In their second and final team-up try-out, Starman and the Black Canary fought another costumed pair, the Sportsmaster and the Huntress, in a sort of double date of derring-do.
The criminals — one obsessed with competitive athletics, the other with traps and snares — both dated from the late 1940s.
Introduced in Sensation Comics 68 (Aug. 1947), the Huntress was dedicated to turning the tables on law enforcement by capturing public officials and hunting them down in her game preserve. Wildcat thwarted her deadly desires.
The ruthless “Crusher” Crock turned to crime after being banned from professional athletics in All-American Comics 85 (May 1947). Although Green Lantern stopped him, the tenacious crook got himself a costume and returned as Sportsmaster in Green Lantern 28 (Oct.-Nov. 1947).
Subsequently married, the crooked couple tries to capture Starman, Black Canary and Wildcat in The Big Super-Hero Hunt.
“A very enjoyable escapade, with no fewer than five golden-age characters on hand, as Wildcat joined with Starman and Black Canary in the course of their conflict with Sportsmaster and (Golden Age) Huntress,” Keith W. Williams observed. “Great fun, with a superbly crafted cover, and interior work to match, by Murphy Anderson. Thanks to Fox and Anderson, the Golden Age reached a new zenith in the Silver Age.”
“One suspects that the two Black Canary and Starman revivals were more done out of a love of the two characters, and a chance to see ‘what they are doing now,’ than from any real expectation that they would be a huge reader hit,” observed Michael E. Grost.
“ (In) The Big Superhero Hunt (The Brave and the Bold 62, Nov. 1965), the Black Canary and Starman team up with another revived hero, Wildcat, to fight against two old villains: the Sportsmaster and the Huntress. After a good opening involving statues of athletes, this minor tale becomes a routine fight between good guys and bad guys. Its biggest merit is some good draftsmanship by Murphy Anderson.”
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