#barnstormers

Barnstormers #1 (variant cover) (2023)

[PREVIEW] Barnstormers #1 (July 5, 2023)

writer: Scott Snyder | artist [penciller & inker]: Tula Lotay | colorist: Dee Cunniffe | letterer: Richard Starkings | cover artist: Tula Lotay | publishing company: Dark Horse Comics

synopsis: A high-flying, WW1 adventure story that's an intimate portrait of love and war--and a meditation on the dangerous level of trust required in both romance and aviation.

It's 1918--the early days of the barnstorming era, when pilots competed with each other by performing deadlier and more wondrous feats, as we've never seen it before. Pilot John Baron is back from the frontlines of the war, where he was injured. At eighteen-years-old, he's an adventurer who lives his life traveling from town to town in his plane, entertaining folks across the of whom have never seen a car, let alone a plane. His world changes when he meets Helen, a young woman who shares his passion for aviation and adventure. They become a traveling act, flying from town to town, delighting folks with their antics. Helen even becomes John's wing-walker, climbing out on the wing of the plane mid-flight to perform death-defying acrobatics. Along the way they bond, confessing their secrets, and begin a romance in this lush, character-driven series that explores the early days of aviation and the evolving relationship and romance between two young pilots.

Barnstormers #1 by Tula Lotay and Scott Snyder. Cover by Lotay. Variant covers by (2) Dave Johnson, (3) Lotay, (4) Massimo Carnevale and (5) Jenny Frison. Out in July.

You may have seen the video of Adventuress Gladys Ingle changing a tire in midair. But have you heard the rest of her story?

Gladys had reportedly always been a bit of a daredevil. It's said that as a child, she built and walked on stilts so high she needed to climb to the roof of her home to mount them. She and her sister would become barnstormers whose signature stunt was to have a parachute race after jumping out of 2 separate planes. She became the 4th woman to earn her pilot's license in the United States, and the only woman on the 13 Black Cats stunt flying team. She was a very good pilot, and an especially renowned wing walker. By some accounts, she changed planes in midair, like she did in this Jan 1926 rescue, over 300 times in her career. She'd also shoot targets while wing walking, and even stand on the wing of a plane while it did a loop-the-loop.

Out this week: Barnstormers #1 and Night of the Ghoul TPB (Dark Horse, $4.99 and $19.99 respectively):

Two of Scott Snyder’s Comixology projects arrive in print this week, as Dark Horse kicks off a miniseries for Barnstormers with artist Tula Lotay, and collects the Snyder/Francesco Francavilla joint Night of the Ghoul.