Issue(s): Daredevil #62
Cover Date: Mar 70
Title: "Quoth the Nighthawk, 'Nevermore!'"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
Gene Colan - Penciler
Syd Shores - Inker

Review/plot:
Nighthawk previously appeared as part of the Squadron Sinister that allowed the Avengers to fight analogues of DC's Justice League. It was probably assumed at the time that after that novelty the characters wouldn't appear again, but this issue establishes that Nighthawk, at least, remained in our world after that fight.

In fact it appears that he wasn't plucked from some alternate dimension but always was a resident of the "real" Marvel universe.

This issue also fleshes Nighthawk out a bit as a character. Unlike Batman, Nighthawk actually has super powers, which he gained by following the directions in a book unknowingly provided to him by the Grandmaster. The book had the formula for a potion that doubles his physical prowess whenever the moon shines.

Again unlike Batman, he's a criminal. His plot is to upstage Daredevil to get him to retire which will therefore lead to him gaining power in politics.

Seems like an underpants gnome strategy:

Phase 1: Make Daredevil look bad
Phase 2: ?
Phase 3: Profit

Anyway, Daredevil wises up to him right away, and tricks him into revealing all his plans into a microphone by wearing a rubber mask over his costume.

Not exactly a classic. And Gene Colan's atmospheric art doesn't work well at all in an action-oriented book.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - early Nighthawk appearance.

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• Nighthawk first appeared in Avengers #70.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Giant-Size Defenders #5

Roy Thomas has stated in subsequent interviews that his run on Daredevil wasn't one of his better efforts.

So... how does Daredevil hid his horns under that mask?

I've always liked anything Squadron Sinister related since first seeing them in Defenders 13-14, so I grabbed this issue from the old comic store and later Iron Man #63 (vs Dr. Spectrum).

You call Colan's art "atmospheric" and I call it "shadowy" but I think we're both alluding to the same thing. Not one of my favorite artists for sure. The story was so-so, but I gave it a C rating.

This issue has a couple of pages showing a recap of how Richmond gained his abilities as Nighthawk. After taking the formula that increases his strength at nighttime, he undertakes a rigorous training program designed "to maximize my own abilities which in turn would be increased, somehow, by the rising of the moon". Now most guys in this situation might head to the local Golden Gloves to learn the sweet science, or a local dojo to study karate or judo. Maybe even head to the Y or a school to learn some mat wrestling. While he did take up gymnastics (understandable to maximize agility), the other activity he mentioned by name was... Polo? Not to denigrate the sport or its physical benefits, I found it amusing because it just sounded like something a sheltered son of privilege would do, and Kyle did fit the bill. I also thought how funny it would be to see a comics villain on horseback dressed in polo gear, mallet in hand, portrayed as a haughty dilletant dabbling in crime out of boredom or somesuch. Of course, I'm sure somewhere down the line, the classic DC Golden Age Green Lantern bad guy the Sportsman has likely used a polo motif when taking on Alan Scott or anyone from the JSA.

Self spell correct: A haughty DILLETANTE.