U.S. Air Force Comics #11

Captain Ad Harlan excels as a fighter pilot over England, earning medals and living the high life—until his commanding general, disapproving of the hero's glamorous lifestyle, transfers him to grueling reconnaissance duty spotting targets for an artillery company in the Italian Alps. Flying a slow, vulnerable Grasshopper plane over enemy lines, Harlan discovers that real warfare is far removed from glory and champagne, forcing him to prove what kind of soldier he truly is.

Major Paul Endon arrives at the Korean ceasefire negotiations in Panmunjom to defend American air operations against Chinese accusations of germ warfare—only to discover that the witness against him is Captain Kai Shu, a Chinese pilot he'd tangled with in combat the day before. When Endon challenges Shu to settle the matter in the air instead of through false testimony, the meeting dissolves without resolution, and the Major returns to base determined to find and confront his accuser in a dogfight.

In April 1942, an American B-25 pilot and his crew take on Japanese naval forces in the Southwest Pacific, using their specially modified bomber as a flying weapon to turn the tide of the war. With heavy artillery mounted in the nose and skilled gunners working in perfect coordination, this trio of modified aircraft proves devastatingly effective against enemy ships around New Guinea. It's a tribute to the ingenuity and bravery of the men who transformed a bomber into a formidable fighting machine.

Major Thomas and his B-29 crew face the harrowing routine of long-range bombing runs to Tokyo—a grueling 3,000-mile round trip they cynically call a "milk run" to mask their fear. After a damaged plane forces them to ditch at sea and rely on Navy rescue, the veteran airmen are assigned to another bomber and must fly once more into enemy fire, where flak and enemy fighters test their nerve and skill on the long push toward Japan. It's a tense portrait of courage worn thin by repetition, set against the relentless air campaign that would reshape the war's final chapter.