Superheroes typically possess a deeply entrenched set of moral principles including principles of justice, honor, and respect. Today, we will examine the life of the “Shadowhawk,” a superhero who embodied justice in every sense of the word. The “spirit of justice,” which gave them the moniker “Shadowhawk,” was inhabited by men and women of all ages when there was no one to defend the populace against corruption and crime.
The most well-known of the Shadowhawks, Paul Johnstone, made his comic book debut in 1992’s “Youngblood.” We will look at Paul Johnstone’s vigilante tale arc today, as well as some of the people who have adopted the Shadowhawk moniker.
The troubled origins of Paul Johnstone – the most popular Shadowhawk!
Paul Johnstone was invented by “Jim Valentine” and made his debut in the Youngblood series of Image Comics.
After his father passed away, Paul moved in with his mother in Harlem and had a very difficult upbringing. He occasionally dabbled in minor crimes and was once detained for stealing when he was quite young. Following his arrest, Paul began working with a caseworker named “Richard Woodroe,” who assisted him in leaving a life of crime. Even so, Woodroe served as Paul’s parent figure. He later wed Paul’s mother and took on the role of stepfather. A boy named “Hojo” was even born to Woodroe and his mother.
Paul then pursued legal education before rising to the position of district attorney. He was a very honorable lawyer with a solid reputation for refusing to take bribes from corrupt officials. Over time, though, there was more pressure to take bribes, and once a mobster attacked Paul in his own office. They made a big public scene by injecting him with blood that was tainted with HIV.
Following this occurrence, Paul was unsure if he had contracted the H.I.V. virus or not. Additionally, he began to experience significant harassment at work as a result of the attack’s widespread publicity. Paul even got into a confrontation with one of his coworkers named “Hollis,” which cost him his job and ultimately resulted in an arrest. After being released from jail, Paul got tested for H.I.V., and the results were positive.
While returning from the hospital, Paul came across a gang that started threatening him. Paul lost his calm and tried to attack the entire gang but only ended up getting mugged. He even suffered some injuries and was then admitted to the hospital. He started feeling depressed and finally decided to use whatever time he had left to bring justice to society.
He even got some help from Christina Reid, a former cop who had just been fired from the police force. Christina visited Paul at the hospital and told him about a suit of armour she had been developing along with a man named Carlton Sun. They had created this suit so that a ‘Shining Knight’ could take back the city from the corrupt criminals, and Paul was ready to take this role.
Paul then decided to wear this suit of armour, and he took over this new identity of the ‘Shadowhawk.’ He derived this name from his favourite superhero, and this name would also eventually lure the psychotic villain named ‘Hawk’s Shadow’ who believed he was the true bearer of the Shadowhawk spirit.
Christina trained Paul to fight effectively, while Carlton helped Paul get equipped with weapons and other equipment. Paul also needed to focus on his health, and he always kept some pills that helped slow down the effects of H.I.V. in a small pouch in his armour.
He then restarted his life with a new purpose and was initially very brutal while defeating criminals. He would break their spines, injure them, and then leave them to be discovered by the cops or other authorities. Shadowhawk would leave no signs of his presence at the scene, and this vigilante soon became an urban legend that was sought out by criminals as well as the police.
He once faced the superhuman villain ‘Arson’ who was sent by the crime lord ‘Vendetta’ to burn down all the slums in Manhattan. Shadowhawk tracked Arson down, but he faced difficulties in defeating this supernatural being since he was only trained to defeat regular criminals. However, Shadowhawk eventually managed to penetrate Arson’s fuel tank, which caused the villain’s armoured suit to blow up and explode.
While Shadowhawk believed that Arson had died, the villain took the form of a burning figure and rushed back to Vendetta. In the meantime, Shadowhawk went after the alien ‘Liquifier,’ who was also responsible for killing Manhattan residents by liquifying their bodies. He defeated Liquifier and later returned home to find that his younger brother ‘Hojo’ had been admitted to a hospital.
