“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 was not made up of super-heroes, its success, history, and adoption by DC more than qualify the characters for coverage equal to that of Quality’s super-heroes. The Blackhawks were essentially Quality’s sole super-team. They all wore the same uniform, but the artists and writers on the feature took pains to distinguish each of their looks and personalities. Their commercial appeal can be attributed to several factors. In scripting, the mixture of interpersonal dynamics and globe-trotting adventures made for thrilling tales month after month. The feature probably had the best developed sense of continuity, too. Some villains also recurred. And the art of Reed Crandall wowed readers and fellow artists alike. Crandall wasn’t the first artist on the series, but it’s remembered for his contribution. Crandall’s photographic memory, classical style, and passion for aviation made “Blackhawk” a treat to read. 

It is impossible to fully document the team across all its incarnations in the space available here. This profile focuses on their Quality adventures, but must skim over DC’s history with the characters. DC has published nearly 200 issues of Blackhawk (even a new title in 2011) and the team has undergone many changes and interpretations. To do all of them justice would require a separate volume. 

The team’s first eleven adventures were drawn by their co-creator, Chuck Cuidera, who was also an aircraft buff. For more on the controversy over his creation of Blackhawk, read his bio on page 64.

The first tale focused on their leader, called Blackhawk himself. We find him in Poland, 1939, as Captain Von Tepp’s Nazi forces were invading the country. The hero zoomed in and took out his fair share of the enemy fleet, shooting down six planes before making an emergency landing. When Von Tepp dive bombed after him, he killed Blackhawk’s brother and sister, Jack and Connie, instead. After this, Blackhawk took up an independent mission to assail Nazis across Europe. When next he met Von Tepp, he’d assembled a full squadron of (yet unnamed) fliers aligned with his cause. They rescued a Red Cross worker named Ann and departed for Blackhawk Island in the North Atlantic—their secret headquarters. Blackhawk 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 Comics #1) 

This story was greatly revised after the war, spun to cast Blackhawk as an American. In Blackhawk #50 (March 1952), a team bio confirmed it, and Blackhawk himself told his origin story in issue #71 (Dec. 1953). Most things were the same, but Blackhawk was changed to an American volunteer who enlisted with the Polish Air Force after Hitler’s invasion. Stanislaus was in his squadron. One of their first missions was against Von Tepp, who’d completed his raid in Poland before they caught up with him. In leaving, Von Tepp bombed a hospital where Blackhawk’s sister and brother, Charlie, worked. They died in his arms. He caught up with Von Tepp and killed him with his gun. After that, he took up his new mission and formed the Blackhawks, with men from other besieged lands. 

The other pilots were introduced beginning in issue #2. Regarded by some as “air pirates” and “assassins,” Blackhawk defended them, explaining to a reluctant British guest that they were the last free men from their invaded countries—Stanislaus, Andre, Hendrickson, Boris, Zeg and Olaf (their home countries were not listed). Their next mission was to Paris, to rescue a nuclear physicist. (#2)

Their next recruit, Chop Chop, fell out of the sky! He came from Yugoslavia with news of Nazi treachery and served primarily as their cook. Again they encountered Ann, who kissed Blackhawk before he left to complete the mission. The Blackhawks flooded a valley and took out ten thousand men. When Andre was wounded he moved to sacrifice himself to start a landslide as well, and was presumed dead. (#3)

In Egypt, the Hawks tussled with Nazi spy Edda Heimat. They were taken to her “boss,” the Black Tigress. Blackhawk spurned her advances and stopped her attack on an Allied ship in the Suez Canal. As she died, he discovered that Edda was the Tigress. (This was the first in a long line of female adversaries, most of whom ended up dead.) (#4) 

The Nazis sent ratlike Scavengers to prey on the Blackhawks in Oslo, where they also met Red Laura, and turned her to their side. (#5)

