Blackhawk #219 (1966)

    Here you see the last comic in my house.

   Well, to be specific, it was the last comic in my house that I haven't read yet.

   When comic shipments were shut down, I had about a dozen comics I'd picked up in a recent visits to a local comics shop. 

   I wanted the last one I read to be somewhat meaningful, and one of my "early favorite" series when I was young was Blackhawk, which followed the then-modern adventures of the World War II-era team.

   The leader was a man known only as Blackhawk, and with his six team members, each representing a different country, they fought bad guys, giant robots, aliens and assorted other menaces using their fleet of jets, helicopters, submarines and assorted other gadgets.

   It was one of the titles I was drawn to when I first got into comics in the early '60s, and it's always been a favorite - so to this day I look for a back issue whenever I visit a convention or comics shop. 

   I probably shouldn't admit it - these days the team is something of a pariah in comics. (And when did we last see them, now that I mention it?)

    That's because the focus was on each hero's nationality, and each had an exaggerated speech pattern that reflected that background - so Andre (from France) said "Mais Oui" a lot. Stanislaus (from Sweden) said things like "It ban a hot time at the old town tonight, eh?" You get the idea.

   It was great shorthand to help each character stand out, and certainly there was no malice indicated (they were all heroes, after all). But today's audience, ever sensitive to any perceived insult, might not be so accepting.

   As for this issue - well, it sticks to the team's formula. It introduces Andre's cousin from South America, Cisco, who looks and sounds like the '60s image of a man from South America - dark skin, exaggerated features, and he doesn't speak English at all, so Andre must translate.

   Cisco wants to be a member of the team, but seems to be cursed, as his mistakes have dire consequences for the team.

   But the bad guy is an evil scientist (named King Zoom - I swear I am not making this up) who doesn't pose much of a threat, as he creates animal-based costumes for his henchmen. 

   There's also a backup story that's loaded with nonsense about amnesia drugs and a member of the team trying to kill Blackhawk - pretty shallow stuff.

   To be fair, this issue falls at a time when the series was faltering badly. Superheroes were getting all the attention, and nine issues after this one, the ill-fated "Junk-Heap Heroes" storyline would very nearly kill the team off (in a misguided attempt to save it).

   Perhaps the idea had run its course, and perhaps they were just out of good stories to tell.

   It's a shame, because an international team made up of highly-skilled fighters tacking international menaces should have lots of potential. The team was all about friendship and fighting for justice - and that's why, despite its faults, this is a series I love and will continue to seek out, as long as outlets for comics exist.

   But this issue is not a great place to begin. But for me, for now, it's the end.

  (Time to hit the archives  - and digital comics.)

Grade: C

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