Who's This? A quality aviation ace.
The facts: An aviator ace birthed in Quality Comics' Military Comics #1 (August 1941), Blackhawk went on to become Quality's most enduring hero, published in both Military and his own Blackhawk title starting with Blackhawk #9 (taking over the numbering from Uncle Sam Quarterly) in late 1944. Military became Modern and then was cancelled with #102 in 1950 - Blackhawk was still starring in it. Blackhawk itself lasted until Quality stopped publishing entirely, ending with #107 in late 1956. In 1950, 16 episodes of a Blackawk radio show were produced, and in 1952, Columbia Pictures offered the world a 15-part Blackhawk movie serial. But then Quality sold its properties to DC Comics and while it would take decades before the company's superheroes would get any kind of prominence, DC chose to keep Blackhawk on the stands without skipping a beat (obviously, material was still being produced even as the characters changed hands) and would last another 166 issues, though not without breaks and strange transformations; the last issue of volume 1 appeared in 1984. But it would not be the last volume, and through the 80s and 90s, Blackhawk would appear is a Howard Chaykin mini-series, an Action Comics Weekly strip, a new monthly, and a special, his team by then running a courier service some time after the war, and the stories more grounded and gritty.
How you could have heard of him: Well, there still IS talk of Steven Spielberg producing and even directing a Blackhawk movie. This was rumored as early as the mid-80s, but an announcement was finally made in 2018(!), so it looks more likely this time. In the comics themselves, a G.I. Joe-like repurposing of the IP was proposed in the New52 and didn't stick. Indeed, LADY Blackhawk has had more legs in the modern era, appearing in Birds of Prey and even in post-Rebirth comics, but that really is a story for another day.
Example story: Military Comics #11 (August 1942) "Fury in the Philippines!" by Dick French and Chuck Cuidera
There are three pages in Who's Who devoted to the Blackhawks, so I thought it might be interesting to explore different decades in each of these necessary articles. With Blackhawk, the man, we might as well look at a story from his first home, Military Comics, by Dick French (who originated the famous Blackhawks song) and the character's creator Chuck Cuidera (Will Eisner, at whose studio the strip was crafted, was credited for a long time, but even he agrees Cuidera is the one who made Blackhawk who he is, whoever disputedly came up with the original idea).
-- FULL RACIST ASIAN CARICATURES WARNING IN EFFECT --
At this point, and as you'll see over the course of these posts, it changes, Blackhawk Island is in the North Atlantic, and it makes sense because most of the named members of the Squadron are Europeans and would naturally feel like Europe is THEIR theater. But as the United States are fighting in the Pacific theater, real-world events are pushing these American-made characters to have a debate:
Though the way he expresses himself and is expressed on the page is hard to take, it's Chop-Chop who makes the winning argument that the Blackhawks should take a look at Japan. In reality, being Chinese, he should have an axe to grind with Japan who were at war with his country before anyone even knew the name Pearl Harbor, but 1940s patriotic comics gonna pat, what can we do? Notably, Chop-Chop leaves Blackhawk Island in a huff and gets himself to San Francisco's U.S. Marines recruitment office where he is mistaken for Japanese.
It's so strange for a comic who is then going to use Chop-Chop abominably as the butt of a joke for the rest of the story to also seem to make a statement about America's systemic racism in that sequence. Seemed worth showing, but let's get back to Blackhawk since this is supposed to be about him. The Squadron has tracked down their friend and are heading for the Philippines where Chop-Chop's ship is going. Can we get a Hawkaaa?
This is just a weird interlude. The Blackhawks land on a Nazi carrier, act like they own the place, and refuel on the Führer's dime before proceeding with the plot (which from there involves Chop-Chop hooking up with a girl from his past, Lotus Petal). But this is Military Comics, so let's get military!
War rages around Chop-Chop and his lady love and they don't realize it, but surely, the strip was more popular for the well-rendered battles than the goofy romcom.
They've really committed to writing "Blackhawks" in cursive, I wonder what THAT'S all about? As the Blackhawks clear the skies, the USS El Paso gets its licks in on the Japanese fleet, but still sinks. Survivors are picked up. A funeral ceremony. The Blackhawks find a spot to land on the small island and... is this to be the new Blackhawk Island?!
(Answer: Historically, the Pacific's version of Blackhawk Island only premieres in Military #24.) Blackhawk finds an old enemy there (uhm... okay?) from back in Military #1 and...
Man, Olaf is COLD. Like his country, I guess. Speaking of national character, Von Schmootz is tricksy, while the Polish Blackhawk acts like a cowboy here. And as the sun sets, Chop-Chop is getting it onnnnn. Was this a signal that Euro-centric stories were on their way out and Von Schmootz's death symbolic of that?
Now obviously, these stories have badly aged because of the racism inherent in Chop-Chop's portrayal, and moving to the Pacific will not do the strip any favors on that score. I'd say its main problem beyond that is a lack of coherence in the storytelling. The art looks good, especially the military engagements, but every Nazi-related moments seems to come out of nowhere. Blackhawk, of what we see of him, is a fun character who lives in violence, but also comedy, and the strip is certainly more political than I expected.
Who's Next? His team.
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