Thanksgiving Turkey: BLACKHAWK "My Brother - My Enemy" Part 2: Fort Fear

We Have Already Seen...

...with G.E.O.R.G.E., the spy organization that supplied their new super-hero identities and equipment totally-annihilated, the Blackhawks dig out their mothballed WWII uniforms and weapons and seek out the group that wiped out their co-workers.

The only clue is a security camera's footage showing the killers' leader...Black Mask...whom Blackhawk recognizes...

...which, in the case of the presentation on this blog, means

TOMORROW!

Long-time fans may note that the Blackhawks are not flying their distinctive Grumman XF5F Skyrockets in the flashback sequence.
This indicates the flashback occurs before the story in Quality's Military Comics #2 (1941), where those aircraft debut!
Of course we won't go into the fact this never-reprinted story from DC's Blackhawk #242 (1968) totally-contradicts the original origin in Military Comics #1 (1941) and modifies the origin's retelling in Blackhawk #198 (1964)...

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Blackhawk: the Movie Serial

starring Kirk (Superman) Alyn

Thanksgiving Turkey: BLACKHAWK "My Brother - My Enemy" Part 1: Black Mask

For almost two years, Blackhawk fans had been subjected to...

...seeing the beloved WWII veteran aviators mutated into Swinging '60s superhero/spies!
(Thank heaven none of the middle-aged warriors were jammed into skintight suits!)

Sales had deteriorated to the point where the book, which had been continuously-published since 1944 and survived switching publishers without an interruption, had been reduced from monthly to bi-monthly publication and was scheduled to be cancelled.

But Dick Giordano, who had just replaced long-time editor George Kashdan, had no intention of just letting the old soldiers fade away...

The Story Continues...Tomorrow!

Plotted by Marv Wolfman (his first professional comics credit), scripted by Bob Haney, and illustrated by Pat Boyette, DC's Blackhawk #242 (1968) was unlike any previous issue of the title.

It not only reversed the superspy/superhero revamp of the strip, but retold the origin of Blackhawk himself, making several changes to the long-established story, including allowing Blackhawk's brother (who died in the very first story in Quality's Military Comics #1) to survive!

Giordano, fresh from a long tenure at Charlton Comics came on board at DC to inject a new attitude into the comics line.

Besides introducing several new titles, he took over a couple of ongoing books, including Blackhawk.

Knowing that the series was being cancelled, Dick decided to return the strip to the basics that made it a favorite among Golden (and to a lesser extent) Silver Age fans.

The details of what happened can be found at the wonderful blog DC Comics 45 Years Ago.

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Blackhawk

by William Rotsler

The only novel based on the comic book!

Thanksgiving Turkey: BLACKHAWK "A Blackhawk a Day" Part 2 (Conclusion)

When Last We Left Our Middle-Aged Guys in Jumpsuits...

...they were being captured, one-by-one by Baron Booby Trap!

With two down and the third about to fall, things are looking grim for the original Magnificent Seven...

With script by Bob Haney, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Chuck Cuidera, the "New Blackhawk Era's" final tale is a mediocre reworking of the classic whodunit "And Then There Were None."
New editor Dick Giordano, moving from Charlton to DC, came in mid-stream during the book's creation, so he didn't have much imput into the content of this story.
But the next issue was another matter...as we shall see tomorrow!

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Official Blackhawk

12" Action Figure

Thanksgiving Turkey: BLACKHAWK "A Blackhawk a Day" Part 1

We previously brought you the notorious revamp...

..of Golden Age aviator-hero Blackhawk and his team into Swinging '60s superhero/spies!

However, things didn't work out quite as DC Comics had hoped!

13 issues later, the book had gone from monthly to bi-monthly and the final tale of the "New Blackhawk Era" was about to be told...

You'll see Part 2 TOMORROW!

BONUS: Here's the original art for the book's cover.

Layout by Carmine Infantino, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Chuck Cuidera.

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Official Blackhawk

12" Action Figure

Halloween Special: How Batman Got His Groove Back: "THE Batman Returns!"

We Have Already Seen...

Art by Neal Adams

The Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder are flabbergasted as criminals they encounter react in terror to their mere presence, the way such fiends did in the early days of their crime-fighting careers!
Have criminals once more become "a superstitious, cowardly lot"?
An anonymous call to the Mantled Manhunter inviting him to discover the answer may hold the key...

Written by Frank Robbins, penciled by Bob Brown, and inked by Joe Giella, this tale from DC's Detective Comics #389 (1969) began the deliberate attempt to restore Batman to the Dark Knight of the 1940s!

From this point onward, both the writers and artists worked towards restoring the "creature of the night" motif that had disappeared in the late 1940s.

(Neal Adams had begun to do that on covers, but, once this story was published, he was able to go all-out on stories as well, with other artists like Irv Novick following suit!)

Considering how this tale changed the orientation of the character (and actually gave an explanation for his alteration of Method of Operation, restoring the bat as a symbol of avenging justice), it's odd this tale had never been reprinted in the US until 2006...and only in black and white!

Bonus: the cover from a Swedish reprint...

...taken from the story itself (as shown HERE!)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

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Showcase Presents

Batman

Vol 4

featuring the tale we'll be running...but in black and white!