The New Blackhawk by George Evans, Steve Skeates, Ric Estrada, et al.

After eleven years at DC, Blackhawk was finally cancelled in 1968 with issue #243 (see item #6 in the list below); retooling the Blackhawks as superheroes had not worked, and nor did a short-lived back-to-basics approach in the title's last two issues.

But the Blackhawks were not dead. In 1976 not only was the concept revived, but so was the previous title. It's hard to imagine in this modern era, where every time someone sneezes, a series starts over with a new #1, but despite being gone eight years, DC chose to pick the series back up with issue #244 for a new run.

In some ways, this was back to basics; in others, it's an attempt to reposition the team for the 1970s. The actual content of the issues doesn't dwell too much on what happened while the Blackhawks were "gone," they just plunge you right into the new set-up. The Blackhawks (the core seven members all present and accounted for, though "Chop-Chop" is now "Chopper"; Lady Blackhawk does not appear and is not even mentioned) are mercenaries based out of Blackhawk Island. They'll come and save you... if you can pay their fee! Between adventures, though, they (mostly) don't live on the island, but inhabit a variety of alter egos. Blackhawk, Chopper, Chuck, and Stanislaus all work for Cunningham Aircraft, developing and testing new planes; Andre and Olaf reside in Europe (Olaf is a ski instructor who seems to hit on married women; if it's specified what Andre does, I don't remember). Henderson, friend- and family-less aside from the Blackhawks, is the one who stays on the island and maintains it between adventures.

from Blackhawk vol. 1 #250

New allies and enemies are introduced, most prominently Duchess Ramona Fatale, a mercenary who the Blackhawks sometimes battle, sometimes work alongside. (She's nicknamed "Patch" because she has an eyepatch, though I'm not sure why someone who can go by "Duchess Fatale" needs a nickname!) She and Blackhawk have sexual tension, no doubt exacerbated by her tendency to undertake adventures in a bikini. (During her first appearance, this is because her base gets attacked while she's relaxing on the beach, so she has to flee with no other possessions; it's not clear to me why she continues to run around in just a bikini in later stories!) Henderson's daughter eventually turns up (I think this is the first-ever indication of such a character), mad at her father for abandoning her; the letter page in one of the later issues hints she may become a new Lady Blackhawk, but nothing along those lines ever happens in the stories themselves.

They do have new, very 1970s, uniforms, with plunging necklines. Disco Blackhawk!

A text page in issue #244 fills in some background and carries out some retcons, indicating that the Blackhawks emerged after World War II,* and that it was only rumored they battled aliens, and that they were superheroes is just fiction. It also indicates they've been missing since 1968 (and so must have only recently reemerged); the only indication this run is set in the DC universe comes from this page, which says the JLA issued a release of "No comment" when the Blackhawks vanished. "Bart," the name given for Blackhawk in #242, is used in this series, but the text page also says Chopper's real name is unknown even though he received one in #203 (see item #5). At first, there's not a lot of connections to old adventures, but the War Wheel reappears in issues #249-50, and Killer Shark in #250.

from Blackhawk vol. 1 #249

I found that the stories themselves were fine, but the run started stronger and got weaker as it went. I very much enjoyed the first three issues, all written by Steve Skeates with George Evans on art (joined by Ric Estrada for #246). The first is strong opening story setting up the new status quo for the Blackhawks and a fun adventure alongside Duchess Fatale. The next two issues make a two-parter, about the Blackhawks battling the Anti-Man... who turns out to be "Boris," a member of the Blackhawks seen just once in Military Comics, before the line-up was standardized as the seven we know now. This is perhaps a bit silly, but other than that, it's another fun adventure, with mercenary action and good twists; I enjoy the way Skeates is always embedding a lot of flashbacks into his narratives. Evans and Estrada are strong artists, well-suited to the action-heavy style of these issues, but also capturing the appearances of the characters going way back.

David Anthony Kraft takes over with a two-parter after that, and this I did not enjoy; it felt like one of those stories that randomly and arbitrarily piles on twists, and has lots of mediocre fake-outs, where in one issue it seems like someone is dead... and in the next issue the resolution is just, "oops, no I'm not." I did appreciate the presence of James Sherman of future Legion of Super-Heroes fame as guest penciller on #248, though. Skeates returns with #249, but I felt like the series didn't have enough time to get back on track; I totally lost what the "Empire of Death" was actually trying to do in the end, and it was clear every issue had a totally different take on Henderson's daughter Elsa.

from Blackhawk vol. 1 #250

The creators clearly had long-term plans that didn't pan out; incoming editor Jack C. Harris refers to Kraft, Estrada, and Evans as the ongoing creative team on the letter page in #248... even though Kraft would never write another issue! Issue #250 ends on what I suspect was originally scripted as a cliffhanger, with Chuck supposedly dead (and Chopper seriously injured), but the issue leans into its status as the last one, with a final panel caption of "AND NOW... OBLIVION!" and a vignette on the issue's text page about Chuck's funeral that indicates Blackhawk disbanded the team to they could "go their separate ways and lead the private lives that they have never known." It's surprisingly well written...

