Osprey Aviation Elite Units SC (2000-2007 OSPREY) comic books 2007

Add to cart Near Mint $11.00

Add to cart Near Mint $11.00

Volume 23 - 1st printing. "475th Fighter Group!" Written by John Stanaway. Art by Chris Davey. Formed with the best available fighter pilots in the Southwest Pacific, the 475th Fighter Group was the pet project of Fifth Air Force chief, General George C Kenney. From the time the group entered combat in August 1943 until the end of the war it was the fastest scoring group in the Pacific and remained one of the crack fighter units in the entire US Army Air Forces with a final total of some 550 credited aerial victories. Amongst its pilots were the leading American aces of all time, Dick Bong and Tom McGuire, with high-scoring pilots Danny Roberts and John Loisel also serving with the 475th. This book details these pilots, the planes they flew and the campaigns and battles they fought in including such famous names as Dobodura, the Huon Gulf, Oro Bay, Rabaul, Hollandia, the Philippines and Luzon. Softcover, 128 pages, PC/PB&W Cover price $25.95.

Volume 24 - 1st printing. "332nd Fighter Group – Tuskegee Airmen!" Written by Chris Bucholtz. Art by Jim Laurier. The USAAF's Tuskegee Experiment, designed to prove that African-Americans were not capable of flying combat aircraft, resulted in the creation of one of the USAAF's elite units. Commanded by Col Bejamin O Davis, the 332nd were able to boast 111 aerial kills, 150 strafing victories and even the sinking of a German destroyer by the war's end. The group were both feared and respected by the Germans, who called them the 'Schwartze Voglemenschen' (Black Birdmen), and this book reveals the true story of the unit who rose above discrimination to achieve elite status. Softcover, 128 pages, PC/PB&W Cover price $25.95.

Volume 25 - 1st printing. "Jagdgeschwader 53 'Pik-As'!" Written by John Weal. Art by John Weal. Arguably the archetypal Luftwaffe fighter unit of World War 2, JG 53 aircraft were encountered on almost every fighting front from the first day of hostilities until the last. During almost six years of near-constant campaigning, JG 53 took a steady toll of Allied aircraft in every theatre it fought over. The variety of camouflage finishes worn by its machines -winter white, desert dapple and Reich's defence black - and the progression of variants are reflected in an eye-opening colour section. John Weal has spent several years researching in German archives and this, together with his personal contact with several veterans, results in an authoritative and human account of JG 53's long and eventful war. Softcover, 128 pages, PC/PB&W Cover price $25.95.