History

Peter J. Rickman is an attorney, specializing in prosecution for civil lawsuits. He has often had clients who might be eligible to undergo criminal prosecution. But as lawyers often say, he judges each case on its own merits.

Sometime in the past, a grateful client introduced him to a tech contact who was working on a personal flight suit. Peter was interested, and arranged to test-fly the suit on surveillance missions. The next client was also grateful, and arranged for Peter to retain access to the suit. Peter started using the name Skyhawk then.

In 2006, Peter took on a high-profile civil lawsuit: City of New Orleans et al. vs. Power Patrol Incorporated. The Powernaut and his Power Patrol stood accused of altering the course of Hurricane Katrina toward New Orleans. Peter's first challenge was to serve a warrant upon the Powernaut. This was especially challenging because the Powernaut was in Cuba. So Peter went in as Skyhawk... People are still arguing over whether he meant to get shot out of the sky by the Cuban Air Force. But the Powernaut rescued him, and he did serve the warrant.

Peter took the lawsuit to pre-trial hearing, at which two supervillains attacked to disrupt the trial and capture him. The Powernaut and his superhuman legal advisor saved him. Peter then arranged a legal settlement, wherein Skyhawk would monitor the Power Patrol. He wound up as the Powernaut's publicity advisor. He stayed with the Power Patrol at least through 2009.

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In 2011, the Earth's ecosystem was starting to collapse due to Global Cooling. Then the "Powernaut Rapture" occurred. Heroes and relatively-good people found magic doorways to a better version of Earth. But either Peter didn't find a doorway, or he stayed behind on purpose. After Donald Trump became President on Earth-SW10 in 2012, Peter J. Rickman got nominated to be a Federal judge. He now makes the best of what remains of Earth's habitable lifespan.

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Personality

Peter's motivations have always been a mystery. But he's definitely opportunistic. And a prick. Hence his nickname, "Prickman".

Powers and Abilities

As Skyhawk, Peter wears a flying battlesuit. It provides superhuman-level flight plus some armor, and does not require substantial operating power. Peter has yet to use any weapons with the suit.

The Skyhawk battlesuit is largely powered by a synthetic molecule variously referred to as "Unobtainium" or "Thiotimoline". This molecule is essentially programmable matter, with extensions into other dimensions. It is the basis of Ellipsis's matter transmutation powers, for instance. The Skyhawk battlesuit was an effort to find how adaptable the substance was. With a few molecules scattered upon the wings of the suit, the suit gained anti-gravity powers. So the suit flew, despite being barely aerodynamic.

As such, the Skyhawk suit is highly valuable. Skyhawk can be depowered if his suit is stripped of its wings. The Mighty Tim did this in 2006, in Cuba. At the insistance of Lucianus Autonomus, the wings ended up with Cuban scientists. Cubans eventually got bribed / threatened, to return the wings to the suit's originator. The Skyhawk suit was then repaired, and returned to Peter Rickman - along with considerable threats if he ever lost the suit again.

Appearance

Out of costume, kind of like an aging teenager in an out-of-style business suit. In costume, kind of like a junior Hawkman.

Publications

• Earliest Appearance: The Trial of the Powernaut, 2006
• First Published: SuperBeat 2008
• Most Recent Publication: The Trial of the Powernaut - Epilogue, 2006 (published 2018)
• Latest Appearance: Forgotten Heroes, Powernaut 2009

Author's Notes

Skyhawk originated by random character generation, for a "villain war" game at GenCon Indy 2003. He won his game, which is more than I can say for my other character the Man-Meat.

For one of my dream-generated stories in 2008, I needed (basically) Superman and Hawkman. So, the team of Powernaut and Skyhawk was born. It expanded into Powernaut 2009 comics, some of the first year of Powernaut comics. I've spend much of Powernaut Comics explaining how that happened. Hence, the Trial of the Powernaut.

Skyhawk's Wiki has waited since then, though. During the Trial, it was never the right time to reveal that much history about him. After the Trial, I just forgot. But I ought to do it before the next Powernaut series. That is to say, now. And it's also a good time to comment on the motivations of lawyers.

That said, I have seen filters to remove mention of the current U.S. President from web pages. I tested that page with one of those. So I put in a filter advisory. (I also figured out how to defeat that filter. But I'll never publish how.)

(signed) Scott Eiler, 10 September 2018.