Janos Prohaska (New Earth)

Janos Prohaska was a Polish flying ace who started the Blackhawk Squadron.

History

He grew up in the city of Krakow in his native Poland and joined the Polish Air Force at a young age. Janos gained world renown during the Spanish Civil War, in which he fought on the side of the Republicans against the Nationalists.

After Nazi Germany invaded Poland during the outbreak of World War II, Janos attempted to defend his country. Despite making numerous successful attacks against German forces, Janos was unable to save his country and tragically lost his younger siblings due to the invasion. As Poland and most of Europe fell under Nazi occupation, Janos created the identity of Blackhawk and joined with several other pilots to combat Nazi tyranny, forming the legendary paramilitary unit known as the Blackhawk Squadron.

Following the end of World War II, Janos set up his own private charter air service in East Asia. However, he met with little success and sank into a dissolute life in Singapore.^[1] But his life took a new turn in 1947 when he was hired by a woman named Cynthia Hastings to recover a cache of gold. Eventually reuniting the Blackhawk Squadron, Janos and his comrades began a new series of adventures.

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

• Military Protocol
  • Aviation
    • Aerial Combat
• Firearms
• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)
• Leadership
• Multilingualism
  

Paraphernalia

Transportation

• Grumman XF5F Skyrocket
• Lockheed P-38 Lightning
• Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak

Weapons

• Service Revolver

Notes

• Blackhawk first appeared in Military Comics #1 published by Quality Comics, and was created by Will Eisner, Bob Powell, and Chuck Cuidera. The Post-Crisis New Earth version first appeared in Blackhawk (Volume 2) #1 by Howard Chaykin.
  

Trivia

• The character was named in tribute to the Hungarian-American actor and stunt performer "Janos Prohaska" who appeared on many American television programs in the 1960s. This explains why a Polish character has a Hungarian name.
  

Recommended Reading

• Action Comics Weekly
• Blackhawk (Volume 1)
• Blackhawk (Volume 2)
• Blackhawk (Volume 3)
• Secret Origins (Volume 1) #6
• Secret Origins (Volume 2) #45
• Uncle Sam Quarterly

Related

• 78 Appearances of Janos Prohaska (New Earth)
• 7 Images featuring Janos Prohaska (New Earth)
• 4 Quotations by or about Janos Prohaska (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Janos Prohaska (New Earth)

External Links

• Blackhawk (comics) at Wikipedia.org

Footnotes

Seven Soldiers of Victory member This character is or was a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, or the Seven Soldiers in any of its various incarnations, created during World War II and later, it returned to battle time-traveling, dimension-spanning mysteries and monsters. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Seven Soldiers of Victory members" category.

Freedom Fighters member This character is or was a member of the Freedom Fighters, a team of American super-heroes who fight threats to the nation and its ideals under the leadership of Uncle Sam. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Freedom Fighters members" category.