HAWK THE SLAYER: WATCH FOR ME IN THE NIGHT
Written by Garth Ennis
Artwork by Henry Flint
Cover Art by Greg Staples
Letters by Rob Steen
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After the events of Hawk the Slayer (1980) the man known as Hawk still dwells in his forest world, anticipating when his dead brother Voltan will return from the dead. The Black Wizards helped ease the pain of his brother's ruined eye, which led to him killing Hawk's wife, Elaine. When a hooded guy at a tavern is revealed to have empty eye sockets crawling with maggots it would appear that Voltan is back and Hawk must gather his surviving old allies to end his maggot-faced brother's new evil plans to take over - and to take Hawk's Mindsword's elfin stone in it's hilt.
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I do remember seeing Hawk the Slayer on DVD once, but I wasn't as impressed with it as actor Simon Pegg was as he explains in his introduction to this book.
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Then again he saw it as a kid in 1980 and I was an adult. The guy playing Hawk wasn't all that charismatic even as Jack Palance as Voltan chewed on the scenery. The effects were hokey as quick cuts were supposed to be rapid firing of arrows and someone was covered in silly string at one point.
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The whole film felt very grey and bleak with the age difference between the two brothers of Hawk and Voltan (whose character has a grown son in the film) confusing me. It all felt very D&D inspired while trying also to have some Star Wars ideas thrown in. The film didn't seem to have enough money to do this fantasy right and they seemed to hang around the abbey set too much. The film is more of it's a "so bad it's good" thing for me and actually wound up on Rifftrax at one point.
This comic on the other hand seems to work better as they can do anything and add new characters while not expanding the world too much. There is a maid to the sisters at the abbey who winds up being the daughter of the character of Ranulf from the film, who inherits his auto-crossbow and a seemingly needed worthless bard tagging along for comic relief. The plan of Voltan to have the monks who the sisters serve become debauched to de-sanctify the abbey and the subservient role the women there serve are pretty much par for the course for Ennis, who slams religion in a lot of his works.
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While Hawk using his mind-controlled Mindsword looks neat in the comic, the character remains as stoic as he was in the film. Luckily, there's plenty of action here. He's still alone and stern-looking despite time passing. Voltan is now more evil and inhuman than before and his treachery knows no bounds. The secret of the Mindsword and its origins along with a nasty shock near the climax also make the story more interesting.
Hawk isn't that charismatic as a hero, but at least the story is more interesting here than in the film. Recommended.
Written by Garth Ennis
Artwork by Henry Flint
Cover Art by Greg Staples
Letters by Rob Steen
After the events of Hawk the Slayer (1980) the man known as Hawk still dwells in his forest world, anticipating when his dead brother Voltan will return from the dead. The Black Wizards helped ease the pain of his brother's ruined eye, which led to him killing Hawk's wife, Elaine. When a hooded guy at a tavern is revealed to have empty eye sockets crawling with maggots it would appear that Voltan is back and Hawk must gather his surviving old allies to end his maggot-faced brother's new evil plans to take over - and to take Hawk's Mindsword's elfin stone in it's hilt.
I do remember seeing Hawk the Slayer on DVD once, but I wasn't as impressed with it as actor Simon Pegg was as he explains in his introduction to this book.
Then again he saw it as a kid in 1980 and I was an adult. The guy playing Hawk wasn't all that charismatic even as Jack Palance as Voltan chewed on the scenery. The effects were hokey as quick cuts were supposed to be rapid firing of arrows and someone was covered in silly string at one point.
The whole film felt very grey and bleak with the age difference between the two brothers of Hawk and Voltan (whose character has a grown son in the film) confusing me. It all felt very D&D inspired while trying also to have some Star Wars ideas thrown in. The film didn't seem to have enough money to do this fantasy right and they seemed to hang around the abbey set too much. The film is more of it's a "so bad it's good" thing for me and actually wound up on Rifftrax at one point.
This comic on the other hand seems to work better as they can do anything and add new characters while not expanding the world too much. There is a maid to the sisters at the abbey who winds up being the daughter of the character of Ranulf from the film, who inherits his auto-crossbow and a seemingly needed worthless bard tagging along for comic relief. The plan of Voltan to have the monks who the sisters serve become debauched to de-sanctify the abbey and the subservient role the women there serve are pretty much par for the course for Ennis, who slams religion in a lot of his works.
While Hawk using his mind-controlled Mindsword looks neat in the comic, the character remains as stoic as he was in the film. Luckily, there's plenty of action here. He's still alone and stern-looking despite time passing. Voltan is now more evil and inhuman than before and his treachery knows no bounds. The secret of the Mindsword and its origins along with a nasty shock near the climax also make the story more interesting.
Hawk isn't that charismatic as a hero, but at least the story is more interesting here than in the film. Recommended.
statistics: Posted by Tomatto — 4:33 AM - Today — Replies 0 — Views 226