Hojo had overdosed on drugs, and Paul immediately rushed to visit him at the hospital. While Hojo seemed fine after receiving some medical treatment, he passed away the next day due to the drugs in his system. Paul then coped with his brother’s death by going into a rage and attacking a rapist on the streets. He was finally brought under control by ‘Savage Dragon,’ a superhero who was brought in by the police to stop Shadowhawk.
While Savage Dragon overpowered Shadowhawk, he was rescued by BlakJak, who helped him escape the Dragon. BlakJak later brought Shadowhawk to Vendetta, who wished to recruit him for her own gang. Shadowhawk solemnly refused and then decided to lie low for a few weeks until he recovered from the Dragon’s attack.
Around six weeks later, Shadowhawk learned that a villain named ‘Hawk’s Shadow’ had taken his identity and that this imposter was only attacking black men in New York. Shadowhawk then returned to the field and almost killed Hawk’s Shadow as punishment for his actions. Christina intervened at the last minute and ensured that Shadowhawk did not murder Hawk’s Shadow. While the NYPD arrives at the scene, Shadowhawk once again managed to escape. The police captain ‘Frakes’ was quite frustrated over not capturing Shadowhawk and went as far as to hire an assassin named ‘Jonathan Slaughter’ to kill Shadowhawk.
Jonathan assumed that Christina was actually Shadowhawk, and the mercenary broke into her house with the intention of killing her. Shadowhawk showed up at Christina’s house and saved her from Jonathan’s attack, after which the mercenary also decided to leave Shadowhawk alone. Jonathan even stated that he agreed with Shadowhawk’s brand of justice before stepping out of the picture.
Shadowhawk later faced some trouble with the rogue Regulators known as ‘Hardedge’ and ‘Vortex,’ who were both determined to kill him. Shadowhawk struggled to get his hands on the two due to his weakening body systems, and a lot of time passed before he even came across Hardedge again. It so happened that Shadowhawk intervened in a fight between Hardedge and Dedline, when ‘Vortex’ complained that her son was stuck inside the building where the battle was taking place.
The vigilante later discovered that the child was actually kidnapped by a group of homeless people who intended to sacrifice the baby to the ‘Underlord.’ He rescued the child and returned him to his mother, and later discovered that this Underlord was actually the alien-like form named ‘Liquifier.’ While Shadowhawk questioned if he should kill Liquifier, Vortex used her powers to vaporize this alien being and get rid of him for once and all.
Paul later joined the third ‘Brigade’ team, which was a group of vigilantes that fought against corrupt government organizations. He worked alongside Glory, Roman, Tremor, and Vanguard, among others, but he could not go on for long as his health started deteriorating.
He even became a lot less violent while fighting off criminals and started focusing more on finding a cure for his H.I.V. or some other way by which he could increase his lifespan. This led him to come across the superhero Supreme,’ but the two eventually had a fight which revealed Shadowhawk’s true identity to the whole world. He then sought the help of the Wild C.A.T.S, who came up with the idea of transplanting Paul’s consciousness into a robotic body. While this idea seemed like it would work, they failed to execute it properly. Paul also came across the hero known as Youngblood’s Chapel, who had also been infected with H.I.V.
Despite his countless efforts, Shadowhawk was unable to find a cure, and he eventually decided to give up on finding a treatment. He then went on one last mission as Shadowhawk, where he rescued his old mother from an attack by the evil Hawk’s Shadow. After saving his mother, Paul found himself in a weakened state and no longer had the strength to dodge the police.
Paul then gave up on his identity as the Shadowhawk and got himself admitted to a hospital where he eventually lost his life to H.I.V.
Exploring the first Shadowhawk and a few other notable ones!
The Shadowhawks actually originated from the gods of the mind known as ‘Nommo,’ who sent the Spirit of Justice to reincarnate the original Shadowhawk – an Egyptian Shaman. This Shaman was killed while meditating with the Nommo, who did not want to leave their disciple to die. The Nommo then decided to send the ‘Spirit of Justice’ to various men and women over a period of time, with the intention of collecting their souls to reincarnate the Shaman in the future.
There have been various Shadowhawks across the ages, ranging from Luke Hatfield to Eddie Collins.
