Black Condor
Created by Will Eisner and Lou Fine
+ History
Growing up in vulture-land.
From Crack Comics #1 (Ma 1940).
Art by Lou Fine.
The Black Condor was born Richard
Grey, Jr., the son of archeologist Major Richard Grey. When he was
yet an infant, his family went exploring in Mongolia, they were besieged and
murdered by raiders. The baby's mother hid him from the attack and he survived.
The only living things around him were the native condors, with whom Grey seemed
to make a connection. Not long before, a meteor crashed near the condor's nest.
The radiation from this meteor created a strange bond between mother condor
and the infant Grey, and she adopted him as one of her own. As he grew,
he studied the mechanics of his "family's" flight,
and eventually succeeded in emulating it. He was an adolescent before meeting
another human, a monk named Father Pierre. Pierre taught the boy how
to speak English. But his mentor also fell prey to raiders led by Gali-Kan,
and after this the boy committed himself to using his gift of flight to combat
injustice. As the Black
Condor,
he made a name for himself across continents and got revenge on the men who
murdered Pierre. (Crack #1) 
The
meteor was added to the origin by Roy Thomas in Secret Origins #21 (1987).
After some adventures, the Condor returned to India, where he rescued a British brother and sister, the Kents from Ali Kan. Kan was after the Kent's territory. surprisingly took out a "black ray gun" that renders things immobile. (#2) He first traveled to America as protector to a friend's daughter, . didn't care for the city. (#3)
remained for a time in the Far East, disguised himself as an old wanderere unconquerable fortress called Mount Doom. Sinh Fang and his cohort De Graf. which went up in a blaze generated by its own powerful death rays. 4
in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) 5
an army of "human kites" raining storms down on a metropolis. followed them back to a secret lair, home of Karlo Klug and his midget master. (#6)
Yaho, a giant golem of the Waquo Indian tribe. (#7)
the Spinning Death machine created by a Chinese man, Lung Woe for his Nazi cohort, ??. This machine proved to have a mind of its own and manufactured an army of itself! (#8)
called upon Dr. Patche after a rash of killings (#9)
Naturally, the Condor did not know his real name. Back in the United States, he made his home and
Grey himself claimed he is not dead; he says he has moved on to a higher plane of consciousness and projects himself mentally. (Ray #20, 1.96)
Black Condor II, Ryan Kendall
Succeeded by Ryan Kendall (II, killed by the Society in Infinite Crisis #1)
Black Condor III, John Trujillo
John Trujillo becomes the third Black Condor.
From U.S. & the F. F. #3 (2006). Art by Daniel Acuña.
John Trujillo (III) who joined Uncle Sam's Freedom Fighters.
Notes
Another one of Quality's flying heroes, the Raven, shared the same last name as the Condor: Tony Grey. The Raven came two years after Black Condor (Feature Comics #60, September 1942). No link was ever made between the two.
In his first adventure, his costume was colored red.
The Black Condor shared the cover of Crack Comics through #26, when Captain Triumph took over.
The Condor's early strips were signed by his artist's pseudonym "Kenneth Lewis"—Louis Kenneth Fine.
Crack #8 describes him as the "only flying man in the world." Although the Ray had also debuted by then, it was a telling phrase because even though lots of heroes had super-powers, few—including Superman—had true flight abilities.
+ Powers
The original Black Condor was powered from exposure to radiation from a meteor. He had an empathic relationship with those condors and could communicate with them. When confronted by trained eagles, however, he was unable to command those birds. (#4) He also seemed to have been born with the ability to fly, which he developed through adolescence.
Grey also employed a "black ray gun" that rendered things immobile. (#2)
Appearances + References
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Black Condor I:
Black Condor II:
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Black Condor I:
Black Condor II:
Black Condor III:
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