Military Comics #1

History

The issue went on sale May 2, 1941, with a cover date of August 1941, published by Quality Comics under publisher Everett M. Arnold with Will Eisner serving as editor (credited on the Grand Comics Database as 'W. E. Eisner'). The Blackhawk feature was primarily drawn by Chuck Cuidera, with the co-writing shared among Cuidera, Bob Powell, and Eisner — whose exact individual contributions have been disputed ever since; Eisner himself, at a 1999 San Diego panel moderated by Mark Evanier, ultimately deferred primary creative credit to Cuidera and Powell. Cuidera, for his part, testified at that same panel that the Blackhawk concept grew out of Jack Cole's Death Patrol — which also debuted in this issue — as a more seriously-played variation on the same premise of a ragtag multi-national unit fighting the Axis. The Miss America feature was written and drawn by Elmer Wexler, while Death Patrol was written and drawn by Jack Cole, and the Blue Tracer story was the work of Fred Guardineer.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Blackhawk (the character) and the Blackhawk Squadron, presented in 'The Origin of Blackhawk' — the lead feature of the issue — with art by Chuck Cuidera and co-writing credits shared among Cuidera, Bob Powell, and Will Eisner.
• First appearance of Miss America / Joan Dale, a reporter who dreams the Statue of Liberty grants her matter-transmutation powers; created and drawn by Elmer Wexler. In this debut she wears civilian clothes and no mask throughout the story.
• First appearance of Death Patrol — written and drawn by Jack Cole — in which a team of criminals led by Del Van Dyne is recruited to fight the Nazis; one member, Peewee, is killed in the very first story, establishing the series' unusually high and recurring casualty rate.
• First appearance of the Blue Tracer, featuring American engineer 'Wild Bill' Dunn and a makeshift war machine built from salvaged Fascist equipment; written and drawn by Fred Guardineer.
• Blackhawk's team is depicted in this issue largely as unnamed background soldiers; only one member, Baker (a Cockney Englishman), is identified by name, and he never appears again. The named core members — André, Hendrickson, Olaf, Stanislaus, Zeg, Chuck, and Boris — are not individually named until subsequent issues.
• The issue also introduces Loops & Banks (Bob Powell, signing as 'Bud Ernst'), Shot & Shell (Klaus Nordling), Yankee Eagle, Q-Boat, and Archie Atkins as debut features, making it one of the most character-dense single issues of the Golden Age anthology era.
• The Blackhawk origin story was reprinted in Secret Origins #6, America at War: The Best of DC War Comics (1979), The Blackhawk Archives Vol. 1 (DC, 2001), and in DC's Millennium Edition: Military Comics No. 1 (October 2000). DC also published a facsimile edition in July 2024.
• Blackhawk received a Columbia Pictures 15-chapter black-and-white movie serial in 1952, starring former Superman actor Kirk Alyn as Blackhawk — one of the earlier direct adaptations of a Quality Comics property to film.

Cast · 11 characters

Full credits

Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers