Black Eagle (Wild Cards)

Superherobox


caption=
comic_color=background:#c0c0c0
character_name=Black Eagle
real_name=Earl Sanderson, Jr.
publisher=George R. R. Martin
debut="Wild Cards (book)" (1987)
creators=Walter Jon Williams
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
status=Deceased
alliances=The Four Aces, Dr. Tachyon
relatives=Lillian Abbot (wife)
powers=flight, force field projection, superhuman durability|

Black Eagle (Earl Sanderson, Jr.) is a fictional character from the Wild Cards anthology series. He was created by Walter Jon Williams, and first appeared in the story "Witness" in the first book of the series, "Wild Cards".

Earl Sanderson, Jr. was a member of the 332d Fighter Group (the Tuskegee Airmen) during World War II. He was also a member of the American Communist Party, hoping to create a more equitable society for Black and White alike. During the first outbreak of the Wild Card virus on September 15, 1946, Earl was one of the lucky few who was neither killed nor deformed by the disease, instead gaining fantastic powers to become an Ace. He joined the "Four Aces", and helped capture Nazi war criminals and topple tyrants; he even saved Gandhi from a fanatic's bullet, but back at home the political climate of America was changing. The Four Aces found themselves called before the dreaded HUAC (the House Un-American Activities Committee) where the former Communist Sanderson was torn to shreds on the stand by racist Congressmen. After the trial he escaped prison and fled the country.

He remained out of America for the rest of his life, despite receiving a pardon from President John F. Kennedy. He died in France in 1979 of a cerebral hemorrhage. "Aces Abroad" notes that even after his death, Sanderson is revered in India for saving Gandhi's life, and a statue of him in an almost deific pose stands in a Calcutta shrine.

Powers and abilities

Black Eagle had the ability to telekinetically levitate himself and fly at speeds of up to 500 miles per hour. He also generated an invisible telekinetic force shield, which could resist machine-gun fire, and which he used as a battering ram while flying. He was also a talented airplane pilot.