Lady Blackhawk

Lady Blackhawk (Zinda Blake)
Lady Blackhawk, Queen Killer Shark
Faction	Heroes
Gender	Female
Race	Human
Location	Gotham City
Power	Iconic
Origin	Tech
Movement	Acrobatics
Weapon	Brawling/Dual Pistol
Affiliations	Blackhawk Squadron Birds of Prey
Episode(s)	Age of Justice

Lady Blackhawk was a member of the World War II aviator team the Blackhawk Squadron. A skilled aviatrix and gunner, after being displaced in time due to the Zero Hour incident, Zinda ended up stranded in the modern era.
Joining the Birds of Prey as the team's aviator, Zinda continues fighting the good fight and upholding the Blackhawk fighting spirit.

Background

Ambitious and determined to contribute something to the war effort, Zinda Blake wished to contribute more than just working as a factory hand or a nurse. Dreaming of being something greater, she presumably joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and became determined to become the first female member of the famed Blackhawk Squadron. Gifted with a natural talent, she trained herself to pilot a wide range of modern aircraft and made herself an expert in various forms of combat and weaponry before setting out to prove herself in the battlefield.

Her first attempt to join the group took place in Africa when she helped rescue Blackhawk pilot, Olaf Bjornson, from a pirate called the Scavenger. Despite her able assistance, Zinda's request to join was rebuffed due to the Blackhawk codes forbidding a woman from joining the team.
Only a short time later, the Scavenger returned and this time managed to capture the entire Blackhawk Squadron, holding them prisoner within his floating island citadel. Ignoring the code, Blackhawk sent a radio signal to Zinda who arrived in time to help extradite the captured Blackhawks and defeat the Scavenger. In recognition of her resourcefulness and bravery, Blackhawk found a loophole in the code that allowed her to become an honorary member of the team as the new "Lady Blackhawk".

A celebrated member of the team, Zinda came to the Blackhawks aid again when she helped rescue them from Penelope, ruler of the island nation of Xenovia, who mistakenly believed that they were agents of a rival known as the Iron Duke. While her fellow pilots considered her an integral part of the team, other people still did not considered her a real combat pilot. For example, during the European Campaign, a promoter from the State Department enlisted her to pose in a series of promotional posters "for the war effort". While originally thinking that the posters were going to be used to help inspire more women for the Women's Army Corps (W.A.C.) and the United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve) (W.A.V.E.S.), Zinda was less-then-enthused to learn that her image was instead being used as cheap pin-up girl propaganda for male enlistment.
Attempting to make the most of her popularity as a sex symbol, Zinda then tried her hand at acting for wartime films (with ticket sales going to the war effort) but after a failed attempt to land a career in Hollywood she returned to direct service as a Blackhawk.

As her service continue, Zinda was captured by "Killer Shark"; a Nazi operative and pirate, who injected Zinda with a chemical that brainwashed her into falling in love with him and obeying his every whim. Taking up the identity of "Queen Killer Shark" to fight alongside Killer Shark, Zinda battled her former Blackhawk comrades a number of times before she was freed of the effects of the potion.

During a mission, Zinda is caught in the Zero Hour incident and a time portal sends her into the Wild West. Coming under threat from Extant, the creator of the time portals, Zinda is saved by Guy Gardner but is drawn into another portal, eventually ending up in modern time New York.
Finding herself in front of Gardner's newly opened bar; Warrior's, Gardner recognises Zinda from their previous encounter and offers her a job as a bar tender and as his team's aviator. While adjusting to life in the new era, and attempting to reconnect with her life from the 1940's, she assists Guy and his makeshift team against various supervillains who wished to destroy Gardner and his bar, in one incident suffering multiple injuries while defending patrons.

When Parallax's influence over Hal Jordan's soul manifested itself again, the Spectre subconsciously called for aid amongst Hal's friends. As a result, this "call" caused Guy's Vuldarian powers to malfunction and destroy the Warriors bar; leaving only a statue of Hal Jordan standing.
With the bar destroyed and Guy's team disbanded after he returned to the Green Lantern Corps, Zinda took to working as a pilot at Blackhawk Inc. however, the company's board of executives regarded her involvement in the company as nothing more than a P.R. opportunity and refrained from allowing her to pilot the company's advance aircraft despite her getting the qualifications to do so.
Depressed over only being allowed by the board to fly in an out-dated subsonic aircraft as a co-pilot, and the recent passing of Weng Chan; who was the only other still-living member of her Blackhawk Squadron, Zinda was soon approached by Dinah Lance on behalf of Oracle for recruitment into the Birds of Prey as the team's pilot.
Jumping at the chance to return to "the front line", Zinda now works as the all-female covert ops team's aerial support and general vehicle specialist; a position she takes to with the same drive and enthusiasm she had back when she first endeavoured to become Lady Blackhawk.

Involvement

• She gives missions (Boom Goes the Ordnance) in Time-Torn Area 51.
• Lady Blackhawk is an ally in the first part of the Justice For All raid.

Associated Equipment

• Blackhawk Costume Style

Trivia

• Lady Blackhawk first appeared in Blackhawk #133 (February, 1959).
• By her own admission, Zinda can "order beer in thirty languages" and has some proficiency in Pashto.
• While the male pilots of the Blackhawk Squadron mostly fly modified Grumman XF5F Skyrockets into battle, Zinda preferred her personally owned Lockheed F-94 Starfire.
• Following Zinda's disappearance from the 1940's, one other woman took up the name "Lady Blackhawk": Natalia Reed, a Russian-born engineer and aviator who worked with the Squadron until its decommissioning in the 1950's.
• As the only publicly known surviving member of the original Blackhawk Squadron, Zinda owns one eighth of the shares of both Blackhawk Express and Blackhawk Industries.
• Members of the Blackhawk Squadron were known for shouting the battle cry "Hawk-a-a-a!" as they descend from the skies to attack their enemy. Zinda continues this tradition albeit not always while piloting.

Gallery

External links

• Lady Blackhawk Wikipedia
• Lady Blackhawk DC Database