The squadron’s missions began to expand beyond Europe when they clashed with a new Genghis Khan. In Mongolia, the tyrant was reborn as a new warrior who quickly amassed an army and swept westward across Asia. Chop Chop’s Chinese nationality enabled him to infiltrate Khan’s army. When Blackhawk exposed Khan as a mere mortal, his men turned on him (#7)

When the team returned to Yugoslavia in remembrance of Andre, they were captured by Nazis and rescued by the “Man in the Iron Mask”—Andre himself! He had hidden away because the landslide had disfigured his face. 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 he only 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 put Andre in the perfect position to infiltrate the Baron’s camp, where he rescued Von Rath’s daughter, Barbara. Back home, Fritz fixed Andre’s face for good. Better yet, he and Barbara were engaged (but she never appeared again). (#10)

When America entered the war, the Blackhawks debated where to spend their energies. After stopping to enlist their aid with the U.S. Army in San Francisco, they headed to the Philippines. En route, Chop Chop met up with his girlfriend, the Red Cross worker called Lotus Petal. Their American member, Chuck, was first named in this issue (though his well-defined face appears in the previous issue). (#11)

When Chuck Cuidera was called off to war, two new creators stepped in to take the feature to greater heights. Artist Reed Crandall began on the series with Military #12 (Oct. 1942), in a story that introduced the team’s U.S. War Department contact, Major Brandon. At some point after this, William Woolfolk began writing a fair amount of the scripts, too. Jim Steranko interviewed the writer and wrote at length about him. He began writing “Blackhawk” after returning from his own tour of duty, around 1944. (Steranko: 60) 

Baron Von Tepp apparently returned (as he would several times), but was revealed as the brother of the man who killed Blackhawk’s family. Most of the squadron was captured in attacking Von Tepp, but Blackhawk spooked him into wandering deliriously into the desert, where he died. (#13)

On Blackhawk Island, they met the siren Tondeleyo, who coerced them into dogfighting, and even pushed Hendrickson to attempt suicide! After he took a death dive into a Nazi fighter, and survived the crash, Blackhawk came to his senses about the woman. He cast her out and she was killed by a crashing bomber. (#14)

The witch called Mystery was a “Japanese Mata Hari,” a traitor to her own country. She aided the men against two other witches, Trouble and Terror, in southeast Asia. (#15) Another such lady, the Golden Bell, was a Chinese infiltrator who aided them and sacrificed her own life in Tokyo. (#17)

Their adventures brought them across the world, from Libya (#16) to Tibet (#18) to the Black Forest, where they met the cruel Baron of Vyberg. Called 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 uniforms with a snake’s head. (#19) This was the first of several instances when the Blackhawks’ enemies forged rival teams. The next issue featured another first: the “lady Blackhawk.” Their new visitor was from America, and preferred to be called “Sugar” (because she was hard to get), and she demanded to join the Blackhawks! Sugar simply refused to leave; she was an adept mechanic who sought revenge for her brother, who was shot down over Germany. She helped them infiltrate France, but didn’t stick around after that. (#20)

The Blackhawks were prone to break out in song, usually singing the number at the beginning of this profile, but sometimes adding new verses, like these from Military #21 (left) and #26 (right):

Let the tyrants give an ear! The tyrants start to sag
We will fill their souls with fear We fly the victory flag
We are the Blackhawks! We’re Blackhawks!

Chop Chop might have been played for laughs, but he proved his worth many times over. As a cook, he helped root out an impostor with a special potion that somehow tasted different to spies. (#22) His meat cleaver was also handy as a weapon. He was sent in undercover to Ching-Wu, China, where he met up with a local resistance fighter, Mandarin Wang, a.k.a. Wang the Tiger, who fought modern war machines with ancient weapons. (#25)

Other Asian nationals weren’t as helpful, like Dr. Koro, who established “surgical control” over the mind. He helped the Japanese reduce pilots to mindless beasts. (#30)

The Blackhawks had gone shopping for a new island base in #22 and relocated to the Pacific in issue #31, to be closer to the Americans’ conflicts. 

