Hawkworld was one of my favorite comics in the late 80s and early 90s. My first introduction to Hawkman was the 1989 limited series Hawkworld Vol 1. The limited series was a new, Post-Crisis origin for Hawkman. Following the three issue mini-series Hawkman would get a monthly series starting in June 1991.
Hawkman was created in 1961 and the original Hawkman comic ran for 27 issues before getting canceled. During the 1970s and 1980s Hawkman appeared with the Justice League of America.
Hawkman was rebooted in 2011 during The New 52 reboot but the series didn’t catch on a was canceled. DC tried rebooting Hawkman again in 2016 in the DC Rebirth event. It didn’t work either and the series was canceled after six issues.
Finally in 1989 Hawkman was given a new limted series and then a montly series. Hawkman Vol 2 ran 32 issues from June 1990 through March 1993.
Hawkworld
Hawkworld Vol 1 (1989) focuses on Katar Hol, a young police officer in the Wingman Force on the planet Thanagar. While on the Wingman Force Hol is setup by a corrupt Police Chief and sent into exile. After his exile is over he is sent back to Thanagar and exposes the corrupt Police Chief.
Hol is reinstated to the Wingman Force, given a new partner, Shayera Thal (Hawkwomen) and they are sent to earth as ambassadors. While on earth they fight crime in Chicago’s seedy underbelly.
It’s too bad DC can’t produce a good Hawkworld comic. It was a good series with well written characters and stories.
Enough about the demise of Hawkworld, you came for the ads.
Let’s get into this book and see what the ads look like.
O.M.A.C. (One Man Army Corps)
One Man Army Corps, OMAC for short, was created by Jack Kirby in 1974. Yes, this is a DC comic. Kirby worked at DC for a short time from 1971-1975. OMAC is the last character Kirby created for DC before his contract expired.
Buddy Blank, a weak corporate stooge is transformed into a superhero (OMAC) through a computer hormone operation controlled by an Artificial Intelligence satellite dubbed Brother Eye.
If a weak man turned superhero sounds familiar you’re right. Jack Kirby created Captain America in 1941. OMAC is essentially the same character, only set in the future. Kirby had the idea for OMAC as far back as the 1960s but the character never materialized.
The original OMAC sports a blue mohawk and has an image of Brother Eye on his chest. In this ad OMAC looks like a Schwarzenegger clone.
The miniseries in this ad is a revised origin story for OMAC and isn’t canon. It’ the only time this version of the character is seen. I never read this miniseries, seeing how it’s not canon I doubt I’ll ever read it.
Rocketeer
There was a big PR push for the Rocketeer in 1991. The movie debuted at #3, but couldn’t beat out the power house Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the comedy City Slickers. The next week was even harder when Naked Gun 2 1/2 and Terminator 2 hit theaters.
If you haven’t listened yet, check out the Box Office 30 episode on The Rocketeer. If you haven’t seen the movie you can watch it on Disney+ now.
WCW Wrestling Nintendo Game
The Road Warriors!
I played the Pro Wrestling game on the Nintendo for hours and hours. There were fun characters to play but no one famous. I usually played as Hayabusa for his sweet jumping kick to the back of the head. There was also King Slender who looked a bit like Ric Flair.
Then the WCW Wrestling game hit the shelves and you could actually play as Ric Flair!! Or Lex Luger or Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat or the ever popular Road Warriors!
One nice feature of the game is the ability to pick your moves before the match starts. I played all the wrestlers but stuck with Lex Luger and Ricky ‘The Dragon” for the majority of my gaming time.
If you haven’t played WCW Wrestling you should. It’s a fun game with wrestlers you know and love (or hate). Follow the link to play WCW Wrestling now.
Toy Soldiers
When I was ripping out ads for this post I got excited seeing this one! I love this movie. It debuted at #3 it’s first weekend and started a downward spiral off the charts.
Despite the poor reception at the box office the movie is a great action movie. It’s kind of like a Red Dawn in a prep school, kind of…
A prep school is overrun by a group of Narco-Terrorists in an attempt to get their leader out of prison. One of the boys at the prep school is the son of the federal judge hearing the case. Led by Sean Astin and Wil Wheaton with a strong supporting role by Lou Gossett Jr., the group of boys set out to defeat the terrorists.
The ad says it all. Five boys, one school and lots of action! Well you can’t see the action in the ad but the helicopters in the corner give you a hint of the action.
Trivia Time: The 1995 comedy Major Payne was filmed at the same prep school.
Star Trek Comics
I’m a casual Star Trek fan. I’ve seen all the movies (not a fan of the Kelvin Timeline or the lens flare!) and I’ve seen every season of The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation and Picard. As for the other TV series, I watched them every now and then but never committed to them.
I’ve tried reading Star Trek Novels and comics but they never caught my attention. I own four Star Trek comics, none of which are in this ad.
With all that said I still like this ad. It has the iconic USS Enterprise blasting through space. And who can pass up an anniversary event? I don’t recall seeing any of these titles in my comic book store or I may have bought them. I wouldn’t mind owning the Star Trek IV movie adaption comic.
Armageddon 2001 Checklist
We looked at the ads from Armageddon 2001 #1 in an earlier post. Here we get an ad for the complete list of comics in the limited series.
The superhero in this ad is the newly introduced character, Waverider, who plays an integral role in the events of Aramageddon 2001.
I love checklists. It’s helpful to know if I have all the comics in the series. Unfortunately in this ad, they make Waverider look like a gold version of Silver Surfer.
I’m skipping over a repeat ad, the Bill Cosby Blood Pressure ad to get to possibly the best ad in this comic.
Out for Justice
In 1991 Steven Seagal was a big time action hero. His first three movies were box office smashes and he was hoping for the same magic with his fourth movie, Out for Justice. The movie was another hit for Seagal. Out For Justice opened at #1 for the weekend and held the top spot for two weeks.
I like this ad/movie poster. Seagal looking like a badass with his badge and 12 gauge shotgun. Does he really need a 12 gauge? Wouldn’t he just beat you with his hands and maybe a pool cue??
In the late 80s and throughout the 90s Seagal made some great action movies. Granted he pretty much played the same character in all those movies, but they were still fun to watch. He does have a reputation for being hard to work with and having a big ego. Somehow he keeps making movies, even if they are all Direct-to-Video/Streaming.
Martial Arts Fact: The guy stick fighting with Seagal in the pool cue clip is veteran martial artist Dan Inosanto. Dan is a master stick fighter and was a close personal friend of Bruce Lee. He taught Bruce Lee how to use nunchaku.
Fun Fact: Jerry Orbach is in both Out for Justice and the earlier movie Toy Soldiers. In total Orbach was in seven movies and two episodes of Murder, She Wrote in 1991!
That’s a wrap on the ads for Hawkworld #12. Best ad is Out for Justice, with Toy Soldiers coming in a close second.
Until then, keep your comics bagged and boarded…unless you want to thumb through them to check out the great ads!
Check out the previous installments of
Check Out Those Ads!
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