Issue No. 21
October 1948
Satana - Nuclear physicist Howard Bunsen creates a substance he calls X-235. He explains to his daughter, Cora, how beneficial or dangerous the formula is depending in whose hands it's delivered. When he takes a walk, Bunsen is jumped by thugs but saved by coffee drinkers Chuck and Blackhawk. They soon discover Bunsen's home and lab have been destroyed with no signs of Cora. The Hawks allow Bunsen to carry on his testing in relative safety on their island base. Elsewhere, Cora's been kidnapped and made to trade places with Satana, a cold-hearted killer who plans on retrieving Bunsen's formula no matter where the Hawks have hidden him.
Traps for the Unwary - When a commercial pilot is fired with a threat he'll never fly again, a disheartened Merritt is immediately approached by a bandit squad of fliers who wished to enlarge their plundering operations. The sky bandits fly over the pearl fisheries of Bonpiron Island. Their plan : Bombing the island then dropping paratroopers in to steal the abundant pearl treasures. The plan goes awry when the Blackhawks, who've been requested by the authorities to safeguard the island, appear from the sky wreaking carnage. Merritt is shot down and captured. He refuses to talk to the Hawks but his own leader, Storrall, is convinced he will so the squadron leader sends an assassin to kill him.
Chop-Chop 8 pger.
2 page Blackhawk text story: "South Pole Mission"
The Fortress of Flight - (my title) The heads of three leading airlines meet to hire Blackhawk to find out where an engineer, Captain Archlear, and his experimental airplane engine, had disappeared. One of the airline magnates, Surratt, opposes the plan. Unbeknownst to the others, Surratt is responsible for Archlear's kidnapping. He wants the secret to the engineer's engine designs before Archlear allows them on the open market. As the Hawks fly over Konsu Plateau, they discover a tiny citadel where Surratt has imprisoned Archlear. And when Blackhawk's troubled plane engine forces him to land, he's taken prisoner. Caged with Archlear, Blackhawk submits to Surratt's questioning and volunteers to finish Archlear's work, much to the engineer's disgust.
Thanks to David Chapman for submitting the cover for this issue and Don Secrease for submitting the synopsis.
Back to Blackhawk Index Page
All characters, pictures, and related indicia on these pages are the property of DC Comics. All text is ©1998-2001 Dan Thompson, except where otherwise noted. This homepage is not intended to infringe on the copyright of DC Comics to its characters, but was created out of gratitude to all the wonderful writers, artists, and editors who created the Blackhawks.