Polite Dissent

The Hawk and the Dove #5 starts out with a bang as a skull-masked thief shoots a policeman while robbing a bank. Making his getaway, the thief runs over a child playing ball in the street (OK — clearly not the brightest kid in the world — but still no reason for him to get run over). The next day, the alleged robber is caught and brought before Judge Hall who is shocked to discover that it is Sam Hodgins, an old friend of his.

Knowing that Hodgins once saved their father’s life, Hank and Don set out to prove his innocence. They track down the two eye-witnesses who identified him, eye-witnesses who just happen to be known criminals. Hawk and Dove trail them to a warehouse and overhear a gang of thieves plan a car theft thing. Hawk busts in and demands to know what they have against Frank Hodgins. Both eye-witnesses stick by their story, stating that they did indeed see Hodgins. Hawk knocks one crook unconscious, but Dove manages to persuade Hawk to let the other one escape so that they can follow him.

They lose track of the crook, but coincidentally stumble upon another robbery committed by the bank robber. Hawk and Dove trail the robber to his hideout. Unfortunately, the robber has spotted them and sets a trap. Hawk and Dove enter the warehouse just in time to have a heavy crate pushed over onto them. Dove jumps out of the way, but Hawk is smashed and critically injured. Fearing that his brother is dead, Dove goes ballistic, stalking the robber across the warehouse and taunting him the entire time. He traps him in a corner and beats him senseless – only to discover that the thief was their father’s friend Sam Hodgins all along.

Don rushes Hank to the hospital, where the Hall family is informed by the doctor: “He’ll be all right. He’ll be laid up for a couple of weeks…the concussion was pretty bad…but there was no permanent damage.”

At Hank’s bedside, Don tells Hank that he maybe right – that non-violence may not be the right answer. Shocked, Hank tells him that his pacifist philosophy is not necessarily wrong, he just snapped when Hank was injured. They agree to shake hands and remain “friendly enemies.”

The main story ends here, but it’s followed by a half-page teaser that show Hawk and Dove tracking a criminal and running headlong into a group of adolescent costumed heroes. The caption states: “Hey! – Isn’t that the Teen Titans? You bet your sweet bippy it is! And they’re on a collision course with the Hawk and the Dove in Teen Titans #21 on sale March 18th!”

The art and story are both by Gil Kane is The Hawk and The Dove #5. The art is better than last issue (more action to draw), but not as good as issue #3. Kane’s art is particularly suited to wonderful fight scenes, and this issue contains a good example as Dove beats Frank Hodgins senseless.

The writing is a little better this issue than last issue as well. Still, Kane can be seen already toying with Dove’s pacifist attitudes on this, his first issue as writer. Dove knocks a criminal unconscious, though his talk with Hank in the hospital seems to reaffirm his original pacifistic views. More telling, at several points in this issue the Hawk and Dove dichotomy is explored in terms of emotion (Hawk) versus logic (Dove), instead of the simple war/peace contrast.

Notes:

1. Don’s cover story for Hank’s injury: “We were climbing around an old house on the edge of town, and a staircase collapsed…it came down on top of him…”
2. The other crooks involved in the car theft ring are never mentioned again. Did they go free? Did Hawk and Dove call the cops? Will we ever know? (I hereby pitch my own title: The Hawk and The Dove – The Lost Years)
3. Yet another newspaper is shown in this issue. This brings the total to ten different newspapers published in the “small town” of Eldon.
4. Though the cover refers to Hawk being shot, he never is; just crushed under a large box.
5. Included in this issue is a text page, Fact File #5, which tells the history of Wildcat. Reproduced here for your amusement.
6. For those of you keeping track at home, Don again wears his blue coat/red tie outfit.