Hawkgirl vs. Wonder Woman

The other day I posted some incorrect information, I stated that Hawkgirl made her first appearance 22 months before Wonder Woman made hers. Technically, that is incorrect. It was Hawkgirl’s alter-ego, Shiera Sanders who first appeared in Flash Comics #13 in January 1940 – 22 months before Wonder Woman. The fact is that they both appeared for the first time in the same comic book issue. Here are the details…

Although Shiera Sanders did wear a hawk costume earlier, she did not don the Hawkgirl costume for the first time as “Hawkgirl” until All-Star Comics #8 (Dec 1941) and she showed up that same month as “Hawkgirl” in Flash Comics #24.

It was in All-Star Comics #8 that Wonder Woman also made her first appearance – in a story separate from the one where Hawkgirl appeared.

Shiera did appear earlier that summer disguised as “Hawkman” in All-Star Comics #5, I guess that does not count. Yet considering that she first appeared as Hawkgirl several pages before Wonder Woman, one could argue that no matter how you look at it Hawkgirl has been around longer than Wonder Woman, even if it is only by a few pages.

The following month (Jan 1942) Wonder Woman made her 2nd debut this time on the cover of Sensation Comics #1.

So, when did Hawkgirl first appear on a cover? Answer: Flash Comics #37 January 1943.

While we are on the topic of appearances, we come full circle to something I wrote about in one of the earliest posts on this blog and that is where I made mention of observation I made 50 years ago regarding “rare Hawkgirl sightings”.

Here are the details…

As shown above, Hawkgirl’s first ever cover appearance was Flash Comics #37 January 1943 and you will note that she is not in full costume – she is not wearing a mask.

Her second cover appearance was Flash Comics #39 March 1943 and again she is not wearing a mask.

Hawkgirl did not appear on a cover of in full costume until 6 years after her debut. This was on the cover of Flash Comics #85 July 1947.

The golden age of comic books ended in the very early 1950s, but it ended for the Hawks a little bit earlier and golden age Hawkgirl’s 4th and final cover appearance was on Flash Comics #91 January 1948.

Hawkgirl did not appear again until the debut appearance of the silver age Hawks in 1961. The revised Hawkgirl and Hawkman appeared together on the cover of The Brave and the Bold #34 in March 1961. I was six years old that year and I do not think I started buying and reading comics until 1963.

Things had improved for Hawkgirl and she appeared on the next two The Brave and the Bold issues, but that was it. Before the pair got their own title, their stories were hosted in 12 other issues. Hawkman appeared on all 12 covers except one and Hawkgirl appeared on only 3 of those twelve covers.

Then came the Hawkman series of 27 issues that ran from 1964 to 1968. From what I had read Hawkgirl appeared in all 27 issues except for six issues. I have since determined that is not true. (I am currently about mid-way through reading the opera omnia of the silver age Hawks. “mid-way” as in Midway City, I guess.)

Now I ask this question: On how many covers of the “Hawkman” series did Hawkgirl appear?

To answer that question, I went here to Hawkman Covers and I eye-balled every cover.

Answer: 6 out of 27 (Issues #3, 9, 14, 19, 21, and 24)