Shadowhawk: Paul Johnstone
Paul grew up in Harlem with his mother, step-father and little brother. He grew up to become a great lawyer. But like comic book lawyers before him, he was a great one who wouldn't accept bribes from the mob. The mob however didn't go the stereotypical route and try to burn him with acid. Instead they attacked him and brutally beat him. When they finished they used a syringe full of blood to infect him with HIV. He was afraid to get tested (seriously people, get tested) but it was public news and this caused a lot of hostility around him. Eventually he snapped and beat up a coworker.
Of course he got fired. When he got to jail he was tested and found out that he really did have HIV. Outside of the story this was the first time a comic book character had HIV and evntually full blown AIDs. Once out on the streets Paul was feeling suicidal and attacked a group of gang members. This lead to him getting robbed and stuck in the hospital.
While in the hospital he got a visit from a woman named Christina. Christina had been a police officer when Paul was a lawyer. Christina got fired for excessive force. But, she had been working on the Shadowhawk costume that would allow someone to take back the streets. Paul begged and she responded by training him to peak physical fitness and hand to hand combat. If she could do that why didn't she just wear the suit? Anyway, Paul decided on a no kill code, but he did decide that he would break the spines of criminals and paralyze them. Of course excessive force Christina was all good with that. Shadowhawk vowed to only go after violent criminals. You know rapist, murders etc. His first act of revenge was against the gang that beat him and thus Shadowhawk was born.
This spine breaking got him in a lot of trouble. The police were after him and the criminals were after him. He probably could have gotten in less trouble if he just killed them. Paul made the mistake of training to only take on regular criminals. The first time he met supervillain Arson. He got beat down and didn't leave a scratch on Arson. This is when it gets weird. While looking for Arson Paul finds the Liquifier, an alien that was liquifying bodies. Arson just stumbles on this battle. Paul manages to blow up Arson, but it turns him into a metahuman. He also kills liquifier. Arson runs and Paul is left to crawl away.
Paul wakes up to learn his little brother overdosed on drugs and spends the next day with him, his brother dies that night when Paul falls asleep. Shadowhawk hits the block to break some spines. He's caught attacking a rapist by the NYPD and a hero named Savage Dragon. He escapes with help from the mob. He refuses to join them and goes into hiding for 2 months so he can heal. When he returns he finds out a serial killer has taken his name and is killing black men. Paul found the killer who had named himself Hawk's Shadow. He told Paul "I'm following in your footsteps, I only kill niggers." At this point Paul hadn't killed anyone. He takes off his mask to show that he's a black man and beats Hawk Shadow with intentions of killing him. He's only stopped because Christina shows up. Hawk Shadow is able to escape because the police had no idea who he was and had blamed the murders on Shadowhawk.
Much later Paul started to become less violent and lose a lot of his strength and fitness. His HIV had turned to full blown AIDs but he didn't want to stop his mission. He started looking for a cure and ran across Spawn. Spawn told him there was nothing he could do to help and that Paul should stop running and die like a man.
Hawk Shadow returned from his injuries and attacked Paul's mother. Paul made the save and killed Hawk Shadow. But he was so sick he couldn't run with the police arrived. He was taken to the hospital and unmasked. He died in that hospital from AIDs. Later Paul is resurrected and returns to breaking backs but he doesn't know why he was brought back.
Abilities and Equipment
Follow @OriginalKingD
Paul grew up in Harlem with his mother, step-father and little brother. He grew up to become a great lawyer. But like comic book lawyers before him, he was a great one who wouldn't accept bribes from the mob. The mob however didn't go the stereotypical route and try to burn him with acid. Instead they attacked him and brutally beat him. When they finished they used a syringe full of blood to infect him with HIV. He was afraid to get tested (seriously people, get tested) but it was public news and this caused a lot of hostility around him. Eventually he snapped and beat up a coworker.
Of course he got fired. When he got to jail he was tested and found out that he really did have HIV. Outside of the story this was the first time a comic book character had HIV and evntually full blown AIDs. Once out on the streets Paul was feeling suicidal and attacked a group of gang members. This lead to him getting robbed and stuck in the hospital.
This spine breaking got him in a lot of trouble. The police were after him and the criminals were after him. He probably could have gotten in less trouble if he just killed them. Paul made the mistake of training to only take on regular criminals. The first time he met supervillain Arson. He got beat down and didn't leave a scratch on Arson. This is when it gets weird. While looking for Arson Paul finds the Liquifier, an alien that was liquifying bodies. Arson just stumbles on this battle. Paul manages to blow up Arson, but it turns him into a metahuman. He also kills liquifier. Arson runs and Paul is left to crawl away.
Paul wakes up to learn his little brother overdosed on drugs and spends the next day with him, his brother dies that night when Paul falls asleep. Shadowhawk hits the block to break some spines. He's caught attacking a rapist by the NYPD and a hero named Savage Dragon. He escapes with help from the mob. He refuses to join them and goes into hiding for 2 months so he can heal. When he returns he finds out a serial killer has taken his name and is killing black men. Paul found the killer who had named himself Hawk's Shadow. He told Paul "I'm following in your footsteps, I only kill niggers." At this point Paul hadn't killed anyone. He takes off his mask to show that he's a black man and beats Hawk Shadow with intentions of killing him. He's only stopped because Christina shows up. Hawk Shadow is able to escape because the police had no idea who he was and had blamed the murders on Shadowhawk.Much later Paul started to become less violent and lose a lot of his strength and fitness. His HIV had turned to full blown AIDs but he didn't want to stop his mission. He started looking for a cure and ran across Spawn. Spawn told him there was nothing he could do to help and that Paul should stop running and die like a man.
Hawk Shadow returned from his injuries and attacked Paul's mother. Paul made the save and killed Hawk Shadow. But he was so sick he couldn't run with the police arrived. He was taken to the hospital and unmasked. He died in that hospital from AIDs. Later Paul is resurrected and returns to breaking backs but he doesn't know why he was brought back.
Abilities and Equipment
- Peak physical fitness
- Expert in hand to hand combat
- Grappling hook
- Shuriken
- Smoke bombs
- Metal gauntlets
Follow @OriginalKingD