...and given that the Blackhawks never made another pre-Crisis appearance in the present day, it might even be true! All their future appearances were set during World War II, so there's nothing to contradict the idea that this was their final adventure and that Chuck was actually dead.

from The Brave and the Bold vol. 1 #167

The first of those WWII-set tales would be issue #167 of DC's Batman team-up title, The Brave and the Bold. Writer Marv Wolfman gave us the first wartime tale since the war ended (other than the "World War II Combat Diary" back-up tales featured in issues #196-227, see item #5 below). He was able to make this work as a Batman story by setting the story on Earth-Two and thus teaming the Blackhawks up with the Golden Age Batman—something that could never happened during the actual Golden Age, since at that time, Batman was a National Comics character and Blackhawk a Quality one. (This is also, I think, our first indication that there are Blackhawks on Earth-Two in the pre-Crisis DC cosmology; more on that in a future post.)

It's a fun enough story, though the Blackhawks and Batman actually have very little interaction. In Gotham, Bruce Wayne investigates a mysterious Nazi conspiracy, while on the front lines, the Blackhawks follow a different trail to the same ending. This culminates in a big battle in Gotham Harbor to destroy a Nazi doomsday weapon, where Batman joins the Blackhawks in a Bat-plane. I would have hoped for more interaction, and with eight main characters in seventeen pages, the story feels a bit cramped. But on the other hand, Dave Cockrum delivers on art—great, dramatic action.

But... cancellation at issue #250 doesn't mean there's no issue #251. Stay tuned!

The New Blackhawk originally appeared in issues #244-50 of Blackhawk vol. 1 (Feb. 1976–Feb. 1977). The stories were written by Steve Skeates (#244-46, 249-50†) and David Anthony Kraft (#247-48); pencilled by George Evans (#244-45), Ric Estrada (#246-47, 249-50), and James Sherman (#248); inked by George Evans (#244-46, 248-50), Al Milgrom (#247), and Frank Springer (#250); colored by Liz Berube (#247) and Carl Gafford (#248-50); lettered by Gaspar Saladino (#247-48); and edited by Gerry Conway (#244-48) and Jack C. Harris (#249-50).

"Ice Station Alpha!" originally appeared in issue #167 of The Brave and the Bold vol. 1 (Oct. 1980). The story was written by Marv Wolfman, illustrated by Dave Cockrum & Dan Adkins, lettered by Ben Oda, colored by Adrienne Roy, and edited by Paul Levitz.

This is the seventh post in a series about the Blackhawks. The next installment covers Blackhawk by William Rotsler. 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)
   

* That the Blackhawks emerged postwar is confirmed by a flashback in #246, showing them having one of their early adventures on "an old W.W.II beach" during the Cold War.

† Issue #249 is credited to "Harold A. Harvey," but the Grand Comics Database indicates this is a one-off pseudonym for Skeates.

Review: The Mighty Thor, Vol. 4 by Walter Simonson

Comic trade paperback, 237 pages
Published 2014 (contents: 1986)
Acquired December 2015
Read August 2017

The Mighty Thor, Vol. 4

Writer & Artist: Walter Simonson
Artist: Sal Buscema 
Inking: Bob Wiacek & Al Milgrom, Geoff Isherwood, Bret Blevins
Remastered Coloring: Steve Oliff
Letterer: John Workman

Like vol. 3, this volume of The Mighty Thor is a mixed bag. Were vols. 1-2 Walter Simonson's peak? I only have one volume to go, so I guess I'll see. But this has some good stuff and some dull stuff. Definitely the highlight is the storyline where Loki turns Thor into a frog, and frog Thor then has an adventure in Central Park, rescuing a group of frogs from evil rats. It's pure comedic genius in some ways:

Best "translation" caption in comics?
from Thor vol. 1 #364 (art by Walter Simonson)

But it succeeds in its playing of the peril as completely straight. These are beings in trouble on Midgard,* and Thor will defend them, as is his duty.

Even as a frog, Thor gives the best pretentious speeches.
from Thor vol. 1 #364 (art by Walter Simonson)

And then, once he's able to lift Mjolnir, he goes from being a strong and large frog to being... THOR FROG!

