'Blackhawk' was a 1950 ABC radio series which was adapted from the long-running Blackhawk comic book about the team of World War II aviators from Quality Comics. It was an unsponsored half-hour show that aired on Wednesdays nights at 5:30pm.

Michael Fitzmaurice, (1908-1967), portrayed the team leader Blackhawk. The radio series premiered on September 13, 1950 and concluded a few months later on December 27, 1950. It is thought that there were only sixteen episodes in the entire run. 

I first discovered Blackhawk in the early 1960's when it was published by DC Comics.  I did not know that the series was a continuation of Quality's earlier series, and that DC had picked up the numbering with #108.

Quality Comics had the Blackhawk feature debut in Military Comics #1 in August of 1941, and Blackhawk earned its' own comic title in 1944. 

DC Comics picked up the title in 1956. The comic became a  little outdated by the mid 1960's because it was still about the aviators adventures so DC revamped the Blackhawks into super-heroes with issues #230 - 241 but it just didn't go over sales-wise.  The revamp didn't do anything for me either.... Then the comic was changed back into its' original premise but lasted only two more issues before its' 1968 cancellation.

By the time DC Comics attempted a short 1970s run (#244 to #250) I had quit reading the series. Indeed, my original interest were the stories with the Nazi operative Killer Shark and Lady Blackhawk whom Killer Shark changed into Queen Killer Shark. Those stories piqued my interest just from the covers!  

For those interested in Blackhawk comics, we have a large run of issues in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store.

So several times in the past we have been asked about African-American Super-heroes comic books.... basically why is it that we just don't list that many for sale.....???

Well, there really aren't that many mainstream African-American Super-heroes comic books listed here for sale.... because there just haven't been that many printed period ! 

When attending the Wonder-Con comic book convention, when it was held in Oakland, California, we ran across a few independent publishers that were printing African-American Superheroes comics, but were finding that distribution was hard to get going.  Since we basically sell comics from the Silver and Bronze Age eras of comics (1956 - 1982), we just picked up some for our own reading to see what they were like, but not for resale purposes.

For those interested in Black Superheroes from the Silver Age and Bronze Age comics we have the following notes....

...Power Man, also known as Luke Cage Hero for Hire, was a member of the Fantastic Four team for a while, when the Thing lost his powers temporarily.  ...Black Goliath was a friend of Hank Pym, who was Ant-man and then Giant-Man.  ...Black Lightning was a DC superhero.... There just hasn't been that many titles printed with African-American superheroes...

However, the few that we do have, have been listed.  We have a few Black Goliath, Power Man, and a 'black Wakandan African King' Black Panther comic books listed in our eBay Featured Store.

Plus there are more non-slabbed comics featuring these super-heroes in our eBay Pro Store at:   MakeItSoMarketing.com  

Michael

A rushed teaser trailer was  quickly released to prove to the fans that the upcoming film would be more faithful to the original comic books, which had the darker Batman before the Comics Code Authority changed the tone of the comic books in the mid 1950's.

Despite the earlier worries, the film became the most successful of 1989 and received praise from many Batman readers.  Additionally, Keaton changed many fans' minds about his casting to become hailed as one of the best actors to play the title role, especially with some of the later choices!!

Movie Critics' reaction to the film was largely mixed, with some praising the film for its set design and production value, while others panned it as being too much of an intellectual exercise for Tim Burton and too little of a Batman movie.

Roger Eber, who I recently found out is a true comic book fan,  gave the film two stars, out of four, remarking, "'Batman' is a triumph of design over story, style over substance - a great-looking movie with a plot you can't care much about."

Batman opened in  over 2,000 theaters in North America. In its opening weekend, it grossed $40,489,746, which, at the time of its release, was a new record.

The film ended its theatrical first run with $251,188,924, and was not only the biggest moneymaker of 1989, but was also the fifth highest-grossing film of all time. The film's total worldwide box office gross was  $411,348,924. It is, to date, the most financially successful Batman movie of the franchise.

For those interested in DC Superhero comic books, including those of the Batman, we have several hundreds listed in our eBay Featured Store and eBay Pro Store.