BLACKHAWK Volume 1 Hardcover

For the first time ever, this classic material is presented in a premium bookshop edition. Originally published by Quality Comics — one of the most influential publishers of the Golden Age — this volume brings together the origins of Blackhawk, from his debut in Military Comics #1 (1941) to his earliest solo adventures in Blackhawk #9–12 (Winter 1944 to Autumn 1946). Illustrated by masters Will Eisner and Reed Crandall, these stories capture the fearless aviator and his squadron at their most dynamic, soaring into battle against wartime threats and larger-than-life villains. A true landmark of Golden Age comics, preserved here with care by PS Artbooks. In 2001, the DC Archives series collected the one-and-only Blackhawk volume. It collected just the Blackhawk stories from Military Comics #1-17, 1941-42. While it may not have proved a good enough seller for DC to continue, it was one of OUR most popular DC Archives and it did quickly go out of print. Other than the low-rent reprints to be found on the internet, this is the first time Blackhawk is featured in a collection the series deserves. Will Eisner is credited as one of the creators of Blackhawk, along with Charles Cuidera. But Reed Crandall is the artist most identified with this heroic team. This was Reed’s #1 best-selling feature from the early 1940s until he left the title to join EC around 1952. But Blackhawk had staying power and outlasted almost every other super hero and team title of the Golden Age. When the Quality Group went bust in 1956, Blackhawk and G.I. Combat were two prime titles that DC bought and continued, with great success, all the way into the 1970s. And co-creator Charles Cuidera remained active on the title into the DC era. Blackhawk was as much an airplane strip as a team story. The group started out flying massive Grumman planes with twin engines. Stories often started from the famous Blackhawk Island somewhere in the Atlantic. The team was made up of characters of all ethnicities; Blackhawk in fact was Polish, made a refugee when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1940, before the U.S. entered the war. The team fought the good fight against Germany and Japan until 1945. Later on, into the 1950s, the team switched to jets and took on the “Red Menace,” Communists and dictators, with repeating villains like Killer Shark, and destructive and wild war machines, like The War Wheel, The Flying Tank Platoon, The Fire Wheel, Flying Submarines and Flying Cannons, and much more. DC took over the title with issue #108, keeping the same artists and writers for a number of years. Additional artists include Bob Powell, Max Elkan, Ernie Hart, and Harry Sable. As was common with Golden Age publishers, titles went through name changes to save on postal deposits. Thus, Blackhawk Comics first issue was #9 – issues #1-8 were Uncle Sam Quarterly. However, meanwhile Blackhawk was the cover and lead feature in Military Comics for all 44 issues, then with another name change it continued as the lead feature in Modern Comics from #44 to 102. Needless to say, Blackhawk was one of Quality Group’s most successful titles. It remained a solid seller for DC until they, sadly, ran it into the ground towards the end, with bad editors and worse stories. But it’s been revived a time or two; artist Howard Chaykin did a wonderful limited series and his love for the series is very clear. Steranko is also a big fan, he boldly features Blackhawk (and Reed Crandall’s artwork) in his History of the Comics. I am also a big fan myself, having collected all their appearances since I was a youngster in the 1960s.