Shadowhawk

ShadowHawk is a fictional comic book vigilante anti-hero created by Jim Valentino. He was first introduced in the Malibu Sun free promotional magazine in May of 1992. His official Image Comics debut was in the second issue of Rob Liefeld's Youngblood series. Originally, the name Shadowhawk was to be used for the Marvel character Starhawk while he had darkness powers, but Tom DeFalco convinced Valentino to use the name for a new character instead.

Origin and Character history
Paul Johnstone grew up as a troubled youth in Harlem, New York. He avoided a life of crime due in part to the encouragement of a man named Richard Woodroe, who was originally assigned as a caseworker to Paul when he was caught stealing, and eventually married his mother, becoming his step-father.

Eventually Paul became a lawyer and, beyond that, a district attorney. While his life was going so well, his half brother Hojo had taken his success in college and move to wallstreet and turned it into a coke, and eventually a crack addiction. Using Hojo, some gangsters tried to leverage Paul into letting their men off, but Paul refused. Soon after he ended up the target of an assault intended to serve as an example to others who got in the way of these mobsters. This incident culminated in his attackers injecting him with HIV-infected blood.

After the encounter, Johnstone was left uncertain regarding whether he had been infected or not. The attack had been made public and word of his possible infection spread through Johnstone's workplace, making it a very inhospitable environment to be in. Tensions between Johnstone and one of his co-workers led to an altercation between the two which landed Johnstone out of a job and in jail.

After he was released Paul received medical confirmation that he was HIV positive and he descended into a depression. While walking the streets to clear his head Paul was threatened by a group of young gang-members. He went berserk and attacked them, leading to his brutal mugging and return to the hospital. During this time he resolved that he would use the rest of his time to dispense justice to the individuals who preyed on innocent victims. One of his friends, a cop named Christina Reid (who had been kicked off the force that day for use of excessive force), was also in the hospital and came to visit him. She informed Paul that she and a man named Carlton Sun had been developing an exo-skeleton suit of armor that could help aid him in accomplishing this task.

Johnstone decided to don the suit, christening himself "ShadowHawk" after his favourite superhero (a name that would eventually lure out the psychotic and racist villain Hawk's Shadow, who believed he was the one entitled to bear the mantle of ShadowHawk), and was taught how to fight effectively with the help of Christine, promising to "take back the night". Johnstone also kept the pills needed to slow his reaction to his HIV infection in small pouches on his belt so he could take them as needed.

Early on, ShadowHawk's actions against criminals were brutal. He would catch violent criminals in the act and break their spines, leaving them to be discovered by police with no indication that he had attacked them other than hearsay from the criminals. This led to ShadowHawk garnering a reputation as an urban legend as well as being hunted by both criminals and law enforcement alike.

Later in his career (and as his lifespan shortened due to the progression of HIV to full blown AIDS), Johnstone eventually grew to be less violent. He would also spend a majority of his remaining time searching either for a cure to his infection or another way to extend his life. This led to encounters with the likes of Supreme (in which a battle would ensue, leading to the discovery of ShadowHawk's true identity to the world), the WildC.A.T.s. (who offered a possible solution involving a robotic body to transplant Johnstone's consciousness into - which would ultimately fail to work) and Youngblood's Chapel (another hero also infected with HIV). One of his few regrets was that he never got to join a super-group, as in his search for a cure, he had realized how useful and fun fighting in a group was.

In his final act as ShadowHawk, Johnstone would rescue his mother from being attacked by Hawk's Shadow. The aftermath of the fight would leave Johnstone in a weakened state and unable to elude the pursuit of the police. He was remanded into custody and transported to a hospital where AIDS eventually took its toll and ended his life.

The New ShadowHawk
In the wake of Paul Johnstone's death, it was revealed that ShadowHawk is in fact a Spirit of Justice and the spirit has inhabited at least four people in the past. Three of the revealed ShadowHawks were human, the last one being a robot. After the Spirit of Justice leaves the robot it becomes "Justice", without human feelings and starts to kill people. The saga of the robot ShadowHawk was told in a crossover story called ShadowHunt which ran through five Image titles in April 1996. At the end of New Man #4,the robot was destroyed.

Character history
At the end of New Man #4, the robot was destroyed and Eddie Collins debuted as the new ShadowHawk. Having just moved to New York with his recently (one year) widowed father, James Collins, an electrician, Eddie a young high school student was walking down a street when the helmet literally fell into his hands. The helmet called Nommo contains the spirits of all people who were, at one time, inhabited by ShadowHawk, the Spirit of Justice. Eddie Collins tried to meditate with the Nommo on, meeting the spirit of Paul Johnstone, who tells Eddie that he is a reincarnation of a first dynasty Egyptian shaman, how he was the last ShadowHawk and that Eddie is destined to start anew.

