Janos Prohaska (New Earth)

From DC Database

Blackhawk

Gallery

Real Name

Janos Prohaska

Current Alias

Blackhawk

Aliases

Bart Hawk; Black Hawk

Identity

Public

Alignment

Good

Affiliation

Blackhawk Squadron; Blackhawk Airways; Blackhawk Express; formerly the Polish Resistance during World War Two.

Relatives

Jozek Prohaska (brother, deceased); Unnamed sister (deceased); Unnamed father (deceased); Unnamed mother (deceased); Wladyslaw Prohaska (uncle, presumably deceased); Kazimiera Prohaska (aunt, presumably deceased)

Universe

New Earth

Base Of Operations

Blackhawk Island; Washington, D.C.; also the European theatre of operations during World War II.

Characteristics

Gender

Height

Weight

Eyes

Hair

Status

Citizenship

Polish

Marital Status

Single

Occupation

Squadron leader; charter pilot

Education

Unknown

Origin

Janos Prohaska was born on October 10th, 1912 in Krakow, Poland. Other sources give his date of birth as October 31st.

Place of Birth

Krakow, Poland

Creators

Howard Chaykin, Will Eisner, Chuck Cuidera

First appearance

Blackhawk Vol 2 #1
(March, 1988)

History

Janos Prohaska of Poland became a world-renowned pilot during the Spanish Civil War. After the Nazis invaded his home country, he, now known as Blackhawk, joined with several of his friends to combat them as the Blackhawk Squadron.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Janos Prohaska did not possess any superhuman capabilities.

Abilities

Excellent pilot, leader, and hand-to-hand combatant.

Strength level

In his prime, Janos possessed the strength level of a man his age, size and weight who engaged in intensive regular exercise.

Paraphernalia

Transportation

Originally, a Grumman F5F Skyrocket; later a Lockheed P-38, a Douglas D558-1, and eventually a Lockheed XDF-90.

Weapons

1940s era military issue sidearm. Janos likely upgraded his weaponry as he grew older.

Notes

Originally, the adventures of Janos Prohaska and the other Blackhawks was germaine to the continuity of Earth-X, which also included all of the characters formerly owned by Quality Comics. In Earth-X and Earth-One continuity, the Blackhawk leader used the anglicized name Bart Hawk. Following the collapse of the Multiverse in the 1985-86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Janos and his colleagues migrated to the Post-Crisis environment and they are now canonically recognized in New Earth continuity.

Trivia

Actor Kirk Alyn portrayed the role of Blackhawk in the 1952 Blackhawk serial. In the serial, Alyn's character was known only as Blackhawk. Alyn is more famously known as the first actor to portray the role of Superman in the original Republic serials.

Janos and the other Blackhawks made behind-the-scenes cameo appearances in the two-part Justice League episode "The Savage Time".

"Janos Prohaska" is also the name of an actor and stunt performer on American television from the 1960s, including an appearance as Yarnek in the Star Trek episode "The Savage Curtain".

Links and References

Footnotes