Blackhawk #22

Blackhawk #22 (December 1948) delivers a full 52 pages of aerial adventure, with the cover promising that Blackhawk and the character called "Fear" will together battle Death and Destruction. Reed Crandall's cover pencils capture the tension beautifully — a determined Blackhawk crouches low with a rifle while a stout, snarling adversary rushes at him armed with a revolver, two war-battered propeller planes looming through billowing smoke behind them. It's a vivid, ground-level snapshot of the danger waiting inside "Fear on Sharkan Island," and at a dime for all that action, Quality Comics was clearly delivering exceptional value in 1948.