Issue(s): Darkhawk #26, Darkhawk #27, Darkhawk #28, Darkhawk #29
Cover Date: Apr-Jul 93
Title: Shattered Fates: "The fury of time / Beyond the law!" / "The future is prologue" / "Time to kill" / "Past shock"
Credits:
Danny Fingeroth - Writer
Todd Smith / Al Bigley - Penciler
Christopher Ivy & Don Hudson / Mike DeCarlo / Ian Akin - Inker
John Lewandowski - Assistant Editor
Nel Yomtov - Editor

Review/plot:
Issues #26-27 have a back-up story with art by Al Bigley & Mike DeCarlo. Christopher Ivy & Don Hudson ink the main story on #26, and the rest of the inks are by Ian Akin.

The Powell family is homeless after the events of the last arc (they're living in a cheap motel), and Chris' (Darkhawk's) younger brothers are not coping well with all the trauma in their lives. Chris isn't really coping either, and he walks out on his family after a fight with his mom. He isn't interacting with his friends too well, either. The stress of being Darkhawk is weighing on him. I wonder if he gets any pay as a West Coast Avengers reservist; that money would help his family.

Chris is also wondering if he can fly, the way Evilhawk was able to fly in the last arc. He considers going to Mr. Fantastic to ask for tests to be run, but wonders if he could ask a personal favor like that. He instead decides to get advice from Spider-Man, and heads over to the Daily Bugle, where Spidey is "seen a lot". But Spidey doesn't show, so he goes to the New Warriors' headquarters instead. He shares a pizza with them (although Darkhawk isn't sure if his android body can eat, and we don't see him raising his helmet). Then they are attacked by ghosts from their past.

The ghosts turn out to be sent by Zarrko the Tomorrow Man.

And no, dude, you're not on anyone's top ten villains list. I think it's amazing that Night Thrasher knows who you are. And sending characters from people's pasts to attack them isn't really his MO. He did do that in his most recent appearance, but looking over his other appearances, his MO mainly seems to be sucking a lot (when he's not posing as Doom's manservant Boris).

Despite starting off attacking them, Zarrko claims to have an offer for the teen super-heroes. If they'll do something for him, he'll let each of them go back in time and change something in their lives for the better. Since Darkhawk's life is currently a mess, this has an appeal, and the New Warriors each have something in their lives they'd like to change too. On the other hand, Zarrko is so obviously a villain it hurts. So they're torn.

After an issue of taking stock (including Darkhawk finally getting some bad advice from Spider-Man; see References), they take a vote and come out in favor of taking Zarrko's offer. Nova, Firestar, and Silhouette dissent, but still go along with the group.

If this feels more like a New Warriors story that Darkhawk happens to be in as opposed to a Darkhawk story (aside from the fact that more time is spent on the problems in Darkhawk's life), know that Zarrko believes that Darkhawk has the ability to shatter his plans, and it's therefore him that he's really after. Zarrko says that Darkhawk would never have agreed to his bargain on his own, which is why the Warriors were included. It's also said that Zarrko can't just kill Darkhawk off; it wouldn't eliminate the threat to him in other timelines, so he has to first consolidate the timelines.

But he tells the teens that the goal is to stop Ravonna, who wants the "utter destruction of time and all things". The New Warriors and Darkhawk are to "steal her boyfriend's corpse", which will "emotionally overwhelm her". This will cause her to drop her plans, leaving Zarrko free to go back to being a villain, and the heroes free to try to stop him. When he's alone, Zarrko laughs at the idea of stealing Kang's corpse ("Who wants a corpse? Yuck!").

So the heroes are sent to Kang's Chronopolis (from the Citizen Kang annuals). They get to fight robots and dinosaurs and Roman legionnaires and all the usual time travel fun stuff. Darkhawk winds up in a future - possibly the year 2099 - where he's worshiped by the locals as "The Powell". The energy from all their fights is collected by Zarrko to power a "Time Bomb". Darkhawk figures out that they've been tricked, and he shouts that he's hidden a bomb in Zarrko's base. Zarrko, monitoring, pulls him back to his ship, and has his robot Servitor attack him.

Darkhawk continues his bluff and makes Zarrko bring back the New Warriors as well. They force Zarrko to uphold his end of the bargain and let them go back and change their pasts. For Speedball, that means wishing that his parents don't get a divorce, which reminds me of this. For Darkhawk, that means saving his father's life. Continued fighting with Zarrko means that no one has enough time to act on their wishes, but Darkhawk does learn that a) he can indeed fly...

...and b) that his father (and crimelord Phillippe Bazin) may still be alive.

When given another chance to go back to affect their pasts, Darkhawk argues that he and the New Warriors need to destroy the Time Bomb instead. And when Darkhawk continues his bluff with his own bomb, he learns that he's "the most feared hero of the future", which earns him a thumbs up and a "very cool" from Night Thrasher.

The Time Bomb is destroyed and the heroes are sent home. Darkhawk resolves that his family will be his top priority from now on.

We also briefly check in with Phillippe Bazin's children. Allegra is getting phone calls, and Broderick has gone "more-than-slightly-mad".

As for the back-ups, they focus on Savage Steel. There are like 90 different characters that have worn the Savage Steel armor from time to time, and i feel like the armor has gotten swapped around without any of them actually having met Darkhawk. I exaggerate, but only barely. I'll sort out whatever is going on with them the next time they appear in an actual story, maybe. All i can tell you now is that the art is pretty terrible.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Darkhawk learns to fly in this issue, placing this after Avengers West Coast #93-95. The flight ability and the phone calls that Allegra is getting place this before Darkhawk annual #2. In New Warriors #35, Silhouette is still recovering after the events of Forces of Darkness, Forces of Light (New Warriors #32-34 and annual #3), so this should take place after New Warriors #35-36.

References:

• No footnotes, but the "ghosts" that attack Darkhawk and the New Warriors include (for the most part, but not entirely, these events also relate to the things that the heroes want to change in their pasts):
  • Diamondhead, who Nova last saw in ROM #24 (although he's appeared in Quasar since).
    
  • Beef, a Hellion that died in Uncanny X-Men #282 (he's an odd choice since he wasn't in the Hellions when Firestar was, but they did meet in New Warriors #10).
    
  • Tai, who died in New Warriors #25.
    
  • General Halladan, who Namorita watched die in New Warriors #29-30.
    
  • The goon who tried to kill Darkhawk after he got his powers in Darkhawk #1.
    
  • Speedball's doppelganger, from New Warriors #27.
• The Savage Steel back-ups are building off stuff from a back-up in Darkhawk annual #1.
  
• Spider-Man tells Darkhawk that he'd "give anything" to go back and stop a "certain crime", a reference to Amazing Fantasy #15. After Darkhawk leaves, Spider-Man thinks to himself, "I'd never go back and actually try to change things in my life. I've been around the block enough to know -- that messing with the past is always a mistake". Maybe move that up from the fine print next time, Spidey.
  
• Kang was "iced" in Avengers annual #21, leaving Ravonna to carry out his plans.
  
• Chris' dad seemingly died in Darkhawk #15.
  
• Firestar's wish is to stop Marvel Boy from killing his father, which happened in New Warriors #20.
  
• We'll learn more about the calls Allegra is getting in Darkhawk annual #2.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Do I detect some One More Day snark in the Spider-Man reference?