Last week, Newsarama spoke with writer Sterling Gates about why he’d been removed from the writing chores on Hawk and Dove, which was relaunched with a new first issue in September as part of DC’s New 52. Gates’ last issue will be the fifth one. Artist Rob Liefield will assume both writer and artist duties starting with the sixth.
Gates told Newsarama reporter Vaneta Rogers that DC bosses wanted to take the book in a different direction, so he was removed from his writing duties as a result. Gates expressed gratitude for having been apart of the New 52 in spite of his forced departure.
“I just want to say how immensely proud I am to have been part of the DC ‘New 52’ launch. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I can’t thank DC Comics enough for allowing me to be involved and pairing me with one of my favorite pencilers, Rob Liefield. I loved Rob’s work when I was a kid, and it was an honor to work with him on the issues of Hawk and Dove that I wrote,” Gates said.
The current Hawk and Dove series tells the tale of Hank Hall and Dawn Granger, a man and woman who become the avatars of war and peace, respectively. When there’s danger, Hank becomes the aggressive, violent Hawk, and Dawn becomes the more compassionate and cerebral Dove. Both have superhuman abilities and can handle themselves in a fight, but their philosophies on life are different. Supernatural forces have bonded them to fight together in spite of their differing views to uphold a balance.
The first arc that’s underway right now has them fighting other avatars who represent different themes, and the main villain is the Condor.
Gates is no longer a DC exclusive writer, but he told Rogers he hopes to continue with DC and that he loves the universe and its characters.
“I certainly hope to continue working with DC Comics! I truly believe that DC has the best and most diverse character roster in all of pop culture. I love their characters. Thousands upon thousands of incredible individuals populate the DCU, all of them with their own powers and personalities and lives,” Gates said.