WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the story “Demon or Detective? Part Two” from Detective Comics #1034 by Joshua Williamson, Gleb Melnikov & ALW’s Troy Peteri, on sale now.
The history of the DC Universe is full of unexpected changes and powerful retcons, resulting in some characters fading from importance just as suddenly as they first appeared. This extended to characters like Connor Hawke, who was more or less erased from the current DC Universe by the events of Flashpoint. But in the era of Infinite Frontier, it appears that Hawke is getting another chance to shine.
Connor Hawke has just reappeared in the DC Universe — and is poised to face off with Damian Wayne in the mysterious Lazarus Tournament.
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The current DC Universe is in a state of inner turmoil in the fallout of Dark Nights: Death Metal. Organizations like Leviatan have been taken from the likes of Talia Al Ghul, who has other responsibilities now to groups such as the Totality. Amidst the chaos, the League of Lazarus — an early off-shoot of the Demon’s Head Empire — has returned and set up a mysterious fighting tournament. Although Talia professes to have no interest in the competition, the promise of battle seems to catch the attention of Damian. The tournament will see some of the world’s greatest fighters assembled on Lazarus Island — with possible contestants to include the likes of Ravager and Mister Unknown.
The League of Shadows however is revealed to have been specifically training for this battle, with their intention being to claim victory in the tournament and force the League of Lazarus to rejoin their ranks. They are slightly concerned about Talia Al Ghul entering and regaining power — and are particularly aware of the threat Damian could pose. Trained by Batman, Damian could be a favorite to win the tournament. This is why the League of Shadows has been training their own champion as a specific counter to Damian, with incredible skills and a lethal way of handling himself: Conner Hawke.
Conner Hawke has a complicated history and one that has been wiped from the core-DC Universe. In the Post-Crisis DC Universe, Conner was revealed to be the son of Oliver Queen, conceived during Ollie’s more party-heavy years in college. Ollie was unaware of his birth for years but eventually encountered him while traveling the world looking for peace following the events of Zero Hour. The two bonded shortly before Ollie’s death at the hands of the Eden Corps, and Conner quickly took his father’s mantle as Green Arrow until he returned to the land of the living. Conner went through a number of troubles during his time as a hero and had a complicated relationship with his father over the years while still establishing himself as a frequent friend and ally to other legacy heroes like Kyle Rayner and Tim Drake.
The Post-Flashpoint DC Universe didn’t appear to have Conner in it. However, two prominent versions of the character have appeared in other continuities: a version of Connor became the heroic Red Arrow in Earth 2, and the CW Arrowverse effectively split Connor into two characters — Ollie’s illegitimate son William Clayton from decades in the future, and the Earth-16 Connor, the son of Ollie’s ally John Diggle and the future Green Arrow. It’s a welcome surprise to see a version of Connor return to the core-DC Universe, especially as the core-DC Universe Green Arrow has risen in prominence and importance. It’s also exciting to see him set up as a potential counter to Damian Wayne, with their respective heroic legacies and twisted training making them potentially perfect rivals going forward.