They’re one of the biggest musical acts of all time, but most fans may not realize that the Spice Girls were the inspiration behind one DC Comics super-team, as recently revealed by superstar writer Grant Morrison. That team would be the Lady Blackhawks of Earth-20, who made their first appearance in Morrison’s superhero epic The Multiversity.
Created by Chuck Cuidera, Bob Powell and Will Eisner in 1941, the Blackhawks were an international coterie of ace pilots who fought the Axis Powers in World War II, each member hailing from one of the Allied nations. Originally published by Quality Comics, they were later acquired by DC in the late fifties, who would continue to publish the series intermittently for over two-hundred issues. When crafting the world of Earth-20 for their Multiversity story, Grant Morrison decided to use the Blackhawks, but gender-flip them so that they are the Lady Blackhawks. When creating the five aviators to round out leader Lena Prohaska’s squadron, Morrison took inspiration from the most unlikely source…
Appearing in The Multiversity: Society of Super-Heroes by Grant Morrison and artist Chris Sprouse, the Lady Blackhawks reside in Earth-20, a world still rebuilding from a great war in the vein of WWII. Things go from bad to worse as Earth-20 is invaded by its sinister opposite, Earth-40, a world of super-villains led by the immortal Vandal Savage. The Lady Blackhawks join together with the other pulp-flavored heroes of their world to become the Society of Super-Heroes and defend against the invasion. Recently, Morrison has been providing annotations for the Multiversity series via their Substack newsletter. The latest post has Morrison breaking down the Society of Super-Heroes issue, which revealed the inspiration for each member of the Lady Blackhawks. Says Morrison: “Along with a different Allied nation, each of the Lady Blackhawk Squadron also represents a different Spice Girl, as given away by their names! They are Killah – Scary. Monkey – Sporty. Red – Ginger. Princess – Posh. Pixie – Baby.”
It makes sense, when looked at from Morrison’s perspective. The Spice Girls tailored their act so that each member had their own distinct personality and style, to the point where each were given nicknames by the press that they eventually adopted as their own. In that way, the Spice Girls aren’t that different from the super-hero concept, where each comes up with a costume and persona around a specific theme or superpower. In crafting their own “girl group,” Morrison was wise to use the Spice Girls as a jumping-off point to give each Blackhawk their own distinctive look. It also provided the Society of Super-Heroes one-shot with women heroes. As Morrison states in their annotations: “Lady Blackhawk and her squadron brought the pulp aviator angle and a more interesting choice for this group than her more famous male counterpart and his team of flying aces. Significantly, Lady B and her gang of barnstorming gals brought some much-needed oestrogen to the otherwise super-sausage fest that was [Earth-20].”
Alas, outside of leader Lena, we never get much characterization for the other Lady Blackhawks in their sole appearance, so the Spice Girl inspiration really only extends to the members’ names and hair color. With any luck, DC Comics will bring the Spice Girls-inspired team of Lady Blackhawks back and expand upon Grant Morrison’s initial ideas.
