# Nighthawk (Marvel Comics)
**Nighthawk** is a superhero identity in [Marvel Comics](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-comics), most closely associated with Kyle Richmond, a wealthy adventurer who debuted as a member of the villainous Squadron Sinister in *The Avengers* #69 (October 1969) and later reformed to become a longtime member of the Defenders. The character was created by writer [Roy Thomas](https://www.edgepedia.org/roy-thomas) and artist Sal Buscema and is loosely based on DC's Batman.[1](https://www.comics.org/character/15901/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Created by | Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema; first appearance *The Avengers* #69 (October 1969)[1](https://www.comics.org/character/15901/) |
| Original alter ego | Kyle Richmond, president of Richmond Enterprises, publicly known identity[2](https://www.marvel-world.com/encyclopedie-398-fiche-nighthawk-dfenseurs-biographie.html) |
| Inspiration | Loosely based on DC's Batman; the Squadron teams are analogs of DC's Justice League[1](https://www.comics.org/character/15901/) |
| Powers | Alchemical serum grants superhuman strength, stamina, and senses that double at night; about 1 ton lift by day, roughly 2 tons at night[3](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Kyle_Richmond_%28Earth-616%29) |
| Flight | Jet-powered artificial wings, up to 120 mph while able to breathe, maximum altitude 30,000 feet[3](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Kyle_Richmond_%28Earth-616%29) |
| Main teams | Squadron Sinister (founder), Defenders (joined *The Defenders* #14, July 1974), Thunderbolts, The Initiative, and the Avengers (2022 to present)[1](https://www.comics.org/character/15901/) |
| Other holders of the identity | Neal Richmond (1998) and Tilda Johnson (2017), among several alternate-reality versions[1](https://www.comics.org/character/15901/) |
## Origin in the Squadron Sinister
The first Nighthawk appeared in 1969 as part of the Squadron Sinister, a team of villains assembled by the cosmic gameplayer [Grandmaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/grandmaster-marvel-comics) for a contest against [Kang the Conqueror](https://www.edgepedia.org/kang-the-conqueror), with the Avengers as the opposing pieces. The Grandmaster had encountered the heroic [Squadron Supreme](https://www.edgepedia.org/squadron-supreme) of the alternate world Earth-712 and transformed three men, including Kyle Richmond, into counterparts of that world's heroes; a Hyperion counterpart was created from non-living extradimensional matter. The Squadron Sinister lost the game, and the Grandmaster abandoned the team.[4](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Squadron_Sinister_%28Earth-616%29)
Although the Squadron Sinister version appeared first in publication order, later stories established that the Grandmaster had copied the team's appearances from the Squadron Supreme of Earth-712, so the Sinister Nighthawk is not the original Nighthawk within the fictional timeline.[5](https://www.gamesradar.com/nighthawk-avengers-marvel-batman-history/)
## Kyle Richmond's background and powers
The Earth-616 Kyle Richmond was born into a wealthy family in Mamaroneck, New York. His mother Penelope died in a car accident he witnessed; his father Arthur, an often-absent industrialist, sent him to boarding school. At Grayburn University his girlfriend Mindy Williams was paralyzed in a car crash caused by Kyle's drunk driving, and his father secretly paid her to disappear while telling Kyle she had died. Rejected by the army because of a heart murmur, Kyle inherited Richmond Enterprises when Arthur died in a plane crash.[2](https://www.marvel-world.com/encyclopedie-398-fiche-nighthawk-dfenseurs-biographie.html)
Seeking a cure for his heart condition, Kyle was secretly guided by the Grandmaster to an alchemical formula that granted superhuman physical abilities. The serum's effects double at night: his strength allows him to lift about 1 ton during the day and roughly 2 tons after dark, with corresponding increases in stamina, durability, agility, reflexes, and sharpened sight and hearing. He is also a skilled acrobat and hand-to-hand combatant.[3](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Kyle_Richmond_%28Earth-616%29) His costume features jet-powered artificial wings that propel him to about 120 miles per hour at breathable altitudes, reaching 30,000 feet with extreme effort.[3](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Kyle_Richmond_%28Earth-616%29)
## From villain to Defender
After the Squadron Sinister's defeat, Richmond first played at being a celebrity vigilante, staging feats and letting captured criminals go for the publicity, until Daredevil exposed his exploits as trickery. When his former teammates returned under the alien Nebulon with a plan to melt the polar ice caps and sell Earth, Nighthawk refused and warned the Defenders instead. He was mortally wounded in the resulting battle, and [Doctor Strange](https://www.edgepedia.org/doctor-strange), Hulk, Namor, and Valkyrie saved him by mystically transferring portions of their life essences. Grateful, he accepted membership in the Defenders.[4](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Squadron_Sinister_%28Earth-616%29)
