INFINITY COUNTDOWN: DARKHAWK #1 by Chris Sims, Chad Bowers, and Gang Hyuk Lim is a great continuation of Darkhawk's saga. While the connection to INFINITY COUNTDOWN could have been stronger, Darkhawk fans will appreciate this issue. Read Full Review

Ol' Wingclaw is back and honestly, he might just be better than ever. Read Full Review

Solid storytelling and gorgeous art. Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk #1 expands on the Infinity Countdown narrative in natural ways, carrying weight and a sense of import to the overall event. Chris Sims and Chad Bowers capture the characters' personalities and maintain the continuity, building upon what came before rather than rebooting it. All the while keeping the book accessible to new readers. And Gang Hyuk Lim's art is stunning. This is Marvel Comics at their best. Read Full Review

There’s a few things to consider when deciding whether or not this book is right for you. Are you a Darkhawk fan? There’s dozens of you! You should obviously pick this up. If you’re not necessarily a fan of him but are interested in Infinity Countdown, I would say maybe just wait until next issue. This one doesn’t really have too much that you won’t be able to quickly understand just by context in the next. Read Full Review

Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk #1 is flawed but promising. Chris Powell is a character that should never have been left by the wayside, and the complex conflicts he faces in this book could lead to some interesting places if the narrative can tighten, quicken, and trim the fat. Gang Hyuk Lims artwork looks quite good and adds a youthful air to the book. All things considered, this one still earns a recommendation. Read Full Review

All of the pieces are in place by the end of this issue, and offer hope that Darkhawk will finally discover a foothold in the Marvel universe in the story to come. Read Full Review

A good reintroduction to the character and the start to something but ultimately nothing special. Lim's art and the return of Death's Head are the big draws. Read Full Review

Chris Powell is stuck on the Earth-sidelines as Big Raptor Events unfold out in the cosmic world. A left-field fight opens up a surprising hitchhiking opportunity for him, though. This series kicks off with tons of promise and some distinctively great manga-style art. This issue burns a few too many words mulling over new power limitations, but that's a pretty minor nitpick. The balance of the book is thoroughly enjoyable, and it does an excellent job building "and then what happened?" anticipation.

Pretty cool stuff. It's like a 1990's wet dream. It just needs sleepwalker and night thrasher and I'm good.

Welcome to the Oblivion Bar where the first round is on me and the pretzels are free! Be warned: like the pickled eggs at the bar, this issue is going to get SPOILED rotten.

Let me start by saying I have no idea what a Darkhawk is or a Raptor for that matter. But what I do know is that they looked cool and that they are somehow tied to the Infinity Stones in some way. So, I said “what the heck?!?” and I took it for a test spin. And as a first time reader of Darkhawk, it wasn’t too bad. So, let me give you a rundown from the perspective of someone truly going into this hero and fan base totally blind. Ready?

We open with Robbie Rider, brother of Rich Rider ( one of the current Nova’s from Earth), trying to open a portal to the Null Space. The way I took it is the Null Space is where the Raptors are from. Other than that... I got nothing on the Null Space other than what it is as a math term. Anyway, Robbie is some wanna be Raptor called a Talon-R.. I think. They basically either worship the Raptors or tried to replicate their tech in some way. They were just in the Infinity Countdown last week fighting for the Power Gem. You can tell these Talon-R’s are replicated because the gem/ jewel/ amulet on the Raptors appeared to be legit but the Talon-R suit appeared to have a red energy emblem on their visor and chest kind of like Kit from Knight Rider.

Now, the Real Raptors killed everyone other than Robbie Rider who they promised to make a real Raptor and name him... maybe something like Darkeagle?!?!?! Let me just say that these Raptor’s look pretty sweet kind of like a mix between a pinch of Black Panther armor, a hint of Iron man armor, and a sprinkle of Falcon’s wings. They also appear to have energy blasts and enhanced strength. But, that’s all I could tell you at this point.

