Polite Dissent

Before reading this recap, you might want to refresh your memory of the villains Gauntlet and MAC, from Hawk & Dove #1 and #8, respectively.

While the SCU mechanic Kirby is working on the robot MAC, Captain Arsala is proudly showing off the new SCU helicopter. Unbeknownst to them, Andromeda — a strange woman dressed as a ’50s housewife — is spying on the compound, all the while uttering house-wifey non-sequiturs. She kills a police officer and takes over her appearance so she that can sneak onto the compound.

Encountering Hank, Dawn, and Ren, Andromeda accidentally drops one of the teleport discs used by MAC and Gauntlet. The heroes recognize the disc and quickly turn into Hawk and Dove. Gauntlet teleports in to help Andromeda, who he refers to as his “wife.” A fight ensues as Hawk and Dove try to prevent Gauntlet from reaching the SCU warehouse and MAC.

During the struggle, Gauntlet is torn apart, the SCU’s new chopper is destroyed, and Hawk critically injured when the SCU warehouse explodes. Andromeda grabs MAC and what is left of Gauntlet and teleports away, but not before Kirby can slip a tracer on them. Hawk is nowhere to be seen, but Dawn and Ren manage to track him back to his apartment where they find that he has been injured so badly he cannot change back into Hank.

Hawk heals quickly, so by the next morning he has recovered enough to turn back into Hank. He and Dawn travel to the Titans Tower to ask for help in defeating MAC and Gauntlet once and for all. Speedy is enthusiastic about helping, but Cyborg has a big chip on his shoulder regarding Hawk. The rest of the team him into it, and they all decide to help Hawk and Dove.

They track MAC to a small private island owned by Douglas Strange, a reclusive scientist, and his wife Andromeda. Landing on the island, the team is promptly ambushed by MAC, Gauntlet and Andromeda. Dove, Raven, Speedy and Jericho slip away to explore the island. They discover a metallic alien who it is clear is the real power behind the scenes. He is strong and nearly invulnerable, but susceptible to Speedy’s acid arrows which they use to drive him away. In the main battle, Andromeda takes control of Cyborg’s circuits and Hawk has to take him down mano a mano. Once the alien is defeated, MAC, Gauntlet and Andromeda are quickly subdued.

Sadly, Andromeda is killed in the fight. Professor Strange tells the Titans that years ago the alien landed on their island. He killed Andromeda, then rebuilt her as a super-powered android in order to keep the professor in line. It was the alien who needed all the gold MAC and Gauntlet were stealing. With the alien gone and Andromeda destroyed, the Titans and Hawk and Dove leave the professor alone on the island. Once back at Titans Tower, Hawk has some harsh words with Cyborg then storms out. Dove follows behind, but not before leaving her number with the team.

Despite the inclusion of the Titans, or maybe because of them, this storyline never achieves much more than mediocrity. MAC and Gauntlet, even with the addition of Andromeda and the alien, don’t have enough villainous cachet to carry out a three-issue storyline. The death of Andromeda adds a touch of poignancy, but it’s too little too late. The Titans are forgettable in their appearance. Admittedly, this is one of the less exciting Titans line-ups ever (their version of JLA: Detroit), but other than the Hawk/Cyborg throw-down, their addition adds nothing to the story. And what does Cyborg have against Hawk anyway? He’s never worked beside him before. During Hawk’s only appearance with the New Teen Titans, Cyborg and Changeling were off looking for Robotman. He probably doesn’t want anyone stronger than himself on the team.

Frankly, this storyline and the following issue are the low points of the first half of Hawk & Dove. They’re not bad; simply average. They’re used to tie up dangling storylines from the first year. Don’t worry — the excitement picks up in the issue after next with the beginning of the true origin of Hawk and Dove.