By Mike Bessler
Staff Writer, Show Stopper

Golden Age comic book hero Airboy made his first appearance in Air Fighters Comics #2, which was published by Hillman Periodicals way back in 1942.  Air Fighters – eventually re-christened as Airboy Comics following readers’ favorable reception to the dashing young air ace – was a signature comic magazine of World War era, presenting a colorful cast of heroes and villains in a cavalcade of high-flying, “shoot ‘em up” war stories.  In the years following World War II, things for the comics industry changed dramatically and sales of most comics slumped with war comics – as well as westerns and crime stories – dipping to unprecedented lows. By 1953, Hillman stopped publishing comics altogether, effectively mothballing the Airboy crew until Eclipse Comics obtained the rights to the characters in the mid 1980’s.

It was mid-1995 when I first discovered the Eclipse run of Airboy.  The find was one of those legitimately serendipitous moments that ultimately changed the face of my comic collecting forever.  A local second-hand book store had packaged bunches of miscellaneous back issues into “grab bags” to liquidate their overstock quickly and I bought two or three of them at a few bucks a piece to read during some down time over the summer.  In the bags I found a typical assortment of Marvel and DC books and a handful of Eclipse Airboy comics, including the first few issues of the series.  I initially viewed them with decidedly low expectations as I had never been much of a fan of independent and non-Marvel/DC stuff up to that point (barring a few obvious exceptions, such as Walt Kelly’s Pogo, Eastman and Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the like).

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I was fortunate to start my reading right at the beginning with a copy of Airboy #1 and it’s something of an understatement to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the reading experience.  At the time, I knew nothing of the original Golden Age Air Fighters and Airboy comics (although I suppose I should have, considering I had been a comic fan and collector since kindergarten or so), so the “Reborn!” issue was really a crash-course of introduction to several of the main characters including the original Airboy, David Nelson II.

This issue opens with the original Airboy in a dire state of torment.  Although Nelson has matured from a young and impulsive World War II ace into a successful aeronautics tycoon, he is effectively depicted as a brooding shadow of his former self, detached from his friends and family, including his arch-foe turned ally Hirota and nelson’s own son, David “Davy” Nelson III.

By the end of Airboy #1 (“Reborn!”), the original Airboy is assassinated by a band of air bandits leaving Hirota and David to avenge his murder.  Through issue #2 (The Wolf and the Phoenix”) and issue #3 (“Enter – The Heap!”), the team enlists the help of other Golden Age air fighters, including the battle-hardened Skywolf and the former German WWI ace turned swamp creature known as “The Heap.”  A colorful cast of characters (including a blind shaman who is hopelessly hooked on Dr. Pepper and a band of Cold War-era revolutionaries) lead Davy  – now taking his rightful place in history as the new Airboy – and his friends to the Latin American country of Bogantilla to do battle with the people responsible for the death of the original Airboy.  The villains of the tale are an oddly intriguing duo of a Reagan-loving right-wing dictator General Ortista and Golden Age Airboy nemesis Misery.

The ultimate showdown comes in Airboy #4 (“Join the Airfighters”) and Airboy #5 (“The Return of Valkryie”) in which the new Airfighters storm Ortista’s stronghold in Bogantilla to do battle with the bad guys and their minions.  In addition to avenging the death of his father, Davy Nelson frees ex-Nazi turned Airfighter Valkyrie from Misery’s clutches, bringing her back from the depths of limbo.  He soon learns that Valkyrie – who hasn’t aged a day since World War II –  has a storied and complicated past that will ultimately bring all sorts of questions and drama to bear.

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All of the old comic book clichés fit the early issues of Eclipse’s Airboy series.  It’s an action-packed, hard-hitting thrill ride with story and art that practically jumps off the page.  Chuck Dixon’s tremendous writing is marvelously complimented by the artwork of Timothy Truman and Tom Yeates.  I was  – no lie – hopelessly hooked after reading the first five issues of Airboy back in ‘95 and spent the better part of the next year sitting on dusty comic shop floors hunting for back issues.  Because this was just before eBay revolutionized the collectibles market, it took a bit of creativity and persistence on my part to collect the entire 50-issue run and at one point I even purchased a fistful of issues directly from former Eclipse Editor-in-Chief cat yronwode.  At the end of my quest, I had scored all of the Airboy issues and virtually every Airboy spin-off, including the great Skywolf 3-issue mini series (1987) and the Eclipse answer to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Total Eclipse.  As time went on and I got a real job that paid real money, I got into collecting the vintage Hillman Airboy issues from World War II and beyond.  To this day, I am always looking to score Golden Age Airboy issues whenever I hit a comic convention or discover a new shop.

Todd McFarlane obtained the rights to the Airboy cast through the liquidation of Eclipse Enterprises some years ago and resurrected The Heap in 1992 for a short run in Spawn.  In 2009, longtime Airboy writer Chuck Dixon launched a new round of stories of the Golden Age Airboy under the banner of Moonstone Comics.  Further issues are planned for 2010.

Not every great comic book is worth hundreds or thousands of dollars and the Eclipse Airboy issues are still easy to find at great prices on eBay and other comic sites.  The cross-genre appeal of this series speaks to nostalgia buffs, war enthusiasts and adventure fans everywhere.

Eclipse’s Airboy series is truly an under-appreciated gem of the Modern Age of comics and comic fans would do well to discover this for themselves.