The Blackhawks

Created by Will Eisner and Chuck Cuidera

History

"Over land, oversea, we fight to make men free of danger we don't care we're Blackhawks"

Blackhawk was Quality Comics top-selling feature and while the team is not made up of superheroes, its success, history, and adoption by DC make it more than worthy of the attention of Quality's superheroes. In a way, it was Quality's super-team. Writers and artists on this feature took pains to distinguish each of the Blackhawks, both in the way they looked and they way they acted. The features success is due to several factors. When talking about the writing, both the team dynamics, and globetrotting adventures made for thrilling tales month after month. The feature also had a sense of continuity. Characters who were believed dead were mourned and returned later. The art of Reed Crandall. Crandall wasn't the first artist on the series. For more about the ownership of Blackhawk, see "Chuck Cuidera," page xx.

The Blackhawk solo title took over the numberin from Uncle Sam Quarterly. Its first issue was #9, Winter 1944. By that time, the membership of the squadron had normalized into its usual seven. The next issue didn't appear until after the war, when paper restrictions were relaxed. It remained on a bimonthly schedule until the cancellation of Modern Comics in 1950, after which it became monthly.

Poland 1939, Captain Von Tepp's Nazi forces invaded Poland. Blackhawk zooms in to take out more than his fair share of the fleet. shooting down six enemy planes before making an emergency landing himself. When Von Tepp dive bombed after him, he ended up killing Blackhawk's brother and sister, Jack and Connie, instead. After this, he took up an independent mission to assail Nazis across Europe. By the time he next met Von Tepp, he'd assembled a full squadron of fliers aligned with his cause. They also rescue Red Cross working Ann. Afterwards, they depart for Blackhawk Island in the North Atlantic—their secret headquarters. He brought Von Tepp along and challenged him to an aerial duel. Both planes were grounded and in the end, Blackhawk shot him to death. (Military #1)

regarded by some as "air pirates" and "assassins." Blackhawk explained to their reluctant British guest that they are the last free men from their invaded countries: Stanislaus, Andre, Hendrick (Hendrickson in #5), Boris, Zeg and Olaf. When they take off to Paris for a mission, rescue a nuclear physicist (#2)

the hale, tall, ruddy short-nosed Olaf

perhaps Boris moved over to the Death Patrol (which also had a member by that name).

their newest recruit, Chop Chop, fell out of the sky! He came from Yugoslavia with news of nazi treachery where they again find Ann and before heading for certain death, she and Blackhawk kiss. They flooded a valley and took out ten thousand men. When Andre is wounded he moves to sacrifice himself to start a landslide as well, and disappears. (#3)

In Egypt, the Hawks tussle with Nazi spy Edda Heimat, eventually taken to her "boss," the Black Tigress. He spurns her advances then stops her plot to target an Allied ship on the Suez canal. As she dies, he diesovers that Edda was the Tigress. (#4)

ratlike Scavengers comb the wartorn land and captured by Nazis who set them on Blackhawk in Oslo where they meet Red Laura. Chop Chop now taking a more active role. someone notifies the others and olaf, zeg hendrick. Laura turns in the midst of battle. (#5

Blackhawk crashes in the snowy alps where locals nurse him to health. 67

in Mongolia, Genghis Khan is reborn in a new warrior quickly amassing an army and sweeping westward across Asia. Eventually crossing paths with the Blackhawks. Naturally, Chop Chop's nationality enabled him to infiltrate Khan's army and Blackhawk exposed him as a mere mortal, and his men turned on him (#7)

return to Yugoslavia to remember Andre . When they're captured by Nazis, they were rescued by the "Man in the Iron Mask"—Andre! He had refused to return because in the landslide, he was disfigured. Reluctantly, Andre returned to Blackhawk Island where Blackhawk brought a renown plastic surgeon, Dr. Fritz Von Rath, to fix him. But the doctor was mad from his time in a concentration camp and instead laughed at poor Andre. (#9)

after a brief rehabilitation, Dr. Fritz performed the operation, but he was still quite mad, and Andre's face was left in the shape of Fritz's former tormentor, Baron Von Zeifh. This of course left Andre in the perfect position to infiltrate the Baron's camp, where he also rescued Dr. Fritz's daughter, Barbara. Back home, Fritz fixed Andre's face for good. Better yet, he and Barbara were engaged. (#10)

