"The War Between the Blackhawks!" Writer: Arnold Drake (no regular credits,
but he is identified on the "Blackhawk By-Lines" letters page). Artists: the
longtime Blackhawk team of Dick Dillin, penciller, and Chuck Cuidera (who later
claimed credit for creating the Blackhawks), inker.
On the cover by Dillin and Cuidera, six of the Blackhawks-- clad in
unfamiliar red and green uniforms-- are pulling on the support beam holding up the
roof of a cave. Inside the cave, Blackhawk himself is menaced by a glowing
pink monster. A vignette is a closeup of Blackhawk's face, self-sacrificially
urging his team, "It's the only way, men! The moment I lure him inside-- bury
us BOTH in the cave-in!" The cover Blackhawk logo is new, and the blurb
promises, "NEW uniforms, thrills and dangers await the Blackhawks as they embark
on a NEW career!"
review by Bill Henley
The comic-book series had a glorious Golden Age history during which the
heroes fought mostly relatively realistic, down-to-earth foes in an often gritty
"noir" atmosphere. By the late 1950's, however, DC editor Jack Schiff,
perhaps bowing to pressure from the Comics Code and DC higher management, filled
the series with alien monsters, other science-fictional and fantasy menaces,
and lame new costumed villains. He also introduced a female counterpart of
the heroes and a superintelligent pet. This approach worked well enough
sales-wise for a few years in the early Silver Age, but by 1964 sales were
slumping and DC management called for a new editor to bring in a "New Look".....
If you hadn't read the subject heading you might think I was talking about
Batman, but actually the description applies as well to BLACKHAWK. The main
difference is that the "new look" introduced by Murray Boltinoff in this issue
isn't nearly as fondly remembered by fans as the "New Look" introduced by
Julius Schwartz on BATMAN around the same time.
On the splash page, the plane piloted by Blackhawk-- a nondescript green
prop plane, not one of the regular Blackhawk jets-- is set afire by a giant
flaming pink tortoise (!) On the next page, Blackhawk and two of his crew are
riding in an even more primitive craft, an Oriental junk, and trying to sneak
up on an Asian shore. But artillery fire wrecks their boat, and they have no
choice but to surrender to the soldiers of Kieland. As they march off with
raised hands as prisoners, a turbaned officer berates them, "SPIES FROM
SURBODIA! Our military court will deal with you!" Meanwhile, the remaining four
Blackhawks invade the Presidential palace of nearby Surbodia to take the
president prisoner-- but a single guard with a curved Asian sword, takes them
prisoner as well. The rescued president accuses them of being in he pay of "the
militarists of Kieland".
"These men in strange uniforms are certainly the Blackhawks-- but what are
they doing as INVADERS-- ABDUCTORS-- in the pay of opposing war makers? How
did this sensational chain of events come about?" Well, it seems that
Blackhawk got a call from Mr. Cipher, a blank-masked quasi-governmental figure
operating out of a "mysterious building within the shadows of the U.N." (and
apparently introduced in an earlier story I haven't seen). He has a "very
dangerous assignment" for the Blackhawks, to invade Surbodia and Kieland, two "new
Asian countries" on the brink of war, and somehow "slow down their war plans"
while the U.N. tries to mediate. But if the Blackhawks are caught, they may
face death because they can't implicate Cipher's non-existent organization
(shades of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE) and indeed they dare not even be recognized as
the world famous Blackhawks. Which is why Blackhawk orders a new set of
uniforms for the whole team-- red jackets with black trim, dark green pants, and
brown belts and boots. Andre is pleased with this literal new look-- "Very
sharp! And the ladies, zey will be pleased, too!"-- but Blackhawk chides him,
"These new uniforms aren't supposed to turn us into fashion plates!"
(Incidentally, Chop-Chop gets the same red and green uniform in place of his old
Chinese pajama outfit-- the first time, I believe, he is uniformed the same as
the rest of the Blackhawks.)
