YMMV / Blackhawk

• Audience-Alienating Era: The Blackhawk series increasingly seemed an anachronism in the comics world of the mid-1960s, and DC struggled to make Blackhawk "relevant" during the time of Batmania. DC's solution? Give them new superhero identities! This idea later got given a Discontinuity Nod in JLA Year One, where they're shown donning these costumes to stay relevant now that the Justice League of America is on the scene, only to decide it's a terrible idea within minutes. Nevertheless, André became M'sieu^note though "Monsieur" is the correct word Machine, Chop-Chop became Dr. Hands, Chuck became The Listener, Hendrickson became The Weapons Master, Olaf became The Leaper, and Stanislaus was renamed The Golden Centurion.
  • Blackhawk himself managed to avoid the embarrassment of changing. Mere words cannot express the suck of this "new direction."See it here, if you dare◊. (He was briefly known as The Big Eye, but didn't have an outlandish outfit.)
• Ethnic Scrappy:
  • Chop-Chop. Began life as a short, fat, violent comic-relief character who looked nothing like any other human, more resembling a ball with a giant, cartoon face attached. His portrayal got gradually better over the years, and by the Silver Age, he was recognizably human (albeit with some stereotypical elements remaining.)
  • Ever since Post-Crisis, Wu Cheng essentially looks like a far-East Clark Gable with a standard uniform who is furious at being depicted as a stereotype in the comics about them.
• First Installment Wins: The original lineup consisting of Blackhawk, André Blanc Dumont, Olaf Bjornson, Chuck Wilson, Hans Hendrickson, Stanislaus, Chop-Chop, and Zinda Blake are the one people think the most when the comicbook is mentioned.
• My Real Daddy: Blackhawk was created by Will Eisner, Chuck Cuidera, and Bob Powell, but the Golden Age Blackhawk is most often associated with artist Reed Crandall.
• Smurfette Breakout: Both versions of Lady Blackhawk are more well known than their respective squad members. Zinda Blake, especially, as she became a prominent Birds of Prey member during the 2000s.

---