. a bit of a sea change as the Blackhawks debate where to spend their energies with America's entrance into the war . After stopping to enlist their aid with the U.S. army in San Fracsisco, they headed to the Phillipines. En route, Chop Chop met up with his girlfriend, the Red Cross worker called Lotus Petal.. , added Chuck. (not identified as American but soon written unmistakably so) (#11)

War Department contact was Major Brandon #12

target Baron Von Tepp, aka the Butcher, the brother of the man who killed Blackhawks family. Most of the squadron was captured in attacking Von Tepp, but Blackhawk freed them and sufficiently spooked the Butcher, who wandered deliriously into the desert and died #13

Blackhawk returned to the island and met Tondeleyo but called to dogfight with 50-1 odds but win. Return to find Hendrickson ready to commit suicide . Later Blackhawk himself takes a death dive into a Nazi fighter. He survived the crash and came to his senses realizing the femme fatale was causing their strife and cast her out. She was killed by a crashing bomber.#14

three witches Trouble, Terror and Mystery—cause mayhem in Japanese occupied Indiasecretly aided by a Japanese Mata Hari, a traitor to her own country. (#15)

Hans Haupt the Fox feared by his own Fuehrer, in Libya. (#16)

another save the life of another Japanese , the Golden Bell, a Chinese infiltrator who aided them and sacrificed her own life in Tokyo #17

in Tibet in search of the Thunderer awakened in a Himalayan monastery (#18)

from within the Black Forest came Baron of Vyberg, a name with a long legacy of cruelty . As the King Cobra, the newest Baron sought to shake his family's history of failure and take on the Blackhawks with his own "squadron of rattlesnakes" bearing similar uniforms with a snake's head. was actually killed by a civilian German. (#19

receive a new visitor who preferred to be called "Sugar" (because she was hard to get). from america who demanded to join the Blackhawks! The new lady non-Blackhawk simply refused to leave an adept mechanic looking for revenge for her brother who was shot down over Germany. She helped them infiltrate France (#20)

Nazis unvel a super fighter and the Blackhawks unveiled their own war song, though mysterious that they wouldn't just sing the song that had been written for them. :

Let the tyrants give an ear!
We will fill their souls with fear
We are the Blackhawks!

Went hunting for a new island base that was closer to the fronts in Europe. While scouting, ?? was captured and replaced by a spy. To root him out, a special potion by Chop-Chop rooted out the fake (#22)

in Venezuela, versus King (Mike) Kono who took over the natives 23

"The man with the heavy glasses" a Japanese ace named Sandoz #24

Chop-Chop was handy with a meat cleaver to the skull.

Chop-Chop sent in undercover to Ching-Wu China where he met up with a local resistance fighter, Mandarin Wang, aka Wang the Tiger fought modern war machines with ancient weapons. (#25)

Skell lost faith in the Nazis in Germany, but not in their ideals. He tried to take over the country of Olancho. Blackhawk hanged him to death. The pilots sang "The tyrants start to sag, We fly the victory flag, We're Blackhawks!" Blackhawk still mentioning Warsaw. shows people hanged. (#26)

china 27

tortured by the Japs returned to bomb Kobe (#28)

Dr./ Koro, a Chinese symbol of evil in Burma he established "surgical control" over mens minds. helped Japs reduce their pilots to mindless beasts. (#30)

Captain Hitsu flew plane with deaths-head insignia.

island cited specifically in Pacific (described as "new" by the Japanese in the next issue). Stanislaus told his eyesight is getting too poor to fly. As he moved to take his own life, the island was dive bombed and he escaped death but rode along on their next mission. When Blackhawk dove to board a zeppelin, Stan was left in control of teh plane. He dove in a suicide run into the zeppelin and went down with the flaming wreck. (#31) with the help of an Army dog, Pete, they found Stan alive, but truly blind. Army doctors performed an eye transplant from Pete to Stan, allowing him to see again! (#32)