'NUFF SAID!
from Thor vol. 1 #365 (art by Walter Simonson)

It's a masterful example of things you can do in the goofy-but-epic medium of the long-form superhero comic. I can only hope that we get to hear Chris Hemsworth voice this storyline on screen in Thor 4.

Other than that, Thor having to rescue Balder from evil crones in disguise is classic fairy tale stuff, and pretty enjoyable, and I also liked Thor returning to his "human" life on Midgard and befriending the very large family of his Italian foreman.

These kids are the greatest. And Thor is a terrible liar.
from Thor vol. 1 #373 (art by Sal Buscema)

But some stuff was less interesting: Malekith and Kurse aren't really good villains, so stuff revolving around them kind of bored me, and whatever was going on with mutants in the tunnels of New York was okay. And there's this weird story where a Judge Dredd rip-off comes from the future. It would work if it was completely goofy, but it gets pretty dark, and unlike with the frogs, the balance isn't quite hit right.

"I AM THE LAW!"
from Thor vol. 1 #371 (art by Sal Buscema & Bret Blevins)

Still, the volume was fun enough, and better than the third, I think. I just hope Simonson ends his acclaimed run on a high note.

* Earth.

Faster than a DC Bullet: Project Gotham, Part XXV: Batman: Strange Apparitions

Quick note: read my review of Doctor Who: You Are the Doctor and other stories at Unreality SF. Today!

Comic trade paperback, 175 pages
Published 1999 (contents: 1977-78)
Borrowed from the library
Read November 2015

Batman: Strange Apparitions

Writers: Steve Englehart, Len Wein
Pencillers: Marshall Rogers, Walt Simonson
Inkers: Terry Austin, Al Milgrom, Dick Giordano
Original Colorists: Marshall Rogers, Jerry Serpe
Letterers: Ben Oda, Milton Snapinn, John Workman

Year Eight, November
All of the Batman stories I've read so far (in this project) have been "flashback" tales: they haven't been set in what was the current continuity at their time of publication, but rather have been set in some earlier period. Strange Apparitions marks a first for me, then, in that this is the first Batman story I've read that took place in the "present" when it was published. This is no flashback to the early days of Batman, but simply the next adventure of Batman.

Much has changed of late. The Caped Crusader is fundamentally solo again, as Dick Grayson is off attending Hudson University. He's grown up so fast! In addition, Bruce Wayne has moved from Stately Wayne Manor to the actual city of Gotham; he now resides in a penthouse on the top floor of the new Wayne Foundation tower, beneath which there is, of course, a cave, where he's relocated all his stuff. An secret elevator directly connects his penthouse to the cave. I like this change: if you imagine Gotham as a New York, it strains credulity to anyone who's ever driven anywhere near New York that Batman could effectively police the city from the location where his manor ought to be. I was surprised, though, to learn that the Wayne Foundation was not in the heart of the city, but rather past "the impressive rows of ancient brownstones" in "Gotham's humbler districts, where the Wayne Foundation towers above the lower, leaner skyline."

Strange Apparitions collects the full run of the creative team of Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers, and Terry Austin on Detective Comics, which despite its significance, was a mere six issues long. It also collects, however, two issues Steve Englehart wrote but someone else drew, and two issues that Marshall Rogers drew, but someone else wrote. I was surprised to read in Englehart's introduction to the collection that while he and Walt Simonson worked from the "Marvel style" (the writer plots, then the artists draw, then the writer does dialogue) and he and Marshall Rogers worked "DC style" (the writer does a full script, the artists draw), and that Englehart actually wrote all six issues without even knowing who would draw them, because Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers mesh perfectly. Englehart's writing and Rogers's illustrations support each other perfectly to create a moody, atmospheric, but ultimately fun story, whereas the first two issues drawn by the great Walt Simonson are just kinda there (though necessary for Englehart's eight-issue plot).

Strange Apparitions begins with a so-so story about a new Batman villain, one Doctor Phosphorous, a medical doctor who invests his money in a nuclear plant where disaster strikes: "Five million slivers of red-hot sand were driven through my body! But not--hee hee-- ordinary sand! No! Radioactive sand--blasted upward one level on the chemical scale!" I'm sure this is all very scientific. Doctor Phosphorous doesn't appear again, but the two issues do introduce a couple of important characters: Rupert Thorne, chairman of the City Council, and Silver St. Cloud, a socialite with whom Bruce Wayne quickly becomes sexually involved.

