When I started the Hawkgirl cover girl collection, I figured that I was going to only collect about a dozen Silver age comic books and I was only going to purchase what I could afford. It began with a joke when I was explaining to my son my comic book reading habits of the 1960s. I explained how I had once referred to Hawkgirl as a “rare-bird” because she rarely appeared on the cover of any comic books, but this was a bit of conjecture on my part. I recalled when I first saw Hawkgirl on a cover – and today I know that as being the cover of Hawkman #3 (Sep 1964) – I figured that the girl in “Hawkgirl” meant that she was literally a “girl” and not a grown woman. Also, that she was most certainly not the wife of Hawkman. How dare she be married?

I thought she was Katar’s daughter, maybe a niece and or a ward as Robin was to Batman. At some point, I learned that Hawkgirl (aka Shayera Hol aka Shiera Hall) was in fact the wife of Hawkman (aka Katar Hol aka Carter Hall). From 1964 to 1968 there were a total of 27 issues of the Hawkman series published and of those 27 issues, Hawkgirl appeared on only six covers (#3, #9, #14, #19, #21, #25). This is what I must have noticed and hence my calling each time she appeared “a rare bird sighting.”
Not too long after I told my son the story of the “rare bird”, I had a conversation with my 90-year old mother. I was attempting to explain to her that I had recently developed a passion for comic books & animated series and that was not reading or watching anything else. I then reminded her how she had thrown away my comic collection when I was a senior in high school. You can read that story here, but this was also when my mother suggested that I just start a new collection.
I joked that I had already started collecting comic books again and I told her of how I was scouring Amazon to find good deals on the trade-paperback editions of the “Showcase Presents…” series. This is a line of black-and-white paperback books published by DC Comics. The line is designed primarily to focus on the Silver Age DC stories. Each book is about 500 pages and the SRP for each is $17. I have been able to find used books in “Used – Very Good” condition being sold for six to eight dollars plus shipping. I started with the two volumes that collect the Hawkman series from the mid-sixties and now have about two dozen volumes. The collection includes most of the silver age titles such as Green Lantern and Justice League of America. Each volume is focused on a specific character. Supergirl has two volumes and Batgirl has one also.
It was when saw that I could have the collection of Silver age Hawkgirl covers for around $50, I completed the collection in only a couple months. When I had them all, I thought: “Gee, that was too easy!” and that was when I started working on a comprehensive list.
It took me about eight months to complete the comprehensive list of Hawkgirl/Covergirl covers. I used the resources of two websites. The first one was comicbookdb.com – “The Comic Book Database”. Using the “Character” search I was able to get lists of where each of the multiple incarnations appeared. When you search for Hawkgirl/Character you will a list of about 15 versions of the character; however, only nine are of the main continuity of DC Comics. They are categorized by the continuity to which they belong: Pre-Crisis (Earths 1 & 2), Post-Crisis, Post-Blackest Night, or Post-Flashpoint. Basically, there are four “versions” of Hawkgirl – Shiera Saunders-Hall of the Golden Age, Shayara Hol of the Silver age, Shayera Thal of the Dark age, and the modern age Kendra Saunders.
The first website provided me with lists of where she appeared. This meant she appeared within the story, but with no indication of the character appearing on the cover. Getting the answer to that question, required that I examine each cover. To do this I used a second website called dc.wikia.com. Here I was able to view galleries displaying all the covers of a specific series that the character appeared in. All totaled there were about 50 different series that Hawkgirl appeared in at least once. In some series, she appeared dozens of times. As one may imagine, this was very time-consuming.
So far, the list consists of 211 covers of which I have 161 bagged and boarded. What follows is the lists for the bronze, dark and modern age of comic books. Since June of this year, four new covers have been added to list.
Here are the details:
Golden Age
Starting with the golden age of comic books, which is roughly the decade of the 1940s and the early 1950s, both Hawkgirl and Hawkman appeared between the covers of two series, Flash Comics and All-Star Comics. Hawkgirl made her debut as Hawkgirl in All-Star Comics #8 (Dec 1941), but before that she appeared in almost every Hawkman story since the first one in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940). However, in the nine years between 1940 and 1948, Shiera “Hawkgirl” Saunders appeared on only 9 covers:
She appeared on three covers as Shiera (#7, #11, #19) – All covers by Sheldon Moldoff
She was on three covers as Hawkgirl without a mask: (#29, #37, #39) – All covers by Sheldon Moldoff
And she appears on three covers as Hawkgirl with a mask (#85, #87, #94) – All covers by Joe Kubert
Silver Age
Following Flash Comics #94 (April 1948), the Hawkgirl character did not appear again until 13 years later. In March 1961, writer Gardner F. Fox, artist Joe Kubert and editor Julius Schwartz revived the Hawks with new origin story. They were now married and had come to Earth from the planet Thanagar. On their home planet they were police officers and they arrived here in pursuit of an intra-galactic criminal. Katar Hol and his wife/partner Shayera had tracked to Earth a notorious shapeshifter named Blyth Rok. The silver age Hawks were introduced in Brave and the Bold #34.

