It's a (Hawk)man's world

Can't recall if I've mentioned it before or not, but as a kid Hawkman was one of my favorite superheroes.  This was because I didn't really start reading comics until about age 11 or 12, so virtually all of my early exposure to superheroes came through movies and cartoons.

I especially enjoyed Challenge of the Superfriends with its large ensemble of heroes.  I suspect Hawkman appealed to me because he looked so different from the other characters (maybe the same reasons I like Apache Chief and Black Vulcan).  

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/7041883047

In any event, I've had a soft spot for the character ever since.  Through the 90s it felt like being a fan of Hawkman was almost something to be ashamed of.  Perhaps there never was the widespread judgy animus against Hawkman that I perceived. (I was a teenager after all, and that leads to all sorts of social anxieties...some of which are even real.)  

At any rate, today I get the sense that Hawkman is starting to get a little more respect again.  In part this is because I'm finding interesting character stories like Dan Greenfield's "Thirteen things you didn't know about Hawkman."