Before you read this, you might want to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5…
As noted, DC Comics canceled the long-running Blackhawk comic book in 1968 with issue #243. Apparently, there were occasional discussions after that about bringing it back, spurred on often by some foreign publisher who'd been buying reprint rights to the book asking if and when DC might have more to offer. But it wasn't until 1976 that publication resumed with issue #244.
Gerry Conway had become a DC editor and they were adding some new books under his supervision. Blackhawk was one of them and I thought they did a very good job of it. Steve Skeates was the writer (with one issue written by David Anthony Kraft) and George Evans was the artist. Evans, of course, went back to the days of EC Comics and he was, I thought, an excellent choice. A few other artists assisted him with layouts and inking but the book looked good inside and read well.
I thought it should have lasted longer than the seven issues it did. Why so short a run? It's anyone's guess but I think (a) it didn't have very good covers and (b) it was a period when the whole DC schedule was kind of a mess. They were starting and stopping comics abruptly to the point where I don't think readers wanted to even begin reading any of their new books. Why should you when they probably wouldn't be around for very long? I thought that was the problem at DC the first time they canceled Blackhawk, too.
Also, I think it was rougher on bi-monthly comics then, which this Blackhawk comic was. The most popular books were all monthly and readers weren't used to waiting twice as long for the next issue. And Gerry Conway left DC and Carmine Infantino was fired as publisher and nothing was really stable. It was a shame because not only did Blackhawk deserve better but that particular reincarnation deserved better.
So now we get to the next revival of Blackhawk, which is the one I worked on. This piece of the story will run several chapters and it's not because I think what we did on it is any more important than any other version. It's just the one I know the most about and the one people keep asking me about. In fact, I started writing this series of blog posts just to answer questions about my time on the comic — ergo, the title of this string of articles. Then I decided to go back and make it an overview of all the versions.
As you'll see, there are a lot of "Someones" in the first part of this next part…
Contrary to what one website once claimed, it was not my idea to revive the book in 1982. It was Someone's notion but I do know the reason: Steven Spielberg inquired about the movie rights to Blackhawk…or maybe someone did on his behalf. In any case, he had expressed some interest. Having recently made Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Mr. Spielberg was as hot as a film director could possibly be. So Someone at Warner Brothers Studio decided they'd better make sure the film rights were locked up so that if and when Mr. Spielberg ever did decide to make such a movie, he'd make it for them.
Obviously, he has not. The one and only Blackhawk film ever made professionally was the 1952 15-chapter movie serial starring Kirk Alyn as Blackhawk. Mr. Alyn, of course, had previously starred as Superman in two serials. I have never seen the Blackhawk serial nor have I heard particularly good things about it. If you want to judge for yourself, the DVD seems to be outta-print but there always seem to be copies available on eBay. [LATER ADD-ON TO THIS ARTICLE: Or you may be able to watch it here.]
There was also a Blackhawk radio series for a few months in 1950. Oddly enough, the guy who played Blackhawk on it had also played Superman. It was Maurice Fitzmaurice, who supplied the voice of The Man of Steel on his radio show after Bud Collyer gave up that lofty position.
Getting back to Mr. Spielberg and the various Someones: As we all know, he never has made such a film and we have no reason to believe he ever will. But it would not surprise me if Someone is still making sure the film rights are under option or a holding deal or something.
Then Someone at DC Comics said, "Hey, if Spielberg's interested, this might be a good time to revive the comic." I get asked often why DC restarted it with #251 instead of putting out a Blackhawk #1 as was then the custom with new titles. Collectors like #1 issues, often buying them by the pound for investment reasons. Readers often take them as a cue to jump on the bandwagon while it's starting to roll. Someone told me that Someone Else decided that not restarting the numbering would call less attention to the fact that the property had been dormant and deemed uncommercial for several years. And if you can't believe Someone about Someone Else, who can you believe?
I do not think there were any Someones at DC — not one — who thought the marketplace was clamoring for a new incarnation of the comic. Nevertheless, they went ahead. For a month or three, there was talk of various Someones doing it. At one point, Marv Wolfman and Dave Cockrum — both big fans of the original series — were at the top of the list of Someones. The problem was that Marv had a huge following due to the Teen Titans comic he was then doing and Dave had one due to his connection to the X-Men book at Marvel.
Someone said, "If Marv and Dave want to do a comic together, let's put them on something more marketable than Blackhawk." Marv and Dave did not wind up teaming on any project for DC but some time earlier, they'd done two issues of a proposed new comic for Marvel called Skywolf, which was very similar to Blackhawk. Every Someone who has ever mentioned it to me, including Marv and Dave, kept calling it Skyhawk.
It was quite good and it did something that DC had yet to try with Blackhawk: They'd set it in World War II instead of in the present day. Still, Someone at Marvel decided it wasn't strong enough to be a new comic so the material was shelved. Later, another Someone — and I think this Someone was Al Milgrom — decided to publish those stories in Marvel Fanfare #16 and 17. If you ever see copies at a reasonable price, grab 'em.
Once Marv and Dave were no longer being talked about for Blackhawk at DC, Someone — and this may be our next-to-last "Someone" — thought maybe they should go the other way with casting.
DC had writers and artists who were contractually guaranteed a certain amount of work. There were a few for whom no current project seemed right. So for a week or two, there was talk of issuing this new Blackhawk quarterly — only four issues a year — and to assign it to a certain writer and a certain artist in the "Well, we have to give them something" category. Yes, I know who they were. No, I'm not giving their names.
No other comic from a major publisher was then quarterly but the Someone who proposed this figured this was a way to say "Yes, we're publishing it" but to minimize how much they'd lose from it. It would also help keep that writer and that artist off comics the company cared about.
When the project was assigned to Len Wein as editor, Len said, "No, we're not going to do that." Len loved the old Blackhawk comics and he convinced everyone there they should at least try to do a book that readers would like. I gather this was not a tough sell at all. It would be monthly and they'd put Someone on it who might be able to make it good. How that Someone became me is a story for another day, possibly tomorrow.