Hawkgirl appeared on the covers of Brave and the Bold #34, #35, #36. Those three issues and the nine from the golden age are outside my price range. So, my collection begins with Hawkman #3. I paid $9 for one rated Good (GD+ 2.5). One of the Brave and the Bold covers, rated the same would cost at least $40, if not a couple of hundred dollars.
The Silver-Age, Earth-1 Hawkgirl appeared on a total of 14 covers. Except for the first three, I have the rest. At first, this was my only goal.
Title |
Issue |
Month |
Year |
Paid |
The Brave and the Bold (1955) |
#34 |
Feb/Mar |
1961 |
|
The Brave and the Bold (1955) |
#35 |
Apr/May |
1961 |
|
The Brave and the Bold (1955) |
#36 |
Jun/Jul |
1961 |
|
Hawkman (1964) |
#3 |
Aug/Sep |
1964 |
US $6.00 |
Hawkman (1964) |
#9 |
Aug/Sep |
1965 |
US $4.99 |
Hawkman (1964) |
#14 |
Jun/Jul |
1966 |
US $6.70 |
Hawkman (1964) |
#19 |
Apr/May |
1967 |
US $6.00 |
Hawkman (1964) |
#21 |
Aug/Sep |
1967 |
US $5.99 |
Hawkman (1964) |
#25 |
Apr/May |
1968 |
US $6.70 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#72 |
June |
1969 |
US $6.00 |
Adventure Comics (1938) |
#413 |
December |
1971 |
US $3.60 |
Adventure Comics (1938) |
#416 |
March |
1972 |
US $6.70 |
Superman (1939) |
#252 |
June |
1972 |
US $11.00 |
Secret Origins (1973) |
#1 |
Feb/Mar |
1973 |
US $14.00 |
Bronze Age (56 covers)
Justice League of America (1960) |
#121 |
August |
1975 |
US $3.40 |
Four Star Spectacular (1976) |
#4 |
Sep/Oct |
1976 |
US $2.70 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#135 |
October |
1976 |
US $4.00 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#145 |
August |
1977 |
US $6.70 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#146 |
September |
1977 |
US $6.40 |
Secret Society of Super-Villains (1976) |
#7 |
May/Jun |
1977 |
US $2.50 |
Showcase (1956) |
#101 |
June |
1978 |
US $1.89 |
Showcase (1956) |
#102 |
July |
1978 |
US $1.89 |
Showcase (1956) |
#103 |
August |
1978 |
US $1.89 |
Wonder Woman (1942) |
#249 |
November |
1978 |
US $4.80 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#163 |
February |
1979 |
US $1.80 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#170 |
September |
1979 |
US $3.40 |
World’s Finest Comics (1941) |
#256 |
Apr/May |
1979 |
US $3.99 |
World’s Finest Comics (1941) |
#257 |
Jun/Jul |
1979 |
US $3.60 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#176 |
March |
1980 |
US $4.00 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#181 |
August |
1980 |
US $1.70 |
DC Comics Presents (1978) |
#37 |
September |
1981 |
US $4.20 |
Detective Comics (1937) |
#500 |
March |
1981 |
US $2.60 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#188 |
March |
1981 |
US $4.00 |
All-Star Squadron (1981) |
#6 |
February |
1982 |
US $4.00 |
All-Star Squadron (1981) |
#7 |
March |
1982 |
US $3.40 |
All-Star Squadron (1981) |
#8 |
April |
1982 |
US $2.99 |
All-Star Squadron (1981) |
#9 |
May |
1982 |
US $1.70 |
All-Star Squadron (1981) |
#10 |
June |
1982 |
US $2.80 |
All-Star Squadron (1981) |
#11 |
July |
1982 |
US $1.70 |
All-Star Squadron (1981) |
#12 |
August |
1982 |
US $2.99 |
Wonder Woman (1942) |
#300 |
February |
1983 |
US $3.00 |
DC Comics Presents (1978) |
#74 |
October |
1984 |
US $4.40 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#222 |
January |
1984 |
US $2.40 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#225 |
April |
1984 |
US $3.90 |
Justice League of America (1960) |
#227 |
June |
1984 |
US $4.49 |
All-Star Squadron (1981) |
#46 |
June |
1985 |
US $2.60 |
All-Star Squadron (1981) |
#51 |
November |
1985 |
US $3.90 |
The Shadow War of Hawkman (1985) |
#1 |
May |
1985 |
US $1.80 |
The Shadow War of Hawkman (1985) |
#4 |
August |
1985 |
US $2.40 |
Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe (1985) |
#10 |
December |
1985 |
US $1.70 |
All-Star Squadron (1981) |
#53 |
January |
1986 |
US $2.99 |
All-Star Squadron (1981) |
#59 |
July |
1986 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#1 |
August |
1986 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#2 |
September |
1986 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#3 |
October |
1986 |
US $1.80 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#4 |
November |
1986 |
US $2.40 |
Hawkman Special (1986) |
#1 |
|
1986 |
US $1.70 |
Infinity, Inc. (1984) |
#30 |
September |
1986 |
US $2.40 |
Action Comics (1938) |
#588 |
May |
1987 |
US $2.60 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#6 |
January |
1987 |
