Darkhawk #44 (V1)

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The issue begins with Chris and his father, Mike, watching the news coverage of Portal’s fight with the Shaper. Just when Portal seems defeated, he suddenly leaps up and delivers a hard kick to The Shaper. Portal manages to reach his gun and shoots The Shaper, but the weapons seems to have no effect. The Shaper lifts up a mailbox and shapes it into a ball and chain, which he nearly hits Portal with. Portal begins using his teleportation power to continue to strike at the Shaper from different places; but one lucky strike from The Shaper knocks the wind out of Portal. The Shaper than grabs a portion of a brick wall and rips it off, shaping it in his hands to become a spiked ball of concrete death. Portal uses one of the many devices he’s acquired through his dimensional travels to escape. The fight continues, and even as Chris watches from the television, he suddenly thinks he sees a way for The Shaper to be defeated! He excuses himself from his father and heads for the battle.

In Null Space, Ned continues to study the alien who had been trapped in the Darkhawk stasis field, unaware that another ship, with its crew plotting revenge, draws ever closer.

Back to the fight, Portal learns that The Shaper not only shapes items, but he can imbue it with energy as well. The fight goes on, and Portal discovers everything that he throws at The Shaper, the Shaper seems to be able to counter. Chris arrives at the scene and breaks through the cop line that had been formed. The Shaper manages to get the best of Portal, but that’s when Chris arrives and uses his belt to cover The Shaper’s eyes. Shaper throws Chris against a car, buying Portal the time he needs to escape. Portal dodges Shaper, and drags Chris to safety. Chris tells Portal that when Shaper uses his power, he hesitates while he powers up; but when Portal tests the theory, he appears to be wrong, causing Portal to be wounded. Portal sprays Shaper with some material; to which Shaper laughs that he will be able to control the material; but it’s that time, while Shaper is trying to synch with the material, that Portal takes advantage, and begins severely beating on the Shaper, finally defeating him. Portal is about to kill him when Chris steps between them, telling Portal that he swore to uphold Darkhawk’s legacy, and that Darkhawk wasn’t a killer. Portal finally agrees, but tells Chris to stay out of the way and out of his life, and leave the hero business to the super heroes.

At home, Chris continues to move his stuff out, and Grace has accepted her new position; Mike, feeling inadequate goes to the office, picks up the phone, and calls someone, asking, “When do we start?”

In Null Space, the shadowed figures draw closer to the Darkhawk Ship; and we see they are the same aliens, from which the one in the Darkhawk Ship has remained in stasis for a long time… and they’re seeking revenge against… Portal!