ShadowHawk is a fictional antihero created by Jim Valentino. He was first advertised in the Malibu Sun free promotional magazine in May of 1992. His official Image Comics debut was in the second issue of Rob Liefeld's Youngblood series. Originally, the name ShadowHawk was to be used for the Marvel character Starhawk while he had darkness powers, but Tom DeFalco convinced Valentino to use the name for a new character instead. Paul Johnstone Fictional character biography Paul Johnstone grew up as a troubled youth in Harlem, New York City. He avoided a life of crime due in part to the encouragement of a man named Richard Woodroe, who was originally assigned as a caseworker to Paul when he was caught stealing, and eventually married his mother, becoming his stepfather. Eventually, Paul became a lawyer and, beyond that, a district attorney. While his life was going so well, his half brother Hojo had taken his success in college, moved to Wall Street and developed a Coke and crack addiction. Using Hojo, some gangsters tried to leverage Paul into letting their men off, but Paul refused. Soon after he ended up the target of an assault intended to serve as an example to others who got in the way of these mobsters. This incident culminated in his attackers injecting him with HIV-infected blood. After the encounter, Johnstone was left uncertain regarding whether he had been infected or not. The attack had been made public and word of his possible infection spread through Johnstone's workplace, making it a very inhospitable environment to be in. Tensions between Johnstone and one of his co-workers led to an altercation between the two which landed Johnstone out of a job and in jail. After he was released, Paul received medical confirmation that he was HIV positive and he descended into depression. While walking the streets to clear his head, Paul was threatened by a group of young gang members. He went berserk and attacked them, leading to his brutal mugging and return to the hospital. During this time he resolved that he would use the rest of his time to dispense justice to the individuals who preyed on innocent victims. One of his friends, a cop named Christina Reid (who had been kicked off the force that day for use of excessive force), was also in the hospital and came to visit him. She informed Paul that