US $2.60 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#8 |
March |
1987 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#10 |
May |
1987 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#11 |
June |
1987 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#12 |
July |
1987 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#13 |
August |
1987 |
US $2.60 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#14 |
September |
1987 |
US $2.60 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#15 |
October |
1987 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (1986) |
#16 |
November |
1987 |
US $1.70 |
Young All-Stars (1987) |
#2 |
July |
1987 |
US $1.70 |
Power of the Atom (1988) |
#4 |
November |
1988 |
US $1.70 |
Dark Age (21 covers)
Hawkworld (1990) |
Annual 01 |
Annual |
1990 |
US $1.79 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#1 |
June |
1990 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#2 |
July |
1990 |
US $1.79 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#4 |
September |
1990 |
US $1.79 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
Annual 02 |
Annual |
1991 |
US $1.79 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#7 |
January |
1991 |
US $1.79 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#8 |
February |
1991 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#10 |
April |
1991 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#14 |
August |
1991 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#16 |
October |
1991 |
US $1.70 |
Armageddon: Inferno (1992) |
#2 |
May |
1992 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
Annual 03 |
Annual |
1992 |
US $1.79 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#20 |
February |
1992 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#22 |
April |
1992 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#23 |
June |
1992 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#25 |
August |
1992 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkworld (1990) |
#29 |
December |
1992 |
US $1.70 |
Justice Society of America (1992) |
#1 |
August |
1992 |
US $4.20 |
Darkstars (1992) |
#5 |
February |
1993 |
US $1.70 |
Darkstars (1992) |
#6 |
March |
1993 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (1993) |
#5 |
January |
1994 |
US $1.75 |
Modern Age (110 covers)
All Star Comics (1999) |
#2 |
Late May |
1999 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#1 |
August |
1999 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#2 |
September |
1999 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#3 |
October |
1999 |
|
Sensation Comics (1999) |
#1 |
May |
1999 |
US $1.80 |
JLA (1997) |
#41 |
May |
2000 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#6 |
January |
2000 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#13 |
August |
2000 |
|
Legend of the Hawkman (2000) |
#1 |
July |
2000 |
|
Legend of the Hawkman (2000) |
#2 |
August |
2000 |
|
Legend of the Hawkman (2000) |
#3 |
September |
2000 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#18 |
January |
2001 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#19 |
February |
2001 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#20 |
March |
2001 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#21 |
April |
2001 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#25 |
August |
2001 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#26 |
September |
2001 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#28 |
November |
2001 |
|
Hawkman (2002) |
#4 |
August |
2002 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#7 |
November |
2002 |
US $1.70 |
JLA (1997) |
#69 |
Early October |
2002 |
|
JLA (1997) |
#71 |
Early November |
2002 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#36 |
July |
2002 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#38 |
September |
2002 |
|
Catwoman (2002) |
#24 |
December |
2003 |
|
Hawkman (2002) |
#13 |
May |
2003 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#15 |
July |
2003 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#16 |
August |
2003 |
US $1.70 |
JLA/Avengers (2003) |
#3 |
November |
2003 |
|
JSA (1999) |
#43 |
February |
2003 |
|
JSA: All Stars (2003) |
#2 |
August |
2003 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#22 |
February |
2004 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#23 |
Early March |
2004 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#26 |
May |
2004 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#28 |
