¹⁄35

Aircraft in Comics - Part 8

After Buck Danny, Aircraft in Comics presents to you another well know pilot hero: Biggles! This character, created by W. E. Johns in 1932, is a British officer who made it's maiden flight during WW1 but who is still flying nowadays! Biggles was originally a novel and about hundred were published until the author died in 1968. This new serie of Aircraft in Comics features will concentrate on a serie of comics created in France in the nineties with scenarios adapted from the novels of W. E. Jones (drawn by Francis bergèse) but also with original stories (drawn by Eric Loutte and Frank Leclercq). Part 8 will show you some pictures taken from the episodes inspired by the book "Johns Spitfire Parade".

Biggles: The Spitfire Parade

Picture 1:Rather than to present only one image, I will mainly show you small excerpts from the comics to give you a better idea of the action. Here, a Bristol Blenheim is under attack by Bf 109s before Spitfires are coming to rescue.

Picture 2:From the same scene, a "dogfight" between the RAF and Luftwaffe fighters over the Channel.

Picture 3:A De Havilland Tiger Moth with the typical RAF "trainer" camouflage. To judge by the grimace of the character in the last image, he does not seem to be very reassured to leave the control stick of the aircraft to another pilot!

Picture 4:A spectacular picture of spitfires attacking German Dornier Do 17 bombers and their Bf 110 "Zerstörer" escort fighters.

Picture 5:A typical scene in the comic: a Bf 109 in flames, shot down by a Spitfire!

Picture 6:This time it's a Junkers Ju 88 which is the victim! Biggles was quicker than his rival who is flying a Hurricane...

Picture 7:... the latter seems not to be very amused by the fact that "his" bomber was shot down by another!

Picture 8:A little later, the same happens again with a Bf 110 and at the end of the day, Biggles will be the top scorer with 6 kills against 5!

Picture 9:Sometimes, our hero has to fight against skilful Luftwaffe pilots. In this case, a very young pilot...

Picture 10:... who doesn't fear a "head to head" attack...

Picture 11:...which will finally end, of course, to the advantage of Biggles!

Picture 12:What would be a Battle of Britain story without "Stukas"! In this pictures, you can see that a British pilots, low on ammunition, did use the Ramming tactic well before the Soviets (Taran), Japanese (Kamikaze) and Germans (Rammjäger).

Picture 13:In this sequence you can see a "special device" developed by a clever R.A.F. pilot: small bombs which destroy approaching enemy fighters. By seeing the effectiveness of this device, one can wonder why it did not become the standard equipment on British fighters!

Picture 14:Not always German planes are shot down. Sometimes it also happens to a Spitfire.

Picture 15:Biggles is really a fantastic pilot! He can dogfight Messerschmitts with a Lysander!

Picture 16:A really well drawn scene which evokes the typical atmosphere of the Battle of Britain very well and which emphasizes the superb elliptic wing of the Spifire.

Picture 17:A last victory! This time it's a Bf 110 which has been shot down in flames over England.

To be continued

In Part 9 of Aircraft in Comics you will see the aerial combats of WW2 through the eyes of a British and a Luftwaffe pilot: Dunkerque, Battle of Britain, bomber raids over Germany, 8th Air Force, Bodenplatte, first jets etc...

Copyrights

Copyright © MIKLO S.A.