Yes, that’s right. Gatekeeping is good as long as it’s done for the right reasons and under the right circumstances. Today, I’m going to pick on DC Comics to prove that point.
This week, DC Comics released the first solo issue of Hawkgirl since… well… forever. This particular series focuses on the Kendra Saunders version of Hawkgirl, written by relative comics newcomer Jadzia Axelrod.
And well, it’s a terrible comic. No, it’s not terrible. It’s worse than terrible.
If you want the lowdown skinny on exactly why it’s terrible, check out the full review over at Weird Science DC Comics: https://www.weirdsciencedccomics.com/2023/07/hawkgirl-1-review.html
Jadzia Axelrod, for some unfathomable reason, chose to take a Hawkgirl that’s participated in the DC Universe since 1999 and twisted the character into someone barely recognizable.
Kendra, despite carrying the memories of several generations of Hawkgirls, presents as damaged, lonely, standoffish to friends and colleagues, disconnected, and utterly lost. And that’s just the personality changes.
Pile on a clumsy plot, uneven pacing, and the forced inclusion of Axelrod’s personal creation, Galaxy, and you wind up with a mess of a comic.
Add this issue to the growing pile of comics where the titular character is a reactive stand-in with barely any agency and a story that does nothing to show new readers why this character is somebody to root for.
In short, this Hawkgirl is ugly, broken, aimless, and unpleasant to be around.
Is Hawkgirl #1’s spectacular mess of a comic Jadzia Axelrod’s fault?
Well, yes, of course. Axelrod wrote the darn thing. But the problem goes deeper than that.
The Hawks, also known as Thanagarians, are a part of the DC Comics pantheon and have been for decades. The lore is clear, the character origins are clear, and the current version of Hawkgirl embodied in Kendra Saunders is clear.
Therefore, it’s DC Editorial’s responsibility to know the characters, and what a new writer plans to do with the characters, and ensure a new writer won’t do anything to distort or complicate the definition of a character.
Put another way, it’s DC Editorial’s responsibility to safeguard a character’s identity and gatekeep any creator reckless enough or unskilled enough to damage that identity.
Done in the right way for the right reasons, gatekeeping is not only a good thing, it’s essential for the protection of a character’s identity and the consistency of that character in DC’s overall universe.
How does DC move forward with Hawkgirl now?
Technically, the damage is done, and several issues are already in process with publishing dates looming, so it’s too late for this iteration of Hawkgirl.
But if DC Editorial is smart, they’ll make changes to the as-yet-unpublished issues to mitigate the damage. Also, Jadzia Axelrod shouldn’t be given the writing duties on any other character unless and until Axelrod has demonstrated a thorough working knowledge of whatever character DC might consider giving Axelrod next.
Given DC Editorial’s penchant for poor hiring practices, that’s a tall order, but given DC’s lackluster sales performance over the last few years, their teams must do better at gatekeeping to protect their brand and characters for now and into the future.
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