The book is yours, Number 2! You have outbid your friends with the handsome sum of $300,000! Good luck! 
- — Dr. Paul Renard
Blackhawk #74 is an issue of the series Blackhawk (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1954.
Synopsis for "Plan of Death"
The Plunderer's fortress in the hills of northern Italy is attacked by the seven Blackhawks, who parachute into his compound, after setting the automatic landing controls on their jets, and defeat the Plunderer's gang in a fistfight, while the Plunderer himself escapes in a horse-cart. All of this is observed and filmed by Dr. Paul Renard, who has been surveilling the Blackhawks for ten years, and now is ready to capitalize on his research. Two weeks later in his laboratory in Paris, Renard meets with three hooded figures, the only three men alive to have escaped from the Blackhawks, and pitches his book "1001 Ways To Defeat the Blackhawks." Hooded supervillain "Number 2" outbids the others and buys the book for $300,000. "Number 2" also has pointy teeth.
Elsewhere in Paris, the Blackhawks get their annual physical check-ups, then depart on a ski vacation to the Swiss Alps. Soon the disguised "Number 2" and at least five henchmen show up in the same resort town, and make several attempts to kill the Blackhawks, using a bomb-rigged toy top, a really large wheel of cheese, a fashionably-dressed remote-control killer robot, a stalled cable-car and a sniper rifle. Hendricksen knocks two of these assassins off a cliff and they die. "Number 2" changes disguises and turns out to be Killer Shark, but earlier, also in disguise, Blackhawk had been the third hooded bidder at Dr. Renard's auction (replacing the Plunderer, who had been caught shortly after his escape back on page 2). At story's end, Killer Shark is in Blackhawk custody.
Appearing in "Plan of Death"
Featured Characters:
Villains:
- Killer Shark dba "Number 2" (First appearance)
- Marie, Number 2's henchwoman
- Number 2's henchmen, at least five of them (two die)
- The Plunderer (First appearance)
- Dr. Paul Renard (First appearance)
- Misha, Renard's henchman
Locations:
- The Plunderer's fortress, in the hills of northern Italy
- Dr. Paul Renard's laboratory, in Paris
- The Blackhawks' physician's office, in Paris
- a ski resort, in the Swiss Alps
Items:
- "1001 Ways To Defeat the Blackhawks," a book by Dr. Paul Renard
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Chop Chop"
Chop Chop goes to a psychic who tells him danger will befall him from above. A pair of crooks try to get a package he's delivering by dropping things on his head.
Appearing in "Chop Chop"
Featured Characters:
- Chop-Chop
Villains:
- two thugs
Other Characters:
- Madame Zaza
Synopsis for "The Blackhawks Wanted For Murder"
In a friendly European democracy, Rajek, the chief of security police frames the Blackhawk team for piracy and murder (a transport plane was shot down and some lend-lease penicillin was stolen), and arrests and imprisons them. Chuck pretends to confess to the piracy, in a way which finesses Rajek into releasing the rest of the team, who then visit Rajek's henchman Zarko, and lean on him for info, but Zarko is gunned down in mid-interview, by two killers on a nearby fire escape. The team pursues the assassins, who escape in a helicopter, after tossing two empty pistols at the Blackhawks; these turn out to be the guns with which Zarko was shot to death, and Hendrickson and Blackhawk each picked one of them up, with their bare hands, so now the Blackhawks are framed again, and Rajek shows up just then with a squad of soldiers to arrest them. The Blackhawks fistfight with Rajek's soldiers and tell Blackhawk that he must escape, so he does, swinging and sliding on a rope down the side of the building. A manhunt gets going and Rajek takes to radio to post a reward ($5,000) for Blackhawk's capture. A puppeteer, distrustful of Rajek, hides Blackhawk in his workshop. They team up to create a lifesized puppet of the late Zarko, take it to Rajek's office, and use it to provoke him into making several incriminating remarks, which Blackhawk gets on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Then Blackhawk punches out Rajek. Soon the whole team is out of this country's prison and flying off to their next adventure.
Appearing in "The Blackhawks Wanted For Murder"
Featured Characters:
Villains:
- Rajek, chief of security police for a friendly European nation (First appearance)
- Zarko, Rajek's henchman (First appearance) (Dies)
Other Characters:
- President Volos, a European head of state
- Pilot Hugo, Volos' son, a military pilot
- an unnamed puppeteer
Locations:
- capital city of a friendly European nation
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Sky Sleds"
In a European democracy, a fascist group called the Tyrannists launch a bombing attack on a steel plant, and are counterattacked by the Blackhawk squadron who shoot down at least one bomber and disperse the rest. A few nights later, on the ground, the patrolling Blackhawk team discovers a squad of Tyrannists planting explosives under some railroad tracks, and defeats them in a fistfight. The Blackhawks report their progress to the nation's Defense Secretary, Begas, who is secretly the leader of the Tyrannists. Then they meet young Blackhawk-wannabee Alex, who is very anxious to join their team (but gets politely brushed off), and also has invented a uniquely small, light, maneuverable combat aircraft, the Sky Sled. Begas sees the potential of this invention, befriends the boy, and begins a project to secretly manufacture a whole squadron of sky sleds.
Then one night as the Blackhawks are patrolling over the nation's capital, the city is attacked by a sky-sled squadron, setting gas and oil tanks afire, and eluding Blackhawk pursuit by ducking down streets and between buildings; they escape with no casualties. Young Alex inevitably learns what's going on, and Begas has him imprisoned in a room, with a fireplace; Alex has with him a miniature working model of a sky sled; he attaches a note and launches it up the chimney, and it reaches a farm, whose owner brings the note to the Blackhawks at their hotel suite. Following Alex's written directions, the team arrives at Begas' secret base just in time to save Alex from being shot, and defeats the Tyrannists in another fistfight. Begas tries to escape in a sky sled; Blackhawk pursues him in a sky sled; Begas tries to hide in a railroad tunnel and hits an oncoming steam-engine-powered train, and is killed. The Blackhawks send young Alex to engineering school, and at story's end he still hopes to one day join the team.
Appearing in "The Sky Sleds"
Featured Characters:
Villains:
- Begas, Defense Secretary of a European democracy, secretly head of The Tyrannists (First appearance) (Dies)
- The Tyrannists, a fascist group of saboteurs and war-criminals (First appearance)
- The Tyrannists, a fascist group of saboteurs and war-criminals (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Alex, a young inventor (First appearance)
Locations:
- capital city of a friendly European nation
Vehicles:
- Lockheed F-90B Starfighters
- Sky Sleds
Notes
This issue's second story, featuring Chop Chop, is a reprint, and page three has been removed from the original story. Some panels are also redrawn and re-written so that Chop Chop already has the package he is delivering instead of getting it half-way thru the story.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- World War II Recommended Reading
- Adventures in the Rifle Brigade (Volume 1)
- Adventures in the Rifle Brigade (Volume 2)
- All-American Men of War (Volume 1)
- All-Out War (Volume 1)
- Blackhawk (Volume 1)
- Blitzkrieg (Volume 1)
- Capt. Storm (Volume 1)
- Four-Star Battle Tales (Volume 1)
- G.I. Combat (Volume 1)
- Men of War (Volume 1)
- Military Comics (Volume 1)
- Our Army at War (Volume 1)
- Our Fighting Forces (Volume 1)
- Sgt. Rock (Volume 1)
- Sgt. Rock (Volume 2)
- Star-Spangled War Stories (Volume 1)
- Unknown Soldier (Volume 1)
- Weird War Tales (Volume 1)
Links and References