Another more persistent tag-along was Eve Rice, a talented aviatrix/photographer who’d been following their exploits. They were none too happy to have her around, but she helped them fight off a Japanese attack. Her admiration was twisted, however. She actually tipped off the Japanese to the Blackhawks’ location just so that she could get good photos. (#34) She soon returned again, but 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 for good. (#36)

Modern Comics and the Blackhawk Title 

The Blackhawk solo book took over numbering from Uncle Sam Quarterly. It’s first issue was #9 (Winter 1944), but the next issue didn’t appear until the Spring 1946 issue. Each issue featured three or four new Blackhawk stories plus the solo “Chop Chop” feature. The book ran quarterly until 1948, when it went bi-monthly (similar to Doll Man and Plastic Man). 

With the war over, the Blackhawks faced disbanding. They said their goodbyes and headed for their homes. For some members, it was the first time they’d named their native countries (some were later changed by the official origin story in Blackhawk #50). This 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 sought the land’s tin deposits. In conclusion, Blackhawk defined their new mission: “We came together for war—well, now we’ll stick together for peace!” (#48) This opened them up for all kinds of adventures, including aviation, exploration, diplomacy, international conflict, and espionage. They were contracted by the leaders of international consortiums and heads of state. When Reed Crandall returned from the war, he resumed penciling on Blackhawk and the series hit new heights with spectacular scenes, vehicles, and buildings. 

The Ladies of Blackhawk

Modern Comics #49 (May 1946) introduced their frequent ally, the mysterious lady known only as Fear. She was ruthless and returned many times, usually asking for the Blackhawks’ help in squashing domestic injustice in foreign lands. Later that year, she asked for help against King Murder of Costa Marca. (Blackhawk #13) She saved Blackhawk from a marriage of honor to the Princess of Badarstan by “pretending” to profess for love for him. (#14) She aided again, against the native Shaman of North City (#17); Dr. Sprowle, who controlled animals with his invention in Arabia (#19); Rugoth in Frangastan (#20); and saboteurs on Sharkan. (#22)

Fear was the tip of the iceberg in a sea of sexy lady co-stars. Almost every issue of Blackhawk featured an unpredictable temptress. Most hailed from foreign lands and a fair number were dead by story’s end. The Tigress built an ideal civilization to harbor Nazi war criminals. (#11) Eclipse, “the Winged Death,” killed herself. (#12) A scantily clad international terrorist called Cobra used snakes to kill. (Modern #71) And it seemed that every male foe had a female companion who was all too willing to cozy up to the handsome Blackhawk, as with Paulus, the recovering Nazi, (Blackhawk #18) and Dr. Omega, the evil recluse. (#19) 

Madame Butterfly—a vengeful Japanese woman who wore exotic wings and a cap with antennae—commanded a squadron of planes called the Caterpillar Legion. They had painted wings that enveloped their targets in cocoons, and her men wore striped tights. (Modern #78) Tanara and her Seven Sirens were specifically matched to each of the Blackhawks but failed to take them down. (#94) When the otherwise harmless Arda Thorn learned her family history, she began killing people in vengeance, but repented. (#97) The scientist Black Star unleashed metal giants from “meteors.” (#101)

Countess Carlova of the pleasure city of Glittar called the Blackhawks on a whim, but benefitted from their presence nonetheless. (Blackhawk #20) The evil Satana infiltrated Blackhawk Island to get at scientific secrets. (#21) Blackhawk went undercover to stop a crime wave led by Number One, another female mastermind. (#24) In Asia, agents of Lo Chien used giant meteors to wage war on the locals. She claimed to have perfected a technique that allowed meteors through the atmosphere without burning up, but the Blackhawks found a launcher that hurled “meteors” made of earth at her targets. (#30) The Oracle of Delya gave prophesies that favored her own ends. (#32)

