Action Comics Weekly #601
"Another Fine War"
1988
Mike Grell: Script
Rick Burchett: Pencils
Pablo Marcos: Inks
Steve Haynie: Letters
Tom Ziuko: Colors
Mike Gold: Edits
On August 9, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese City of Hiroshima, and V-J Day saw the unconditional surrender of the Japanese forces...
The warriors knew that peace was a temporary thing. It was only a matter of time before another war came along and they were back to work.
Until then, these soldiers joined the others... and tried to pretend that after Bastogne and Luzon and Normandy and Iwo Jima... life during peacetime was not as boring.
Their boredom lasted almost an entire year until French forces arrived at Haiphong... and their troops marched into Hanoi to secure for their French union the newly-established Republic of Vietnam. The Vietnamese had bitter memories of living under Vichy French rule and careful urging by the Vietminh Coalition soon fanned the embers of dissent into the flames of revolution.
By November of 1946, the French forces withdrew to the safety of their warships in Haiphong Harbor and shelled the city into submission. By December of that year, the Vietminh launched their counter-attack at Hanoi. By February of 1947, the warriors knew things were back to normal, and they headed back to work.
Elsewhere, things were far from normal. Janos Prohaska was reading Stars and Stripes and could not believe the news. Milton Caniff has left Terry And The Pirates to do another strip called Steve Canyon -- about a guy who flies a charter air service! Blackhawk figures reading this new strip will be about as exciting as watching paint dry. He can see it now... Steve spending a thrilling day searching for spare parts, arguing with his mechanic, and trading for fuel on the black market. Oh, and waiting around for the next job!
CRASH A burly visitor and his three men have kicked down Prohaska's door and shoved his two handmaidens aside. Then again, there is something to be said about waiting. Downstairs, a new arrival is looking for a man -- and is told to try the yellow house down the street. Upstairs, Zalecki is tired of waiting for his money. Prohaska owes him forty thousand dollars and he is going to take it out of his wallet... or cut it out from his pants. Downstairs, the new arrival says she is looking for a man called Blackhawk, and was told she could find him here. The owner of the establishment says Blackhawk already has girl. Sometimes he has three. He is probably too tired for her.
Upstairs, Blackhawk points out to Zalecki that only an idiot liek him would bring a knife... to a gun fight! BLAMM
The Blackhawk series in Action Comics Weekly picked up from Howard Chaykin's Prestige Format mini-series about two years later.
Mike Grell was working on his own Prestige Format mini-series at the time.
Rick Burchett had worked earlier at First and Eclipse.
V-J Day was re-enacted in the opening montage of the Watchmen movie.
There are hints of Kubert and Chaykin in the wartime art by Burchett.
Marvel's The 'Nam covered the consequences of what had occurred at Haiphong.
Blackhawk had been a hero, a "junkheap hero," and re-imagined in the Post-Crisis period at DC.
Janos Prohaska was the name of the stuntman whose creative work appeared on The Outer Limits and Star Trek.
Only Mike Grell would bring a clever movie line... to a weekly comic book!
As drawn by Rick Burchett, Blackhawk resembles none other than Cary Grant.
Steve Chung
"Another Fine Review!"
