forgotten places. During the war as part of the Justice Battalion and the All Star Squadron he was joined by Shiera as Hawkgirl. When the Justice Society disbanded Carter used a Thanagarian teleportation device that he had received as a present from Paran, who by that time had revealed his real identity, to teleport the JSA mysteriously from the HUAC meeting. Like many of his comrades Carter retired after that and then he married Shiera. Meanwhile Paran Katar had fallen in love with a Cherokee called Naomi who was acting as a translator on one of the Hall's archaeological digs. They were married and both returned to Thanagar.

Kept young as a side effect of the mystical energies of the sorcerer Ian Karkull Carter Hall continued working as an archaeologist along side his wife. The two had a son, Hector who they often took to see their friends in Fiethera where they became the godparents of Norda (the son of a winged Fietheran and a human). Hector would envy the way that Norda could fly with his parents and he could not. When Superman appeared over the skies of Metropolis and started a whole new heroic age the Justice Society members for the most part were content to remain retired and let the new Justice League have the stoplight. Things all changed when Vandal Savage reared his head again. Savage captured a number of the former Society members including Carter Hall. They were saved by the intervention of Barry Allen and Jay Garrick. The JSA was semi-reactivated with Hall as their chairman. Shortly afterwards he joined the Justice League of America as liaison to the younger heroes.

At first Hawkman found a culture clash in the League. His old fashioned conservative thinking clashed with the idealistic liberal Green Arrow. He also found a friend in the scientist Ray Palmer (alias Atom II) and assisted the League when they went off world meeting adventurers such as Adam Strange. Hawkman was later joined by Hawkgirl in the League and the two became part of the back bone of the League and Justice Society. When Hector fashioned his own costumed identity as the Silver Scarab and with other JSA progeny petitioned for membership of the Justice Society they found themselves turned down by their mentor and parents who were winding down their careers rather than gearing up for new younger team-mates. Hector and friends formed the team Infinity, Inc. and at their press conference he revealed his identity to the world. A side effect of revealing his own identity was for him to reveal that of his fathers as well, at first this put a further strain on their relationship.

Shortly after the event known as the Crisis, Carter Hall led the Justice Society back to the 1940's and into an extra-dimensional world to battle ancient Norse gods to stop Hitler's insane plan to bring about Ragnarok. The JSA seemingly remained there fighting the same battle over and over again to hold the stalemate and prevent the conclusion of the battle in the destruction of all reality. The only characters spared from the fate were the Spectre and Doctor Fate both of who told the world little of what had happened. The world and government considered Carter Hall and the JSA deceased. Later Hector was killed by the latest reincarnation of Hath-Set, his spirit became the third Sandman before Morpheus the true Dreamlord righted events and let Hectors spirit depart for the next cycle. Ironically Hector's son Daniel would, after Morpheus death, replace him becoming the true Dreamlord and a member of the Endless.

Some years later the hero known as Waverider brought the JSA back from Limbo for a short time during the event known as "Armageddon: Inferno". However, as their involvement had been crutial to the heroes success Waverider found a way to return them for good. Back from Limbo Hawkman and Hawkgirl met Katar Hol and Shayera Thal, the new Hawkman and Hawkwoman, and learned that Katar Hol was the son of Carter's old friend Paran Katar. Some time later Shayera was seemingly killed in a battle with Count Viper which also left Katar badly injured. Carter found Katar and took him to Naomi (Katar's mother) to be healed. While in his mother's care Katar learned much about himself and his abilities as the next Hawk Avatar after Carter Hall, began to develop.

The existence of two Hawk Avatars at the same time (Carter Hall and now Katar Hol) combined with the overuse of Ninth Metal weakened the prison of the Hawkgod, allowing it to escape. It headed straight to Thanagar homing in on the Ninth Metal in the process destroying all floating cities and ravaging the planet leaving millions dead. Having dealt with that it felt the pull of the Ninth Metal across the void to Earth and set out to punish those that would have enslaved it. All those wearing Ninth Metal felt it approach as both Carter and Katar suffered hallucinations and lost control at times forcing them to battle each other at one stage. Carter Hall possessed by the Hawkgod ran amuck during the temporal anomalies in the run up to the Zero Hour. Hawkmen from dozens of different timelines kept fluxing in and out of existence. Katar confronted the Hawkgod in an effort to stop the killing, he was joined in battled by both the Hall's. With the help of the New Blood Mongrel they managed to drive the Hawkgod back to its own dimension. However as they succeeded Katar, Carter and Shiera were fused physically into one being, a true fully awakened Hawk Avatar.

The new being was patterned for the most part on the physical body and personality of Katar Hol, but he was more than that he was a fully awakened Hawk Avatar. He now no longer needed a Ninth Metal belt and wings as he now possessed true wings sprouting from his back which he could withdraw inside him if necessary. Within him were the combined spirits of all the past Hawk Avatars including Carter and Shiera.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

Hawkman can fly at great speed by means of his artificial wings and antigravity belt made of "ninth metal." The antigravity belt also enables him to lift enormous weights aloft. He wields ancient and medieval weapons from his extensive collection in battle and can communicate with birds. Hawkman is a superb hand-to-hand combatant. He retains unusual physical vitality even today, thanks to having absorbed temporal energy from the villianous Ian Karkull decades ago.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Hawkman in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #10 (December 1985)

JSA Secret Files #2 (September 2001)
Hawkman Secret Files #1 (October 2002)
JLA-Z #2 (December 2003)