As we rejoin the adventure in progress, the Kielanders demand to know why
Blackhawk, Andre and Olaf so recklessly charged their artillery, and Blackhawk
reveals that they weren't trying to attack the Kielanders-- they want to join
them, as highly skilled (and well paid) mercenaries. Somehow convinced that
the trio are worth the price (despite their easy capture), the Kieland prime
minister agrees to hire them. Meanwhile, it is revealed that the robed,
sword-wielding guard who "saved" the Surbodian president is none other than
Stanislaus, one of the (unidentified) Blackhawks. It was all a ploy, Chuck
explains, to show the president why he needs four "professionals" like Chuck,
Stan, Hendrickson and Chop-Chop to supplement his weak native guards. The
president agrees to hire them, but insists that he already has a formidable force.
When the "professionals" scoff at Surbodia's primitive army consisting of
spear-wielding warriors riding elephants, the president declares, "We have a
SECRET WEAPON-- one so frightful, I tremble myself when I think of it!" Back
in Kieland, Blackhawk inspects that country's modern-equipped army, but
suggests that its soldiers need additional training before they take on the
traditional enemy Surbodia. The disguised Blackhawks seem to be meeting their goal
of delaying military action, despite the anger of a Surbodian general who
wants to attack immediately. But then the "mercenaries" discover in their
assigned quarters a Hindu-style god statue that wasn't previously there.
Suddenly, the general and his soldiers charge in, smash the statue to find a hidden
radio transmitter, and charge the three "mercenaries" with being spies in
contact with the enemy. "Sacre bleu! Blackhawk, zis is one big FRAME-UP!"
(Blackhawk is apparently too distracted to chew out Andre for blurting out his
supposedly secret identity.)
Before going on with Part 2, we get a bottom-of-the-page house ad for the
Challengers of the Unknown (who would get their own gaudier new uniforms in
about a year) and a full page ad for the issues of BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS
introducing Batman's "New Look" (see, I told you the two "new looks" happened
at about the same time). In Part 2, "The Walking Holocausts!", Andre and
Olaf are in a cell with Blackhawk, disgusted with the apparent failure of their
plan to delay war....but Blackhawk has a new plan, which involves contacting
the other Blackhawk team in Surbodia by means of his hidden belt-radio.
Shortly afterwards, at a Kieland state banquet, the hostile general is presented
with a message by a shapely fan dancer, inviting him to appear at a location
on Sochi Road. Suspecting more than a romantic rendezvous is involved, the
prime minister insists on accompanying the general to the site. Suddenly a
plane appears and parachute-drops bundles of counterfeit currency, apparently
meant to wreck the Kieland economy. The prime minister arrests the general,
despite his (quite sincere) protests of innocence, and frees the three
Blackhawk "mercenaries". But the pilot of the plane was Chop-Chop, who reflects,
"It is written, he who tries to frame another often hangs himself!! With
Blackhawk back in the good graces of the Kieland government, the prime minister
agrees to postpone attack on Surbodia until the day "mercenary expert"
Blackhawk says the troops are ready, and Blackhawk secretly thinks, "And that day
will never come!" But it may not matter, for suddenly the Surbodian president
decides to strike first against Kieland with the aid of their new "secret
weapon" -- not to mention their own team of red and green clad "mercenaries".
Hendrickson thinks, "Ach! Unless ve stop this, ve fail our assignment-- UND
END UP FIGHTING DER OTHER BLACKHAWKS!"
Hendrickson leads his team on a quest to find, and presumably disable, the
Surbodian "secret weapon". Chop-Chop is curious about a giant statue of a
tortoise, but Hendy warns him not to be distracted and leads the group to the
palace basement where he has suspected something odd is going on. They find a
giant drill boring deep into the earth, but what kind of secret weapon is
that? They hide as the Surbodian president and his scientific adviser Dr.
Verner appear; "You are certain this fantastic threat can be fully controlled?"
