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Black Hawk: The Intergalactic Gladiator
In 50BC, an African warrior enslaved by the mighty Roman army defies fate to becomes an officer of Auxiliaries for the Empire. With his faithful desert hawk in tow, 'Black Hawk' is instructed to enlist a hundred men willing to serve under him.
The exploits of 'Black Hawk' and his rag-tag army of misfits become legendary. Just as he starts to gain the respect he richly deserves, the warrior is suddenly plucked from the Earth and transported across the galaxy to battle in an alien arena.
The exploits of 'Black Hawk' and his rag-tag army of misfits become legendary. Just as he starts to gain the respect he richly deserves, the warrior is suddenly plucked from the Earth and transported across the galaxy to battle in an alien arena.
288 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2011
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 8, 2021
Here's a drastic genre-shift done poorly.
A former slave fights for the Romans for a while, followed by being all of a sudden shifted away into outer space for all the weirder adventures. Nothing wrong with such things, in principle - 2000 AD's gone way more off the wall in its time, and pulled through - it's just that the execution lacks. All of the first part's supporting cast, beloved sidekicks and hateable villains, open plot threads and tense situations, even the hawk mascot that just about gave the main hero his moniker, are abandoned pretty much in two-panels flat with almost no buildup or foreshadowing, then never seen again. It was just altogether unsatisfying.
Examined in vacuum, on their own, both halves of the story are pretty good: you've got some good action, good plotting, decent enough characters, people to relate and situations to want to see through, and artwork that's often nice and never terrible. Just that they're stitched together in a way that really does not play them well. I would have wanted to see the whole gang being taken into space - the villainous Centurion and everything - that could've been a riot. Shame.
A former slave fights for the Romans for a while, followed by being all of a sudden shifted away into outer space for all the weirder adventures. Nothing wrong with such things, in principle - 2000 AD's gone way more off the wall in its time, and pulled through - it's just that the execution lacks. All of the first part's supporting cast, beloved sidekicks and hateable villains, open plot threads and tense situations, even the hawk mascot that just about gave the main hero his moniker, are abandoned pretty much in two-panels flat with almost no buildup or foreshadowing, then never seen again. It was just altogether unsatisfying.
Examined in vacuum, on their own, both halves of the story are pretty good: you've got some good action, good plotting, decent enough characters, people to relate and situations to want to see through, and artwork that's often nice and never terrible. Just that they're stitched together in a way that really does not play them well. I would have wanted to see the whole gang being taken into space - the villainous Centurion and everything - that could've been a riot. Shame.
September 10, 2025
A 3 1/2 out of 5.
January 13, 2022
3.5 stars.
March 26, 2017
The 1st half lame and racist the 2nd half was quite good, now onto the sequel Aquila (at least I've read that Aquila is based on Blackhawk)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews