Christmas Special - The Madding Crowd, Part 15 - Ray Wonsowski

Previously: ECLIPSO, God's former Angel of Wrath, has opened a gate to an elder dimension in an all-out assault against the Almighty and his Creation. The tables have now turned, as time has been bent backwards, and HAWK and DOVE bring the fight to ECLIPSO above the streets of Gotham...

Layout: 3 rows of 2

Foreground is the same in each panel: little kid in his pajamas (in the Quiet) sitting on the sofa, facing us, bathed in the light of an unseen TV.  Behind him is a big window (it looks like he lives in a sixth or seventh floor apartment) where we see the action unfold. The window action is as follows:

Panel 1- DOVE takes a blast of black energy to the gut from above, and is thrust backwards to the ground below.

TV: ".nworB eilrahC, tuoba lla si samtsirhC tahw s'tahT"

Panel 2- As DOVE tumbles, HAWK catches him by the forearm as he zooms upward to meet his foe.

TV: ".nem drawot lliw doog, ecaep htrae no dna, tsehgih eht ni doG ot yrolG, gniyas dna, doG gnisiarp, tsoh ylnevaeh eht fo edutitlum a legna eht htiw saw ereht ylneddus dnA"

Panel 3- HAWK and DOVE right themselves midair as ECLIPSO thrusts himself at the brothers, scimitar in one hand raised above his head, the other hand holding a Black Diamond up to his eye between his fingers, charging up another blast.

TV: ".regnam a ni gniyl, sehtolc gnilddaws ni depparw ebab eht dnif llahs ey: uoy otnu ngis a eb llahs siht dnA"

Panel 4 - HAWK grapples with ECLIPSO's sword arm while DOVE hooks himself through his other arm, pulling the sparking Black Diamond away from his face.

TV:  ".droL eht tsirhC si hcihw, roivaS a yad siht nrob si uoy otnu roF .elpoep lla ot eb llahs hcihw, yoj taerg fo sgnidit doog uoy otnu gnirb I, dloheb rof: ton raeF, meht otnu dias legna eht dnA"

Panel 5- HAWK twists around, landing a right cross across ECLIPSO's face. The Black Diamond is dropped, and DOVE reaches out to catch it.

TV: "diarfa eros erew yeht dna, meht nopu emac droL eht fo legna eht, ol dnA .thgin yb kcolf rieht revo hctaw gnipeek, dleif eht ni gnidiba sdrehpehs yrtnuoc emas eht ni erew ereht dnA"

Panel 6- HAWK and ECLIPSO dive out of view toward the ground, while DOVE smashes the Black Diamond in his palm with his fist, releasing a cloud of black sparking dust.

TV: "...esaelp, sthgiL..."

...to be continued...

(Backwards quotes from Linus Van Pelt's monologue in A Charlie Brown Christmas...and Merry Christmas to Thoughtballooners everywhere!)

Spider-Verse - The Madding Crowd, Part 13 - Ray Wonsowski

Okay, I'm fully aware I'm bending the rules a bit on this one....

Double-page spread:
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Panel 1- Foreground: Standing on the back of a giant grand-daddy Hellspider, ECLIPSO rides, holding onto the reins with one hand, brandishing a long ornate scimitar over his head with the other. He is relishing the horror to come. Midground: Countless hellspiders swarming, all following after ECLIPSO's mount through space. Background: The Madness Gate that separates our universe from the spiders' has been breached by the Lovecraftian most-elder Spider-God, P'tah Pk'ha, the Arachnos of a Billion Eyes, its forelegs holding the gate open, mandibles slavering as they tear open its own egg sac, its delicate albino young interspersed in the silk. Three caption boxes on the left page, three on the right.

CAPTION, LEFT 1: When he was one with the I-Am, he was Kezef, the Wrath of God made manifest.

CAPTION, LEFT 2: The Lord thought the Forty Night Flooding of All Creation was way off the reservation, so to speak, and cast Kezef off.

CAPTION, LEFT 3: Banished to the dark side of the moon and his power-essence trapped in the Heart of Darkness on Apokolips.

CAPTION, RIGHT 1: Kezef was bloody furious. He had sided with God in the first Angelic War, obeyed orders, destroyed and killed at God's command, and eternal exile away from His light and presence was to be his great reward?

CAPTION, RIGHT 2: #&@k God, he said.

CAPTION, RIGHT 3: It was then that Kezef became Eclipso.