"Of course! Would I endanger your people by releasing it otherwise?" After
they leave, Chuck impulsively shoots out the control panel hoping to disable
the "weapon", but instead the drill rises from the bowels of the earth and
brings with it a strange, glowing creature that initially looks like a "Sherman
tank with a hot-foot", but reveals itself as a giant, radioactive tortoise.
"IT'S ALIVE! Der secret weapon is a LIVING THING!" Breaking out of its
glass cage, the tortoise-monster threatens the Blackhawks, and Chuck tries
unsuccessfully to stop it with his pistol. Stanislaus has a better idea, using his
great strength and the help of the other Blackhawks to upend the tortoise
statue they saw earlier and hurl it down on the back of the real tortoise. To
no avail, however, as the creature has a "fiery tongue" with which it melts
the statue. "Dunder! Der heat is unbearable! It looks like der end!" Not
quite yet, for suddenly the monster turns away, and then Dr. Verner reappears,
driving a tank-like contraption. He explains how a tortoise species,
living underground in volcanic country, somehow evolved into this fiery creature--
and how he found a way to unearth and control not only the one monster, but
a whole pack of them. And now he is ready to unleash them against the enemy
Kieland. "There is our TOTAL SECRET WEAPON! A whole family of the most
destructive creatures ever known! They will annihilate the Kieland army!" "Und
we can't do anything to stop them without exposing our real motives!"
(Apparently Verner is so excited that he doesn't even wonder why the four
"mercenaries" were fooling around with his drill setup and releasing one of his
creatures.)
Between Parts 2 and 3, we find a house ad for DOOM PATROl, a subscription
ad, and the aforementioned "By-Lines" column which consists of capsule
biographies of Arnold Drake and the other regular BLACKHAWK scripter, France Herron.
Part 3, "The Boomerang Blitzkrieg," As the primitive Surbodian army goes on
the march, Chuck is contemptuous of the regular troops-- "Will you look at
that excuse for an army? I've seen better swords in a shishkebob
restaurant!"-- but nonetheless, with the giant flaming tortoises taking point, the
invasion poses a deadly threat to Kieland-- and to the other team of Blackhawks.
Warned by radio by Hendrickson, Blackhawk orders Andre to take charge of
Kieland's tank forces while Blackhawk himself and Olaf handle the bombers.
Andre is confident at first as the tank-like tortoise monsters face real tanks
reinforced against flame blasts with asbestos. But then the tortoises cleverly
use their heat blasts to dig holes in the ground, causing the advancing
tanks to fall helplessly in. "Sacre bleu! How is it so smart to do zat?"
Meanwhile, the "crude Surbodian army" charges with swords in hand, chasing Andre,
and the Blackhawks on the other side watch, unable to help for fear of being
exposed as "traitors"; "I never figured we Blackhawks would be fighting a war
against each other!" Then Blackhawk and Olaf appear at the controls of a
Kielander dive bomber, trying to stop one of the tortoise monsters with
rockets. But the beast's fiery tongue sets the plane afire, and the damaged plane
just barely regains enough altitude (before exploding) for our heroes to bail
out safely.
Chuck decides to seek out the controller of the giant tortoises and force
him to stop them, but when he spots the control tank he finds in it not Dr.
Verner, the mastermind, but Luki, his assistant, Chuck and Luki scuffle with a
pistol, and an accidental shot destroys the control panel; "Now I have no
control over the creatures!" The monsters promptly turn on their own "allies",
the Kielanders, as well as the Surbodians. At least this means that the two
teams of Blackhawks can join forces openly, but to what avail, since they
have no weapons that can stop the creatures? Then Blackhawk and Olaf charge one
of the tortoises, seemingly recklessly, but with an ace in the hole--
fire-fighting foam from the wrecked bomber, which cools down and ultimately kills
the flaming monster. Obtaining more foam, the Blackhawks try to destroy the
biggest monster, but for some reason it is annoyed but not slain. Blackhawk
puts a desperate plan into effect (as seen on the cover)-- he lures the big
monster into a cave while ordering the rest of the Blackhawks to collapse the
roof on it. It works, but what of Blackhawk? "If he missed his timing by a
hair's breadth, he's DEAD!" Fortunately, Blackhawk emerges out of the dust
of the cave-in unhurt. Not so fortunately, the rest of the smaller monsters
are still rampaging and seem to be still under outside control. Suddenly
realizing that he has been duped, Blackhawk leads the team back to the first
monster that was "killed" by the fire foam-- and hurls a gasoline bomb at the
"dead" creature. As it bursts into flame, out flees Dr. Verner. The creature
was an artificial, fake monster, made for the purpose of leading the real
monsters to obey Verner's will, while Luki served as a decoy. Captured and
subdued, Verner admits the ruse and Blackhawk deduces his motive-- to "destroy
both nations' armies, and then, with a handful of men, seize control of TWO
countries"! Blackhawk forces Verner to lead the tortoise-monsters back to their
underground home and then close the drill hole forever.
