The Batman Who Laughs is assembling his army of DC heroes infected with evil, and he has finally claimed his heavy hitter: Hawkman. Or as fans should get used to calling him, now that he’s traded heroism for villainy: Sky Tyrant.

After being infected without his knowledge, the most recent issue of his solo series saw Hawkman almost driven to kill an old enemy. Consumed by anger and rage, Hawkman was soon consumed by true darkness, transforming him into a bigger, darker, and more sinister version of himself, it seemed his path to the coming Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen showdown was complete. But in our exclusive preview of Hawkman #18, readers learn that the return of Sky Tyrant is unlike any of the other evil DC heroes encountered thus far.

When we spoke with Batman/Superman writer Josh Williamson about the decision to include Hawkman among the rest of The Batman Who Laughs’ army, the logic seemed simple enough. If he can’t corrupt Superman, then he’ll go after the most experienced warrior instead:

The carnage is set to begin in the pages of Hawkman #18, but there is more at work with the birth of Sky Tyrant than readers first thought. Read on for the preview below:

Every character was picked for strategic reasons… Hawkman because of his connections with the Dark Multiverse. We already established all that stuff with him way back during [Dark Nights: Metal] and the idea that he had been connected with Barbatos, connected with The Batman Who Laughs. That was the big motivation there. Hawkman is one of the greatest warriors in the DCU, so if you need a warrior, a tank, you need somebody you can use as a weapon, this is who you get. So I felt like it was strategic. We saw it like Batman Who Laughs. Who would I go after if I needed people who could help me win? And we wanted to be surprising, that’s part of it. There’s a weird mix of obvious and not obvious.

The question of exactly how Hawkman’s cycle of death and reincarnation may affect him being corrupted by evil is one few will have considered, let alone expected to open the issue immediately after his corruption takes hold. Just one more reason to follow this Hawkman nightmare, the full credits and plot synopsis for which can be read below:

  • HAWKMAN #18 Release Date: November 13th, 2019 Written by: Robert Venditti Art by: Pat Olliffe, Tom Palmer, Jeremiah Skipper Cover Art by: Tyler Kirkham Variant Cover Art by: Richard Pace Corrupted with an infection concocted by the Batman Who Laughs, Carter Hall’s psyche is overpowered by the darkest of all his past lives: the Sky Tyrant, the villainous Hawkman of Earth-3! A merciless winged warrior with no remorse and no rival, Sky Tyrant is unleashed on our Earth. The only chance of stopping him lies with the fading consciousness of Carter Hall. The series that reinvented Hawkman’s mythology to encompass all of time and space takes its next adventurous leap into the Multiverse!

Hawkman #18 will be available from your local comic book shop on November 13th, 2019.

MORE: The Batman/Superman Heroes Infected By EVIL Finally Revealed