A few women were good, like Miss Fury, an explorer who helped the Blackhawks tame the savage island of Dr. Mendoza; it harbored dinosaurs and primitive men. (Modern #67) And Andre fell for Princess Tala of Oray Island. She was to be sacrificed to a faker called Flying Fish but she was saved in the end by her true love, a native man. (#32)

Post-war Perils

The Nazis and the Japanese had been defeated, but there was no shortage of power-grabbers willing to fill their shoes. The Blackhawks often discovered would-be dictators trying to influence elections or overthrow neighboring democracies. They fought pirate-type raiders and scavengers run by the remnants of World War II regiments. In Blackhawk, as in society, the “red scare” took a few years to grow. Before that, the team’s foes were a mix of swarthy international threats. 

An official with the “International Committee for World Peace” bade Blackhawk to go after a desert raider called the Vulture. Blackhawk’s powerful punch killed the man! (Modern #52) 

When a strange yellow-skinned man washed up on the shore of a tropical island, the Blackhawks used their special submarine plane to carry the whole crew into the ocean depths. They found a domed city and a race of air-breathing people who had long ago retreated beneath the island from aggressors. (#57)

The men were often hired as “super-couriers,” guarding priceless antique gold tablets, (#58) taking scientists to hard-to-reach locations (#59), and mediating in land disputes between nations. (#60) 

The Corsair was a formidable foe who possessed a giant floating island in the sky. (Blackhawk #15) When the killer, Stark, was reanimated with a “vegetable serum,” he returned to life as a green monster, but only for a few days. (#16) 

The Chinese Professor Amok tried to send a rocket to the moon; it nearly struck the Blackhawks, who were putting down insurrections by the Red Dragon. The Dragon intercepted Amok’s rocket then put his men inside it, to attack as the “Moon Men.” (Modern #64)

Mr. Powder amplified the sonic effect of a bat shrieking to make it seem he could “point” destructive energies from his fingers. (Blackhawk #20) Similarly, Fate was killed with lightning from a battery powered gadget in his hands (Modern #79) Mr. Moloch burned with phosphorus while wearing an asbestos suit. (#82) 

Captain Squidd and his strange submarine called the Cuttlefish attacked merchant vessels above. Blackhawk flew after him in their new sub-plane, which dove directly into the water. (Modern #74)

They met real aliens who arrived in a spaceship from the asteroid belt. These were red-skinned creatures who spoke through voice boxes around their necks. Their aims were expansionist and they intended to kill all animal life on Earth, until Blackhawk finished them off. The government chose to keep the incident a secret. (Blackhawk #22)

The Basilisk was a man of no nation who ran an international terror organization. (Blackhawk #29)

The Blackhawks were the natural choice for a rocket mission to the moon. They donned their “airtight armor” and found that the Russians had gotten there first. (#99)

Stanislaus hailed from a land now under Communist rule. Would Stan betray his squad? He returned to Poland three times. On the first, his friend Leska asked him to join her (Communist) cause. She employed Stan’s distant cousin, Petka, to impersonate him and sway local elections. (#31) The next time, Stanislaus received word that his mother had fallen ill. When he arrived, he found that it was a trap, and his mother had been dead for months. He was then drugged into confessing to terrorist acts. (#48) This same plot was used in Blackhawk #97 with Stan’s sister as bait instead.

Post-Modern Blackhawks

After Modern Comics ended with #102 (Oct. 1950), the Blackhawk title went from bi-monthly to monthly. The title carried the team through to Quality’s end. At this time, the page count was also bumped up from 36 to 52, allowing room for four Blackhawk stories and one “Chop Chop” feature. Blackhawk stories of the 1950s were more layered, telling flashbacks, sometimes even personal tales, and they featured more sophisticated and contemporary themes. It was the time of the Korean War, and the fiction began to reflect the Communist paranoia that was fueling the Cold War’s chill. Most stories took one of four forms: the “land that time forgot,” the femme fatale, the Communist aggressor, or the gigantic death machine.

