Lady Blackhawk
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Lady Blackhawk is an alias used by two fictional characters appearing in American comic books. The first, Zinda Blake, was introduced in a Quality Comics publication in 1959 (Quality's characters were later purchased by DC Comics); the second, Natalie Reed, appeared in a DC Comics title in 1988. Both characters were aviatresses and soldiers.
Reed has not appeared since the 1988 title; Blake continues to be featured as a member of the Birds of Prey.
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[edit] Zinda Blake
[edit] Character history
Zinda Blake, the first Lady Blackhawk, is a fictional DC Comics character (originally a Quality Comics character). She was introduced in Blackhawk #133 (February, 1959).
However, Military Comics #20 (July, 1943) featured a story about a woman who attempted to become the first woman member of the Blackhawks. who looks, sounds and behaves much like Zinda Blake, although she does not divulge her name, and never calls herself Lady Blackhawk. In the story, she flies to Blackhawk Island, declares herself part of the team, and helps the Blackhawks on a mission behind German lines. Ultimately, she rescues Blackhawk himself. Some say that this is Zinda Blake's true first appearance, but this has never been official.
[edit] Blackhawks
Zinda Blake, determined to become the first woman member of the famed World War II unit known as the Blackhawks, trained herself to pilot a wide range of modern aircraft and made herself an expert in various forms of combat and weaponry.
Her first attempt to join the group came when she helped rescue a member from a modern-day pirate called the Scavenger. Despite her able assistance, Zinda was told that the Blackhawk codes forbade a woman from joining the team.
Zinda followed this exploit by rescuing the entire Blackhawk team from the Scavenger, and in return was told, by Blackhawk himself, that she could become an honorary member of the team.
After a number of adventures with the Blackhawks, Zinda became the victim of the villainous Nazi operative Killer Shark, who used a chemical potion to brainwash her, forcing her to take up the identity of the costumed Queen Killer Shark. Zinda battled her former comrades a number of times before she was freed of the effects of the potion.
Due to the time-warping effects of Zero Hour, Zinda is now in the present DC continuity, looking as she did in 1959. She has served as a supporting character to Guy Gardner, Warrior.
[edit] Birds of Prey
As of late 2004 Zinda has appeared in Birds of Prey as the team's pilot. Oracle recruited Zinda Blake as the team's fourth member. Since Zinda was looking for a change, she gladly accepted. When she left the Blackhawk organization (and her share in the company), Zinda took with her but one thing: a state-of-the-art jet (titled Aerie One) with which to transport the Birds to their various destinations. (Confirmation that the other Blackhawks had died came during Zinda's appearance in Birds of Prey #75.)
Zinda first suggested the name Birds of Prey for Oracle's team in Birds of Prey #86. The team has never formally adopted the name.
After leaving Gotham City, Oracle established a headquarters at the Dalten Tower in Metropolis. Zinda appeared with a new helicopter, the Aerie Two, and handed out new jackets bearing a modified Blackhawk logo to the other Birds of Prey.
Zinda enjoys cooking and dancing when she's not flying planes and fighting evil. She also claims to know how to order beer in 30 different languages (Birds of Prey #100).
For a time she harbored an unrequited attraction to Creote, who she did not realize is gay. Upon learning this fact, Zinda exclaimed: "Holy Crow! The boy is fancy?!"
[edit] Powers & Abilities
Zinda is an ace flyer, able to easily handle any type of aircraft. She is a fine markswoman, skilled in the use of a variety of weapons, and has superior abilities in hand-to-hand combat.
[edit] Natalie Reed
Natalie Reed (born Natalie Gurdin), the second woman to be known as Lady Blackhawk, was introduced in the 1988 prestige format mini-series Blackhawk written and drawn by Howard Chaykin.
[edit] Character history
Reed was written to have been a part of the Blackhawk Squadron (at the behest of the Soviet Union) from 1943 onwards. This retcon established her the first Lady Blackhawk in the DCU timeline. Natalie's history with the Blackhawks was a chaotic one, comprising the era of World War II and much of the Cold War that followed.
Brooklyn-born Natalie Gurdin was the child of Benjamin and Lucille Gurdin, card-carrying members of the Communist Party, U.S.A. They raised their daughter to believe as they did.
At her parents' urging, Natalie entered and won the "Miss Young Communist League" beauty contest in 1937. The title sparked a short-lived modeling career and a role in the low-budget 1938 film "Gun Molls in Trouble." Miss Gurdin changed her name to Reed at this time, in honor of John Reed, the American Communist journalist who lived for long periods (and died) in the Soviet Union. Natalie emigrated to Russia in 1940 to live and study.
Natalie became an expert in aeronautical engineering, and chief designer at the Valentine-Prendergast Airplane Factory. Due to the state of competition between the Soviets and the West, it is possible that her adopted country may have provided exaggerated accounts of Reed's skills as a pilot and expertise in aircraft design.
Reed's connection with The Blackhawks came with her contribution to the design and production of the team's modified Grumman Xf5F-1 Skyrocket planes. Later, while working with Soviet intelligence, she helped defeat Death Mayhew in his plot to destroy Manhattan. During this period Natalie Reed was dubbed "Lady Blackhawk" by the U.S. press.
Aside from several publicity tours and a brief resumption of her modeling career, little is known of Miss Reed's post-war life. She briefly was employed by Blackhawk Airways in Singapore in 1947, but dropped out of sight shortly thereafter.
In 1948 Natalie Reed resurfaced in New York, employed as the writer of licensed comic book adventures about the Blackhawks. She was accused of working Communist doctrines into her scripts, but she was cleared of this charge.
Little is known about the accident that cost her the use of one eye. All files containing information about Natalie Gurdin Reed remain classified, and her current whereabouts are unknown.
Reed had a son with a fellow Blackhawk, Ritter Hendrickson. Hendricksen was lost in a helicopter explosion in the spring of 1948 shortly after discovering he was the father of Natalie's child, Jimmy (born in 1945; Blackhawk Annual # 1).
Jimmy joined the Blackhawk squadron as a young adult, serving first with the ground crew (circa 1963), and eventually as a pilot.
As a result of internal strife in the 1950's within the ranks of what became the CIA, which the Blackhawk Squadron was informally allied with, Reed was surgically altered and forced to assume the identity of Constance Darabont, a former paramour of Blackhawk and owner of Darabont Industries, a major defence contractor. She remained in that identity at least until 1968, according to Blackhawk Special # 1(1992).
Reed's current disposition is unknown.
[edit] Other Media
Lady Blackhawk's distinctive uniform appears in a display case in the "I Am Legion" episode of the animated series Justice League Unlimited.