Eve Rice, a talented aviatrix/photographer who'd been following their exploits. They were none to haapy to have her on their backs, but had to concede that she helped fight off a Japanese attack. twisted admiration, actually tipped off the Japanese to the Blackhawks' location so that she could get good shots. (#34) returned again and needed saving (#35) Andre and Olaf competed to impress her, but she only had eyes for their leader. When she thought she'd caused his death, she sailed away. (#36)

The successful Allied campaigns in the Pacific were reflected in the pages of Blackhawk: "War in Asia rises to a climax! Key defenses of Japan are bombed to bits!" (#41)

Modern Comics and the Blackhawk Title

The Japanese surrendered on August 10, 1945 and Quality quickly changed the name of Military Comics to Modern Comics, beginning with issue #44 (Nov. 1945, on sale in September). The next several issues involved the lingering Japanese presence in the South Pacific. Japanese renegades tried to take a Chinese mountain town. cover "soldiers of fortune" (#46) Count Hokoy was a Japanese war lord who escaped and terrorized a Middle Eastern city. Their ally, Parsee led Blackhawk and Stanislaus blindfolded and taken to a secret area where they were ambused by Hokoy. In the end, the tyrant went over a cliff. (#47) With the war over, the Blackhawks faced disbanding. They said their goodbyes and headed for their homes. For somemembers, it was the first time they'd spoken their home countries aloud. It was also the first time that Blackhawk was concretely identified as an American (by Chuck). Before they could depart, they received a distress call from Peroo Island, where raiders Elosa, Lango, and Boole sough the land's tin depostis. In conclusion, Blackhawk encapsulated their new mission: "We came together for war—well, now we'll stick together for peace!" (#48)

Ruthless but misunderstood lady called Fear, of Zorania (#49)

The Blackhawk title had only been published once (#9, Winter 1944, which took over numbering from Uncle Sam Quarterly). This title resumed with the Spring 1946 issue, in addition to Modern Comics. It was a testament to the Blackhawks' popularity. Each issue featured three or four new Blackhawk stories plus its primary supporting feature, the solo "Chop Chop." The book ran quarterly until 1948, when it went bimonthly (similar to Doll Man and Plastic Man). Stories remained true to their new peace-keeping directive and followed the squad across Arabia, Africa before longer stints in Central and South America.

Chuck played up. If Plastic Man had his Woozy Winks, then the Blackhawks had Chop Chop, who was similarly left behind, and found himself fighting unexpected threats by himself. (#10)

Blackhawk parachuted into South American jungles to find the Tigress bjilding the ideal civilization harboring Nazi war criminals (#11) Eclipse, "the Winged Death" killed herself. (#12) King Murder of Costa Marca they found the lady Fear returned rooting out evil in her homeland again. (Blackhawk #13)

Vareen Barlovsky kidnapped by Grotesko and the Dragon People of Karlovna at the command of Rambin and his Dragon Queen, who killed him then herself. Fear arrived just in time, pretending to profess for love for Blackhawk in order to save him from a marriage of honor. (#14) Fear back to help against the native Shaman of North City. helped the island King Hakdar regain the favor of his estranged wife, Queen Mokina . (#17)

It was a good thing that the early Blackhawk, Boris, hadn't made it into the final roster, because American sentiment towards the Russians was clear, and reflected in the pages of most adventure comics.

power grabbers and men trying to fill the gaps left by the German and Japanese. It was at this point when the Blackhawks solo title also resumed regular bimonthly publication.