Scott McCloud would be proud of this use of the gutter.
Also, get your mind out of it.
from Detective Comics vol. 1 #472 (script by Steve Englehart, art by Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin)

Englehart's story is a tour through a sequence of Batman rogues in a way that I really enjoyed, bringing in one for an issue or two at a time, and then moving on to another one, without feeling contrived or pandering. With the wounds he sustained at the hand of Phosphorous not healing, Bruce Wayne checks himself into a clinic for Gotham elites renowned for its discretion-- only to discover that the clinic manager is actually Hugo Strange in disguise: Batman's very first supervillain opponent, from Batman and the Monster Men. Batman shouts, "Professor Hugo Strange! I thought you were dead!" and indeed, when we last saw Strange in Batman: Prey, he was quite clearly dead, his body having been impaled on a metal pole for several days before it was found. But Strange apparently wasn't really dead, just in Europe. Even though The Monster Men and Prey were written much later, these stories are all of a piece, Strange's obsession with Batman here leading him to actually take over Bruce Wayne's life. (Amazingly, at one point he wears a Batman mask over a Bruce Wayne mask.) The work of Englehart and Rogers is perfectly simpatico here: it's a moody, splashy, nightmarish tale with some great twists and turns. Dick Grayson guest stars to help Bruce reclaim his life, but then leaves for an issue of Teen Titans when Wonder Girl calls.

Everything continues from there. Having deduced Batman's identity, Strange wants to sell it to the highest bidder, but he decides Boss Thorne isn't worthy of it, prompting Thorne to have him killed. (No doubt he'll get better again.) While Strange's ghost heckles Thorne, the Penguin (having lost his bid) decides to carry out a scheme anyway. Batman puts him in jail, where his escape gadget is stolen by Deadshot, who escapes himself to get revenge on Batman for putting him away. Meanwhile, Bruce's romance with Silver has been turning into one of real emotion, and Silver works out that Bruce is Batman-- and when his fight with Deadshot ends up in her place of work (Silver runs a convention center), Batman realizes she knows! Then the Joker turns up with a wacky but deadly plan, and so on. Meanwhile meanwhile, Boss Thorne is trying to eliminate the Batman while being haunted.

Sound effects never looked so good.
from Detective Comics vol. 1 #473 (script by Steve Englehart, art by Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin)

Englehart and Rogers have a handle on each and every one of these villains, not to mention Batman himself, who is clearly a man as much as he is an unstoppable force of the night. The story is moody without being grim in a way that hits the exact tone I want out of a Batman tale: darkly fun.

The book wraps up with a two-issue Clayface story written by Len Wein (in a surprising display of fan pedantry, it is actually titled "The Coming of... Clayface III!", making a fan's numerical bookkeeping part of the actual narrative), that follows on from the events of Englehart's run. I've read and liked other stuff by Wein, but it pales in comparisons to Englehart's work; suddenly Batman is melodramatically shouting his feelings at everyone: "Blast it--it's all going sour!! [...] Alfred, things couldn't be more wrong! I let two punks I tangled with tonight get to me--and that's a luxury I cannot afford!" Still, it comes to a suitably tragic conclusion, and I also noted that the trick Prey pulled with Strange's manikin lover was actually first used here with Clayface III.

On the whole, this is one of the best stories I've read so far on this project, and probably one of the best Batman books I've read full stop. Englehart and Rogers perfectly balance ongoing plots with standalone stories, and character insight with fun adventures in darkness.

Next Week: Out with the old Robin, in with the new Robin, in Second Chances!

Archival Review: Mystery in Space with Captain Comet, Volume One by Jim Starlin

Mystery in Space with Captain Comet, Volume One

Writer: Jim Starlin
Pencillers: Shane Davis, Jim Starlin
Inkers: Matt "Batt" Banning, Al Milgrom
Colorists: Jeromy Cox, Jim Starlin
Additional Colors: Guy Major
Letterers: Phil Balsman, Rob Leigh, Jared K. Fletcher

Comic trade paperback, 204 pages. Published 2007 (content: 2006-07).  Acquired and read October 2007.

Once I was in the comic book store, and I saw this series called Mystery in Space.  No 2007 book can normally have such an awesome title, and it was all I could do to stop myself from buying the whole series on the spot.  I succeeded in self-control by going home and putting the trade paperback collection on preorder. 

Fortunately, the book did indeed turn out to be quite good-- it's exactly what it says on the tin, a mystery story set in space.  Captain Comet is an instantly likeable protagonist (now I am very tempted to seek out his previous adventures) and Hardcore Station is a good setting (good enough that I immediately tracked down the 1998 miniseries of that title and read it too).  The standout character is Tyrone, Comet's bulldog that has been genetically engineered to be sentient-- artist Shane Davis manages the extraordinary feat of giving him discernible facial expressions.  Looking forward to Volume Two.