Fightin' Air Force #38

Charlton's Fightin' Air Force #38 from 1963 delivers the kind of gritty aerial action the series did so well, with a cover by Bill Montes and Ernie Bache that puts you right in the chaos — a propeller-driven aircraft twisting violently as anti-aircraft bursts (those thundering "WHUMP!" explosions) erupt all around it, while a second plane streaks away below in a blaze of fire and a resounding "ZOOOOM." The cover copy promises an action-packed saga of a fighting ship and its heroic crew stranded deep in the Burmese jungle, titled "Work Horse," giving this issue two distinct flavors of wartime tension for your twelve cents. Joe Gill's writing and Bill Molno's interior art round out a solid 1963 war comic that captures the punishing rhythm of combat flying.