Issue #40 (May 1951) was a tour de force, a fantastic example of the best of Blackhawk. It set the tone for many stories that followed. The first story followed the Blackhawks into an impassable valley where they were called by neighboring countries to scout for a new through-way. The men were astonished to find a civilization built by ancient Crusaders. The neo-Crusaders now threatened to attack the outside world, so the squad left their castle in ruins. The second story introduced another “lady Blackhawk.” Upon returning from a mission, the team noticed a seventh jet like theirs, in formation, but it disappeared. The culprit was Sheila Hawke, a.k.a. She-Hawke, who had aided them in secret on their mission. She was “rich and bored” and sought to join their ranks, but was roundly dismissed. The next day, she bested Olaf in training, then flew off on one of their distress calls. She was key in winning that mission, but Blackhawk tricked her into staying in the country a few weeks. She vowed to return to the Island (but never did). The third tale featured an enemy nation (Russia, ostensibly) that assembled the Red Raiders, a squadron of seven pilots each chosen to specifically oppose a Blackhawk: Wolwin, Bluth (a former Nazi), Pippo, Kazmir (former schoolmate of Stan), Fang, the American gangster Boylan, and their general, also called the Red Raider. They issued a challenge to the Blackhawks but in the end, all but the leader and the Nazi realized the error of their ways and defected from the Raiders. And the last tale featured the bald gangly Spider Webb, who used a magnet to pull planes from the sky. (Blackhawk #40)

A few times before, the Blackhawks had fought bands of fighters equal in number to their own. Fiendish the Raider was Blackhawk’s evil equal. This red-headed, caped terrorist employed pilots from many different countries. (Modern #66) Captain Suicide dressed like a red Nazi and pretended to command a squadron of invisible “Phantom Bombers,” a hoax built on sound effects and time bombs. (Blackhawk #24)

And when shrapnel forced Blackhawk out of the cockpit, he was assigned to train a land unit called the Badgers (to “badger ze traitors everywhere!”). Six men outfitted with gray uniforms and red-and-yellow emblems quickly became successful in undercover ops. In the end, they were revealed to be spies, but they didn’t get far—Blackhawk had already deduced as much. (#63)

Forgotten Lands

The Blackhawks had also once been to a forgotten land, one they discovered after emerging from a strange cloud. They thought they’d traveled back in time to 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. (Blackhawk #18) 

They happened upon several more places like this, such as the Roman mountain city of Plubius, led by Tiberius (#41), and the underground city of catacombs in Eastern Europe. (#42) Vespis was a hidden but modern city. It was a den of terrorists populated by Spartan descendants. (#44) They discovered a host of pirate ships from centuries past stranded in the Sargasso Sea, where time truly stood still. They met Captain Cutlass, Erick the Viking, even a Roman and an Egyptian, all kept alive by something in the atmosphere and vegetation. A trapped Nazi sub attacked them, and after defeating it, they used it to escape. (#48) 

Femmes Fatales

There was no shortage of beautiful but deadly women in Blackhawk during the 1950s. This story template cooled for a while during 1952–53, but returned again during the series’ final years. Morella led the Mockers, a band of idle playboys who wore masks and tuxedos. They committed crimes for their pleasure only. (Blackhawk #33) On the other hand, Kate Royle led a band of sky pirates whose cause against a South African mine owner was justified. (#36) The Blackhawks donned their parkas to seek out Aurora, Queen of the Arctic, who used transparent plastic insulation on her body to appear “less dressed” than she was in the cold. (#37) The Golden Swarm served the feminist conqueror called Queen Bee. (#38) Lilith killed a scientist and unleashed his super-growing plant spores. In the same issue, Chop Chop exposed the nightclub singer, Troisa, who’d gotten her hooks into Andre. (#39)

Amora and the Flying Vivaldis used their acrobatics as a front to kidnap a key scientist (the cover and splash page called this band the “Death Patrol,” but it wasn’t used in the story). (#46) Rhodl and her men pretended to come from a thousand years in the future using a time globe. Blackhawk deduced that Rhodl was from the present when he smelled her perfume as she kissed him! (#47) 