Panel 2- Night. On the deck of the Coast Guard Cutter Gavyn, HAWK and DOVE are battle-ready and impatient listening as WILLIAM GRAVEL smokes a cigarette and HARRY DRESDEN wipes spiderwebs from his duster coat.

DRESDEN (small lettering): Not that the Spectre was the picture of restraint. That whole first-born thing in Egypt...

HAWK: Get to the point.

Panel 3- Close-up on GRAVEL, gesturing with his cigarette as he explains.

GRAVEL: You two are the Avatars of God's Covenant with Noah after the flood.

GRAVEL: Forty days of sodding rain, Noah sent a raven first, to look for land.

GRAVEL: But the raven turns his back on Noah, so God set the hawk upon it as His vengeance.

Panel 4- Foreground, GRAVEL, back to us, leans against the deck railing, waving his cigarette as he speaks, the smoke spiraling in the air. HAWK is facing him, still in a battle-ready stance. Between them, DOVE stands thoughtfully as he listens, one arm back as if to hold his brother back. The sky has gone starless.

GRAVEL: Noah dispatches the dove then, returns with an olive branch, so on...

GRAVEL: The Lords of Order and Chaos have been allowed to fill those offices to keep humanity's ledgers balanced. The Hawk and the Dove...

Panel 5- Midshot, heads and upper bodies. HAWK has grabbed GRAVEL by his coat, holding him nearly nose to nose. Both men are showing teeth, HAWK in furious grimace, GRAVEL with a $#!t-eating grin biting his cigarette.

HAWK: The point, old man!

GRAVEL: Easy, boy. SAS, I am. And the six pants-pissing scariest words an SAS man can say?

GRAVEL: "I have a plan, old son..."

...to be continued...

Hawk & Dove – Questions & Answers – Travis M. Holyfield

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Panel 1: Profile shot. Hawk is grabbing a thug by the shirt, pulling him in close and screaming in his face.   

HAWK: Five crates full of assault rifles! They didn’t just materialize out of thin air!

HAWK: WHO IS THE SUPPLIER?

 

Panel 2: Close-up of Hawk’s fist smashing into the thug’s face, breaking his nose.

HAWK: WHO!?!

 

Panel 3: Close-up of Hawk’s other fist crushing the thug’s jaw. Teeth and blood fly from the impact.

HAWK: IS!?!

 

Panel 4: Close-up of Hawk’s fist pounding into the thug’s eye.   

HAWK: YOUR!?!

 

Panel 5: Another punch by Hawk, further demolishing the thug’s already ruined face.   

HAWK: SUPPLIER!?!

 

Panel 6: Hawk stands over the bloodied, battered, unconscious thug. The thug’s body slumps to the floor. Dove stands behind Hawk, covering his eyes.

DOVE: Are you finished? 

 

Panel 7: Close-up of Hawk. His face is contorted with violence and rage.

HAWK: Finished?

 

Panel 8: Three other thugs sit huddled in the corner. Their faces are filled with terror as the shadow of Hawk looms over them.

HAWK (OFF-PANEL): I haven’t even started…

 

 

Hawk & Dove – View Askew – MK Stangeland Jr.

(I’ve decided to go ahead and create new version of HAWK and DOVE for this particular script. HAWK is HELEN JACKSON, a shorter, unassuming woman who’s far tougher than she looks. DOVE is DAVID JACKSON, her brother, who’s built like a the biggest, baddest wrestler you’re ever likely to meet but is actually a massive teddy bear of a softy deep down inside.)

Panel 1: Two gangs who were in the middle of a drug deal were interrupted by DOVE, who’s actually smiling and looks not concerned at all about all the people who look very much ready to kill him.

DOVE (1): Come now!

DOVE (2): Surely we don’t need to fall back on violence….

GANG MEMBER: LOOK OUT!

Panel 2: Everyone scatters as a large van flies through the air and crashes into another van. Everyone, that is, except DOVE, who does a limbo bend to duck just under the van.

SFX: Crash!

Panel 3: DOVE stands up and looks towards the crashed van. The others around him are beginning to pick themselves up as well.

GANG MEMBER: My van!

HAWK: (Off panel) I’m sorry, did that van belong to someone? It was in my way.

Panel 4: Full view of HAWK, who looks furious. She stands nearby next to a support structure, which she punches dangerously out of shape with a single blow.

HAWK: And I hate it when things get in my way.

SFX: CLANG!