We then jump to Earth with this man named Chris Powell who is actually Darkhawk. He’s a police man who works for a branch of the police department in NYC called Code: Blue. They mainly work to fight and stop villains with enhanced abilities. They would be regular people who are the first responders. Chris stops a bad guy by turning into Darkhawk, which looks like a legit Raptor. So, my first question is, how did this guy get this Super Suit? Are their good and bad Raptors? Is this basically based of off Guyver?

Chris and his girlfriend go to this science facility and get tests done on his suit from this Doctor named Brashear. She tells Chris that every time he changes into Darkhawk, the amulet literally incinerates his body and replaces it with Darkhawk but with his mind inside of it. Kind of like an Android body replacing his in a way. But, the amulet stores Chris’s genetic make up so when he changes back to his human form, it rewrites his body back on itself and replaces how it was before.

The idea is kind of cool. I imagined it like a computer saving data and the amulet is the computer. You save a Chris data file and a Darkhawk data file on your computer/ amulet. It’s just the computer/ amulet only stores two files. Every time you switch from one file to another it saves the most recent version of Chris or Darkhawk and writes over it... does that make sense? Again, really amazing idea!

While at the science facility, Nova calls in to talk to Chris. Turns out, Chris wants to go into space to stop the Raptors. I’m assuming he’s had a past with them and once... they were “super mean” to him. So, he basically wants to go to space to kick some tires and light some fires. Well, Nova basically tells him “No” and blames it on those dang Infinity Gems. He basically tells him their is a war going on right now and ain’t nobody got time for that!

So, Chris sulks away, changes into Darkhawk and goes for some air but gets shot down by Death’s Head. Fun Fact: Death’s Head was actually a Transformer turned Marvel robot/ Android space mercenary bounty hunter for hire. Weird right? Well, Death’s Head was hired by the Raptors to find Darkhawk, capture him, and take him back to them. The two battle it out for a bit, which is where we, the reader, realize that Darkhawk has many forms but we haven’t seen the different versions and formations yet because for some reason Chris can’t change into any other form other than his normal Darkhawk form or his human form.

We end the issue with Chris using some basic moves to take down Death’s Head and realizing that he needs a space ship to get off the planet in order to stop the Raptors so why doesn’t he just work out a deal with Death’s Head to use his ship to get to them. Maybe Death’s Head “pretends” to have Chris locked up so he can get his bounty money and Darkhawk comes after the Raptors guns a blazing. Who knows?

Here’s what I would say about this issue. For a guy who knows nothing about Raptors and Darkhawk, I can say that the story was pretty informative and gave me a place to start. Sure, I want more info on the character but it gave me enough to piece this review together and to make me super interested in Darkhawk. I truly left this issue very intrigued about the character. I’m even excited to read a few back issues of the character... if any exist. Again, I’m still a bit hazy on what’s totally going on in this story but I am interested in the character at least.

As for the story, it may not have been the best ever written by any stretch, but it kept me involved enough to be interested in the next issue. There have been more exciting and interesting issues involved in these Infinity crossover events than this one and it’s hard to see any connection with the actual gems other than the fact that Robbie and the Talon-R’s were just at the fight for the Power Gem. But I’m curious to see how Darkhawk will connect and play a role. The art was also smooth and really good. I really enjoyed the art team on the book. Currently, I would still be hesitant on adding it to my pull. I’m interested in the character of Darkhawk but the story didn’t completely pull me in. I’m definitely reading the next issue and I’ll be able to make a better call after that one if I’m going to stick it out for the entire run or not.

If you like what you heard, love talking all types of comics, and are interested in joining a comic chat group, hit me up at dispatchdcu@gmail.com or @dispatchdcu on twitter. Catch you all later! Peace more

...what a, truly, unexpected and pleasant surprise INFINITY COUNTDOWN: DARKHAWK #1 was.
SCORE : 7.5

Pretty good, picks up straight where the Darkhawk's oneshot (aka isasue 51) left off. Ties into the Infinity Countdown without requiring much detail. Looks like it's going to be quite fun miniseries.