Going Bird

Ythrians fly with natural wings;

an Avalonian human being who joins a choth, "goes bird," flies with an antigrav belt;

the comic book superhero, Hawkman, and his fellow Thanagarian police officers fly with antigrav belts and artificial wings -

- but how do they control the wings? Because a comic strip is sequential static art, we do not see the wings move, although presumably they do move visibly in the animated TV series and will have to move if Hawkman joins the increasing number of live action feature film superheroes.

This is one of the points at which the link between superheroes and their sf origins is most evident.

Christopher Holm, who has joined Stormgate Choth as Arinnian, insists that he is not pretending to be an Ythrian but it is clear that he wants to be:

"Oh God, to have real wings!
"He donned a leather helmet and lowered the goggles which were his poor substitute for a nictitating membrane."
-Poul Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2011), p. 441.

He is shaken when his female friend Eyath considers betrothal to Vodan. Eyath tells Arinnian how she felt during her lovetime. Such talk is usually improper in Stormgate but:

"'...Arinnian, dear, I can tell you anything. Can't I?'" (p. 448)

He thinks, bitterly, "After all, I'm not really an Ythrian." (ibid.)