Osprey Combat Aircraft Series SC (1997-2011 OSPREY) comic books 1998-2000

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.

Volume 11 - 1st printing. " B-24 Liberator Units of the Pacific War!" Written by Robert F Dorr. Art by Mark Rolfe. Ever present in the Pacific from Pearl Harbor to VJ-Day, the B-24 Liberator proved to be the staple heavy bomber of the campaign. From its ignominious beginnings in the Allied rout in the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies, the bomber weathered the Japanese storm with a handful of bomb groups, which played a crucial role in checking the enemy's progress firstly in New Guinea, and then actively participating in the 'island hopping' campaign through the south-west Pacific. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 12 - 1st printing. " RF-8 Crusader Units over Cuba and Vietnam!" Written by Peter Mersky. Art by Tom Tullis. Although the Crusader was built first and foremost as a Navy interceptor, as has often been the tradition with US fighters, a photo-reconnaissance variant was also produced by Vought. The photo-bird's first operational test came in the autumn of 1962 when its overflights of Cuba alerted the world to the likely presence of medium-range ballistic missiles on the Caribbean island. The recce Crusader's next action came during the long years of the Vietnam War. This volume is the second of two in the Combat Aircraft series devoted to the Crusader, the first title (again by Peter Mersky) having covered the F-8 fighter variants, and their MiG-killing exploits, during the Vietnam War. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 13 - 1st printing. " Mosquito Photo-Reconnaissance Units of World War 2!" Written by Martin Bowman. Art by Chris Davey. The third volume in the trilogy of Combat Aircraft titles devoted to de Havilland's 'wooden wonder', this book focuses on the Mosquito photo-recce variants, and their users. The design's superb performance, and ability to escape interception by enemy fighters made the Mosquito the ideal choice for the RAF's then embryonic photographic reconnaissance force. The production standard PR1 subsequently became the first Mosquito variant of any kind to see operational service with the RAF, flying its first sortie [over France] on 20 September 1941. These aircraft flew all manner of bomber support missions ranging from simple post-raid photo-recce to weather checking and experimental H2X radar photo-mapping. All are detailed in this volume. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 14 - 1st printing. " Halifax Squadrons of World War 2!" Written by Jon Lake. Art by Chris Davey. The second of Britain's four-engined bombers to enter frontline service, Handley Page's Halifax has forever lived in the shadow of Avro's superb Lancaster. However, it was a Halifax which became the first RAF 'heavy' to drop bombs on Germany when No 35 Sqn raided Hamburg on the night of 12/13 March 1941. Between 1941-45, the Halifax completed some 75,532 sorties with Bomber Command alone [compared with the Lancaster's 156,000], not to mention its sterling work as both a glider tug and paratroop carrier with the Airborne Forces, maritime patrol mount with Coastal Command and covert intruder with the SOE. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 15 - 1st printing. " B-24 Liberator Units of the Eighth Air Force!" Written by Robert F Dorr. Art by Mark Rolfe. The B-24 Liberator was built in greater numbers than any other US warplane, yet its combat crews live, even today, in the shadow of the less plentiful, but better-known, B-17. Accounts of the 'Mighty Eighth' in Europe, and indeed many of the books and films that emerged from the greatest air campaign in history, often overlook the B-24, even though it was in action for as long as the Flying Fortress, and participated in just as many perilous daylight bombing missions. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 16 - 1st printing. " TBF/TBM Avenger Units of World War 2!" Written by Barrett Tillman. Art by Tom Tullis. As its name suggests, the Avenger meted out severe retribution on the Japanese in the Pacific, participating in every major engagement through to VJ-Day. As a key weapon of war, the Avenger was so highly valued by the US Navy that its demand for the aircraft soon outstripped Grumman's production capacity, so General Motors [GM] was contracted to build the near identical TBM from September 1942 onwards. Over 1000 Avengers also saw action with the Fleet Air Arm in both the Atlantic and the Pacific through to VJ-Day, and two squadrons of RNZAF TBDs fought alongside American Avengers on Bougainville in 1944. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 17 - 1st printing. " Ju 88 Kampfgeschwader on the Western Front!" By John Weal. Undoubtedly the most versatile German aircraft of World War 2, the Junkers Ju 88 served as a fighter, bomber and patrol aircraft on every front on which the Luftwaffe fought. Blooded in action during the Blitzkrieg, the Ju 88 soon proved to be a formidable opponent for the beleaguered Allied air forces. This book is the first of three volumes which will cover the Ju 88's extensive wartime service in the bomber role, and it details the aircraft's early campaigns, through to its extensive use in the night Blitz of 1940-41. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 18 - 1st printing. " B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the Eighth Air Force Part 1!" Written by Martin Bowman. Art by Mark Styling. The Boeing B-17 has come to epitomise the American war effort in Europe, the huge four-engined heavy day bomber taking the fight to Germany from the late summer of 1942 through to VE-Day. The primary operator of the Flying Fortress in Western Europe was the 'Mighty Eighth'. This volume, which is the first of two dealing exclusively with the 'Mighty Eighth', covers the 15 Bomb Groups of the First Air Division, each of which controlled four squadrons. The evolution of the force is traced through first-hand accounts of those individuals that took part in the action. Softcover, 116 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 19 - 1st printing. " Sunderland Squadrons of World War 2!" Written by Jon Lake. Art by Chris Davey. The elegant Sunderland was the RAF's staple maritime patrol aircraft throughout WW2. Crucial in the Battle of the Atlantic, the Sunderland was instrumental in defeating the U-Boat menace which threatened to starve the UK into submission. Nicknamed the Flying Porcupine due to its heavy armoury of 14 guns, the Sunderland proved an immediate success in battle. Aside from its worldwide use with the RAF, it saw action with the RAAF, RNZAF and RCAF. This is the first book devoted to the Sunderland's WW2 service to be published in over a decade. Softcover, 112 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 20 - 1st printing. " TBD Devastator Units of the US Navy!" Written by Barrett Tillman. Art by Tom Tullis. The first monoplane aircraft ordered by the US Navy for carrier operations, the Douglas TBD Devastator was designed to fulfil a requirement for a new torpedo bomber. Just 129 were built, and when it entered service it was the most modern aircraft of its type anywhere in the world. Its only real taste of action came on 4 June 1942 in the pivotal Battle of Midway, when 35 were shot down in a clash with Japanese A6M Zero fighters. The aircraft was replaced by the Grumman Avenger weeks later. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 21 - 1st printing. " B-24 Liberator Units of the Fifteenth Air Force!" Written by Robert F Dorr. Art by Mark Rolfe. The B-24 was heavily utilised in the North African and Mediterranean theatres by the USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force, with operations over the Ploesti oilfields in Rumania being some of the most famous missions undertaken by the big American 'heavy' in World War 2. The stirling work of the Fifteenth Air Force is often overshadowed by the glamorous 'Mighty Eighth', yet the men flying the B-24 fought ceaselessly right through to VE Day. This is the third of five titles planned to chart the operational history of the Consolidated heavy bomber, and is the first single volume to exclusively cover the Fifteenth Air Force's B-24 units. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.