ACW #633 – Blackhawk
Action Comics Weekly #633 (Blackhawk)
“Gremlins at Twelve O’Clock”
Writer – Martin Pasko
Art – Rick Burchett
Letters – Steve Haynie
Colors – Tom Ziuko
Editor – Mike Gold
It’s with a fair amount of sadness that I recognize that this is the second-to-last time I can say… T.G.I.B.! This is, say it with me, our penultimate visit with Janos and the Gang.
There will be a version of the Blackhawks in the upcoming The Crash of ’88! crossover special… but, it won’t be the same.
Let’s enjoy it while it lasts!
—
Picking up right where we left off, Olaf has caught “Ms. Darabont” spiking the Blackhawk’s brew with the L.S.D. He inquires as to what might be going on, and gets shot in the shoulder for his troubles. At the same time, Andre up in the cockpit starts feeling something very… ominous begin to overtake him. They try radioing back to Olaf, and when they don’t get an answer… Weng heads toward to rear to find out what’s up. He just barely misses seeing “Darabont” parachuting away.
Back up front, Andre’s sinister feeling manifests itself in… the colors, maaaaaan… our poor Frenchman be trippin’!
In the back, Weng tends to Olaf. He also admits to having drank some of the tainted java. At the same time, Janos learns that Chuck’s having a similar reaction to his cuppa. It’s becoming a pretty wild scene… and with every moment, the Blackhawk aircraft is losing altitude!
Andre lunges at Olaf… not sure what he’s seeing, but he’s in a rage! Olaf punches him square in the nose, knocking him out. Finally, we’re down to two. It’s just Olaf and Janos… and they gotta land this bird. One problem though, turns out that Jan took a few swigs himself! Suddenly his fingers transform into snakes (why’d it have to be snakes?), and he’s all outta sorts!
We shift scenes to Frau Whatsherface. She’s meeting with some Neos on the Islet of Herm in the Channel Islands between France and England. She hands over the “mind-control serum”, and tout the soon-to-be rise of Global Fascism.
We wrap up back in the Blackhawk cockpit, where Janos’ trip continues. He suddenly sees naked Nat spooning with a naked Olaf… and, with foam dripping from his mouth, Janos is bound and determined to do something about it!
—
Well, here’s the scene I’ve been waiting for ever since the realization that L.S.D. would be playing a part in this arc… and it did not disappoint. I’m left wondering just how they’re going to wrap this all up in the next eight pages… but, I very much enjoyed this chapter for what it was.
Never having used L.S.D. (shocker, I’m sure), I wasn’t sure how the trippin’ Blackhawks were going to be depicted. I didn’t know if it was going to be straight “the colors, maaaan” or more creative hallucinations. Turns out, we get both! I appreciate the fact that Janos lets his paranoia get the better of him here… he’s still clearly worried about (and sorta-kinda “hooked on”) Ms. Nat, and it was cool to see that here.
If you recall, early in the previous Blackhawk arc, Jan and Olaf scrapped a time or two over the fair and beautiful Ms. Commie Nineteen-Fifty-Whatever… and it was alluded to (if not said outright) that Olaf might’ve been responsible for the loss of her eye. I haven’t peeked ahead into our final chapter… but, I’m wondering how much of a knock-down, drag-out this might be. Though, I have a sneaking suspicion it’ll be defused within the first page.
Overall, another fun chapter… and another reminder of how much this book will suffer once Blackhawk vacates its pages!
Tomorrow: The Wrap-Up!
