There’s a catch however, if you’re expecting Chris Powell. If you read the latest Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk you would know – Chris sacrificed himself and sent his Darkhawk gem through a portal back to Earth.
With the writing duties going to Kyle Higgins, and the artist is Juanan Ramirez, and colorist being Erick Arciniega – the team introduces a new character by the name of Connor Young, who is facing a life changing diagnosis (he’s diagnosed with multiple sclerosis) when things seem to get worse for Connor – just before he finds the amulet.
So Connor becomes the new Darkhawk and sports a new look (the helmet looks like a variation we’ve seen before) – but the body suit and arm piece are certainly different.
Higgins is quoted as saying, “He (Chris Powell) wasn’t transforming into Darkhawk,” Higgins said. “His body was swapping places with an Android housed in Null space. That’s something I really wanted to get back to with Connor– it’s a dynamic I find super fascinating. There’s quite a bit of Miracleman in there and I can’t wait to dive in and explore it, especially with Connor’s diagnosis. What does maintaining a synaptic link — and control over the android — look like when you have a neurodegenerative condition like multiple sclerosis?”
So it looks like the origin of Darkhawk is going to change again; back to something that was established in the original series (and then erased as “madness” during the Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning run of Darkhawk later). But it looks like they’re also keeping some aspects of what Dan and Andy did; [Higgins] mentioning specifically, “If readers missed the Heart of the Hawk one shot we did earlier this year, I’d recommend they check it out. All three stories connect, as Juanan and I built the final page together to chronicle the final moments of Chris Powell, as he downloads his experiences to the Datasong and the Amulet. So, what does that mean for Connor? Will he be able to access that information? And what actually happened to Chris? Those will all come along. As Connor learns more about what he’s been drafted into.”
However, Higgins also said, “There’s no Raptors in this first story, no. We’ll see what the future holds!”
Below are some of the covers and variant covers –
Updated August 5, 2021 – Adding Additional Images –