Andre briefly resigned after falling prey to the beauty of Olga Lukens, a spy who made off with a powerful weapon. He redeemed himself by locating her partner. (#70)

Comrade Flame was a red lady who commanded the giant Fire-Wheel. (#85) Sovietta and her men managed to invade Blackhawk Island. Her comrade, another woman called the Sea Wolf, wore a wolf’s-head mask. (#87) The Black Widow’s men used stinger guns. (#94) Old Nazis flocked to join Hitler’s (supposed) daughter, Hitla, who was dressed identically to the same issue’s Comrade Communa, swapping a swastika for hammer-and-sickle. (#97)

The Red Menace

Soviet-inspired villains were the most common Blackhawk foes, especially after 1950. In some later issues, Russia, Communism, Stalin and the Soviet flag were represented explicitly. But usually pseudonyms were used (like “Stanin” of “Russaga”). The enemy was often described instead as “aggressors,” who took aim at democracy everywhere. The leaders were sometimes drawn resembling Josef Stalin, with his moustache, drab uniform and red stars. 

Before the king of Voslia died, he wished that his country would become a democracy, but his former confidant seized power using the Iron Emperor, a giant metal robot. (#41) 

The people of Fusang appointed Blackhawk their new president, but he managed to convince them to hold elections. (#43) 

The United Council sanctioned the Blackhawks’ use of “The Bomb” against the tyrant called Azar. The Blackhawks were sick at the prospect, but they completed their mission. Azar survived and sent them a special package containing what was supposedly his “isolated brain.” They decided to use the brain’s knowledge for good, but when they learned Azar was alive, they used another H-bomb to finish him off. (#44) In the next issue, Prof. Albert Somers invented a portable atomic bomb. (#45) 

The team was even briefly infiltrated by a Red, their new member, Antonio Riva of Italy. Riva’s brother had saved Blackhawk’s life during the War, but Antonio was replaced by a spy who led the Blackhawks into a trap. In the end, “Riva” was sent out a window from several stories up. (#52) 

The Red Chinese were also a threat. When the team dined at the home of Chop Chop’s cousin, the American Wah Jung, he received a message from China saying that unless they paid their uncle Wah Po’s back taxes, he’d be executed. Wah Po gave his life to lead the Blackhawks to a secret Russian base. (#55)

In one clever plot, the Communists created a faux time machine. They gassed the Blackhawks and staged a future city from the year 2100. The “leader,” Rajek, claimed that the entire world had been Communist since 1965, but it didn’t fool Blackhawk. The same issue featured another futuristic tale where both the Americans and Russians sought to make an orbiting base from Asteroid X. Blackhawk took a rocket there and disguised himself as Xmmmla, an alien leader. But just as he was getting the upper hand, the planetoid began to crack and the Communists were left to die. (#59) 

The Red Executioner took a $1 million bounty on each of the Blackhawks but they were protected by their new uniforms, which were lined with special plastic body armor. (#66) The Future Feuhrer claimed he was really Hitler, but of course, was only a look alike. (#67) The squad caused a ruckus at a conference for Communist dictators. In attendance were Mao Tse-Tung, Boleslaw Beirut, Kim Il Sung, Walter Tzbo, and Malenkov (Russian). (#69) 

Although he was dead, Blackhawk’s arch rival Von Tepp reappeared a second time, running for leadership of Valnadia. This Von Tepp claimed that before his death, he’d studied with lamas in Tibet and attained “perpetual life.” Blackhawk sussed out this lie and found that the Reds had manufactured an army of Von Tepps using plastic surgery. (#71) Not long after this story, he appeared again with no such explanation, disguised as a new “Human Bomb!” He wore a suit strapped with explosives and waltzed in to destroy ordnance and steal top secret papers. The Blackhawks eventually figured out that there was nothing volatile on his person, and unmasked him as Von Tepp. They behaved as if the villain had never died. (#79)

