Blackhawk - a novel based on the DC Comics characters

The 1970s and 1980s were the decades when I was just getting into comic books as a kid, and while my growing love of the medium expanded by leaps and bounds, my knowledge of all the non-comic merchandise being put out there was very limited (remember, this was pre-Internet days!).  Thus, just like I was unaware of the two House of Mystery novels by Jack Olsek (The House of Mystery, Book 1 and The House of Mystery, Book 2), I was also unaware of the William Rotstler novel from the early 1980s based on some DC characters that were acquired from Quality Comics.  While I am not really a fan of war comics or war stories, this book was passed on to me by my friend, Kevin, after he finished reading it.  So, since it was a gift, I figured it was time to sit down and read it.

 

Blackhawk was originally published by Quality Comics and first appeared back in 1941 in the first issue of Military Comics.  The character and team was created by Chuck Cuidera, with assistance from comic legend Will Eisner, along with Bob Powell.   The character has seen a number of iterations through the decades, and his origin (and even his real name) has changed as well.  Author William Rotsler, as he states in the book's Afterword, stays pretty close to the original story in Military Comics No. 1.  The main character is an ace pilot who is shot down over Poland, and while trying to reach the house of his brother and sister, he witnesses the Germans bomb the house, killing both of his siblings.  He vows vengeance on Von Tepp, the man responsible for their deaths, and he sets about building a squadron of men to take on the Nazi forces and find, and kill, Von Tepp.  Assuming the name "Blackhawk," he gathers a rag-tag team of men to form his team:  Andre, a French pilot; Olaf, a Swedish pilot; Stanislaus, a Polish fighter; Hendrickson, a Dutch flyer; and a Chinese man skilled in karate, who they refer to as "Chop-Chop."  

 

I had expected there to be one story within the book; however, Rotsler wraps up the tale of vengeance against Von Tepp within the first half of the book, and the second half is spent with the team rescuing a female British agent known as "Bluebird" and working to take out a WarEagle machine terrorizing England.  From what I can gather online (since I never read any of the Blackhawk comics from either company), the story of Blackhawk's search and ultimate revenge on Von Tepp stay pretty true to the comic tale.  In the comics, they track down Von Tepp in France, where he is holding one of Blackhawk's men hostage.  Blackhawk sends a note demanding the release of his man, so Von Tepp orders his execution along with two other captives, including an English nurse.  The Blackhawks arrived in time to save the captives, capture Von Tepp, and take him back to Blackhawk Island where Blackhawk challenges his adversary to a one-on-one aerial duel.  Both planes crash, and Von Tepp is killed in a volley of bullets.  The book maintains most of these story elements, with slight variations - there is only one other captive being held by Von Tepp (the nurse), and Von Tepp is killed during a physical fight after the planes crash, and he is pushed back against a sharp piece of metal that pierced his heart, leaving him dead.

 

The other two adventures - the rescue of Bluebird and the take-down of the WarEagle - are more fast-paced and read like your typical war stories. And while the Blackhawks are a team, the stories are definitely focused on Blackhawk himself (who, curiously enough, is never identified by any real name - it seems no one, not even his own teammates, know his true identity), who turns out to be the hero of every story.  His men serve him faithfully and rarely, if ever, question his command or his orders.  Again, war stories are not really my cup of tea, so I had to force myself to read page after page to ultimately finish the book.  The writing itself is not bad by any means, but the stories simply did not interest me that much.

 

 The cover art is provided by Romas Kukalis, a Canadian artist, who is well known for his cover art for science fiction and fantasy novels.  Some of his early work apparently included illustrations for Creepy, Eerie, and Heavy Metal magazines, before he moved on to painting book covers for publishers such as Ace, Berkley, Del Ray, and others.  His cover for this novel depicts not only Blackhawk and his men firing off against an unseen enemy, but it includes a lone female figure standing right beside Blackhawk.  The scene does not actually occur anywhere in the book (as the females rescued by the Blackhawks do not take an active role in fighting the enemy during the stories), but is merely a representation of the characters and action.