An official with "international committee for world peace" bade Blackhawk to go after a desert raider called the Vulture. Blackhawk's powerful punch not only took out the tyrant—it killed him! (#52)

Baron Scar and his Black Lancers made it look as though they were protecting the people, but he was really set on establishing an organized crime network. (#53)

When Chop Chop and Blackhawk vacationed on the island of Largo, they found themselves in the middle of a coup staged by exiled leader Maxill and his cohort, Nabob. (#54)

Mister Hyper in the Bavalan Islands, Blackhawk initially turned down a request for the squad to survey the islands, because there was no strife there. (#56)

a strange yellow-skinned man washed up on the shore of a tropical island, they used their submarine plane that carried the whole crew into the ocean depths, where they found a domed city and a race of people (who did not breathe water) donned underwater suits and it was a land formed when surface people retreated beneath an island met the intolerant king and threw in with the rebels. (#57)

 

Hired for the first time as super-couriers, guarding ;priceless antiquek gold tablets. foiled Grin and his men repeatedly from stealing them. (#58) aided in mountain research, taking scientists to hard-to-reach location (#59) sent in as a mediator in a land sdispute between South American nations (#60)

Sky Matador . Called to help a mountain nation against the Corsair, who possessed a giant floating island in the sky thrilling tale . Hongo and his Hatchet Men . . (B #15)

gargantuan Mortis. attacked by a giant condor created by Hugo Rogers, a chemist who learned how to create giant animals , also tried to escape reporter Diana Lewis. When the killer Stark was reanimated with a "vegetable serum," he returned to life as a green monster, but only for a few days. (B #16)

 

Choinese Professor Amok tried to send a rocket to the moon, it nearly hit the Blackhawks, who were there putting down insurrections by the Red Dragon. They attacked by oddly dressed men in a rocket, which was interceptedc by the Red Dragon, who dressed his men as the Moon Men (#64)

rival plane company used giant parachute hawk to scare pilots into crashing (#65)

Fiendish the Raider was Blackhawk's equal in evil. This red-headed, caped terrorist employed pilots from many different countries. They blew up his mountain lair. (#66)

savage island of Dr. Mendoza, with with dinosaurs and men primitive. They rescued Miss Fury, an explorere ultimately aided by the cave men, who threw Mendoza off a cliff. (#67)

opened them up for all kinds of adventures, ranging from aviation, exploration, diplomacy, international conflict, espionage. They were contracted by the leaders of international consortiums and heads of state. spectacular visuals and detailed scenes including the vehicles, buildings. Chop Chop took more of a backseat than during the war.

skeletal sky pirate, Mr. Carnage (#69)

scantily clad international terrorist called Cobra, who used snakes to kill. (#71) Blackhawk versus Blackbeard (#72)

after entering a strange cloud, emerged it looked as if they'd traveled back in time. They landed on the island of Mr. Yesterday and his lady, Miss Danger. Slavery was common there, and Yesterday attempted to seize Chop Chop! After killing the island's master, they destroyed its mist-generating machines and turned the island over to international authorities. (B #18)

coordinated attacks across America including the Brooklyn bridge, the Hoover Dam, paranoia set in and an official accused Blackhawk and his "gange of foreign cutthroats" of the acts. The accuser was the perpetrator, Nitro and his masked gang were behind it, (#73)

Captain Squidd and his strange submarine called the Cuttlefish attacked merchant vessels above with his red-suited ?? Blackhawk flew a new version o fthe sub-plane and dove directly into the water with it! (#74)

women, all of whom met their demise at the end of the story. Tigra led rebels in Bolvania (#76)

cavemen (#77)

Madame Butterfly, a vengeful Japanese woman who wore an exotic wings and a cap with antennae. She commanded a squadron of planes called the Caterpillar Legion with painted wings that enveloped their targets in cocoons. Her men wore striped tights not unlike the Red Bee's. (#78)

Fate, who killed with lightning from a battery powered gadget in his hands (#79)

switched from twin-propeller planes to jets. (#81)

Mr. Moloch burned with phosphorus while wearing an asbestos suit. (#82)

her Excellency, Twilight (#86)

the Scorpion acquired a machine that disintegrated metal and targeted large buildings. (#91)

cult leader Master of Evil who wore a devil's mask (#93)

Tanara and her Seven Sirens were matched one-to-one with the men (#94) the robber, Spectra (#96)

