This is a great, visceral cover, and one that retains its relevance even today. By 1971, TOMAHAWK as a series was looking long in the tooth–it wasn’t a western per se but rather set during the Revolutionary War, when Tom Hawk aka Tomahawk helped take on the Redcoats for a nation’s independence. In an attempt to update the series in the era of relevancy, the editors skipped ahead several years, and put the spotlight more squarely on Tomahawk’s half-Native American son Hawk. As a cross-breed, Hawk was always running into difficulties with white Europeans in a manner that could be used metaphorically to talk about not just race but also the generation gap. Here, though, the message is a lot more straightforward, and Joe Kubert’s ability to wring emotion out of his lines is in fine evidence. And, man, Gaspar Saladino could do some great cover lettering, a talent he employed on dozens of war covers. Only thing I’m not wild about is that background color–it’s just a little bit sickly-looking to me.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 