Luke Hatfield Sr. was the ‘Silver Age’ Shadowhawk who used his family’s wealth to fight off crimes. However, he did not have an extensive arc and was later killed in an explosion orchestrated by ‘Vendetta.’ Luke Sr. later resurfaced in the comics during Eddie Collin’s story arc.
Luke’s Shadowhawk was followed by Paul Johnstone in the Youngblood comics, who was also known as the most popular of the Shadowhawks.
After Paul’s death, it was revealed that the Shadowhawk was a spirit that had taken over three people and even one robot. The WildC.A.T.S created this robot, and it went on a killing spree after being bestowed with the spirit of justice. The robot became known as ‘Justice’ and later had to be destroyed in the ‘New Man’ comics.
One of the most notable Shadowhawks was ‘Eddie Collins,’ an honourable young boy who always ensured that justice prevailed in the society. Eddie caught the eye of the mutant ‘New Man,’ who believed that Eddie would be a good fit for the Spirit of Justice. New Man then gave Eddie the ‘Helmet of Heru’, which helped him absorb the spirit and become the newest Shadowhawk. Eddie could communicate with all the past Shadowhawks by using this helmet, and he even meditated with the Nommo gods.
As he took on the role of Shadowhawk, Eddie used his newfound powers to get rid of crime in New York City. He faced the evil ‘Blacklight,’ who believed that Eddie was the son of the man that killed his wife. During their fight, Eddie accidentally killed Blacklight, who passed on his powers to ‘Lina Juarez.’
Eddie also faced some other villains, such as ‘Zap!’, an assassin with electrical powers, and ‘Nocturn,’ an evil being who had tricked Blacklight into going against Eddie. He also faced Hawk’s Shadow, the evil villain who had also stirred up trouble for Paul Johnstone.
Eddie tried to fight Hawk’s Shadow on his own, and Paul’s spirit later took over his body and defeated the villain once again. However, Hawk’s Shadow could not be destroyed, and he later teamed up with all of Shadowhawk’s other enemies, such as Lina Juarez and Arson.
Hawk’s Shadow even sent an assassin known as ‘Komodo’ to get his hands on Eddie’s helmet. While securing the helmet, Komodo went after Eddie’s best friend ‘Steven’ and killed him by beating him to death. Eddie was then filled with rage, and he became a brutal version of his past self and went on a spree to kill criminals. Since Hawk’s Shadow had managed to get his hands on Eddie’s helmet, the boy then got himself a new helmet and reemerged as the ‘new Shadowhawk.’
It was even revealed that Hawk’s Shadow was actually ‘Luke Hatflied Jr,’ that is, the son of the Shadowhawk from the Silver Age. Luke Sr. then tried to confront Luke Jr, and sought the help of ‘Astroman’ to control Luke Jr.
Eddie sought some help from the Nommo gods and finally forgave himself for the death of his best friend. He then planned an explosion to kill Luke Jr., but this blast ended up killing Luke Sr in an unfortunate turn of events. Eddie later confronted Luke Jr and even got his helmet back before beating him to the ground.
After getting his old helmet back, Eddie communicated with the other Shadowhawks and finally decided that he needed to rely on himself and learn from his mistakes without anyone else’s help. He then got rid of his old costume and began a new life as Shadowhawk. He went on to become an important part of the Image Universe and was even included in the ‘Youngbloods’ and the ‘Image United’ story arcs.
During the Image United crossover comics, Eddie suffered an attack by the Omega Spawn’s demons and was in critical condition. His father ‘James’ then offered himself as a sacrifice to the Nommo gods to save Eddie, which resulted in James transforming into the legendary Shadowhawk ‘Paul Johnstone.’ This marked Paul’s return as the Shadowhawk, and he soon returned to his former ways of ruthlessly dealing with criminals.
The Last Shadowhawk – to celebrate the 30th anniversary
Image Comics just released a special comic titled ‘The Last Shadowhawk’ to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the creation of this character. The comic was a one-shot issue and was created by Jim Valentine, the original creator of the Shadowhawks.
