Hawkman (Volume 2) #4 is an issue of the series Hawkman (Volume 2) with a cover date of November, 1986.
Synopsis for "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite"
Hawkman and Hawkwoman host the Fifth Annual Festival of Flight, an aeronautic show put on by the Midway City Museum to raise money for aviation scholarships. Displayed at this festival are a full-size working model of a pterodactyl created by Saul Ready, and the Golden Eagle, an archaeological treasure uncovered the year before by archaeologist Ed Dawson.
Zatanna magically appears to visit her old friends, and commiserates over the loss of their secret identities, while Batman's old foe, the Kite Man, plots the theft of the Golden Eagle. While Zatanna performs in her triumphant return to the stages for the first time since her father's death, Kite-Man causes a distraction by remote-controlling the pterodactyl via a previously planted device. In the meantime, Kite Man's accomplice, Andrew, grabs the statue. Leaving his hapless comrade on the ground, Kite Man makes off with the bird while Hawkman and Hawkwoman must contend with the runaway dinosaur model.
Kite-Man had reckoned without Zatanna, however, and she confronts the criminal, changing his bullets into flowers and sending him plummeting to Earth, while Hawkman and Hawkwoman save both the flying model and panicking festival attendees. Meanwhile, Joe Tracy and Coral Shilak plot revenge on the Winged Wonders with the help of Mavis Trent's father.
Appearing in "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Zatanna
- Stewart Frazier
- Saul Ready (Single appearance)
- George Emmett
- Whitney Nichols (Cameo)
- Mavis Trent (Also in a vision)
Antagonists:
- Kite Man
- Shadow Thief (Cameo) (Flashback only)
- Andrew (Single appearance)
- Johny Fingers (Single appearance)
- Jerald Trent (spelled as Gerald in future issues) (First appearance)
- Joe Tracy
- Corla Tavo (as Coral Shilak)
Other Characters:
- Emmy (Single appearance)
- Lou (Single appearance)
- Ed Dawson (Flashback only)
- Angelo (Single appearance)
- Paran Katar (Mentioned only)
- Indiana Jones (Mentioned only)
- Zatara (Mentioned only)
- Justice League of America (Mentioned only)
- Rocky (Rabbit) (Single appearance)
- Kenny (Single appearance)
- Carangian Tigracat (Mentioned only)
- Batman (Mentioned only)
- Midway City Police Department
Locations:
- Earth-85
- Michigan
- Midway City
- Midway City Museum
- Hyathis Corporation (Cameo) (Flashback only)
- Burger King (Mentioned only)
- Midway City
- Michigan
- Thanaldar Fair (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Anti-Gravity Belts
- Flying Pterosaur Model
- Golden Eagle Artifact
- Kite Man's Glider
Notes
- This story is dedicated to Paul MacCready.
- The story's title is also the name of the Beatles' song on the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album.
- Tony Isabella has declared the story came from a desire for a lighter story after "writing some pretty grim stuff for the characters”. Thus he brought a villain he found funny, Kite-Man, and decided to give him a name and defeat referencing Peanuts: “Charlie Brown was a natural choice, as was adding a kite-eating tree to the issue. It's one of my proudest moments in comics.”
See Also