Like many of their counterparts - Captain America, for example - they battled Nazi forces before the United States had entered World War II, a time when American involvement in the conflict was still a controversial idea. They first appeared in 1941’s Military Comics #1, a book published by the now-shuttered Quality Comics. They fought the Axis under their own red and black hawk symbol rather than that of any nation.īlackhawk and his allies were created by Chuck Cuidera, with some influence from Bob Powell and legendary comics auteur Will Eisner. Traditionally, the seven members of the Blackhawks were each from a different Allied country - many were soldiers who had escaped the Nazi occupation of their home, and Blackhawk himself was often depicted as Polish.
Howard Chaykin/DC Comicsīlackhawk is the codename of the leader of the Blackhawks, an international squadron of World War II fighter pilots who operated out of their secret base of Blackhawk Island, screaming a rallying cry of “Hawk-a-a-a” when they swept into battle.
A cover from the 1982 reboot of Blackhawk.
