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"Valley of Yesterday": More than 800 years in the past, Sir Grenfall of Galwain organized a mighty army, supposedly to join a Crusade to drive the Saracens from the Holy Land. However, their real motivation was to raid the southern lands whose armies had already left for the Cru

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Hans Hendrickson

Blackhawk #40 is an issue of the series Blackhawk (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 1951.

Synopsis for "Valley of Yesterday"

More than 800 years in the past, Sir Grenfall of Galwain organized a mighty army, supposedly to join a Crusade to drive the Saracens from the Holy Land. However, their real motivation was to raid the southern lands whose armies had already left for the Crusade. After raiding several cities, they forced a herdsman named Haro to guide them through a mountain range. Haro led them to a narrow pass, but it was a trap. There was no other exit from the valley, and when the looters entered, the local residents caused a landslide, blocking the exit.

In the present, President Valga decides to open the valley in order to establish a trade route with the neighboring country of Bulgania and asks the Blackhawks to try flying into the valley to scope it out. The Blackhawks find a place to land their planes in the valley, but are immediately attacked by a knight on a horseback, then encounter more knights. The Blackhawks defeat them, and capture their leader, Lady Melinda of Galwain Castle. Blackhawk tells Melinda of the advances of the outside world and shows her how to fire a gun. She turns the gun on them and forces them into the castle. The Blackhawks scare the knights with their belt radios and escape in their planes. Meanwhile, Valga has grown impatient and orders the blasting to begin, causing an avalanche which kills Melinda and her knights.

Appearing in "Valley of Yesterday"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Lady Melinda (Apparent Death)
    • two score knights (Apparent Death)
  • Sir Grenfall of Galwain (Flashback only)

Other Characters:

  • Haro, a herder (Flashback only)
  • President Valga
  • unknown number of servants and peasants (Apparent Death)

Locations:

Items:

  • belt radios

Vehicles:


Synopsis for "The Eighth Blackhawk"

Baron Vargo sends an assassin, Nasha, to kill a candidate in Monclova's elections. The Blackhawks stop Nasha and have him lead them to the Baron, however the Baron's men capture them. Suddenly the lights go out. The Blackhawks overpower the men, but the Baron escapes. As they head back to their planes, they realize that none of them could have turned out the lights. Also, someone kissed Blackhawk in the dark. During the flight back, Chuck and Stanislaus realize there are seven planes instead of six, but Blackhawk assures them that there are no duplicates of their planes, and a recount gives six planes. They return to Blackhawk Island and Chop Chop fixes Chop Suey for the men. He fixes plates for each one and hands them out the window, only to find there is no plate left for him. Blackhawk does a roll call, and they discover there is an extra person. They attack this person, then discover it is a girl. Her name is Sheila Hawke, a wealthy woman who found her life boring and decided to join the Blackhawks as She-Hawke. Blackhawk tells her to leave first thing in the morning, then takes the men to work out in the gym. Olaf defeats all the others in hand-to-hand combat, but is then defeated by She-Hawke. Sheila goes to the radio room and hears a call that Baron Vargo is attempting to seize control of Monclova. She flies to Monclova and the Blackhawks quickly follow. They catch up to her at the Monclova airfield where Sheila warns them that it is already under Vargo's control. She proves it by approaching for a landing and a 90mm cannon is fired at her. In the capital city, the Baron hears the cannon and assumes that Blackhawk has been killed. He addresses the people, telling them that elections are cancelled. Suddenly, the Blackhawks appear in a balcony above him. The Blackhawks overpower Vargo's guards. Vargo attempts to escape, but is captured by Sheila, who has already captured the rest of Vargo's men. The elections are held as scheduled, and Blackhawk "volunteers" Sheila to remain in Monclova to help the new government establish itself. Sheila promises that he hasn't seen the last of her.

Appearing in "The Eighth Blackhawk"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Baron Vargo, head-of-state candidate
    • Nasha, assassin

Other Characters:

  • Charles Frambla, head-of-state candidate

Locations:

Vehicles:

Synopsis for "The Red Raiders Vs. The Blackhawks"

In the office of a dictator, a general reports that he has a plan to destroy the Blackhawks. He has perfected some fast and powerful planes and recruited special pilots for them: Wolwin (who has studied Olaf's fighting methods), Bluth (a former Nazi and Hendrickson's counterpart), Pippo (Andre's opponent), Kazmir (an old schoolmate of Stanislaus), Fang (Chop Chop's counterpart) and Boylan (an American gangster to correspond to Chuck). The tyrant dubs the general Red Raider.