The acrobats called Hammer and Sickle were created by the NKVD under project Red Flag. (#83) And the Super-Communists lived high in snowy mountains and forsook their sight in order to develop their other senses. (#89)

The Bigger, the Badder

Most of the war machines the Blackhawks encountered were tools of the Communists. No device was too fantastic here. It began with the King of Winds, who made fierce tornados. (#44) Later the Storm King did similar things with his giant wind generator. (#93)

There were even living monsters like the giant sea creatures created by using Professor Jensen’s formula that accelerated the growth of marine life. (#47) 

The Valkyrie employed the Hell Diver, which burrowed out of the ground and took to the air! (#49) A Red army used a giant Flying Octopus filled with noxious gas. (#50)

The most recognizable machine was probably Prof. Dekker’s giant War Wheel. This invention was taller than any building, and it returned to grace several of DC’s Blackhawk covers. After squashing aggressors in Malkaria, the Blackhawks were besieged by the Wheel, whose spikes ran right over Blackhawk! He survived by diving between the studs. With the help of Dekker’s daughter, Blackhawk disguised himself as the inventor and parachuted into enemy territory. The juggernaut was finally defeated by tricking it into quicksand. (#56)

The text in Blackhawk #61 (Feb. 1952) named Stalin and previous Red threats, and Zavan of Russlo unveiled something similar to the War Wheel, a gargantuan tank called the World Destroyer. 

Other Players

The United World Council was a primary player in the Blackhawks’ missions. The organization built a large complex, and when Blackhawk invented Fido, a mechanical dog that could track people’s brain waves, he gave it to the Citadel of Science. (#48) 

The Blackhawks’ biggest recurring foe was the Killer Shark. He first appeared attacking the European city of Kamard. His band also flew airplanes that were decorated like sharks. Killer Shark wore a cap with a fin on top and had sharp teeth, and they used a “squid spray” that emitted a black cloud. In their undersea lair, the Shark was accidentally thrown into a tank of real sharks. (#50) The next time he appeared, the villain credited his survival to shark repellent. His crew returned to destroy a dam. (#70) 

The Killer Shark later allied with the King Cobra, who had perfected a technique to launch aircraft—like missiles with retractable wings. At the end of Cobra’s encounter with the Blackhawks, he was launched out of the device as well. (#58) In China, Killer Shark and King Cobra teamed with Fang the Merciless, who had an H-Bomb. Blackhawk managed to turn it back on the villains, apparently blowing them all up. (#80) No such luck; Killer Shark was back one more time to attack using a sawfish, electric eel, and a new stingray-like amphibious ship. (#81)

Only a few characters qualified as truly super-human or alien. The short bug-eyed aliens for Ur appeared to be the real deal. Their leader, Izmar, intended to decimate the population of Earth. Brawn prevailed and the aliens’ fate was a mystery. (#43) Three scientists were transformed into the Future-Men by their chemical science. One became a telepath, one could walk through walls, and the third wielded lightning. Blackhawk managed to turn one to dust, one had a heart attack from horrific thoughts, and the third was captured with rubber insulation. (#73) And Thunder the Indestructible arrived from space. The only way to defeat the mindless hulk was to blast him back out there. (#88)

Others included the jihadists who attacked outpost Abo-En-Krim. Blackhawk remarked that a holy war could “set the whole world aflame!” (#35) Vulcanar sent terrorists around the world to burn great monuments. (#38) The Vampire Men were fitted with winged harnesses. (#60) The Brain was a powerful computer-minded robot with destructive rays. (#77) The Blackhawks brought the Brain back to life for their own ends, reactivating its gamma rays against another mechanical abomination. (#81)

In Blackhawk #75, the team’s leader suffered a wounded ankle and was stranded in the mountains. There he bonded with a black hawk, whose leg was similarly wounded. He named it Blackie, and the two healed alongside one another. Later Blackie returned to aid him on a mission. Blackie was never used again at Quality, but he did return at DC.

