Hillman 〉Air Fighters
Air Fighters Comics was an omnibus series featuring a variety of aviator heroes. The series was renamed Airboy Comics with vol. 2, #11 (Dec. 1945), and ran 89 issues, through vol. 10, #4 (May 1953).
In the early issues, Biro wrote the scripts with Dave Wood and drew the covers, Al Camy was the initial story artist. He was followed by Tony DiPreta and, beginning with Air Fighters No. 10 (July 1943), Fred Kida, who would become closely associated with the series. Ernie Schroeder became the regular artist with Airboy Comics #vol. 5, No. 11 (Dec. 1948), through the end of the series’ run, with Dan Barry, Maurice Del Bourgo, Carmine Infantino, and others supplying an occasional story. The two consecutive series contained backup stories about other aviators, including Skywolf, Iron Ace, the Black Angel, the Bald Eagle, the Flying Dutchman, the Flying Fool, and the prototypical comic book swamp monster, the Heap. Airboy’s most frequently recurring supporting character was the German aviator Valkyrie, who fought on the side of the Axis but then defected to the Allies.