Saturday, July 20, 2019

RAR: #38: HAWK (1967)



The masked cowboy hero Gunmaster, debuting in 1960, was not a particularly noteworthy western hero, even for Charlton. He did have a couple of unusual enemies in his "rogue's gallery," though, the most unusual being a costumed Indian named Hawk. There's no deep reason for the character to dress up in hawk-garb, except that Hawk happened to be his given name.

Strangely, in his origin tale scripter Joe Gill showed his sloppiness with characterization. Hawk is victimized by a white outlaw who tries to steal his horse, and because other whites accuse Hawk of murder, Gunmaster tracks the Indian down so that he can be tried in court. Hawk claims that white man's justice is unfair to Indians, Gunmaster denies this, and Hawk is promptly sentenced to several years for "manslaughter." Way to make a villain, Gunmaster!

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