Nobody in comics did better B-17's than Russ!

Not only is Russ in the first panel, that's Joe Kubert to his left!

The page from #255 where the soldiers are fixing the road signs at night in the rain and are then accidentally bombed is masterful. I always look forward to seeing everyone at Jeff's.

A first class page! This is what I was reading as a boy and I love these comics as much now as I did when I was buying them new.

It's only the second painting I did in egg tempera. The fist was a self-portrait I made in high school. I really like how it turned out, but it took me forever to complete. The last thing I need is for something to make me even slower!

I'm always amazed by how clean Russ's pages are, not a drop of white paint to be seen and no replaced panels. He always knew where best to put the camera when staging these action scenes. From talking to him, I got the sense that it was instinctual and not something he gave much conscious thought to.

Before taking the piece in to be framed, I removed the foam board the art had been attached to. Written on the back was the word "Barns", the artist's initials, and either 1922 or 1923. 

Nice of you to say, Ed, but you have an incredible collection of Graham's work including one my very favourite covers "Crest of Hate" and one of my favourite Paddy Payne pages by him with the Mosquito. I have an artist friend who was a neighbour of his in the 1970s and has told me that what Graham wanted most was to be a serious landscape painter. His landscapes are fine, but the best of his comic art is what he'll be remembered for.

I loved this issue when I bought it off the stands and the pages look even better when stripped of their colouring. Nobody else should have been allowed to ink a page by Robbins and this story demonstates the reason why.

Russ did all the sound effects and while he could letter captions and dialogue, he avoided it whenever possible. However, he would submit his finished art with all the inked balloons and caption boxes in place. John Costanza, who may have lettered this, said that his lettering always fit those spaces perfectly.

I agree completely! The issues of Phantom Stranger and Unknown Soldier that he did with David Michelinie are some of my favourite comics from that period. It was tragic when he was demoted to only inking the remainder of the US run shortly after Michelinie and Orlando left.

Thanks Steve!

Yes, you're right. Kaluta took extra care to help Bernie Wrightson, the original inker who avoided doing research, and then had the inking assigned to an aritist who excelled on accurate weapons, uniforms, and vehicles.

Thanks Lee, I find it to be a haunting image. If I were to guess, I'd place it among his 1920s Saturday Evening Post illustrations. The board is attached to another board and I may try to separate them to see if there's anything written on the back.

Vic Catan's art in this issue is incredible. Why wasn't he given more lead stories to illustrate?

Terrific page, Steve, but how did the Germans get a 63 ton Tiger up there?

Wow, what a great cover! The Westland Whirlwind is a personal favourite and this is one of the best Fleetway covers to feature them.

Those bombs defy the laws of physics but it's still a wonderful page!

Yes, the cover for "Crash Action" was painted by Graham Coton. "NB" stands for "New Battle" which was a series of 344 Battle P.L. issues published by Ron Phillips between 1985 and 1992. They were all reprints of the Fleetway issues.

This one was painted by Alessandro Biffignandi for the story "Rival Aces" (August, 1962).