Katar Hol and his wife Shayera Hol, law officers on the planet Thanagar, pursued a criminal to Earth. They traveled in a Thanagarian police space ship. The space ship was equipped with a "spatial overdrive" that allowed the ship to travel through hyper-space at speeds faster-than-light (FTL). After capturing the criminal, the Hols stayed on Earth to study its police methods. They took up residence in Midway City and in their Thanagarian police uniforms, were known as Hawkman and Hawkgirl.