 

 In my research online after reading this book, I discovered Blackhawk has had much more exposure than I realized - not only the various comic book series and this novel, but there was also a serial back in the 1950s starring Kirk Alyn; there was a radio series, voided by Michael Fitzmaurice; there was even a limited edition G.I. Joe doll of Blackhawk in 2002, complete with various uniforms!  Apparently, in the 1980s, Steven Spielberg had plans to adapt the comic into a movie, but the project was scrapped; later, in 2018, Warner Bros. tried again, with Spielberg once again attached to the project.  In 2022, a script was confirmed to have been written for a film; however, with the new Gunn-driven DC film universe, it's unlikely that film will see the light of day.

 

For those who love war stories and war/military comics, this book is probably a great read.  For me, it was somewhat tedious, and I had to force my way through it to finish it.  There were hints in the Afterword that this was to be the first in a series of novels, but no other Blackhawk novels were ever published.

 

And, ah, yes, before I forget, I should mention that Rotsler did provide some Easter Eggs in the story for comic fans.  The name of Blackhawk's benefactor, who helps finance the planes, provides their secret island, and keeps them informed with secret military information is named "Levitz" - obviously after Paul Levitz, a major player at DC Comics during the '70s and '80s, as both an editor and writer.  The name of Levitz' firm in the book is "Levitz, Cuidera, and Dillin" - a tribute to Paul Levitz, Chuck Cuidera (Blackhawk's creator), and Dick Dillin (who provided art for Blackhawk in both the Military Comics series by Quality, as well as Blackhawk's own series).

 

Aside from that, Rotsler has Blackhawk utilize a "small sabotage device called a fire pencil [which was] the size of a small fountain pen..." (p. 106).  I found this interesting, because it immediately brought to mind those "pencil bombs" that Mildred Wirt referenced in the 12th Penny Parker mystery,  Voice from the Cave.  I had never heard of these before reading the Penny Parker book, and now here they appear for a second time in this Blackhawk novel!  An interesting coincidence...

 

RATING:  6 twin-engine Grummans out of 10 for a novel filled with plenty of wartime action, dramatic battles, and heroic last-minute saves - a definite compliment to the comic stories upon which the book is based. 

Whitman Mystery Stories - Joyce of the Secret Squadron (A Captain Midnight Adventure)

The Whitman Publishing Company definitely put out plenty of self-contained mysteries for children back in the day, and it's clear that quite a few of them were "authorized editions," containing stories about licensed characters and actual actors and actresses.  I have read several of them already, starring actresses such as Bonita Granville and Betty Grable, as well as fictional characters as such Tillie the Toiler, Boots, and Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, and for the most part, they have been pretty good.  So, whenever I'm out and about, and I see any Whitman books with fairly decent dust jackets (they don't have to be perfect), I pick them up.  This book is one of my more recent finds, and while it is no much of a mystery, it was still a fairly okay read.

Joyce of the Secret Squadron is based on the old radio show, Captain Midnight (as the tagline on the cover of the book indicates - A Captain Midnight Adventure).  While I had heard the name before, I had never actually listened to any episodes of the show, nor had I watched any of the televisions shows or films based on the character.  I also had never read any of his comic book adventures published by Fawcett Publications back in the day.  So, I went into this story with pretty much no knowledge of the characters.  Which is probably a good thing, as it gave me a fresh perspective on all of them.  What I did find interesting is that even though Joyce Ryan is toted as the main character, based on the title and the photo of one of the actresses who played the character on the radio show, she does not necessarily play a prominent part in the story.  In fact, none of the characters seem to be the "main" character - rather, Captain Midnight, Chuck Ramsay (the Captain's young ward), Joyce Ryan, and Ichabod "Ikky" Mudd (the team's mechanic) all seem to share some equal time in the story.  Thus, in effect, this really is more of a Captain Midnight adventure than a Joyce Ryan story.

