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The Silver Age Era of DC Comics' Lady Blackhawk, Up for Auction

Lady Blackhawk was an early Silver Age attempt by DC Comics to expand one of their popular franchises with a prominent female character.

In early 1959, DC Comics introduced Supergirl in Action Comics #252 — a part of further expanding the mythology of the Superman franchise near the dawn of the Silver Age.  At the time, the Superman family had recently launched a solo series for Lois Lane to significant success. But three months prior to the release of Action Comics #252, another popular DC Comics franchise also added a prominent female hero.  Blackhawk's counterpart to Supergirl's Linda Lee was named Zinda Blake — Lady Blackhawk. Her first appearance in Blackhawk #133 was cover-dated February 1959, penciled by Dick Dillin and inked by Charles Cuidera. and the character developed via sporadic appearances in the Blackhawk title over the early Silver Age.

Blackhawk was a very logical choice to attempt to add a semi-regular female cast member to at this point in DC Comics history.  Launched at publisher Quality Comics in 1941, the franchise had earned both a movie serial and a radio drama in the early 1950s, before eventually being acquired by DC Comics in 1957. Quality had attempted to add a female character to the team on at least a couple of occasions during the Golden Age, with "Sugar" in Military Comics #20 (1946) and later with "She-Hawke" in Blackhawk #40 (1951). Each of these characters made only a single appearance during the Golden Age.

But DC Comics would make a more lasting addition to the team in this regard, introducing Lady Blackhawk to the title in 1959.  In her debut appearance in Blackhawk #133, Zinda Blake was rejected for membership to the Blackhawk team despite proving her worthiness due to a rule that prohibited female members.  She returned in Blackhawk #140, once again saving the entire Blackhawk team, who, this time, decided to "take a vote soon, to make you an honorary member."

That vote was apparently successful, as Lady Blackhawk is back in issue #143 taking part in her first official mission as part of the team.  The character appears sporadically after that, with memorable moments in issue #151, where she gains superpowers, and in issue #170, volcanic fumes transform her into a mermaid as she takes on the villain Killer Shark.

By 1960, the Blackhawk title briefly became the best-selling DC Comics series that was not related to Superman of Batman. Despite the popularity of the series during this period, these issues are tougher to come by than one might think. There's a group of several issues of Lady Blackhawk's early Silver Age appearances, including her debut in Blackhawk #133, available in this week's 2024 May 5-7 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122419 from Heritage Auctions.

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