'the otherwise harmless Arda Thorn learned her family history, she began killing people in vengeance actually repented. (#97)

the natural choice for a rocket mission to the moon. landed and donned their "airtight armor" found that someone (ostensibly Russians) had gotten there first. taken prisoner by Zorak and Telsa, who revealed they'd discovered diamonds there. (#99

meteor landed, unleashing metal giants controlled by the she-scientist, Black Star. (#101)

• Andre, : Very obviously French artist and musician , ladies' man
• Blackhawk. In Quality Comics, this man never received a personal name, only "Blackhawk." never spoke with an accent. At DC Comics, he is generally referred to by his new name, Janos Prohaska, given in Sandman Mystery Theater ??
• Chop Chop: The crazed cook usually rode along in the airplanes, Chop enamored of Mei Ling, who was a spy. (64)
• Chuck Wilson . began with black hair, drawn with a freckled face and short, upturned nose. One of the lesser played members. went solo into Lokaria that led to overthrowing rebels. (#87) shown to have more initiative on his own . Opened up about his father, a pilot who was lost after World War I. His mother then died in the meantime, but Blackhawk and Chuck were drawn to a deserted island where Blackhawk learned that the elder Wilson had come to command a band of pirates. Just then, the man was betrayed by one of his band, and Wilson begged Blackhawk not to tell Chuck the truth; Blackhawk obliged (1st mention of last name). (Blackhawk #17)
• Hendrickson: doctor,portly self-decribed Dutchman (Modern #48)
• Olaf, tall, square-jawed a Norwegian
• Stanislaus red-headed sometimes called a "Swensk" (#22) but most often considered a Polish countryman, like Blackhawk.
• Zeg has shaved head but never made it into the role calls. no Zeg in #11, back in #13

Post-Mopdern Blackhawks

After Modern Comics ended with #102 (Oct. 1950), the Blackhawk title became monthly (from bimonthly) and carried the team through to Quality's end. This was the same time that Quality's entire line was streamlined in teh wake of Busy Arnold's buyout of his partners, the Register & Tribune Syndicate.

• Notes

the technical art in Loops and Banks is better. Cuidera through #11. Olaf gets most of the spotlight.

e of #18, also rather short and thin hair, but lighter?

#8 provided sheet music for "The Song of the Blackhawks," written by Richard (Dick) French. Used in the films??

Hawkah! We are the Blackhawks
Hawkah! We're on the wing
O over land and over sea
We will fight to make men free
And to every nation liberty we'll bring
Hawkah! follow the Blackhawks
Hawkah! shatter your chains
Seven fearless men are we
Give us death or liberty
We are the Blackhawks
Remember out name

sure did survive a lot of crashes

changes in #11 may signal Eisner's departure

schematics of mid-air battle plans.

#4 has a full page map of Blackhawk Island.

announces in Military #2 that their "designer" is going to unveil a new Grumman Skyrocket in the next issue.

no surprise why this one was a hit. It's thrilling in a new way.

Quality Era Membership

Many stories mention that the Blackhawks were a seven member outfit, including Chop-Chop. Member like Zeg and Boris appeared sporadically even after the feature's signature "role calls" began appearing. Boris and Zeg were used only sporadically. By the time the feature hit its stride, the cast featured mostly a core of seven.

DC Comics History

Revisions to the Golden Age

Janos Prohaska was born on October 31, 1912 in Krakow, Poland amid a country in turmoil. During his young life, he would experience ravages of both the Great War and Poland's war with Russia. His father committed suicide in 1929 and Janos was forced to leave his younger siblings, Józek and Staszka, in the care of his aunt. Janos himself joined the Polish air force where he met his good friend Stanislaus Drozdowski. They gained skills in hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship and aviation. By 1936 they were national heroes. When the political climate in Poland grew sour, the young men went into freelance service, which took them abroad. They served in the Spanish Civil War and traveled aimlessly for a while. (Secret Origins #45)

During this time, Janos went to America with a flying circus in hopes of finding funding for a European resistance group. Instead he was framed for a series of murders. He was ultimately exonerated through the efforts of the Sandman and returned to Poland. A few days later, Wes Dodds and Dian Belmont received a false report that he has been shot down and killed by Nazi fighters in the Mediterranean. (Sandman Mystery Theatre #45-48)