As for the story itself, it is definitely more of a war tale than a mystery.  Set near the start of World War II (the book was published in 1942, after all), the Secret Squadron are engaged by the United States government to search for the missing Flying Wing - an experimental plane believed to have gone down somewhere in the Pacific, possibly near the islands where Captain Midnight and his team have their secret base.  The Captain and his team - Joyce, Chuck, and Ikky - are only more than willing to help out their government, but they find themselves first having to help Mrs. F. W. Bosmouth, who happens to be searching for her missing brother in the same area of the Pacific.  What the Captain and his gang do not realize is that Mrs. Bosmouth is actually Carla Rotan, an agent of the Barracuda, Captain Midnight's deadly nemesis.  She has been tasked with the job of not only finding the Secret Squadron's hidden base, but also to find out what they knew of the Flying Wing.  The Barracuda's forces descend upon the Secret Squadron while Carla is there, hoping to convince the Captain that she is sincere, but Joyce has her doubts about the woman - and let's face it, a woman's intuition is rarely wrong!

From here, the story becomes a search and (hopefully) rescue mission, as the Captain, Joyce, Chuck, and Ikky fly out to search the Pacific Islands for the lost Flying Wing.  They eventually locate an island, where they land and begin their search - only to face the arrival of Mrs. Bosmouth and her pilot, as well as a boat filled with some very rough men.  Joyce and Chuck come across a crashed plane, but it is not the one they are looking for - rather, it's an even older plane, whose pilot they discover has been living isolated on the island for fifteen years!  Between their distrust of Mrs. Bosmouth, their fight to keep the ruffians at bay, and their attempts to help the stranded pilot, the Secret Squadron team has their hands full.  Needless to say, all is revealed in the end, and there is even a surprising change of heart for one of the villainous characters, who provides much needed aid to the Captain and his team (this, thanks to the quick-thinking and persuasive talk of young Joyce Ryan).  There are a few air battles, ground battles, and even a battle on the ocean to keep the "excitement" in the story, and while Joyce is somewhat timid during these battles, she definitely proves her worth to the team throughout the book.

 

One thing that must be noted is that the story is definitely a product of its time, having been written not too long after the U.S. became involved in World War II.  There is some very "colorful" language used to describe the United States' enemies of the time, and the characters' references to them would certainly raise a lot of outrage in today's overly sensitive society.  But, when placed in the proper context, these derogatory names are actually appropriate, as it is what people would have called them back in the early 1940s.  Therefore, it's important to read the story with its setting and context in mind.

 

The author, R.R. Winterbotham (1904-71) was a newspaperman turned author, and he wrote several books for Whitman Publishing Company (apparently writing at least 60 books in the Big Little format, including a series of those books about a character called "Maximo, the Amazing Superman," which I will need to track down).  In addition to this Captain Midnight novel, he also wrote a Captain Midnight story in the Big Little format.  The art in this book is by Erwin L. Darwin (1906-77), which I discovered is a pseudonym for Erwin L. Hess.  Before illustrating books for Whitman, Hess was a comic book artist for Dell Publications.  While his art is not what I would call "beautiful," like some of the other artists I have seen in the Whitman books, I think his almost cartoon-style art fits for the characters.  And that is one thing I do have to say the Whitman books have going for them, at least in my opinion - they have plenty of interior illustrations and some truly great end pages.  I wish the books of today would take a page out of the books of yesteryear and give readers some great illustrations to compliment the stories!

While not really a mystery, I do think this book makes a great addition to the Whitman authorized editions and Whitman's collection of "Stories for Girls and Boys featuring your favorite characters."

RATING:  7 brand new Codographs out of 10 for

Sgt. Rock vs. the Army of the Dead - a DC Comics mini-series

I've been a comic book fan since ... well, I'm not going to say the year, but I will say that my first comic that I purchased off the spinner rack at a convenience store while on vacation in Florida was Super Friends no. 28 (I'll let you figure it out).  From that first comic book, I was hooked.  I had a hunger for more, so I started buying pretty much anything on the racks - from super hero to horror ... from 48-page dollar comics to regular sized 40 cent comics ... from new series hitting the stands to series that had been around since the 1940s.  But in all this time, the one genre of comics that has never really interested me is war comics.  I never bought DC's G.I. Combat or the Unknown Soldier or Marvel's Howling Commandos series.  They were just comics that I never had any desire to read.