The comic began with a short recap of the Nommo Gods and how they created the Shadowhawks to preserve justice. The comic then raised the question of whether there should always be a Shadowhawk or if this Shadowhawk will be the last one to exist.
While this last Shadowhawk seems to be on the verge of dying, he wonders how he can barely keep his eyes open while he could easily take a beating years ago. Shadowhawk sees his entire life flashing before his eyes as he thinks about his family, city, enemies, and even the children of his enemies.
He then recalls one of his enemies named ‘Rache,’ who blamed Shadowhawk for crippling his father. Rache’s fists were like sledgehammers, and he asked Shadowhawk if he ever thought that his victims were also people while himself punching the vigilante to his death. Rache further blamed Shadowhawk for ruining people’s lives and even questioned who made him the judge, jury, and executioner. While Shadowhawk tried to reason with Rache by saying that he only fought criminals, Rache laughed in his face and stated that it was him who was the worst criminal of all.
As Shadowhawk’s life continued to flash before his eyes, he recalled a conversation with Rache where he insisted that he never really killed anyone and only injured people to the extent that they couldn’t attack anyone again. He stated that his victims were all criminals who had raped, murdered, or harassed people and that all he did was protect the innocent. Shadowhawk declared that he simply got these people off the streets, and Rache had retaliated by asking him the cost of doing this. Shadowhawk even replied by saying that this cost him everything and that he was just a man in a suit of armour in a world of aliens, demons, monsters, and corpses crouching in alleyways.
While Shadowhawk struggled to breathe, the Nommo gods declared that the fleshdeath was imminent and that they could renew him. They asked him if he was ready, and Shadowhawk only replied by saying that he was really tired.
While the Nommo declared that he was a part of the legacy, the vigilante stated that he was tired and that he just wanted to rest. The Gods offered to renew him with the souls of the ones who came before him and that he must undo the fleshdeath.
They were of the view that justice does not rest and that Shadowhawk must rise again. Finally, the superhero said that he did not want to rise, and the Nommo decided that there would be no renewal. Shadowhawk was then left to die and join the others of the past, as the Nommo took their leave after declaring that there would be no more fleshdeaths.
As the comic came to an end, Rache walked away from Shadowhawk’s dead body and declared that he finally got what he deserved.
This special comic issue had thirteen different covers that represented the various Shadowhawks over time, and it was a delightful treat for fans of the comics. The issue also ended with the poem ‘Do not go gentle into the night by Dylan Thomas, which was a wonderful tribute to the legacy of the Shadowhawks.
What makes Shadowhawk a remarkable hero?
The Shadowhawks were all given the Spirit of Justice, which boosted their strength, speed, agility, and even fighting skills. Moreover, Eddie Collin’s Shadowhawk even had the ability to contact the Nommo and seek their advice during battle. His Spirit also allowed him to create new armor and weapons that could be controlled with his mind.
While the Shadowhawks all shared the same Spirit, their equipment differed from one another. Luke Hatfield possessed a range of Shadow-themed weapons, whereas Eddie Collins was given the ‘Helmet of Heru.’ Paul Johnstone had a high-tech suit equipped with a range of features such as infrared lenses to help with night vision, retractable clowns, and even tiny boomerang shurikens, which were tiny star-shaped blades. Paul’s suit was also bulletproof and helped increase his strength and speed.
Besides getting strength from his suit, Paul Johnstone was also skilled in hand-to-hand combat. He had extensive training and skills when it came to fighting his opponents, and he was especially known for breaking their spines with just his hands. However, Paul’s abilities suffered greatly after being infected with the H.I.V. virus. He eventually had to give up on his fighting skills and only rely on his armour and weapons to defeat his opponents.
Conclusion
Over the course of years, the Spirit of Justice has been well preserved by various Shadowhawks that have all upheld the value of justice and proved their worth as superheroes. Ranging from Paul Johnstone to Eddie Collins, all the Shadowhawks have had very interesting storylines that captivated readers for a very long time. The Shadowhawks definitely had more potential in the future as well, and it’s quite unfortunate that these storylines were put on hold after Paul’s reincarnation.