July |
2004 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#30 |
September |
2004 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#33 |
December |
2004 |
US $1.70 |
JSA (1999) |
#63 |
September |
2004 |
|
JSA: All Stars (2003) |
#8 |
February |
2004 |
|
Countdown to Infinite Crisis (2005) |
#1 |
April |
2005 |
|
Hawkman (2002) |
#34 |
January |
2005 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#36 |
March |
2005 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#40 |
July |
2005 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#42 |
September |
2005 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#44 |
November |
2005 |
US $1.70 |
JSA (1999) |
#74 |
August |
2005 |
|
JSA Strange Adventures (2004) |
#4 |
January |
2005 |
|
Justice (2005) |
#1 |
October |
2005 |
|
Rann/Thanagar War (2005) |
#2 |
August |
2005 |
|
Rann/Thanagar War (2005) |
#3 |
September |
2005 |
|
Rann/Thanagar War (2005) |
#5 |
November |
2005 |
|
Rann/Thanagar War (2005) |
#6 |
December |
2005 |
|
52 (2006) |
#26 |
November |
2006 |
|
52 (2006) |
#5 |
June |
2006 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#50 |
May |
2006 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#51 |
June |
2006 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#52 |
July |
2006 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#53 |
August |
2006 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#54 |
September |
2006 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#55 |
October |
2006 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#56 |
November |
2006 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#57 |
December |
2006 |
|
Hawkman (2002) |
#47 |
February |
2006 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#48 |
March |
2006 |
US $1.70 |
Hawkman (2002) |
#49 |
April |
2006 |
US $1.70 |
Justice (2005) |
#7 |
October |
2006 |
|
Justice League of America (2006) |
#2 |
November |
2006 |
|
Birds of Prey (1999) |
#100 |
January |
2007 |
|
Birds of Prey (1999) |
#107 |
August |
2007 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#59 |
February |
2007 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#60 |
March |
2007 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#61 |
April |
2007 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#62 |
May |
2007 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#63 |
June |
2007 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#64 |
July |
2007 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#65 |
August |
2007 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#66 |
September |
2007 |
|
Hawkgirl (2006) |
#58 |
January |
2007 |
US $1.70 |
Justice League of America (2006) |
#7 |
May |
2007 |
|
Justice League of America (2006) |
#12 |
October |
2007 |
|
Justice League of America (2006) |
#14 |
December |
2007 |
|
Justice League of America (2006) |
#5 |
February |
2007 |
US $2.60 |
Justice League of America (2006) |
#15 |
January |
2008 |
|
Justice League of America (2006) |
#19 |
May |
2008 |
|
Justice League of America (2006) |
#21 |
July |
2008 |
|
Justice League of America (2006) |
#22 |
August |
2008 |
|
Justice League of America (2006) |
#23 |
September |
2008 |
|
Justice League of America (2006) |
#25 |
November |
2008 |
|
Justice Society of America (2007) |
#17 |
August |
2008 |
|
Blackest Night (2009) |
#3 |
November |
2009 |
|
Justice League of America (2006) |
#28 |
February |
2009 |
|
Justice League of America (2006) |
#30 |
April |
2009 |
|
Justice Society of America (2007) |
#26 |
June |
2009 |
|
Brightest Day (2010) |
#0 |
June |
2010 |
|
Brightest Day (2010) |
#0 |
June |
2010 |
|
Brightest Day (2010) |
#1 |
Early July |
2010 |
|
Brightest Day (2010) |
#3 |
Early August |
2010 |
|
Brightest Day (2010) |
#4 |
Late August |
2010 |
|
Brightest Day (2010) |
#11 |
Early December |
2010 |
|
Brightest Day (2010) |
#8 |
Late October |
2010 |
US $1.70 |
Justice League: Generation Lost (2010) |
#8 |
Late October |
2010 |
|
Brightest Day (2010) |
#13 |
Early January |
2011 |
US $1.70 |
Brightest Day (2010) |
#18 |
Late March |
2011 |
US $1.70 |
Brightest Day (2010) |
#23 |
Early June |
2011 |
US $1.70 |
The Savage Hawkman (2011) |
#13 |
December |
2012 |
|
Convergence Hawkman (2015) |
#1 |
June |
2015 |
|
Death of Hawkman (2016) |
#5 |
April |
2017 |
|
Justice League (2018) |
#2 |
August |
2018 |
|
Justice League (2018) |
#1 |
Early August |
2018 |
US $3.99 |
Wonder Woman (2016) |
#48 |
Early August |
2018 |
WL |