Now, that being said, flash forward to 2022.  By now, I have been a long-time fan of horror movies, and I enjoyed Bruce Campbell in the first Evil Dead movie.  The second movie was alright, but felt like nothing more than a rehash of the first film.  The third film?  Well, the less said about that, the better.  But when I heard that Bruce Campbell was going to write a DC comic starring Sgt. Rock, where he and his "Easy Company" battled an army of the living dead, well, I figured I'd give it a try.  After all, with a title like Sgt. Rock vs. the Army of the Dead, there was bound to be some great horror tropes involved, right?

As is the case with most mini-series now, I purchase all of the issues, then I sit down and read the entire story (so that I'm not waiting month after month just to get the next chapter - yes, I know I could wait and buy the trade paperback collected edition, but I prefer the single issues).  Since the sixth and final issue of this mini-series came out not long ago, I had the opportunity to sit down and read the story.  I was expecting some violent and bloody battles (I mean, this is war and all, right?), and Campbell did not disappoint.  What he did disappoint on, however, was the story itself.

I am somewhat familiar with Sgt. Rock and the Easy Company, as they have made some appearances in comics I have read over the years (Brave and the Bold, Crisis on Infinite Earths, the DC Holiday specials, etc.).  But I have never really gotten to know any of the characters, per se, and so I thought with this mini-series, there might be some character development that would give me an idea of who the members of the Easy Company were.  Well, that is far from the case.  In fact, not even Sgt. Rock himself gets any character development in this story.  From the first page of the first issue to the last page of the sixth issue, I did not get to know any of the Easy Company - in fact, I honestly could not tell you any of their names or what their personalities may be like.  I only know that Sgt. Rock himself was willing to sacrifice himself at the end in order to put a stop to Hitler's army of the dead.

Honestly, I tried to like the story.  I really did.  But with each issue, I became less and less invested in the tale, and by the sixth issue, I was simply reading it to get to the end of the story.  For example, the first issue has 22 pages of story and art - yet, it feels like there is only  few moments of actual story.  The reader is introduced to Dr. Morell, who is heading up the "Regeneration Plan" for Hitler ... we see a zombie attack at night ... Sgt. Rock and his Easy Company get charged with the mission of stopping Dr. Morell ... and a zombie awakens at the end, prepared to fight for Hitler's army.  All of this could have happened in the span of ten pages or less.  From that point forward, the remaining five issues are nothing more than fighting zombies page after page, panel after panel.  The reader does not connect with or get any real information on the characters themselves, and even Dr. Morell feels like a cardboard stereotype doctor who, when he is killed, gives the reader no sense of satisfaction.  Even Hitler's desire to be made stronger and for the doctor to accelerate the doses of serum feels stereotypical.

The art is not bad, in and of itself, but the coloring makes it difficult to read.  The constant dark blue, black, dark purple, and dark green hues tend to distract from any definition of characters and backgrounds in each panel - while I understand the coloring was likely to reflect the night scenes of the battles, it did not do any justice to Eduardo Risso's art.  And with this being a DC Horror comic (which, I'm guessing, is akin to the new Black Label line of comics), I had assumed there would be more graphic kills - but, instead, many of the zombie kills are subdued by the constant dark coloring of the panels

If you like pointless battles with absolutely no characterization and very little plot, then this comic is for you.  And, hey, I won't knock you for it - I mean, after all, everyone has their own tastes in storytelling, and what one person enjoys, another does not.  This comic was definitely not for me.  The only really good thing I can say about this series are the covers - Gary Frank's covers are beautifully rendered - if the interior colors had been as vibrant as those on the covers, I may have had a little more interest in the story.

Oh, well, as the saying goes, you win some, you lose some.  At $3.99 an issue for six issues, I definitely lost some this time around.

RATING:  2 appointments with the grim reaper out of 10 simply for pitting Sgt. Rock and his team against an entirely different kind of enemy to battle on the warfront.