During the 1950s, DC heroes like Superman, Batman, Tomahawk, and Blackhawk had various cover-gimmick fake marriages, while remaining safely unattainable and aloof.
The antifascist aviator’s turn at the altar came in Blackhawk 155 (Dec. 1960), with Lady Blackhawk — Zinda Blake — as the bride. The other Blackhawks became jealous and broke up the team — and then Zinda awakened. Like Lois Lane, she’d only been having a dream about marrying her dream man.
“Blackhawk, much like Batman, succumbed to an invasion of weird and alien menaces as the issues progressed through the end decade’s recalled comics historian Bill Schelly. “A bright spot for teen male readers was the introduction of Lady Blackhawk, perhaps harkening back to a much earlier adventure. Military Comics 20 (July 1943) presented a story about an unnamed woman who attempted to become the first female Blackhawk.”
Two other proto-Lady Blackhawks — Eve Rice and Sheila Hawke, a/k/a “She-Hawke”— appeared during the 1940s and early 1950s.
“In The Lady Blackhawk (Blackhawk 133, Feb. 1959), Zinda Blake trained to qualify for induction to the team but discovered that the Blackhawk code restricted membership to men,” Schelly said. “Lady Blackhawk returned occasionally as an honorary member, looking fetching in her short skirt and bare legs.”
Like the Blackhawks, the Challengers of the Unknown had their own female quasi-member, June Robbins. In Challengers of the Unknown 17 (Jan. 1961), June was particularly handy because only she could fight off a genie commanded by the evil magician Malvolio.
Ace Morgan finally figures out that it’s June’s opal ring that the genie fears. He knew that opals were believed to have protective powers and to ward off evil in some ancient cultures.
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