Hawkman and Hawkgirl

Hawkman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1, published by All-American Publications in 1940.

Several incarnations of Hawkman have appeared in DC Comics, all of them characterized by the use of archaic weaponry and by large, artificial wings, attached to a harness made from the special Nth metal that allows flight. Most incarnations of Hawkman work closely with a partner/romantic interest named Hawkgirl or Hawkwoman.

Since DC’s continuity was rewritten in the 1985 series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Hawkman’s history has become muddled with several new versions of the character appearing throughout the years, some associated with ancient Egypt and some with the fictional planet Thanagar. These versions of the character have starred in several series of various durations.

A superhero is a type of stock character, dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas — have dominated comic books and crossed over into other media. The word itself dates to at least 1916. A female superhero is sometimes called a superheroine. "SUPER HEROES" was registered as a trademark jointly by DC Comics and Marvel Characters, Inc. on August 25, 2009.

Characters do not require actual superhuman powers to be deemed superheroes; the term has also been applied to costumed crime fighters, characters without superpowers who perform the same functions as superheroes, such as Batman and Green Arrow. However, Broad interpretations of the superhero archetype included masked vigilantes, such as the Spirit, who fought crime with their wits, fists and guns rather than superhuman powers, while concealing their identities with only a mask, hat and coat.

In the traditional paradigm, superheroes supplement official law enforcement efforts to fight crime by using their extraordinary abilities to circumvent legal and physical limitations affecting the police. In addition to this basic function, superheroes also confront characters representing their polar opposites, known as supervillains, who employ comparable powers and abilities toward nefarious purposes. Generally, a superhero will regularly engage in physical and strategic combat with a collection of recurring idiosyncratic and iconic villains, often known as a rogues gallery, in attempting to thwart a number of schemes. It is also common for one of these characters to serve as a primary antagonist and archenemy of the superhero, with the others serving as secondary nemeses. Additionally, superheroes will combat threats against humanity, such as extraterrestrials and supernatural or mythological entities, or threats posed by supervillains.