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I asked this question about a comic book I read back in the 1960s and got a quick answer.

Old comic book, war with the moon, Pan-ku Chinese first man1

Another comic book I read back in the 1960s, possibly as part of the same bunch of old comic books, had the Blackhawk Squadron on a moon base for some reason (Nazis on the Moon?) They were stalked by a killer robot if I remember correctly.

I believe they dosed the killer robot with flammable liquids and set it on fire and destroyed it. Can anyone identify that comic? This time I don't already know the answer and would like to know more about that story.

It is possible my memory confuses two separate Blackhawk stories. But I guess that before about 1970 there were only a few Blackhawk stories in outer space and only a few Blackhawk stories with robots.

In Modern Comics # 99, 1950, the Blackhawks go to the moon to establish a moon base and find that enemy agents have already built a base there. But there is no killer robot there.

https://pappysgoldenage.blogspot.com/2017/09/number-2103-blackhawks-on-moon.html2

Fuzzyboots suggested it might be Blackhawk # 1.221, "The Moon Monster" June 1966. According to the synopsis I read, the Blackhawks didn't actually get to the moon, though they did fight the "moonster" inside his spaceship that looked like the moon.

http://www.geocities.ws/cheeksilver/blackhawk3.htm3

So I am still seeking for the story I remember.

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  • Would you recognize the cover if you saw it? If so, you might want to check comics.org. Search on "BLACKHAWK", and look at the covers for the 99-issue Quality Comics run, and the 166-issue DC Comics run. In the DC run, odds are you want something prior to 228 (a storyline where the Blackhawks become a short-lives superhero team), and definitely before 244 (243 was the last issue published in the 60s, 244 was the start of a mid-1970s revival).
    – RDFozz
    Commented Jan 12, 2018 at 17:09
  • A few additional notes: DC bought the Quality characters, and continued publishing BLACKHAWK, even picking up the Quality issue numbering. By the late 1960s, the Blackhawk story were definitely not set in WWII; however, I'm not sure whether there was a period post-WWII where they were continuously publishing stories still set in WWII (like most of DC's war comics characters - Sgt. Rock, the Haunted Tank, the Unknown Soldier, etc.).
    – RDFozz
    Commented Jan 12, 2018 at 17:16
  • Here I found a link to Modern Comics # 99 (1950) where the Blackhawks go to the moon and find an enemy moon base. But there is no terrifying killer robot destroyed by fire. pappysgoldenage.blogspot.com/2017/09/… How many times could Blackhawk go to the moon in different issues? How many killer robots could he fight in different issues? Commented Jan 14, 2018 at 6:03
  • You asked "How many times could Blackhawk go to the moon in different issues? How many killer robots could he fight in different issues?" The answer is, probably, quite a lot. Earlier comics eras cared little for continuity, and may have been the better for it, so Blackhawk & Co. could gone to the Moon and/or fought killer robots many times -- and always for the first time. Without continuity, it can be different versions of the Moon and the killer robots. Imagination was a premium and they could be more fun.
    – a4android
    Commented Jun 17, 2018 at 9:11

1 Answer 1

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Could this be Blackhawk Vol 1.221, "The Moon Monster"? It featured "The Moonster" and was originally released in June, 1966.

Blackhawks Vol 1.221

Here's part of one person's review of it:

"The Moon Monster" [BLACKHAWK #221; June, 1966; story by France E. Herron; art by Dick Dillin] opens up with a shot of "the first test of a moon-bound rocket fired from... beneath the sea!"

Right at the very edge of Earth's ionosphere, however the rocket in question crashes into the moon.

With an audible CLONK.

... and then the two gigantic metal robot arms pop out of their special hatch, see, and...

... well obviously, we're not dealing with the four-color equivalent of Tom Wolfe's THE RIGHT STUFF, here. (Or even Ron Howard's APOLLO 13, for that matter. I'm just sayin', is all, here.)

Okay... so big, honkin' artificial "moon." Gobbling up unsuspecting rocket ships. With big, dopey robot arms, and stuff.

And you all wonder how Grant Morrison got that way.

We cut to within the artificial satellite, then... and get to take that first, all-important gander at this issue's incredible, awe-inspiring super- baddie.

Oh, lordy.

"One would think," the poofy little crater-faced guy in the skirt loudly declaims, to no one in particular; "... that the Earthlings might tire of trying to reach the moon... tire of losing valuable ships..."

("One would think," an eight-year-old Unca Cheeks remembers musing, at the time, "that grown men would feel at least some lingering sense of shame over chiseling twelve cents, American, out of poor, whey-faced and innocent li'l kids with crap like this.")

Suddenly, the rocket ship disgorges (and, boy, do I ever sympathize with how the rocket feels) seven space-suited and helmeted Blackhawks.

I searched for blackhawk "moon base" and found "Earth's Moon", which mentions their adventure:

The Blackhawk Squadron was sent to the moon to deal with a giant mutated human scientist. This "Moonster" flew a moon-shaped spaceship and had very advanced technology, which he used for sabotaging the space program. The Blackhawks were eventually able to shoot down his ship, and the Moonster reverted to his human form.

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    FuzzyBoots - I'm pretty sure that the "moonster" story is not the one I remember. Thank you. Commented Jan 14, 2018 at 4:19

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