Our old crates will have to do for another day! Helping the U.S. Air Force is more important! 
Blackhawk #34 is an issue of the series Blackhawk (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 1950.
Synopsis for "Jets in Flames"
The Blackhawks join the search for some missing US Air Force pilots. The pilots had been trying out the new Lummins G42 planes, the same planes the Blackhawks had been scheduled to pick up, that same day, on the U.S. mainland. Blackhawk and Chop Chop find the wreckage of the missing planes in the jungle, and return to the Air Force base on Olahu. Meanwhile, the airbase commander has sent some of his men to the mainland, to pick up the Blackhawks' new aircraft. The Blackhawks rendezvous with the Air Force pilots near a coral reef. By radio, they convince the returning ferry pilots to bail out, then meet up with them on the reef. There they watch as all but one of the planes explodes. The remaining plane crashes onto the reef, and they discover a strange chemical on the engine. Blackhawk decides to investigate the Lummins Aircraft plant.
Mr. J.K. Lummins has been in the hospital for three months, and Kurt Krada has been running the company. Krada takes them on a tour of the facility, but refuses to allow them into one lab. Blackhawk breaks down the door. Inside is a woman and a group of workers. The woman, Linda Recandot, orders the workers to attack. The Blackhawks defeat them, but Krada grabs a spray gun and points it at them. The spraygun contains a chemical which makes metal explosive. Krada and Recandot are agents of a foreign country. They poisoned Lummins so they could gain control of the company. While they are explaining this, Hendrikson manages to get behind Krada and grab him. Recandot turns the spray gun on them, but it was damaged in the fight, and the chemical hits her earring which explodes, knocks her out. Krada and Recandot are arrested.
Appearing in "Jets in Flames"
Featured Characters:
Other Characters:
- USAF commander
- his pilots & staff
- six dead pilots (Appears only as a corpse)
Antagonists:
- Kurt Krada (Single appearance)
- Linda Recandot (Single appearance)
- their gang
Locations:
- Pacific Ocean
- Blackhawk Island
- Olahu Island, 1/2 hour's flying time away from Blackhawk Island
- US Air Force Base
- Lummins Aircraft offices and plant
Items:
- chemical treatment for making metal turn explosive
Vehicles:
- twelve USAF Lummins G42 planes (Destroyed)
- six Blackhawk Lockheed F-90Bs
- twenty more USAF search aircraft
Synopsis for "The Song of Treachery"
A US government courier named Vance is shot down over Lados, a supposedly uninhabited island, which has become a haven for criminals. The Blackhawks are asked to find Vance. They land on the island and make their way to a bar where the leader of the criminals, Skelly Bones, is playing piano. As a beautiful woman begins to sing, the other men in the bar attack the Blackhawks, who outfight them and send them fleeing. After the men have left, the singer, Tama, tells the Blackhawks she will help them find Vance if they will meet her at Dead Man's Swamp that evening. While on their way to the swamp, Bones stops them and tells them not to meet with Tama, but they ignore him. When they find Tama, she tells them that Vance is in the swamp, surrounded by skeletons. When they find the skeletons, Tama begins singing and the skeletons attack. The Blackhawks defeat the disguised criminals. They realize Tama is really in charge and her singing is the sign to attack. Leaving the swamp, Tama has a gun on them, but Bones arrives and pulls a gun on her. Bones refused to betray his home country and has been working against Tama to protect the US. With his help, the Blackhawks free Vance and arrest Tama.
Appearing in "The Song of Treachery"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Skelly Bones
- Tama
- many expatriate hoodlums
Other Characters:
- Vance, courier
Locations:
- Pacific Ocean
- Lados, a small, swampy island, formerly under French control
Vehicles:
- four Blackhawk Lockheed F-90Bs
Synopsis for "Mavis, Tigress of the Sea"
The Blackhawks capture a modern pirate named Mavis and begin taking her ship to port. At mealtime, Blackhawk is afraid Andre may not be able to resist Mavis' charms, so he has Chuck take her food to her. Mavis is able to scratch Chuck with her poisoned ring and escapes. Weeks later, newspapers report that Chuck has been kicked out of the Blackhawks for letting Mavis escape. He plans to retire to Menton on the Riviera. Mavis approaches Chuck about a partnership, but it is a trap and Mavis is captured.
Appearing in "Mavis, Tigress of the Sea"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Mavis (arrested)
- her pirate crew
Other Characters:
- merchant ship crew (many die)
Locations:
- Menton, city on the Riviera
Vehicles:
- Mavis' ship "Princess" (captured)
- Blackhawk Lockheed F-90Bs
Synopsis for Chop Chop: "Hominy An' Grits Mountains"
While the others are on a mission, Blackhawk drops Chop Chop off for a vacation in Hominy An' Grits Mountains. He is captured by a posse looking for Bandit Jake. The posse is led by Sarah, the Witch, who warned them that Bandit Jake had hexing powers and could change his appearance. They prepare to hang Chop Chop, but he convinces them to let him have a last meal. Chop Chop drugs the meal. When Sarah passes out, Chop Chop pulls her disguise off revealing the real Bandit Jake.
Appearing in Chop Chop: "Hominy An' Grits Mountains"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Blackhawk Squadron (Cameo)
Antagonists:
- Hezzy
- Sarah the Witch (secretly Bandit Jake)
- oafish henchman
Locations:
- Hominy an' Grits Mountains
Synopsis for "The Ruthless Idol of Mailu"
A young woman named Zita lands her plane on Blackhawk Island. She is from the island of Mailu where the inhabitants worship a large idol called Runa. Recently, Runa has been ordering young men to enter a doorway at the bottom of the idol and they are not seen again. The Blackhawks and Zita travel to Mailu and force their way through the doorway where they are overpowered by a gas. A group of robed men carry them to altars, where they will be sacrificed, before some of the native men. However, Chop Chop knows the native language, and has noticed that the young men pray in the older language, but the robed men always speak in the newer language. He yells in the older language that the priests are false. The young natives believe it is Runa speaking and attack the priests. During the fight, the robes fall off revealing the priests to be Europeans. The Blackhawks discover a rubber processing plant hidden under the idol, where the natives were forced to work.
Appearing in "The Ruthless Idol of Mailu"
Featured Characters:
Other Characters:
- Zita
- Balu
Antagonists:
- Priests of Runa (secretly Eastern European agents)
Locations:
Vehicles:
- Zita's WWII-style scout plane
- Blackhawk Lockheed F-90Bs
Notes
- Jets in Flames
- The squadron's Lockheed F-90Bs are already scheduled to be replaced with new planes. This is only their sixth appearance. Afterwards this is not mentioned again.
- Krada and Recandot are both foreigners, from the same unnamed country, which plans to one day trample the U.S. beneath its feet.
- Mavis, Tigress of the Sea
- The squadron's Lockheed F-90Bs are equipped with robot controls, enabling them to fly themselves back to Blackhawk Island and land there. This is the first time it is mentioned.
- Chop Chop
- Most of this story is reprinted in Blackhawk #73, minus page 3, plus some additional dialogue on page 2.
- Idol of Mailu
- The fake Runa Priests are Europeans, and Blackhawk is pretty sure which part of Europe they're from. Captured boss agent openly boasts of enslaving local populations for his unnamed nation's militaristic purposes. But nobody is called "Comrade" or identified as "Red."
- Also featured in this issue of Blackhawk was:
- The Avenger & Fury: "Jets West" (text story)
See Also