Contact Comics #4

On occupied French soil, the Golden Eagle lands his silent plane and witnesses Nazi soldiers seizing mysterious oil paintings from a young woman named Renee Tremaine—paintings connected to an underground mission her father died protecting. Swept into the dangerous delivery of these works to Paris, the Golden Eagle must navigate Nazi night fighters, the Gestapo, and a conspiracy that reaches far deeper than two paintings, all while discovering why Renee's cargo matters so much to the Allied cause.

Sgt. Earl Schmadel and his airborne unit are cut off deep behind enemy lines in Italy, forced to hold an exposed hilltop against waves of Nazi attacks, artillery bombardment, and relentless sniper fire. Over nine grueling days, Schmadel and his men—including soldiers like Rube and Walt—fight to survive while waiting for reinforcements, with Walt's quick thinking and Schmadel's leadership keeping them in the fight. When a runner finally breaks through with mail and supplies, Schmadel ventures out to retrieve it, leading to a dangerous encounter that tests his nerve in the face of enemy fire.

Black Venus is forced down over a Japanese air base in the South Pacific and taken prisoner by Col. Yomata, who recognizes her from his days in pre-war Paris—where he once murdered her fiancé, a young Parisian lawyer, to win her affections. Now, years later and locked in her cell, Black Venus hatches a desperate plan to settle an old score with the man who destroyed her life, accepting his invitation to a private dinner under the tropical stars.

When a new Corsair fighter plane arrives in the South Pacific, Lt. Kenneth A. Walsh and his squadron embrace the powerful aircraft for combat missions across the Solomon Islands. As Walsh leads bomber escorts and engages Japanese Zeros in intense aerial duels, his skill and courage put him among the top aces, though a damaged engine forces him into a desperate crash landing. This wartime biography captures Walsh's bravery in action and his conviction that American pilots and superior machines will ultimately turn the tide in the Pacific.

Since the beginning of aviation, ice formations on aircraft have posed a deadly threat—but U.S. scientists have finally cracked the problem with the revolutionary thermal anti-icer. This 1945 feature traces the history of failed de-icing methods and reveals how engineers harnessed exhaust heat to prevent ice buildup on wings, propellers, and cockpit windows, transforming winter flying from a dangerous gamble into a manageable challenge that's already proving itself in Navy patrol bombers and the new Liberators.

Tom Van Buren takes readers on a thrilling tour of aviation's future in this 1945 vision of tomorrow's skies, showcasing real aircraft like the Lockheed Constellation alongside imaginative predictions of massive airliners, personal flying cars, and even rocket planes that could cross the Atlantic in under two hours. Through expert forecasts and glimpses of everyday life—including a joyride to Mexico by Mr. Jones, Alice, and their family in a plane with collapsible wings—the story explores how air travel will transform cities, commerce, and leisure in the decades to come. It's a fascinating snapshot of mid-century optimism about what aviation pioneers believed the post-war world would bring.