On 1 September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland and Prohaska returned in defense of his home. He was unable to prevent the Nazis from killing his remaining family. Soon thereafter, Jan organized a multinational group of aviators he dubbed the Blackhawks. This original group included: American brawler Capt. Carlos "Chuck" Sirianni; Swedish acrobat Capt. Olaf Friedricksen; the elder, Dutchman Capt. Ritter Hendrickson; ladies' man Capt. André Blanc-Dumont; and Chinese martial artist Lt. Weng Chan. In March of 1942, the Blackhawks shared an adventure with the All-Star Squadron against the wizard, Wotan, in England. (All-Star Squadron #48-49)

After Stanislaus died in a take-off to battle (Blackhawk v.2 #2), the team was joined by Captain Natalie Reed (nee Gurdin, a.k.a Lady Blackhawk), an Russian-American member of the Communist party. A brilliant flight engineer, Reed redesigned the Blackhawks' aircraft (Blackhawk v.2 #1-3). Reed served with the Blackhawks throughout the war and eventually renounced her membership in the Communist party.

Postwar, Post-Crisis

After the war, the Blackhawks all went their separate ways. Jan found himself in the new nation of Vietnam, where in 1947, he was approaced by Cynthia Hastings with a proposition to retrive lost treasure. This gold was originally stolen by the Japanese in Indochina, found in Hanoi by the French in 1946, and stolen again by their clerk, Robert Massié. The last anyone knew, Massié was then overtaken by a Chinese crime lord known as the Red Dragon. Cynthia hoped to be able to offer the Dragon their services to get the gold out of the country, and then hijack it. Jan agreed to the plan and took a cargo plane and enough whiskey to tempt the Dragon. Before leaving, he also wrote a letter to Blanc-Dumont, asking him to join the mission covertly.

Jan faked engine trouble to land on the Dragon's air feature and the two were taken captive by the Red Dragon. They're suprised to learn that the Dragon is a woman: Sheah Chun Ryan. The Dragon agreed to Jan and Cynthia's proposal, but insisted that Hastings must remain behind as insurance. Cynthia soon revealed her true identity as a Catholic nun and raced after a Buddha among the treasures. She explains thtat when France fell to Germany, Catholic bishops put their artifacts in Buddhist care. The Red Dragon was unsympathetic to her cause and ordered them killed. Just then, lightning struck and allowed them to escape with the statue. André, joined by Chuck Sirianni swooped in to save the day, and the Red Dragon's plane was shot down. (Action Comics #601-608)

In June 1947, Natalie rejoined Blackhawk Airways at their new base in Singapore. Jan used his gold from the Red Dragon case to upgrade the Blackhawks planes (which had been reacquired from Interpol) and start a charter service. In addition, Jan asked Chuck to try to use his O.S.S. connections and to buy two refitted XF5F-1 planes from the U.S. They were approached for hire by an undercover operative of the U.S. Central Intelligence Group named Steve Claiborne. His sister, Marcia Rossiter had disappeared on a mission to obtain a Japanese microwave generator. Her plane had gone down in Sumatra, where another interested party (and 5th Column survivor), Johannes Vander Houten.

Weng and Olaf rejoined the squad for this mission, but when they arrive, Jan exploded over the possibility that Olaf was the father of Natalie's child. Natalie denies that but admitted that the two had slept together. The squad landed at Vander Houten's camp, and were immediately captured. Jan escaped with Marcia and the two holed up in a temple overnight, where things inevitably turned intimate. Though one of Vander Houten's men did discover the generator, the volcano on which it lay began to erupt. The villain gave up on the generator and attacked the Blackhawks, but Jan led him through the cone of the volcano just as it erupted. Jan blamed Claiborned for Marcia's death; she was fatally wounded during their escape. (#615-622)

Natalie found life in Asia difficult but hired Quan Chee ("Mairzey") Keng to help her on the ground. She missed her son, but could not risk moving home because of all the anti-Communist paranoia. For their next mission, the Blackhawks were tapped by the U.S. government itself. At the behest of Admiral Hillenkoeffer, Jan received an invitation to meet with President Truman. Jan was briefed on protocol for their presidential visit by Wendell Hardesty from the State Department. Truman proposed that Jan serve as a special covert operations agent. Further, Blackhawk Airways would be secretly purchased by the U.S. and serve as a front for the nascent CIA, which was "not yet ready" for missions. The operation would also move to Washington D.C.

