Osprey Combat Aircraft Series SC (1997-2011 OSPREY) comic books 1998

Volume 5 - 1st printing. " Blenheim Squadrons of World War 2!" Written by Jon Lake. Art by Chris Davey. Built in large numbers in the years leading up to World War 2, Bristol's Blenheim saw use as both a fighter and bomber thanks to its high speed in relation to the biplane types it was then replacing. Aside from its work as the staple medium RAF bomber from 1939 through to 1942, Blenheims also served as pioneer radar-equipped nightfighters in 1940/41 and long-range patrol aircraft with Coastal Command. Obsolete in Europe by the end of 1940, the Blenheim continued to serve as a frontline bomber in North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Far East well into 1943. Softcover, 106 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 6 - 1st printing. " Junkers Ju 87 Stukageschwader of North Africa and the Mediterranean!" By John Weal. The 'terror weapon' of the invasion of Poland, the assault on Scandinavia and the Blitzkrieg through western Europe, the Ju 87 Stuka had had its reputation severely dented during the Battle of Britain, where its vulnerability to fighter aircraft in hostile skies was savagely exposed. Licking their wounds, the Stukageschwader were sent south-east from their bases in France to the warmer climes of the Balkans in early 1941. In mid-1941, again frustrated at the inability of the Italians to defeat numerically inferior Allied forces, the Germans arrived in North Africa. Included in the force were Ju 87s. However, like operations on the African continent, their efforts were doomed to failure, and from mid-1942 onwards the Stuka proved to be little more than cannon fodder for Allied fighters. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 7 - 1st printing. " F-8 Crusader Units of the Vietnam War!" Written by Peter Mersky. Art by Tom Tullis. Known to its pilots as the 'last of the gunfighters' due to its quartet of Colt-Browning Mk 12 20 mm cannon, the F-8 Crusader was numerically the most populous fighter in the US Navy at the start of America's involvement in the Vietnam conflict in 1964 - some 482 F-8C/D/Es equipped 17 frontline units. It enjoyed great success against North Vietnamese Mig-17s and Mig-21s during the Rolling Thunder campaign of 1965-68, officially downing 18 jets, which represented 53 per cent of all Mig claims lodged by Navy squadrons during this period. Softcover, 116 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 8 - 1st printing. " P-61 Black Widow Units of World War 2!" Written by Warren Thompson. Art by Mark Styling. The first aircraft to be purposely designed as a radar-equipped nightfigher, Northrop's P-61 Black Widow was heavily influenced by early RAF combat experience with radar-equipped aircraft in 1940/41. Built essentially around the bulky Radiation Laboratory SCR-720 radar, which was mounted in the aircraft's nose, the P-61 proved to be the largest fighter ever produced for frontline service by the USAAF. Twin-engined and twin-boomed, the Black Widow was armed with a dorsal barbette of four 0.50-in Browning machine guns and two ventrally-mounted 20 mm cannon. This volume features all the frontline users of the mighty P-61, and includes many first-hand accounts from pilots and gunners who saw action in the Pacific, Mediterranean and Western Europe. Softcover, 100 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 9 - 1st printing. " Mosquito Fighter/Fighter-Bomber Units of World War 2!" Written by Martin Bowman. Art by Chris Davey. The second volume in the trilogy of Combat Aircraft titles devoted to de Havilland's 'wooden wonder', this book focuses on the Mosquito fighter/fighter-bomber variants, and their users. From its earliest development phase, the aircraft was considered as much a fighter as a bomber, and this was duly reflected when the original 1940 Air Ministry order for 50 Mosquito bombers was modified to 20 bombers and 30 fighters. This volume is the first of its kind exclusively dedicated to the fighter/fighter-bomber variants of de Havilland's classic wartime aircraft. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

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Volume 10 - 1st printing. " SBD Dauntless Units of World War 2!" Written by Barrett Tillman. Art by Tom Tullis. Unquestionably the most successful dive-bomber ever to see frontline service with any air arm, the Douglas SBD Dauntless was the scourge of the Japanese Imperial Fleet in the crucial years of the Pacific War. The revolutionary all-metal stressed-skin design of the SBD exhibited airframe strength that made it an ideal dive-bomber, its broad wing, with horizontal centre section and sharply tapered outer panels with dihedral, boasting perforated split flaps that doubled as dive brakes during the steep bombing attacks Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.