At first Eddie Collins widowed father, James Collins orded him to stop, thinking it would kill him. But Eddie is faster, stronger and more agile now and finds new responsibility to the people of New York City. After saving some hostages, Eddie meets Captain Nieves and starts working with him.

Jim Valentino's ShadowHawk
Blacklight, a 1960's "Hippie Hero" woke up out of a 30 year coma and goes looking for his wife (Dayglo), who was killed by Firepower, and subsequently died ten years ago. He is lied to by a man in the shadows, thinking ShadowHawk is the son of Firepower. While at school, Eddie Collins is asked out by Colleen to the Sadie Hawkins dance and he says yes. That night, while stopping a convenience store looting, a fight starts between Blacklight and ShadowHawk, and ShadowHawk uses Blacklight's weakness against him but accidentally kills him. After killing Blacklight and now facing the reality of that, ShadowHawk must now deal with ZAP: he's fast, he flies, he shoots lightning bolts and he's been hired to kill ShadowHawk. After ZAP is defeated and placed in police custody, Captain Nieves said he would like to see Eddie Collins go though the Police Academy to learn the difference between superhero and vigilante. Eddie is attacked by the man who hired ZAP and lied to Blacklight, named Nocturn. After this encounter, Eddie runs across a fire, saves lives and meets a man (Venture, from Noble Causes) who knew the ShadowHawk before Eddie: Paul Johnstone. Later, Eddie goes to the Sadie Hawkins dance with Colleen, having a fun, normal life and netting a goodbye kiss. Out on patrol, Nocturn, who knows Eddie Collins is ShadowHawk, attacks him and, after a brutal fight, Hawk's Shadow comes out of the shadows to face his "returned" arch-enemy. After being beaten nearly to death, ShadowHawk must now face Paul Johnstone's arch-enemy: Hawk's Shadow, who is now faster, stronger and driven like never before. He wants the Helmet of Heru (the helmet contains the spirits of all people who at one time were ShadowHawk) and he will remove Eddie Collins' head to get it! In the end Paul Johnstone usurps Eddie's body and beats Hawk's Shadow to near death, but Eddie stops him before the kill, saying "never again," and puts his enemy into police hands. Captain Nieves asks if ShadowHawk is still Paul Johnstone, to which Eddie replies, "Of course not, Captain. Paul's dead." Eddie goes home to a terrified father and says, "It's been a long night." Eddie is looking for a mysterious corpse-like creature that is killing people. Along the way, he meets the new Blacklight, who is investigating the origin of her newfound powers. The two team-up to bring the vicious monster down. Their target turns out to be the first Blacklight, whom Eddie killed by accident, thereby giving the second Blacklight her powers. Eddie's mentally unstable classmate, Philip Marko, has been setting violent fires around New York, and all the victims attend Nicholas Charles high school (Eddie's school). After ShadowHawk meets a mysterious red haired girl who has the power to deflect anything thrown at her, we discover Philip Marko now has the power of Pyrokinesis. After killing ten people at the high school and his mother, ShadowHawk stops him. A man-beast named Komodo kills Eddie's best friend, Steven "Skeeve" Evans and defeats him. The helmet, the source of ShadowHawk's power, is taken by Luke Hatfield JR, aka Hawk's Shadow, who steps in and kills Komodo before the final blow is dealt to Eddie. Hatfield starts going on a killing spree in the criminal underworld. After the funeral of his best friend, Eddie retreats into a chasm of depression and self-doubt. Later, Eddie sees the mysterious red haired girl at school. After Hatfield is hunted by the cops, his father the Silver Age ShadowHawk shows up, telling him he is a disgrace to the name and has to take off the costume. We discover Hawk's Shadow was formerly "Squirrel", the Silver Age ShadowHawk's sidekick. Eddie learns that Steven Evans knew he was ShadowHawk. Vendetta (a Crime czar and old Paul Johnstone villain)looks for a new brain for Komodo, to revive him. The Ancient Egyptian Gods (the "Nommo") tell Eddie that power of ShadowHawk is within him and to reclaim his heritage. With the help of the new Blacklight, and Astroman, Eddie goes after Hatfield and wins, taking back the helmet. Eddie Collins learning more about the past ShadowHawks that speak to him through his helmet: Halcón Sombrío in Mexico 1519, as written by Pedro Angosto and drawn by Carlos Rodriguez. Hawk and His Bird Shadow in London 1830, as written and drawn by THE SHARP BROTHERS. ShadowHawkGirl, New York 1974, as told by SCOTT WHERLE and drawn by JUAN FERREYRA and its part in the past of Paul Johnstone's life. After listening to the stories, Eddie Collins makes the decision that now he is going to be ShadowHawk on his terms, and after putting the helmet on, a new costume morphs around his body. ShadowHawk will go face-to-face with the a mysterious red haired girl named "Rebound" who may change his life forever. As ShadowHawk learns more about her, The Corpse comes out of the dark to attack them. Steven Evans' younger brother pays a visit to ZAP! and Vort-X, who direct him to Vendetta, so he can carry out his desire to kill ShadowHawk, for whom he blames for the death of his brother. Phillip Marko aka Arson is alive and Komodo's body now has Luke Hatfield, Jr.'s brain in it. After Eddie Collins learns Rebound's real name, Jen Lyter, the two make love. James Collins calls Lina Juarez thinking he was hurt, but she tells him Eddie may be out with a girl at 4:30am.

