Plentiful Predators: The Killer Sharks

Killer Shark was the name of various devious dwellers of the deep who were predatory pests to the Blackhawks. The history of the men behind this name can be confusing, so let's dissect their stories and see how they connect with their arch-enemies throughout the years.

Chronologically, the first Killer Shark to appear was General Haifisch. A "model soldier" of Nazi Germany of Earth-One  during World War II, Haifisch was genetically altered to become a superhuman-level soldier, sent on a mission by Adolph Hitler to subdue a border down betweeen Franch and Belgium. Although overpowering the other six members of the Blackhawk Squadron, their leader evaded capture and ultimately outmanuevered Killer Shark, leading to the Nazi's apparent demise from drowning.

On the parallel planet of Earth-Two, a man known as Black Shark used his mechanical aptitude to battle his arch-foe the American adventurer Red Torpedo on twelve different occasions. Although originally the "Lone Shark", he later allied with another villian known as the dweller of the deep and later with a couple of the Axis Powers.

The next Killer Shark appeared a decade after the first, this time on Earth-Two*. More of an independent contractor, this new Killer Shark employed various advanced submarines and loyal henchmen whom he used to battle the Blackhawks on five separate occasions.

A counterpart to this Killer Shark later appeared in 1957, and would be the most recurring foe of the Blackhawks of Earth-One. During his sixth of their twelve clashes, Killer Shark met the female honorary member of the Squadron, Lady Blacklawk aka Zinda Blake. Using a chemical solution, Killer Shark was able to brainwash Zinda into becoming blindly obedient to only him, and sending her against the former love of her life, Blackhawk. After a series to encounters, Blackhawk was finally able to return Zinda to normal, and she aided him in Killer Shark's defeat.

The doppelgänger of Killer Shark's lady was a femae German agent named Edda Heimat known as the Black Tigress, who was first a foe of Zatara and later met Blackhawk. During this encounter, Edda's eventually turned somewhat good, and later under the alias Eva Rice attempted to join the Blackhawks. There is no record of her every having met Killer Shark nor Black Shark.

* It was hypothesized in DC Who’s Who the Definitive Guide that this Killer Shark may have been from Earth-X, although it was shown that the Blackhawks who left Earth-Two for that alternate Earth later returned to their home world in the mid-1940s, so this Shark must have also been of that world.