POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Fans of special operations stories may like Blackhawks. Read Full Review

In more ways than one, this book is still in need of a firm identity. It's a reasonably competent debut, but one that doesn't do nearly enough to distinguish itself among the New 52 or provide incentive to stick around for more. Read Full Review

The concept of the "Blackhawks" as a United Nations-sanctioned covert peacekeeping force has legs, but barely gets to stretch them here. The characters are just being given names and vague purposes, but that simply means that there isn't significant depth to anything here. Hopefully this is just the start and the rest of the story as it were will come into view more crisply in the next few issues. Read Full Review

Blackhawks has the trappings of the kind of book I'd like, going back to things like SHIELD, Checkmake and Sgt. Rock by being a solid military style black ops operation in a world that's become dominated by metahumans in the last few years. The opening issue has those trappings but it's execution and presentation is choppy and not altogether clear with what it's stated mission is. The characters aren't detailed much at this point which is a given, but they introduce a number of them and never really make it clear how they work as a unit. DC Comics has often worked with books of this nature and I have hopes that it can find its footing, but it's definitely one of the weakest of the launch books in its presentation and vision. Read Full Review

Blackhawks #1 did not inspire me, but as always at Major Spoilers, your mileage may vary. This is a big loud action film of an issue, and if that's what gets you going, this should be a perfectly entertaining book worth your $2.99. Unfortunately, I felt no connection to any of the characters and the plot did not hook me with anything original. The ephemeral nature of Blackhawks #1 earns a middle-of-the-road two and a half out of five stars. Read Full Review

The art from Graham Nolan and Ken Lashley is the real star of Blackhawks #1, but I’m not sure who to thank, since Nolan is given credit as layouts and Lashley as finisher and cover. Regardless, the pencils are detailed but not clean. The combination gives the art a bizarre sense of life, as if each character or machine is moving independently of the other. The work allows for considerable action to happen within a two dimensional medium. Outside of the art, there isn’t much to rave about here. In other words, Blackhawks down. Read Full Review

The character, costume, vehicle and set designs are all generally uninspiring when that, like G.I. Joe, is what should be focused upon to sell the book. The characters don't need elaborate superhero costumes, but they do need something more defining, and certainly shouldn't have such an extreme 90"s aesthetic to them. The coloring is a rare miscalculation from the usually exceptional Guy Major. The illustrations are filled in with muted browns, grays and greens, with no real flair or flourishes to catch the eye. The characters seem to blend into their vehicles just as the buildings seem to blend into the ground and sky. It's just a dull looking book. Read Full Review

The hot chick kicks the story off by battling a terrorist who strapped a bomb to a hostage. Somehow this terrorist manages to bite her and expose her to nanocytes -- a Blackhawk's worse nightmare for some reason. Possibly because the teensy bots allow the Big Bad, who blows up some nanocytes in a former employee, to control them. It's not made clear. Giving superpowers, strength and invulnerability to Kunoichi appears to be the only thing they do this issue. Read Full Review

The contrary nicknames were a bit overdone as a recurring theme. The "send the hot shot on the secret mission" cliche has been done too many times. Actually, there's a lot of cliche here- the field ops disdaining medical treatment, the government rep in a suit, etc. Also, the bizarre "super hero origin" bit with Kunoichi seemed really out of place here, as if two different plots were put in the same book. And I believe "nanities" are pretty well known in sci fi/adventure, did we need a new version here? And what was the point of putting this version of Lady Blackhawk, sure to be a talking point, in the opening, or even the first issue, at all if she's only in one panel with no lines? Read Full Review

As far as I can tell, DC decided it wanted its own G.I.Joe-like team, and it turned to one of the guys who's been writing G.I.Joe stories in the 21st century. And DC got what it was looking for, complete with sci-fi tech and a cool home base (some assembly required). Blackhawks is G.I.Joe right down to the memorable nicknames and codenames " Attila, the Irishman, Canada, Wildman, etc. What sets this apart, I suppose, is incorporating the elite military unit into a world of super-heroes. Read Full Review