As a Defender from *The Defenders* #14 (July 1974), Richmond became one of the team's stabilizing figures, buying a former riding academy on [Long Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/long-island) to serve as a headquarters and funding the group through Richmond Enterprises.[1](https://www.comics.org/character/15901/) • [3](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Kyle_Richmond_%28Earth-616%29) Later storylines gave him prophetic visions of crimes (later removed by the mystic Papa Hagg), a stint leading the team, and an apparent death in an explosion at a Secret Empire base, followed by resurrection and a manipulated conflict in which he and Daredevil killed each other and escaped Mephisto's realm.[2](https://www.marvel-world.com/encyclopedie-398-fiche-nighthawk-dfenseurs-biographie.html) In later decades he cycled through the Thunderbolts, Captain America's anti-registration [Secret Avengers](https://www.edgepedia.org/secret-avengers) during Civil War, and the [Initiative](https://www.edgepedia.org/initiative) training program.[2](https://www.marvel-world.com/encyclopedie-398-fiche-nighthawk-dfenseurs-biographie.html)
## The Earth-712 Nighthawk and Squadron Supreme
On Earth-712, home of the Squadron Supreme, Kyle Richmond is a founding member of that world's premier team, an analog of the [Justice League](https://www.edgepedia.org/justice-league) in which Hyperion parallels Superman, Power Princess parallels [Wonder Woman](https://www.edgepedia.org/wonder-woman), and Nighthawk parallels Batman.[6](https://toonopedia.com/squadsup.htm) In Mark Gruenwald's twelve-issue *Squadron Supreme* maxiseries (1985 to 1986), the team undertakes the Utopia Project, using its powers to remake the United States whether the people consent or not. Nighthawk, who had retired to become [President of the United States](https://www.edgepedia.org/president-of-the-united-states) in that world, stands against Hyperion because he believes the Squadron should serve rather than rule, and he dies fighting his former teammates in that series.[7](https://comicbook.com/comics/list/the-first-10-members-of-the-squadron-supreme-ranked-by-power/) • [6](https://toonopedia.com/squadsup.htm)
## Other versions
Marvel has published many Nighthawks, most of them Batman stand-ins existing in alternate realities.[8](https://www.writeups.org/nighthawk-marvel-comics-david-walker/) The best-known variants include:
- **Supreme Power (Earth-31916).** In the 2003 MAX-imprint reimagining by [J. Michael Straczynski](https://www.edgepedia.org/j-michael-straczynski) and Gary Frank, Kyle Richmond is a rich Black man whose parents were shot by racists in front of him; as Nighthawk he fights crime in Chicago with a ruthlessness that mirrors the men who orphaned him.[9](https://www.denofgeek.com/comics/rise-fall-supreme-power-universe-marvel-squadron-supreme-new-avengers/) A 2016 MAX series by David Walker featured a related take, Raymond Kane.[8](https://www.writeups.org/nighthawk-marvel-comics-david-walker/)
- **Neal Richmond and Tilda Johnson.** The Grand Comics Database records the identity as also held by Neal Richmond in 1998 and by Tilda Johnson in 2017.[1](https://www.comics.org/character/15901/)
- **Heroes Reborn (Earth-TRN852).** In the 2021 event, a Kyle Richmond created by Mephisto as part of a world where the [Avengers](https://www.edgepedia.org/avengers-comics) never formed joined the Squadron Supreme of America; this version, whose history borrows elements from Spider-Man's Earth-616 adventures, joined the Avengers in *Avengers* #55 in 2021.[5](https://www.gamesradar.com/nighthawk-avengers-marvel-batman-history/)
## Legacy
The Squadron concept began as a way for Marvel to pit Avengers-style heroes against Justice League analogs without an intercompany crossover, and Nighthawk remains the clearest Batman analog in Marvel's roster.[5](https://www.gamesradar.com/nighthawk-avengers-marvel-batman-history/) • [10](https://www.writeups.org/batman-guide-batman-profiles/) The character's history is unusually tangled even by multiverse standards: GamesRadar counts at least five well-known versions of Kyle Richmond as Nighthawk, several of which have operated in the core [Marvel Universe](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-universe) at one time or another.[5](https://www.gamesradar.com/nighthawk-avengers-marvel-batman-history/)
## References
1. [Nighthawk character page, Grand Comics Database](https://www.comics.org/character/15901/)
2. [Nighthawk (Défenseurs) biographical file, Marvel-World](https://www.marvel-world.com/encyclopedie-398-fiche-nighthawk-dfenseurs-biographie.html)
3. [Kyle Richmond (Earth-616), Marvel Database](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Kyle_Richmond_%28Earth-616%29)
4. [Squadron Sinister (Earth-616), Marvel Database](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Squadron_Sinister_%28Earth-616%29)
5. [The newest Avenger Nighthawk: the strange history of Marvel's Batman, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/nighthawk-avengers-marvel-batman-history/)
6. [The Squadron Supreme, Don Markstein's Toonopedia](https://toonopedia.com/squadsup.htm)
7. [The First 10 Members of the Squadron Supreme, Ranked by Power, ComicBook.com](https://comicbook.com/comics/list/the-first-10-members-of-the-squadron-supreme-ranked-by-power/)
8. [Nighthawk: Raymond Kane, David Walker take, Writeups.org](https://www.writeups.org/nighthawk-marvel-comics-david-walker/)
9. [The Rise and Fall of Marvel's Supreme Power Universe, Den of Geek](https://www.denofgeek.com/comics/rise-fall-supreme-power-universe-marvel-squadron-supreme-new-avengers/)
10. [Batman: A disambiguation guide to Batman character profiles, Writeups.org](https://www.writeups.org/batman-guide-batman-profiles/)
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