Batman: Blackhawk Down by Royal McGraw, Marcos Marz, et al.

The last pre-Flashpoint Blackhawk story was Blackhawk Down, which appeared in four issues of the continuity-light Batman title Batman Confidential. In this story, Batman investigates a theft at Blackhawk Industries only to run into Zinda "Lady Blackhawk" Blake who is investigating the same thing, and faces machinations of various Blackhawk villains... only to discover that the supposedly long-dead Janos "Blackhawk" Prohaska himself is actually alive!

It is, to be quite honest, pretty bad, full of twists for the sake of twists and an execrable ending where Blackhawk and Lady Blackhawk become a romantic item for no reason other than to demonstrate that old men deserve hot women as long as they are alive. Lady Blackhawk is particularly poorly done by here, serving as a damsel-in-distress and no more. The art is muddy and dull in a way that feels annoyingly typical of 2010s comics. It's one of those comics that's so bad but so uninterestingly bad, that I can't even must up any enthusiasm for writing a detailed negative review. Read it if you're a completist (I am) but know what you're in for if so.

Did not expect a Sky Skull reference in the year 2010! At least Royal McGraw read his classic Blackhawk issues. (Or perhaps the DC wiki.)
from Batman Confidential #38

The only to thing to like here, as far as I am concerned, is the book's catholic approach to Blackhawk continuity. Blackhawk is called Janos Prohaska, as he was post-Crisis, when Lady Blackhawk was Natalie Reed... but Lady Blackhawk is Zinda Blake, as she was pre-Crisis, back when Blackhawk was Bart Hawk. Obviously there have been post-Crisis stories with Janos and post-Crisis stories with Zinda, but I think this is the first story to mix the two. There's a lot of other pre-Crisis Blackhawk continuity thrown in here, too, like Ted Gaynor, the Chop-Chop substitute from the Evanier/Spiegle run (see item #9 below); references to the clone Blackhawk, also from that run; a subplot about Zinda's time as Queen Killer Shark (see #5); and even the Sky Skull from the short-lived late 1960s revival (see #6), the first time that's ever been referenced as far as I know. Post-Crisis it can be pretty hard to tell what "counts," but I appreciate any writer whose attitude is that it all counts.

The artist was so proud of this that on the full page, it's got their enormous signature emblazoned on it.
from Batman Confidential #38

Blackhawk Down originally appeared in issues #36-39 of Batman Confidential (Early Jan.–Late Feb. 2010). The story was written by Royal McGraw, pencilled by Marcos Marz, inked by Luciana Del Negro, colored by David Baron, lettered by Sal Cipriano, and edited by Mike Marts.

This is the penultimate in a series of posts about the Blackhawks. The last installment covers their post-Crisis continuity. Previous installments are listed below:

1. The Blackhawk Archives, Volume 1 (1941-42)
2. Military Comics #18-43 / Modern Comics #44-46 / Blackhawk #9 & 50 (1943-52)
3. Showcase Presents Blackhawk, Volume One (1957-58) 
4. Blackhawk vol. 1 #151-95 (1960-64) 
5. Blackhawk vol. 1 #196-227 (1964-66)
6. Blackhawk vol. 1 #228-43 (1967-68)
7. Blackhawk vol. 1 #244-50 / The Brave and the Bold #167 (1976-80)
8. Blackhawk (1982) 
9. Blackhawk vol. 1 #251-73 / DC Comics Presents #69 (1982-84) 
• Pre-Crisis Continuity 
10. Blackhawk: Blood & Iron (1987-89)
11. Blackhawk vol. 3 (1989-92) 
12. Guy Gardner: Warrior #24, 29, 36, 38-43 / Annual #1 (1994-96)
13. JLA: Year One (1998-99) 
14. Guns of the Dragon (1998-99)