SFX: Creeeek

Panel 5: One of the GANG LEADERs has a look that’s one part anger, one part concern about what HAWK is doing.

GANG LEADER: HEY! You trying to bring this place down on top of us?!

Panel 6: HAWK stands on one leg in a pre-kick motion as he prepares to hit the support structure again.

HAWK: Oh, you mean I shouldn’t do…

(END PAGE)

Hawk and Dove - Birds of a Feather - Grant McLaughlin

I don't have a strong opinion as to which Hawk and Dove this should be, so for simplicity's sake, let's just go with the original Hall brothers.

1 - Hawk and Dove sit on a couch in their living room.  Hawk looks glum and tense, head in hands, while Dove lounges with one arm along the top of the couch and points with the other towards Hawk as if making a suggestion (in response to Hawk's words).  A coffee table sits in front of the two heroes, with a phone (cell or landline - your choice) on top of it.  The panel should be framed so that the phone is in the foreground in the middle of the panel, with Hawk on its left and Dove on its right (both in the background, of course).  The two heroes look towards the phone, of course.

HAWK: Why won't anyone call us to team-up anymore?

DOVE: Maybe everyone is intimidated by our cocksure ways!

2 - Hawk looks towards Dove quizzically.  Dove is already on his feet, starting to pace around the table looking serious with a hand to his chin in the Thinker pose.

DOVE (1): Or perhaps we unintentionally ruffled some feathers?

DOVE (quietly) (2): A foul thought, that.

3 - Dove walks towards an easy chair on Hawk's left, making the classic "crazy" circle gesture towards his head (that sounds way more awkward to describe than it should).  Hawk shakes his head in a disappointed / dismissive manner.

DOVE (1): Either way, they're loons not to calls us.

DOVE (2): Evil's goose is cooked when we're on the case.

4 - Dove throws himself onto the easy chair, landing in a sideways position (head and feet across the arms) and looking towards Hawk (Dove may be lounging so comfortably to be looking upside down at Hawk).  Hawk rolls his eyes.

DOVE (1): Our so-called friends will eat crow after they realize the error of their ways.

DOVE (2): In fact, you know what I think?

5 - Hawk facepalms, finally responding to Dove.  However, Dove has worked himself into a state and shouts out his finale, gesticulating wildly from his lounging position.  While Dove is shouting, his word balloon should actually be mostly covered by Hawk's to indicate that they are talking at the same time and that Hawk is ignoring Dove.  That said, you should be able to make out the last three or four words of Dove's interjection.

HAWK: Nevermind, I think I figured out the reason.

DOVE: I think they can go flock themselves!

Hawk and Dove - The Same Coin - Ben Rosenthal

1.  A thug sits in a chair.  He is lit up by the light of an opened door which is opposite him and off panel.  He is scared.  A shadow of someone entering the room can be seen cutting through the light from the opened door.

THUG
S-s-stay away. STAY AWAY!


2.  Reveal of the person coming through the door - it is Dove in full costume.  He looks concerned at the man's predicament.

DOVE
What is it?  Are you ok?

THUG (off panel)
Thank God.  I thought you were Hawk.


3.  Dove is playing with the Thug's straps, looking like he is trying to untie them.

DOVE
Hawk died years ago.

THUG
See that's what I thought.  'Til he jumped me, beat me and bought me here.

He's alive I tells ya.



4.  Dove is standing, looking down at the Thug who is still tied to the chair.  He is looking up in horror at Dove's face, but we cannot see why (as we cannot see his face).

DOVE
I don't know about alive--


5.  Reveal close up of Dove's face.  It is horrific - a cross between a demon and a hawk.  Something you would see in old Japanese demon legends.  It's mouth is wide with a hint of a beak in stead of lips.  Sharp teeth point out from it.

DOVE
But he would kill for a bite to eat.

Hawk and Dove - The Madding Crowd, Part 11 - R.A. Wonsowski

The Story So Far: ECLIPSO has manipulated SHADE the Changing Man into separating people's animae from their human halves, sometimes with disastrous results. These shadow aspects have been channeled through ECLIPSO's Black Diamonds, into a weapon called the Sunset Gun, which has opened a dimensional gateway into the Area of Madness, where he will wage final war with his Creator...