Silver Age ShadowHawk
The Silver Age ShadowHawk is a parody of the Dick Sprang-era Batman comics. He works out of the Shadowcave (based on the Batcave) which is in the basement of his house, has a Shadowcar (based on the Batmobile) and a Shadowdog (based on Ace the Bat-Hound). His wife and son are his crimefighting partners, Lady ShadowHawkette and Squirrel (based on Batwoman and Robin). Squirrel went on to become Hawk's Shadow (see above).

The Shadowhawk Special featured two Silver Age ShadowHawk stories. In The Hyena's Revenge ShadowHawk and Squirrel hunt the Hyena, a villain based on the Joker. The second was The Phantom Gorillas from Dimension-Z!. The Silver Age ShadowHawk also appeared with the Silver Age Knight Watchman in Big Bang Comics #2.

The story Rising in issue 11 of Jim Valentino's ShadowHawk described Hatfield Sr and his family's final fight against the Hyena and the death of Lady ShadowHawkette.

Ongoing and limited series

 * ShadowHawk Out of the Shadows #1 (August 1992)- 4 (March 1993)
 * ShadowHawk II The Secret Revealed #1 (May 1993)- 3 (August 1993)
 * ShadowHawk III Through the Past, Darkly #1 (November 1993)- 4 (March 1994)
 * Shadowhawk #12 (August 1994)- #18 (May 1995)
 * The New ShadowHawk #1 (June 1995)- 7 (March 1996)
 * Jim Valentino's ShadowHawk #1 (May 2005) - 15 (September 2006)

One-shot and team-ups

 * Image Zero (one shot): ShadowHawk was featured in a short story in Image Zero called "Prey".
 * ShadowHawk Gallery
 * Images of ShadowHawk #1-3
 * ShadowHawk Special #1 (December 1994)
 * ShadowHawk/Vampirella (February 1995)
 * Badrock & Company #6(February 1995)
 * Brigade #17-22 (February 1995-July 1995)
 * ShadowHawks of the Past (one-shot) is an anthology book that starred four ShadowHawks throughout history. A Western and Samurai, Shadowhawk for the French revolution, First Dynasty of Egypt. (November 1995)
 * ShadowHunt (one-shot) (April 1996)
 * Chapel vol II #7 (April 1996)
 * Youngblood vol II #7 (April 1996)
 * Team Youngblood #22 (April 1996)
 * New Man #4 (April 1996)
 * Shattered Image #1-4 (August 1996 - December 1996)
 * Mars Attacks Image #1-4 (December 1996 - April 1997)
 * Altered Image#1-3 (April 1998 - August 1998)
 * Sonic Super-Special #7 (October 1998)
 * Noble Causes: Family Secrets #3 (December 2002)
 * Invincible #8 (January 2004)
 * The Return of ShadowHawk (one shot) (December 2004)
 * The Pact #1-4 (April 2005) - (January 2006)
 * Shadowhawk One-Shot #1: "Great Responsibiliy" (July 2006)
 * Bomb Queen vs. Blacklight (one shot) (August 2006)
 * Dynamo 5 #1 (January 2007)

Toys
Two action figures of Shadowhawk have been released in the past by McFarlane Toys.

A new one has been announced to be released in series 1 of the new toy line Indie Spotlight by Shocker Toys.