Millionaire Kyle Richmond is the dark, flying animal-themed vigilante Nighthawk, determined to protect his city after his parents were murdered when he was a child. Now, a new menace rears its ugly head: a sociopathic chemist wearing clown makeup who can’t stop killing. Hmm… this all sounds very familiar doesn’t it? But wait - it’s a Marvel book, not DC! Huh-wuuuh!?
Supreme Power was a Marvel event from the mid-’00s featuring the Squadron Supreme, who are the Marvel parody of DC’s Justice League. Nighthawk is basically Batman and his clown nemesis in this book is basically Joker, which makes Supreme Power: Nighthawk a secret Marvel version of a Batman and Joker book!
All of which was a surprise to me as I grabbed this one solely on the basis of seeing the creative team of Daniel Way and Steve Dillon on the cover, both of whom are among my favourite superhero writers and artists, and who have collaborated on some great stuff elsewhere - nearly everything by these two together is worth reading. Their Nighthawk book though? Eh… it’s not up there with their best but it’s not bad either.
It doesn’t say it on the cover but this definitely feels like it’s part of Marvel’s MAX range - their comics aimed at adults only - given that there are uncensored swears, gore, a very graphic suicide, lots of drug use, and even more child murder. Not that this bothered me, but it was another surprise in the book.
Once you realise that this is a “Mirror Dimension” Batman/Joker origin story, you notice the comparisons immediately: the “Joker toxin” that Whiteface uses on his victims, the Commissioner Gordon stand-in, and the final page even hints at a future Robin. Which is fine but aspects of the story felt contrived - like Way was following the Batman origin a bit too closely (having Kyle seeing his parents killed as a kid, etc).
Whiteface (a double entendre as it doesn’t just refer to the white face make-up he’s wearing but also to him being a white supremacist) coincidentally adopts clown makeup and then, for no reason, decides to maintain it indefinitely. He also conveniently becomes non-catatonic when the plot needs him to speak and then immediately starts adopting Joker mannerisms, again for no reason. Way’s forcing the Joker persona onto him and it’s awkwardly done.
The story is quite thin as we wait for Nighthawk to catch Whiteface, which takes six issues, while the subplot about corruption at city hall was convoluted and dull - its connection to the main storyline felt murky at best and mostly like pointless filler.
That said, the Batman comparisons only go so far given that Nighthawk has zero compunction with using guns or killing, which I enjoyed for the variety, particularly in the finale where Way addresses one of the biggest criticisms against Batman - it was a satisfying and fitting ending to a grim story.
And I thought Whiteface’s origin was an actually decent Joker origin, more plausible than Alan Moore’s Killing Joke - like how he comes to get his face scars and become a dead-eyed killer. Up to a point though - it becomes silly once Way makes him start laughing suddenly, and I would’ve liked his clown make-up to have become less perfect over time, rather than looking like he was touching it up every few hours.
It’s also unconvincing how someone could possibly mistake him for a capable children’s entertainer and then hire him for a gig - “Honey, I found a strange man dressed as a clown standing around in the park and immediately thought it’d be a good idea to invite him into our home to be around small children”!
Nitpicks aside, Supreme Power: Nighthawk isn’t the most compelling of reads but as a pitch-black adult take on Batman and the Joker, from Marvel of all publishers, it’s an interesting curio. And, of course, if you’re a fan of these creators it’s definitely worth a look - it’s out of print but it’s available digitally. We’ll never get to see Steve Dillon’s Batman unfortunately but Daniel Way might be a viable option, assuming he’s interested, if DC are looking for writers on one of their many Batman projects…
No comments:
Post a Comment