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 4 1/2 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 10 1/2

Layout:
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Panels 1 and 2 are a diptych. It is dusk, and the sky is a rose red. Panel 1 is the end of a pier at the Gotham Naval Shipyard, which operates as an ordnance disposal site. HANK HALL, his back to us, looks out into the distance at the Gotham skyline. He is dressed in naval issue blue shirt and dungarees, white sailor's hat clutched in one hand, the other holding a cell phone to his ear. From one low roof, a thin black beam shoots into the sky in panel 2, opening a portal into the Area of Madness. On the water is a Coast Guard cutter, a lone figure is visible on the aft deck grasping the rail as a lone witness (this would be DON HALL). Copy is as follows:

Panel 1-
CAPTION: Gotham Naval Ordnance Disposal Site.
HANK: Jeezus, Don! Are you seeing this?!?

Panel 2-
CAPTION: Coast Guard Cutter Gavyn.
DON: I see it, Hank! Whatever it is...

Panel 3- We are now facing HANK HALL, still on his cell, and poised as if he's about to jump off the pier into action. He has tossed his hat to the side.

DON: (on phone) ...it's stirring up the harbor!
HANK: We gotta get out there, stop whoever's doing this!
DON: (on phone) Wait!

Panel 4- Close-up of DON HALL, one hand holding binoculars to his eyes in one hand, his cell to his ear with the other.

DON: There are other vessels caught in the chop! We have to save those crews!

In the gap between the second and third rows of panels, mystic lettering, copy reads: BROTHERS!

Panel 5- HANK's face is bathed in white light, but a hawk-shaped shadow falls across his eyes.

(Off-Panel): YOU WISH FOR POWER TO STOP THE OPENING GATE OF MADNESS.
HANK: Yes!

Panel 6- Same as panel 5, except it's a dove-shaped shadow across DON's face.

(Off-Panel): YOU WISH FOR POWER TO SAVE OTHERS FROM THE DANGERS THAT COME UNSEEN.
DON: Yes!

In the bottom gutter beneath Panels 5 and 6, more mystic lettering, copy reads: SO BE IT. ONLY SPEAK THAT YOU SAY THAT I AM.

Panel 7- Leaping out of a flash of white light, two figures emerge toward us. Their leather-like white armor is fletched by blood-red and sky-blue feathers respectively, their heads covered by similarly adorned bird-head cowls. From above, talon-like hands extended, the aggressor avatar of war. From below, diving forward into an off-panel sea, the guardian avatar of peace. Both cry out their new namesakes.

HAWK: HAWK!!
DOVE: DOVE!!

...to be continued...

Why the Hawk and the Dove?

In case you couldn't tell, I'm a bit of a fan of DC Ditko, but of all his concepts, the one that I think really got the shaft were these two.

Hawk and Dove were the Hall brothers, Hank and Don. When their father, a fair but tough-as-nails judge, was threatened, they were visited by the Lords of Order and Chaos and granted the powers of the avatars of War and Peace. As a reflection of the opposing viewpoints of late sixties America, they couldn't be more on the nose.

...hoo, boy...

The problem was that every writer after Ditko and his partner Steve Skeates has treated them as the worst of stereotypes. Hank has frequently been cast as a bullying jerk, and Don typically acts as a weeping dishtowel of a wimp. It wasn't until the excellent Brave & Bold #181, by Alan Brennert and Jim Aparo, that they finally started getting fleshed out.

This was actually my introduction to Hawk and Dove....

Unfortunately, just as they started getting interesting, Don was killed in the Crisis of Infinite Earths, and Hawk, without his Dove, became unbalanced. Even the introduction of a new Dove, Dawn Granger, couldn't fix the damage done, and belligerent Hank spiraled into villainy, first as the future despot Monarch, then as the time-travelling Extant. DC tried to revive the concept with the New 52, but...you know...Liefeld...

...I...I don't even know what to say to this....

So other than the fact that they fill the third party in my Ditko trilogy, why pick them at all? Because the concept has so much unexplored potential. Hawks are sheltering nurturers of their young, and doves will protect their nests to the death. Imagine Hank as a Navy SEAL returned home to be a family man. And just because someone's a pacifist, doesn't make them any less brave; what if Don, instead of being the limp weakling, was a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, or a firefighter, protecting those in danger? Then there's the mystic aspect. Why did the Lords, in their infinite wisdom, pick these two to be their avatars? What powers might they have that have not been discovered yet? Can you picture them in a Vertigo book? I have.

The possibilities are as endless as the stars, my friends.

That's what makes comics great. Warriors, protectors, they are whatever you bring to the party. And feel free to bring your best interpretations and ideas. Just leave a page of script down here in the comments section. We'd love to hear from you.