BLACKHAWK #198

Cover shows a vertical crease running through the top logo and down through the artwork, along with multiple spine stress lines and small ticks along the spine edge. There is noticeable wear and rounding at the corners, a small chip at the bottom left corner, and general surface wear/soiling consistent with age. The book is in a protective sleeve, which adds some glare but does not obscure the visible creasing and edge wear; interior and back cover were not assessed.

Published by DC with a July 1964 cover date, Blackhawk #198 carries "D-Day for the Blackhawks," the Silver Age retelling of how the original squadron of six was assembled in England, told in flashback by Blackhawk himself. Arnold Drake scripted, with pencils by Dick Dillin and inks by Chuck Cuidera, the artist who had been with the team since its Quality Comics debut in 1941; the issue continues into "The Jigsaw Goliath" and "Showdown at Omaha Beach," placing the aviators against a Nazi super-weapon on the eve of the Normandy landings. Reference sources note a panel appearance by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, drawn by Gene Colan. The story revisits and revises the earlier account given in Blackhawk #50, and it stands as the definitive DC-era origin statement before the title's later science-fiction and costumed-hero detours.

Market behavior here is that of a minor key inside a title with a small but persistent collector base. Completed sales cluster tightly: mid-grade copies move in the range typical of any mid-1960s Blackhawk, with only a modest bump for the origin content, and beaten reading copies with cover or spine problems trade for pocket change. Demand comes less from speculation than from run collectors filling the DC Blackhawk sequence and from aviation and war-comics buyers who follow Dillin and Cuidera. Certified activity is sparse; the title is submitted infrequently, and the few high-grade slabs that surface tend to sell on condition rarity rather than on the story's significance.

The practical outlook is steady rather than dynamic. Raw copies are inexpensive enough to be bought on sight by run builders, and dealers typically move them in groups rather than as single-book offerings, which keeps low- and mid-grade pricing anchored. At the top of the scale the calculus reverses: with virtually nothing certified at the highest tiers, a genuinely pristine copy is a scarcity play, and its price depends on which collectors are active at that moment. Buyers seeking exposure to the character's history at reasonable cost are best served in the mid-grade band, where supply is adequate and the origin designation is priced conservatively.