Nighthawk

Real Name: Hannibal Hawkes
First Appearance: Western Comics #5, October 1948
Known Relatives: None. But he had a love affair with Cinnamon, and almost a father-and-son relationship wth his young friend and protege, Jim Peyton
Hair color: black
Eye color: black

Little is known about the early life of the cowboy adventurer and gunslinger Hannibal Hawkes and how he became the Nighthawk, the legendary masked champion of Western law and order. At some point in the mid-to-late 19th century, he seemingly appeared out of nowhere, clad in his distinguished ebony garb and fighting outlaws with a rightful vengeance.

Nighthawk traveled the Wild West in his alter ago of Hannibal Hawkes, "Fix-It Man", whose covered wagon home/workshop advertised that he could "repair, rebuild, and resharpen anything on the spot." The young craftsman moved restlessly from town to town, earning his keep with his skills and wits. Where evil would arise, however, the Nighthawk would stand in his place, defending the values of law and justice.

Recently it has been revealed that Hawkes was in fact a Hawk Champion, i.e. a human host of the power variously referred to as the Hawkgod or the Hawk Avatar Force, and a reincarnation of the legendary Prince Khufu of Egypt. (Other incarnations of the Hawk Champion have included the legendary Icarus, the Christian Roman Gabriel, and the Silent Knight of Camelot. In modern times, Hawkman Carter Hall has been the most prominent of Hawk Champions.)

Unlike many Hawk Champions, Nighthawk did never acquire the ability to fly (to say the least, he never owned any Ninth Metal tools that could enable him to do so), but possibly Hawkes got some of his skills, his desire to do good, and the urge to use a hawk as his symbol, from the Hawkgod or his former incarnations. If this is the whole truth, or if Hawkes had some other particular reason to fight evil, is not known. What is known is that Hawkes himself never realized that he was a Hawk Champion during his entire life.

Nonetheless, Nighthawk, riding on his jet-black stallion Nightwind, proved a potent force for law and order, relying on his skill with his six-gun and lasso to battle injustice whenever he encountered it. Eventually, Hannibal Hawkes took in a young orphan named Jim Peyton after outlaws had killed the boy's uncle, a federal marshal in Flagstaff. The killers tried to murder Jim before he could turn them in, but Nighthawk intervened. As it happened, Nighthawk was captured by the killers. Jim's fast thinking and brave actions saved Nighthawk's life, and he thereafter owed his life to the young boy, who for a long time became his trusted sidekick.

Hannibal Hawkes and Jim Peyton rode the wide-open, often lawless territory together, helping bring peace to the developing area in the nation. Nighthawk's fame spread, and soon became part of the Western legend. Before long, virtually everybody in America knew about his exploits, a fact that could prove both a help and a problem in his struggle for justice.

After a long time together with Nighthawk, Jim remained in one of the towns they visited on their endless journey. He entered the school in Blue Blazes under the teacher Miss Pritchett. After that, the Nighthawk seemed to become more dedicated to his crimefighting, spending a lot more time in his masked identity, and relying less and less upon his life as Hannibal Hawkes.

There is a still a lot of Nighthawk's life that has not been recorded. His debut as a masked crimefighter is clouded in mystery. Virtually nothing is known of his motivations, or vocation, although he said himself that he "got him a calling". Although a loner, he met several of the other famous gunfighters of his era, like Jonah Hex, Bat Lash, Scalphunter, and the time-lost Vigilante (I), Greg Saunders.

Later in his career, Nighthawk settled down in St. Roch in the southeast of America. During a shoot-out in a saloon, he saved the life of the female gunslinger Cinnamon. This was the start of an amorous as well as adventurous relationship between the two. In their first adventure together, they saved an innocent black man named Cyrus Evans from being lynched by the henchmen of a Matilda Dunney.

Some time later, Hawkes killed another aquintance of his, the Englishman James "Gentleman Jim" Craddock. Encountering Craddock and Cinnamon having a scuffle in their hotelroom, Hawkes mistakenly believed that Craddock had attempted to force himself on Cinnamon. In his rage, Hawkes dragged Craddock out in the street, took a piece of rope, and hanged him in the gallows. A moment later, Hawkes learned the truth from Cinnamon – that Craddock was not guilty of rape, only of theft. But by then, Craddock was dead. Hawkes regretted what he had done and realized that he would have to live with this for the rest of his life. He was wrong, though – he would suffer even longer than that.

There have been several conflicting accounts of the death of Nighthawk. Some sources tell that he died when the world-shattering Crisis hit the 19th century. Others say that Hawkes was killed and hanged by Vandal Savage, eternal enemy of the Hawk Champions. However, the currently favored version claims that Nighthawk was shot in the head by the aforementioned Matilda Dunney (or Roderic, her married name by then). When Cinnamon avenged her lover, both she and Matilda were killed.

Still, death did not mean that the souls of Hannibal Hawkes and Cinnamon would be put to rest. They were eventually reincarnated as Carter and Shiera Hall, the original Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Past sins caught up with them as enemies such as Vandal Savage, James Craddock (returning as the Gentleman Ghost) and even the offspring of Matilda Roderic, appeared in modern times as enemies of Hawkman.

During the event known as the Zero Hour, another Hawkman, the Thanagarian named Katar Hol, encountered the now corrupt Hawkgod, ultimately defeating him. By doing so, he also absorbed the souls and powers of Hawkman Carter Hall, Hawkgirl Shiera Hall, and all their previous incarnations - including Nighthawk - thereby becoming the greatest and most powerful Hawk Champion of all time. Katar Hol now possessed the knowledge and memories of all previous Hawk incarnations, but he was in control of them. That is, he was in control until the demon Neron awoke the memories of them all in Katar's head. Nighthawk reappeared twice during this course of events, first in a battle with Katar Hol, at which time Nighthawk accidentally killed an innocent man, and then in a duel with another corrupt Hawk Champion pretending to be Katar Hol. This angry soul easily defeated Nighthawk.

