Fightin' Air Force #16

Charlton's Fightin' Air Force #16 (July 1959) packs its bold yellow cover with a sleek USAF Starfighter jet banking dramatically at the center, while three inset story panels tease the action waiting inside — a goggled pilot surrounded by flame for "Face in the Flame," a tumbling figure mid-air for "Bail-Out," and a burning wreck with a desperate radio call for "Captain Milktoast." The cover art, brought to life by Dick Giordano, Sam Glanzman, Bill Molno, and Vince Alascia, captures the high-altitude thrills and gritty tension that made Charlton's war books a staple of the newsstands at a dime a copy. With Joe Gill writing and Sam Glanzman on interiors, this is a satisfying slice of late-'50s military comics done with real craft.