The Blackhawks accepted this offer, and their first mission: to transport a modified form of LSD from Germany. Its inventor, Dr. Schmeling's office was destroyed and his drug was also coveted by a secret cell of Nazis. He was accompanied on the mission by pharmaceutical head, Constance Darabont. The Nazis' Gretchen Koblenz attacked and replaced Darabont, but Olaf sensed her subterfuge and caught her drugging their coffee. Koblenz shots Olaf then parachuted off the plane with a plan to sell the LSD to the Soviets. The Blackhawks were left mad from the drug and abandoned their plane.

They receive an Claiborne is kidnapped. Natalie is kidnapped. The Blackhawks obtain papers for Mairsey, who joins them in the U.S. (#628-634)

She found herself in rough waters in the late '40s and early '50s, when the "Red Scare" permeated the U.S. Congress. She was forced by the State Department to give up her career in aviation and returned to America as a comic book writer. Though she wanted to write "the facts," her editors censored her in light of growing anti-communist paranoia. (In post-Crisis continuity, Natalie Reed's doctored comic book scripts of the late 1940s represent the Blackhawks' original pre-Crisis adventures.) Also after the war, Reed had a brief affair with Hendrickson, producing a son, James. (Action #630-631, Blackhawk v.3 #1) The two had barely come to terms with their breakup when Hendrickson died in a helicopter explosion over Albania. (Blackhawk Annual #1)

Also, Jan is meant to take some of the anti-communist heat.

The Silver Age

In 1958, they were joined by a second Lady Blackhawk, Zinda Blake (Blackhawk #133). She served off-and-on for some time before disappearing amid the time fluctuations caused by Zero Hour. She emerged decades in the future.

Later, Weng, Chuck & Jan were called to President Truman's office to be recruited as special agents in covert mission. This operation was administered by the fledgling CIA. At this time, the government offered to buy Blackhawk Airways outright. Their first mission: to escort a U.S. official to Germany to retrieve a dangerous new chemical called LSD. (Action #630) By the 1950s, the Blackhawks were a fully integrated CIA unit, with a cover as an air courier service. New recruits Paco Herrera and Grover Baines also joined in 1955.

In 1963, the Blackhawks became entangled in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Their former colleague, Blanc-Dumont was working for the CIA and uncovered information implicating U.S. government officials of wanting to escalate involvement in the Vietnam war. This ran counter to the President's feelings, and his enemies killed Blanc-Dumont before he could return to Washington D.C. His killer, code named "Hardwire," left a calling card for the Blackhawks to lure them to Dallas. There, they fail to stop JFK's assassination and its cover-up.

After years of investigation, in 1968, Olaf uncovered Hardwire's identity in Saigon. His name was Stephen Weir, and Janos had evidently killed his parents in the war. Olaf went missing-in-action when Hardwire bombed the embassy; his body was shown floating in a river and it was never recovered. Back in the states, Natalie Reed was again recruited to help Janos watch over Robert Kennedy (she had taken the alias Constance Darabont). She bore witness to RFK's assassination, but was helpless to prevent it. Jan finally had his revenge in 1975, during last days of the Vietnam War. A secret informant revealed Hardwire's location, and the Jan killed him in battle. (Blackhawk Special #1) Jan was still around during the "Silver Age," when he participated in a short-lived "Seven Soldiers of Victory." (The Silver Age: Showcase)