Since many of Hawkman’s former incarnations had been unjustly killed before their time, they all had a strong will of justice to be made, and it seems as if the long-time bitterness of them had driven them close to insanity. Because of Katar Hol refusing to let them avenge themselves, they decided to punish him by taking control of his body and harming innocent people. For a while they left Katar's body and instead inhabited the body of the Martian Manhunter. With help from the mage Arion, Lord of Atlantis, Katar reclaimed the Hawk Spirits into himself. Knowing that he was a danger to every man and woman on Earth, he allowed Arion to transport him to the dimension of the Hawkgod with the Hawk Spirits, where they would continue their inner struggle, seemingly forever.

Recently however, Katar Hol gave up his life so that Hawkman Carter Hall could be reincarnated for the new millennium. A complete soul once again, the current Hawkman remembers all his past lives, more or less, including the life of the heroic Nighthawk.

It should be noted that, in recent times, a new Nighthawk has appeared, using the original's moniker and a variation of his Old West garb. However, these are the only similarities between the two. This Nighthawk is a cynical mercenary, valuing money more than anything else. Neither has he any connection to the Hawk Avatars . Nighthawk II was last seen teaming up with Robin and the modern Pow-Wow Smith (another new version of an Old West lawman) to help defeat the new Trigger Twins (a couple of Gotham criminals who have an almost identical resemblance to their heroic Old West ancestors). It is not known what Carter Hall thinks of the man using the name and garb of his former life.

Continuity notes:

Nighthawk’s ultimate fate has changed twice since the Crisis. He was originally obliterated by an anti-matter wave in Crisis on Infinite Earths #3. Then in Hawkman Vol. 3, Vandal Savage claimed he hanged the Nighthawk, but Savage has made many outrageous claims. Perhaps he was in cahoots with Matilda Dunney, though.

There was probably no other successor to Khufu between Nighthawk and the first Hawkman. Nighthawk's place in this legacy was revealed in Hawkman #13 Volume 3.

His first 8-page story in Western Comics was written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Charles Paris. The editors were Whitney Ellsworth, Jack Schiff, Murray Boltinoff and George Kashdan. Many of his later tales were by written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Gil Kane.

Cinnamon

Real name: Katherine Manser
First appearance: Weird Western Tales #48, September/October 1978
Known relatives: unnamed father, deceased
Hair color: Red
Eye color: Green

Katherine "Kate" Manser was born around 1860 and was soon orphaned when her widowed father, the sheriff of a small Wyoming town, was murdered by a gang of fleeing bank robbers. The red-haired girl — nicknamed Cinnamon — could only watch in helpless horror. Now orphaned, Cinnamon grew to maturity in a county orphanage, her hatred growing within her.

Determined to avenge her father, Cinnamon spent every available moment learning to use a six-gun and training herself to physical perfection. On her eighteenth birthday, Cinnamon left the orphanage behind and set out on the trail of her father's killers.

She gained a reputation as a fierce and determined bounty hunter, law enforcer, and expert gunslinger. She set out to find her father’s killers, armed with a gun, a knife and a supply of shuriken that looked like sheriff’s badges. Her origin story, when first published, was in a two-part adventure featured in Weird Western Tales #48-49.

In her next recorded adventure, Cinnamon met the time-traveling Justice League. She teamed with the JLA and three contemporaries — Scalphunter, Bat Lash, and Jonah Hex — against the Lord of Time.

Cinnamon’s quest for vengeance led her to St. Roch, Louisiana, where she tricked Emile Graydon (the final man involved in her father’s death) into drawing on her. She gunned him down. Nighthawk, who was seated nearby with Craddock, shot Graydon’s associate before he could retaliate. Though she didn't feel she needed his help in dealing with the villains, the gunslingers were immediately drawn to each other, and Cinnamon soon joined Nighthawk in rescuing Evans from a mob. They hid in his master’s mansion, Stonechat House, until a judge arrived and ruled Evans innocent.

When Zero Hour took place, she also participated as a member of Nighthawk's "Rough Bunch," a loose affiliation of western heroes organized to fight Extant.

In 1879, Nighthawk was shot and hanged by Matilda Dunney Roderic. Cinnamon vowed revenge on Matilda and in early 1899, the two women killed each other in a fatal gun battle.

Continuity notes:

Cinnamon's initial time period was around 1898. But this has changed with other events. Jonah Hex met Cinnamon sometime prior to 1878. (JLA #198-199) JLofA #198-199 was written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Don Heck and Brett Breeding, and featured Cinnamon helping the League during a battle with the Lord of Time.

Her first appearance in Weird Western Tales #48-49 (Sept/Oct-Nov 1978) was supposed to begin a new ongoing back-up series for the Indian bounty hunter named Scalphunter, but it fell victim to the "DC Implosion" (a third story was lost to this; whether or not it was published in DC's Cancelled Comics Cavalcade special in 1979, which featured the ending parts of several unfinished series, is unknown), which cut back several series/titles being published in late 1978. Her eight-page introduction was written by Roger McKenzie and drawn by Jack Abel and Danny Bulanadi. The second chapter was by McKenzie, with artwork by Howard Chaykin and Bulanadi. And the editor was Al Milgrom.

In current DCU continuity, there was a billboard appeared for a “Cinnamon” musical that was featured in Wonder Woman #175 Vol. 2.