Blackhawk (comics)

Blackhawk is a long-running comic book series published first by Quality and later by National Periodical Publications (which became DC Comics). The series was created by Will Eisner, Chuck Cuidera and Bob Powell, but the artist most associated with the Blackhawks is Reed Crandall.

Related Topics:
Comic book - Quality - National Periodical Publications - DC Comics - Will Eisner - Chuck Cuidera - Reed Crandall

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The series' protagonists, the Blackhawks, are a small team of World War II-era ace pilots of varied nationalities:

Related Topics:
World War II - Ace pilots

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Blackhawk himself is their leader, variously shown to be Polish and/or born in the United States.
• Andre is French.
• Olaf is from Sweden.
• Chuck is a Texas-born American.
• Hendrickson is a Dutchman.
• Stanislau is Polish.
• Chop-Chop (Wu Cheng), by far the most controversial of the lot, is Chinese.

Chop-Chop is both the youngest member of the team and the most stereotypical of them all. His initial portrait, while perhaps not atypical of World War II-era perception, would now be considered offensive. The character has however been developed in a more respectful way since, and some fine stories have actually been written around the fact that for decades he was not given enough respect even to wear the same uniform that all his teammates wore. After the series Crisis on Infinite Earths, when many of DC Comics' properties were revamped, the old depiction of Chop-Chop was explained away as a depiction in a comic book featuring the team's adventures which Chop-Chop, now a more realistically drawn man in a standard uniform, found profoundly insulting.

Related Topics:
Crisis on Infinite Earths - DC Comics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Supporting cast included Zinda Blake a.k.a. Lady Blackhawk, who has been time-displaced due to Zero Hour and became a regular character on Guy Gardner comics. As of late 2004 she was the pilot (and supporting character) of the Birds of Prey since they left Gotham City.

Related Topics:
Lady Blackhawk - Zero Hour - Guy Gardner - 2004 - Birds of Prey - Gotham City

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 
Blackhawk (comics): Publication history ►