Blackhawk

by William Rotsler

Based on characters appearing in Quality & DC Comics.

174 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1982

About the author

William "Bill" Rotsler was an American cartoonist and graphic artist; author of several science fiction novels and short stories, and television and film novelizations, and non-fiction works on a variety of topics, ranging from Star Trek to pornography; a prominent member of science fiction fandom; and a sculptor, primarily in metal, who contributed to the art at the entrance to the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters.

Pseudonyms:
Victor W. II Appleton, William Arrow, Andrew Garth, John Ryder Hall, Cord Heller, Latham Hilliard, Linda Holland, Harmony Holt, Lothar Korda, Honey Malcom, Hord Markham, Clay McCord, Howard Scott Miles, Clint Randall, Beverly Sorenson, Beth Waring, Fletcher Westflag.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read that Blackhawk was one of only four comic titles published without interruption through the '40s, '50s, and '60s. (The other three being Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman, of course.) I believed that I was pretty conversant with novels based on comic characters, so I was a little surprised to find one that I'd never heard of written by William Rotsler, an author I always liked, based on Blackhawk. (The book has a lovely but un-credited cover.) In the original comics there's an Oriental character named Chop-Chop who's originally portrayed in a horribly racist manner as something of a buck-toothed beachball, and thankfully Rotsler corrects that in this story. The origin of the team is well told here; the Blackhawk Squadron was a lot like Captain Midnight and his Secret Squadron, and Rotsler captures their motivation and formation well. (The iconic Lady Blackhawk doesn't appear in this story; she didn't appear until the late '50s.) Unfortunately, once the background is established and the war is well underway, it ends with Blackhawk being captured while trying to bring down a giant high-altitude bomber that's attacking London, and he battles a naked Nazi nymphomanic dominatrix to save the day. It's more than a little silly and an embarrassing conclusion; I'm sure that's why there were never any further volumes in the series.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forty-one years after it was released I was finally able to find a copy and read it. As a fan of the BLACKHAWK series published by DC at the time, this book serves as a nice intro to the Mark Evanier/Dan Spiegle 23-issue run (24 with the DC COMICS PRESENTS issue).

By the way, DC, just in case you read reviews of books based on your properties, isn't it about time the 1982-84 BLACKHAWK run was collected? And maybe include this book too?

Anyone know if there were plans for more BLACKHAWK novels? There's a comment in the afterword that makes me think so, and Stephen Spielberg was interested in making a Blackhawk movie, so I guess it was possible. Anyone know for sure?

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun WWII adventure based on the DC comic.