The Evolution of Chop Chop

In Blackhawk #95 (Dec. 1955), a quiet but marvelous change happened in the solo Chop Chop feature—he was drawn more realistically! Paul Gustavson drew it as usual, but gone were the huge buck teeth, ponytail, and cartoon body shape. Oh, he was still chubby, short, a bit buck-toothed, and still spoke with the accent, but the visual depiction was markedly different. This might have been a result of the newly implemented Comics Code (although the original Code addressed only sex and violence). It began appearing on Blackhawk #87 (April 1955). Chop’s new appearance was the last of his solo adventures. He was replaced by generic (non-Blackhawk) adventure tales. In the next issue’s Blackhawk adventure, Chop Chop appeared in his new look. (#96) He was never awarded an official Blackhawk uniform, however. Chop Chop was key in bringing down Vampira and her Bat-Crew in Asia. (#97) 

In the 1976 DC revival of the Blackhawks, he was called “Chopper.” And the “political incorrectness” of Chop Chop’s Golden Age portrayal was elegantly addressed by Mark Evanier when he wrote the next revival in 1982. These stories took place during World War II, and issue #265 (Dec. 1983) struck directly upon the issue: why was it OK to make fun of Chop Chop, and why wasn’t he a full-fledged member? In that tale, he was given a name, Wu Cheng, and awarded an official uniform. But ironically, he also chose to return to China to fight for his own people. 

Issue #100 came and went with the usual mix of giant machines, evil ladies, and neo-Nazis. The final Quality issues brought more of the same. One mission of note was that to Planetoid X-1. After narrowly avoiding a meteor, the Blackhawks touched down to find the leader, Harlo, at war with the planet Zarko. (#103)

Notes

Military Comics #4 (Nov. 1941) has a full-page map of Blackhawk Island. Writer Dick French wrote sheet music, “The Song of the Blackhawks,” which appeared in Military #8 (March 1942; see page 84). Modern Comics #54 (Oct. 1946) showed a diagram comparing the Blackhawks’ jet with a smaller Russian Migh-15.

The Blackhawk Movie Serial

An ad in Blackhawk #56 (Sept. 1952) brought readers’ attention to the new Blackhawk motion picture serial, “Fearless Champion of Freedom,” starring Kirk Alyn (who’d played Superman in a 1948 serial). Readers were encouraged to check with their local theaters to find out when it would begin. The introductory credits even listed Reed Crandall as artist of the comic book (at the suggestion of Busy Arnold?).

» SEE: The Blackhawk Movie Serial

Quality Era Membership

Blackhawk introduced six of his squad in Military Comics #2 (though only Olaf was clearly identified), and he said there were more. In the next issue, those six appeared again, equally obscured. Olaf was played up the most in early stories. After Chop Chop and Chuck were introduced (Military #3 and #10, respectively), there were nine, but only seven survived for the long haul. Very soon, Boris and Zeg fell by the wayside. The final roster might have been the by-product of Cuidera’s final issue, #11, where he identified each member by face and name in a “roll call.” According to the team's co-creator, Chuck Cuidera, Chuck was named after him, and Stanislaus after Bob (Stanley) Powell. In The Steranko History of the Comics vol. 2, he also said Olaf was patterned on Big Stoop from Terry and the Pirates. (Steranko: 58)

Modern Comics #48 (April 1946) was the first issue to fully reveal the members’ home countries; they gave their official titles in Modern Comics #99 (July 1950); and their “origins” were officially told in Blackhawk #50 (March 1952). A chart in Blackhawk #85 (Feb. 1955) listed their heights and weights.

No member of the Blackhawks has ever exhibited metahuman powers. All members of the Blackhawks were exceptional pilots, able to pilot any kind of aircraft, in addition to underwater crafts. No member of the Blackhawks possessed super-powers, though they were all exceptionally well-trained in hand-to-hand combat, martial arts, and most of them bounced back quickly from serious injury and even survived plane crashes.