Red Raider challenges the Blackhawks to a fight at the democratic city of Lorphah. Lorphah's defenses, led by Lady Ardis, are surrounded by the time the Blackhawks arrive. The Red Raiders are forced to withdraw, but not before Blackhawk's plane is shot down. Blackhawk bails out and lands inside the city's defenses. With his leadership, they drive back the enemy's land forces. That night, the Red Raiders hire some scouts to find a weak spot in the city's defenses. The scouts signal, and the Red Raiders attack. However, the scouts were really the Blackhawks setting a trap. Each Blackhawk defeats his corresponding Raider. In the morning, United Democracies forces arrive and defeat the dictator's army. Red Raider finds that his elite pilots (including Boylan, who was a wanted criminal in the U.S.) have joined the side of democracy.

Appearing in "The Red Raiders Vs. The Blackhawks"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Joseph Stalin (shown, not named)
    • Red Raider (arrested)
      • Wolwin (reforms)
      • Bluth (reforms)
      • Pippo (reforms)
      • Kazmir (reforms)
      • Fang (reforms)
      • Boylan (reforms)

Other Characters:

  • Lady Ardis

Locations:

Items:

  • wrist radios

Vehicles:

Synopsis for Chop Chop: "Loller Skating"

Chop Chop and his friend Foo Yung decide to attend the grand opening of a roller skating rink. Foo Yung's wife refuses to let him go, so Chop Chop goes alone. Two thieves plan to steal the gate receipts. One offers to adjust Chop Chop's skates, but really loosens a bolt. The crowd thinks Chop Chop's out-of-control skating is a comedy act and become focused on him. The crooks use the distraction to rob the ticket office, but as they are leaving Chop Chop runs into them and the police are able to capture them.

Appearing in Chop Chop: "Loller Skating"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • roller rink robbers

Other Characters:

  • Foo Yung
  • Mrs. Foo Yung

Locations:

  • Roller Skating Rink

Synopsis for Blackhawk: "The Schemes of Spider Webb"

The Blackhawks stop at Kude Airfield to refuel. Some mechanics check the engines while the planes are there. On the way from the airfield to Blackhawk Island, Hendrickson and Andre disappear. The remaining Blackhawks return to Kude, but see no sign of them. While searching the next day, Blackhawk's radio goes out and his plane is pulled away from the others. The force acting on the plane causes it to land at a camouflaged airfield. Gunmen take Blackhawk and Chop Chop to their leader, Spider Webb. He has been using a giant magnet to gather an armada of planes, with which to conquer the world. The mechanics at Kude have been sabotaging the planes to make them more susceptible to magnetism and unable to radio for help. Blackhawk and Chop Chop are placed in a cell with Andre and Hendrickson. Spider Webb has them taken to a waterfall and tells his men to throw them over a waterfall. The Blackhawks fight back, so Webb decides on a firing squad instead. The other Blackhawks arrive, Spider Webb's men are defeated, and he goes over the waterfall while trying to escape.

Appearing in Blackhawk: "The Schemes of Spider Webb"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Spider Webb (First appearance) (Dies)
    • his hench-mechanics, at Kude Airfield
    • many gunmen at his hidden aerodrome

Locations:

Items:

  • Webb's Giant Magnet

Vehicles:

Notes

  • The current location of Blackhawk Island has palm trees.
  • The Red Raiders Vs. The Blackhawks
    • Blackhawk himself gets shot down in this story, for the eighteenth time.[1] He parachutes to safety, and his plane either crashes or robot-pilots itself back home,[2] but we are not told which.
    • The armed forces that arrive to defend Lorpah in this story are from the "United Democracies." At some point later in the series, this entity will change to "United World".
    • The Red tanks display red insignia, but not red stars.
    • Fang, the Red Raiders' counterpart to Chop Chop, looks like a tall, athletic man, while Chop Chop still has his distinctively cartoonish appearance.
  • In The Schemes of Spider Webb, the villain falls to his apparent death, over a waterfall, and hits a rock on the way down, with Blackhawk watching. Blackhawk believes he is dead.
  • This issue's Chop Chop story is reprinted in Blackhawk #84.
  • Also appearing in this issue of Blackhawk was:
    • full-page ad for new features appearing in Police Comics including Ken Shannon, Private Eye and T-Man, Federal Agent.
    • "Smuggler's Trick" (text story)



See Also


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