On May 10, 2018 Military Comics #1 in CGC certified 9.4 grade sold for $52, 580.00. Who says war comics can’t be valuable?

Still, this was a crazy high price for the first appearance of Blackhawk. The 2017 Overstreet Price Guide for 2017-2018, for example, had a 9.2 copy valued at $8, 000.00. $52, 000.00 is a big jump from 8, 000 for just two grade points. The mediating factor, of course, is the news released last spring that DC wants to put Blackhawk on the big screen and is in talks with legendary director Stephen Spielberg to make it happen.

So who are the Blackhawks? Should we be picking up their comics based on mere rumors that Spielberg wants to bring them to the big screen? Given the status of these characters, and their historical place within the genre of war comics, I think the Blackhawk keys should be of interest to anyone who collects Golden and Silver Age comics.

The origin of the Blackhawk comics can be traced back to Chuck Cuidera, Bob Powell and comic book icon Will Eisner. In the 1940s, the Blackhawk comic outsold every other title excepting Superman. The reasons for this are actually not difficult to understand. Blackhawk was an exciting adventure comic and had enough gimmicks to draw the readers in and keep them wanting more.

For one thing, the Blackhawks were fighting for freedom as a pan-national fighting force. Although the original Blackhawk was Polish, the group collected members from various allied nations to fight the Nazis during WWII. Also, although mainly fighting as pilots, the Blackhawks operated out of a home base located on a secret island (Blackhawk Island) and undertook various types of missions.

So, which Blackhawk books may see a spike with the appearance of a Spielberg directed/produced movie?

Military Comics #1 (August 1941) – First Appearance of Blackhawk

We can start with the grail for Blackhawk fans. Originally published by Quality Comics, this book featuring ‘stories of the army and navy’ gave us the very first appearance of Blackhawk. A scarce book in any grade, only 29 of these can be found on the CGC census. As mentioned above, a 9.4 copy (the highest known existing grade) recently broke price records. Otherwise, returns are mixed but mostly up and best on 6.5 graded copies which have positive + 98.1% roi after six sales since 2013.

 

Blackhawk #108 (January 1957) – First DC Blackhawk

Quality comics was bought out by DC and so the Blackhawk Squadron’s adventures continued into the Silver Age under the DC logo. During their run with DC the Blackhawks would be given new technology and different villains to fight, but the continuity with the Quality comics group was maintained. There are 34 copies of Blackhawk #108 on the CGC census with the highest copy a 9.2. Returns on everything above a 5.0 have spiked since the film announcement but best returns have been on 5.5 and 7.0 which can still be found for under $400.00.

 

 

 

 

 

Blackhawk #133 (February 1959) – First Lady Blackhawk

Pilot Zinda Blake joined the book with issue #133. This was most likely an attempt to broaden the appeal of the group to a larger group of readers but Lady Blackhawk either as Zinda Blake or under another identity has become a mainstay part of the DC universe. Most recently after joining the Birds of Prey. This comic has really seen price hikes since last spring. With 63 copies on the CGC census, currently a 9.0 is the highest known graded copy and that has a FMV of $6, 000.00. Best returns have been on certified 6.5 grades. After selling on Heritage for $430.20 on October 15, 2017 the same book sold for $1, 2000.00 on eBay November 4th of this year. Obviously, if the Blackhawk movie happens Lady Blackhawk will be featured.