Marriage and comic book characters

Some of Carter Hall’s lives and wives. Art by Joe Bennett. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One thing I always found interesting with comic books is those characters who were married.  So that the book wasn’t just about one man, but about a married couple.

I say “one man” because often the focus of a pulp style science fiction story was a man.  There may have been exceptions, but more often than not it was always a man.

There are two books that I can name (at present, because it’s early in the morning and I just woke up) that had a married couple.  And only one of those books had the couple work like a partnership.

Those books were Marvel’s Fantastic Four and DC’s Hawkman.

Shayera Hol on the cover to Hawkman v2 #6. Art by Richard Howell. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Fantastic Four didn’t necessarily focus on the couple, due to the fact there was four people.  However, Sue Richards was often relegated to the role of damsel in distress, often shown crying, was mostly seen as the addition to the team, and wasn’t really a hero in her own right.  At least, that’s how it started.

Over at DC, the Hawks came from a long, long line of story telling.  In the Golden Age, Shiera Saunders, who would eventually marry Carter Hall, first appears with Carter as Hawkman in Flash Comics #1.  Her first appearance as Hawkgirl comes in Flash Comics #5.  That was back in 1940.  It should be noted that Shiera used a spare costume of Carter’s in order to trick some thugs while Carter was off with the JSA.  She ended up taking the name Hawkgirl and using a costume of her own.

Hawkgirl (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When the Silver Age arrived, most characters were being recreated as Earth 1 counterparts, and it was determined that Hawkman would get the same treatment.  Instead of a reincarnated Egyptian king, the new Hawkman and Hawkgirl were police officers from the distant planet of Thanagar.  And they were already married.  It should be noted that it was this version of the Hawks that saw Shayera Hol stated without hesitation that she was no longer Hawkgirl, but Hawkwoman.  Post Crisis, Shayera Thal used a similar line when the two officers arrived on Earth and a PR man was trying out names for them.

“Woman.  Hawkwoman.  I haven’t been a girl for many years.”

It was in this version where the Hawks weren’t married, but there was a relationship brewing.  Even though both Shayera and Katar dated other people before realizing their partnership was more than just two cops.

Is Hawkman married now?  The answer is… I’m not sure.  According to many who do keep tabs on the series, neither Shiera Saunders, Kendera Saunders, nor Shayera Thal have been introduced in the book.  And Kendra is the Hawkgirl of Earth 2.  At one time, the Hawks had a really stable relationship.  But for some reason, DC has opted not to have that exist.

Marriages like the Hawks, and even what could have happened with Batwoman and Maggie Sawyer, and the relationship and eventual marriage of Apollo and Midnighter, were good, healthy examples of married couples.  But presently it seems DC doesn’t want good, healthy relationships unless it progresses their own fantasies (Superman/Wonder Woman).

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