Powell discovers that the android is stored and repaired aboard a starship in a dimension called Null Space. When he used the amulet to access the android body, his human body switched places with it. Five Darkhawk amulets were commissioned by alien crime lord Dargin Bokk. The scientists who created the technology eventually used them to assault Bokk. After Bokk destroyed the other scientists two of the scientists beamed their minds to Earth and merged with two Earth scientists there. Byron/Ned Dobbs and Mondu/John Trane created a sixth amulet, which was acquired by Powell.[11]
Excelsior (the Loners)
Powell later joins a group of former teenage superheroes who were struggling with their current lot in life called the Loners (formerly known as Excelsior). Members of this group included Phil Urich, Turbo, Lightspeed, and Ricochet. The group is hired by a mysterious benefactor – later revealed to be Rick Jones – to track down the Runaways in Los Angeles.
Powell displays trouble controlling his anger in his Darkhawk persona, leading to a short skirmish with Turbo. Dismayed with himself, Powell admits to his teammates that he suffered a nervous breakdown.[12] Powell decides to never turn into Darkhawk again, but this decision did not last long, as shortly thereafter the group battles Ultron. Darkhawk delivers the final blow, blowing Ultron to pieces. Following the battle and the revelation of Rick Jones' involvement, Excelsior opts to remain together and act as a more traditional superhero team.[13]
Excelsior's members eventually change their minds about being superheroes and instead become a 'superhero support group' due to the events of the superhuman Civil War rendering moot their original purpose to dissuade or help young superheroes cope with their powers/superhuman identities, as this role was now being officially fulfilled by the U.S. government. However, a new addition to the group, Mattie Franklin convinces Powell to use his powers to help her take down Mutant Growth Hormone dealers in Los Angeles.[14]
Secret Invasion
Deciding to register with the government, Darkhawk is assigned to the position of security chief at Project Pegasus. During the Skrull invasion, he teams up with his old team-mate Nova for two issues of that character's own title,[15] but is also seen in the background of several issues thereafter.
War of Kings
Darkhawk is involved with the War of Kings event in a four-issue series written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning called War of Kings: Ascension.[16] With the Loners series ending with low sales and unlikely to be followed with a sequel series, series writer C. B. Cebulski was assigned to write a two-issue War of Kings: Darkhawk series, with Abnett and Lanning co-scripting the second issue to ensure it tied into their own Ascension series.[17][18]
In the series, a second Darkhawk armor appears near the Powell family home, and the unknown occupant of the armor forces Powell to transform to his own armored form shortly before an explosion rocks the immediate area. Powell's family survives the blast, but his mother is critically injured.
The new Darkhawk introduces himself as Talon and claims to be part of the Fraternity of Raptors, an order created as "the curators of history, and the custodians of the future," of which he and Powell are the last two members. He also explains that Powell's anger issues are a direct result of the amulet not being designed to work with humans. Talon offers to assist Powell with the amulet, and after some deliberation he opts to do so; the two then retreat to the
Realm of Kings
In Realm of Kings, the Shi'ar Imperium declares Darkhawk the "Galaxy's Most Wanted," making Powell an intergalactic fugitive. Nova, not willing to believe Powell could be a murderer, tracks him to the planet Shard, which is in danger of falling into a rift in space known as the Fault. Nova offers to help Powell clear his name, but they are interrupted by an attacking biomass from the Fault, and by the awakening of another Raptor, named Gyre. All three are trapped on the planet as it is disintegrated by the Fault.[22]
Darkhawk and Nova are saved by Nova's old enemy Sphinx, who seems unaware of Darkhawk's presence. Together, the two heroes join past versions of Reed Richards, Black Bolt, and Namorita in helping Sphinx combat his younger self. The young Sphinx draws his own warriors, including Gyre, into the battle, and Darkhawk faces and defeats Gyre in single combat. During the fight, Gyre reveals that many more Raptors are re-awakening. Ultimately, the elder Sphinx defeats his counterpart, and mentally controls Darkhawk into giving him his younger self's Ka Stone.[23]
Darkhawk returns to Earth and Project Pegasus to help Nova fight the evil Quasar from the Cancerverse on the other side of the Fault.
Avengers Arena
Darkhawk appears in Avengers Arena as part of the Marvel NOW! event. He is among the young superheroes who are abducted by Arcade and sent to Murderworld to fight to the death.[25] Darkhawk is attacked by Death Locket, who tears his amulet from his chest.[26] The amulet is found by Chase Stein, who transforms into the new Darkhawk.[27] It is later revealed that Darkhawk is alive. After Death Locket releases him, Darkhawk attacks and knocks out Arcade.[28] Darkhawk is taken away to parts unknown, injured but reunited with his amulet.[29]
Infinity Countdown
During the "Infinity Countdown" storyline, Powell is shown to have joined the New York Police Department and is engaged to a woman named Miranda, with whom he has shared his history as Darkhawk. He experiences frequent visions of the Tree of Shadows in Null Space despite the Darkhawk amulet being damaged and no longer allowing him to change form. One day, he is sent out to the Wonderland Amusement Park, the place where he first became Darkhawk, to investigate a disturbance. There, he is accosted by two cops and almost attacked when he refuses their offer to take bribes. The group is attacked by two members of the Shi'ar Fraternity of Raptors, with one taking Powell's amulet and using it to change into Razor. The Razor personality asserts control, defeats the other Shi'ar, and teleports Powell to the Datasong in a place it calls "The Perch," where all of the android's memories of its time with Powell are stored. Razor, now calling itself Darkhawk, tells Powell that his compassion and dedication to justice have imprinted upon it, with it wants to rejoin with him to stop the Shi'ar Raptors from releasing the true Fraternity of Raptors. Powell accepts and becomes Darkhawk once more, merging with the Darkhawk android and gaining a new, more powerful form.[30]
The Raptors attack Death's Head and swarm Darkhawk to a secret Shi'ar outpost, easily overpowering him. The Raptors' leader Gyre reveals to Powell that the amulet is the key to unleashing the Ratha'kon or Dark Starhawk, which the Shi'ar intended to be a "predator" to the Phoenix Force. However, to bring it to life, two tributes were required, one willing and one forced. Gyre wanted Powell's amulet because of how special it was, since Powell convinced his amulet's persona, Razor, to break free from the Fraternity's stronghold, thus developing sentience.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Powell attends a meeting arranged by Starfox to review the will and testament of his brother Thanos.[33] Powell would later find himself stranded in the middle of deep space while being brought into the clutches of the Universal Church of Truth. They had him in a mental simulation where he believes himself to have been separated from Razor, run through and across time and space; seeing past, present and future iterations of himself while in the black hole, only to finally find release in the care of a ship piloted by the Kree, Shi'ar and Skrulls. At the end of the simulation, Powell is de-aged, becoming younger than when he first found his amulet.[34] Powell is later returned to his proper age.[35]
