Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: airboy, golden age, Hillman

The Debut of Valkyrie in Air Fighters Comics V2 #2, Up for Auction

Published Thu, 30 Jun 2022 20:02:10 -0500

Last updated Fri, 01 Jul 2022 18:56:44 -0500

Valkyrie was a German fighter ace and leader of the Airmaidens squadron during WWII. First appearing in Air Fighters Comics V2#2, she was created by artist Fred Kida and an unknown writer (possibly Warren Kuhn or Ed Cronin). Swayed by the courage of Airboy, she and the Airmaidens ultimately turned against the Nazis in her September 1943 debut to fight alongside Airboy. One of the most memorable female characters of the Golden Age with an iconic cover by Kida, there's a solid copy of her first appearance in Air Fighters Comics V2#2 (Hillman Fall, 1943) CBCS VG+ 4.5 Cream to off-white pages up for auction in the 2022 July 3-4 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122227 at Heritage Auctions.

Air Fighters Comics V2#2 featuring Valkyrie (Hillman Fall, 1943)

Valkyrie's greatest desire was to face Airboy in a dogfight to prove herself. She soon had her chance as Airboy discovered the Airmaiden Squadron's base of operations. While Airboy bested Valkyrie in the subsequent battle, he ultimately lost and was captured because he couldn't bring himself to shoot a woman. Airboy was then tortured in an attempt to force him to divulge the operational secrets of his airplane, but the rest of the Airmaidens were swayed by his courage in the face of the torture and hid Airboy elsewhere on the base. Finally, with her team set to be executed for helping Airboy, Valkyrie herself was persuaded to switch sides and she, the Airmadens, and Airboy made their escape to England, with Valkyrie declaring that they'd been brainwashed from an early age and vowing to switch sides.

Her second appearance in Air Fighters Comics V2#7 confirmed that she had joined the Allies and the Nazis wanted her dead for it. However, after the end of WWII, things again turned tense from time to time between Valkyrie and Airboy, as she became a mercenary of sorts, willing to lend her skills to anyone who would pay the price. A historically important WWII-era character, there's a nice copy of the debut of Valkyrie in Air Fighters Comics V2#2 (Hillman Fall, 1943) CBCS VG+ 4.5 Cream to off-white pages up for auction in the 2022 July 3-4 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122227 at Heritage Auctions.

Air Fighters Comics V2#2 (Hillman Fall, 1943) CBCS VG+ 4.5 Cream to off-white pages. First appearance of Valkyrie (Lieslotte Von Schellendorf). "Classic" Valkyrie and Airboy cover by Fred Kida. John Giunta and Bob Fujitani art. Overstreet 2021 VG 4.0 value = $438.