Jack Danner's older brother Joe knocked his own brains
out when he stepped on a rake; then, when Jack was five; his father's drunken
driving killed his parents. Neither tragedy turned him into a tortured, vengeful
soul. Jack spent seven years in St. Frederick's Orphanage, cared for by Father
Joe. When he was twelve, his Aunt Ruth returned from Europe, taking custody
of Jack and his best friend Daniel Tolliver, housing them in Danner Manor. Unable
to cope with their delinquent ways, Ruth soon accepted an offer from groundskeeper
Kwi Chi to raise them alongside his own son; Lee Chi. He taught all three discipline
and the martial art. One night, Jack witnessed a hawk attacking an owl in the
woods, and he raced to the rescue; afterwards, Kwi stated that Jack was now
both the hawk and the owl.
The boys grew up strong and inseparable. Together they won martial arts tournaments,
served in the military, and went to university. Jack traveled the world, training
under the best fighting teachers, back in Chicago; Jack decided to do something
about the soaring crime rate and became the vigilante Hawk-Owl, operating out
of the Owl's Nest, a hidden base atop the Manor.
Jack began to consider adopting a child, imagining fighting alongside a son
as Hawk-Owl and "Woody"; he even had a costume made for the latter.
When robbers broke into St. Frederick's to hide from the police and took children
hostage, Hawk-Owl captured them with the assistance an orphan Hank Kipple. Impressed
by Kipple, Jack arranged to adopt him. The cynical Hank viewed his new father
with open contempt, unwilling to trust anyone after being alone for so long.
Even when he discovered the Nest and Jack's alter-ego, Hank rejected him. To
prove he was serious about being a father, Jack offered to quit being Hawk-Owl;
once Hank realized he wasn't bluffing, they finally began to bond. Soon after,
the Ultimates tried to draft Hawk-Owl into their ranks; unimpressed by their
arrogance, Hawl-Owl came to blows with Captain America and Giant-Man until Thor
ended the fight, and the Ultimates departed.
When Hank's school principal Morgan Jones became criminally insane Principal
and put Jack in a coma, Hank tried to stop Jones as Woody, placing himself in
peril before the awakened Hawk-Owl came to his rescue. The duo continues to
protect Chicago, dedicated to making the wind city a little safer.