Back at the headquarters of Mr. Cipher, the Blackhawks line up to be
congratulated by the blank-faced mastermind, who reports that Surbodia and Kieland
have agreed to settle their differences peacefully. Our heroes are still clad
in their red and green "mercenary" uniforms, but with an addition--
Blackhawk emblems, a big chest emblem for Blackhawk himself, and smaller shoulder
patches for the rank and file. "Zat is more like it! I didn't feel fully
dressed without the Blackhawk insignia!" clotheshorse Andre declares. (Which is a
little odd, since with the old uniform design Andre didn't have a Blackhawk
emblem anyway-- only Blackhawk himself did.) "My friends, zis is one
smart-looking uniform! Why don't we keep it?" Blackhawk suggests a vote, and the
unanimous vote is "AYE!" If old-line Blackhawk fans had gotten a vote,
though, the result might have been diffferent. There was nothing actually
particularly wrong with the new uniforms, escept that they didn't have much black
on them, and the team didn't change its name to "Red and Green Hawks".
However, let's face it, the new uniforms just didn't have the class, not to mention
the tradition of the old ones. (On a side note, I recently read a
commentary on the BLACKHAWK strip which mentioned it was ironic that the original
blue-black, spit and polish uniforms of the Blackhawks somewhat resembled those
of the Nazi SS guards they supposedly fought in WWII. I thought that was an
ironic comment itself, since Will Eisner-- Cuidera's rival claimant as creator
of the Blackhawks-- was once quoted as saying that he did that
deliberately-- he thought the SS military look was so snazzy looking that he didn't see
why the bad guys should have a monopoly on it.)
Likewise, the new BLACKHAWK cover logo introduced with this issue didn't
actually look bad, but it lacked the classic quality of the previous logo (not
actually the "original" logo, but introduced in the late 40's by Quality
Comics). As for the actual stories, this and succeeding ones were actually (IMO)
a slight improvement over the Schiff-edited issues that preceded them. But
only slight. One could wish that-- as Julie Schwartz dropped the Schiff sci-fi
monsters from Batman and got more back to classic villains and detective
cases,-- Boltinoff and later George Kashdan had dropped the monsters and
returned to stories of international intrigue and paramilitary combat as in the old
Quality days. But for whatever reason, the new editors didn't feel they
could go cold turkey on the monsters and sci-fi stuff in BLACKHAWK. (Later,
starting with issue #228, the series reached what is generally considered the
absolute low point of its run, with the so-called "New Blackhawk Era" in which
the members, except for Blackhawk himself, adopted clunky mechanically-powered
"superhero" identities.
In general, again IMO, almost the whole run of Blackhawk at DC-- the main
exception being the 1980's Evanier/Spiegle revival-- supports my view that DC
just doesn't do well at taking over other companies' characters Plastic Man,
Captain Marvel, the Charlton "action-heroes".... I think many fans would
agree that DC never really succeeded in making these characters work for a new
generation the way they did with their own characters such as Flash and Green
Lantern. (And I'm kind of grateful that that proposed DC revival of the
THUNDER Agents-- as opposed to Archive reprints of the original stories-- fell
through.)