Modern Day

In 1980, Weng Chan became the CEO of the organization's latest incarnation, Blackhawk Express. This charter service specialized in dangerous cargo and boasted all-female flight crews. Chan answered to a secret Board of Directors (whose members may have included some of the original surviving Blackhawks). In one of thier first recorded missions, Chan, R&D man Clay Kendall, and pilot Susan Sullivan were shot down over the country of Sumango by Colonel Diaz. Green Lantern, Superman and Black Canary were called in to rescue them. (Action #635) At a social function, Chan also met Katar Hol, the Hawkman of Thanagar. Katar helped Blackhawk Express when the Killer Shark (Bunther Haifisch) planted a bomb on a plane with sensitive cargo. (The plane used in this story was a Gates Lear-Jet 55C; Hawkworld v.2 #11-12.) Chan's grandson, Nelson Chan also joined B.E. as a mechanic.

Eventually, Blackhawk Island and the Blackhawk Express service were acquired by D.E.O., another U.S. agency which investigates metahuman affairs. The DEO's Director Bones tricked the JSA into driving Kobra from the island. Though the mission resulted in serious damages, the island was salvaged. (JSA #11-12) During the Imperiex War, an all-new Blackhawk fleet was created by combining Brainiac 13 technology with Ferris Aircraft designs. These new warbirds can travel into space.

When Zinda Blake emerged from the 1950s in modern time, she joined Buck Wargo's monster hunters for a time. (Guy Gardner: Warrior #24). Eventually she grew lonely as, according to her, she was the last living original Blackhawk. Later, she was contaced by Oracle and was invited to join the Birds of Prey as their pilot. Craving the adventure, she agreed, leaving the Blackhawk organization (and her share in it). She took with her but one thing: a brand new state-of-the-art plane to courier the Birds to their cases' destinations. (Birds of Prey #75) This was the first official declaration that the other original Blackhawks were dead.

No account has been made of the surviving Blackhawks' last days. Knowing the extent of Jan's sexual exploits, it is quite possible that he fathered children. The fate of Natalie and Hendrickson's son is unknown.

The Blackhawk operation continues to operate in covert and overt capacities for the United States military and espionage operations.

Notes

Blackhawk was one of the properties purchased by DC Comics from Quality Comics in 1956—and one of only two that it continued publishing from its original run. In original continuity, none of the core members ever died. But Howard Chaykin's 1988 mini-series established a new, post-Crisis continuity for the Blackhawks. Though his version drastically changed the personality of Blackhawk himself, it did return the team to it's multinational roots. (As the U.S. entered the war, some of the Blackhawk characters did not appear "sympathetic" enough to the publisher, Quality Comics. For more on this, read the letter column of Blackhawk Annual #1, 1989.)

The era of Blackhawk history which is most suspect in current continuity is the 1970s revival (which began in Blackhawk #244, 1976). Many would assert that Blackhawk #244-250 are no longer in continuity. Another change: Chan's pre-Crisis first name was changed from "Wu" to "Weng," and his nickname, "Chop-Chop" is clearly represented as pejorative.

The pre-Crisis gang also included Kazimierc "Zeg" Zegota-Januszajtis, Boris Zinoviev, Ian Holcomb-Baker (all of whom died before Pearl Harbor); Lt. Theodore R. Gaynor (Blackhawk #266); and Blackie the Hawk (Blackhawk #75).

Their earliest aircraft were based on Grumman F5F Skyrockets & Lockheed P-38s, later Douglas D558-1 & Lockheed XF-90s. See link below for more on their aircraft.

DC Era Membership

Powers

No member of the Blackhawks has ever exhibited metahuman powers.

Notes & References

• The Unofficial Blackhawk Comics Website
• Lady Blackhawk Goes Bad
• Alter Ego #34, March 2004.
  • Amash, Jim. "I Created Blackhawk!" (Interview with Chuck Cuidera)
  • Nolan, Michelle. "Better Read Than Dead." (Blackhawk's transition to DC Comics)
• Blackhawk Archives, vol. 1. Reprints Military Comics #1-17
• The Steranko History of Comics. James Steranko. Vol. 2, 1972. Contains Blackhawks and "Flying Heroes" articles.