Mission One: The Flying Chief Part 2

We pick up our adventure ...

On his second mission to intercept a bombing raid, Cloud makes a radical move. Bandits are swarming. The P-51s are blocked. Cloud soars high above the action and then dives sharply into the melee. KREEEEEEEE!

Cloud sings the song of a warrior facing the spirit of death as he approaches terminal velocity.

He blasts a hapless Me-109 to bits and holds his dive through the debris until he reaches the bombers. His guns blazing, Cloud ignites one bomber so violently that it crashes into a second one. WHAMM! 

Cloud downs a third bomber before leveling off. He has saved the mission.

Suddenly two Me-109s latch on his tail and riddle his cockpit with lead. This is his first dogfight. Cloud begs his Big Brother for help, and suddenly, a dense cloud forms that hides his battered P-51.

Cloud loops and exits the fog directly behind the first bandit. He gets a kill shot, but the second one nips at his tail, ripping his rudder to shreds. Cloud loops again and nails him before he can respond.

Still they keep coming. A third bandit locks on his tail, and this time, Cloud can’t shake him. Mack dives to his rescue and crosses in front of the avenging bandit to force him to break off. It’s a rash move and Mack is sprayed with lead. Burning and losing hydraulics, Mack barely avoids crashing. He limps back to base and pancakes the runway.

Cloud rushes to help him, but Mack is fatally shot. In his dying breath, he asks Lt. Johnny Cloud to take his place as flight leader.

The others see Cloud tearing up and acknowledge Cloud’s humanity despite their initial prejudice against his Navajo background. They welcome him as their new leader. Mack’s word is good enough for us.

The final scene shows Cloud leading the next sortie, but now, he embraces his title as The Flying Chief. And, he renames the flight as the Happy Braves.

Image Credit:

AAMOW#82 (December 1960); Art: I. Novick; Writer: R. Kanigher.

Johnny Cloud TM DC Comics.

 

Misson One: The Flying Chief

The Johnny Cloud series starts off with an origin story coupled with a show of courage under fire ...

Johnny Cloud is introduced by his father, a Navajo Chief, who waits atop a mesa for a sign from the spirits. A cloud shaped as a warrior on a winged horse appears, and despite gathering storm clouds, the Great Warrior Spirit outshines the thunderhead. Cloud’s father is amazed by this show of resilience, so he names his newborn son Flying Cloud. As fate would have it, Johnny Cloud gets his winged horse in the form of a P-51 Mustang after joining the US Army Air Force many years later.

During pilot training, and later when he is assigned to a fighter group stationed in England, Cloud laments that his fellow pilots joke about his Navajo heritage, calling him The Flying Chief and making crude references to Indian folkways. His flight leader, Mack, names his first sortie a War Party. 

These jabs prompt a flashback: A schoolyard bully taunts him with racial epithets. During fisticuffs, Johnny is knocked into the dirt, but he sees the Great Warrior Spirt overhead (whom he calls his Big Brother in the Sky), and the apparition propels him into action – he hardens his resolve and clobbers the bully.

During his first sortie, Cloud spots a swarm of bandits far in the distance. No one else sees them, and Cloud is lauded for his keen eye. It is the first sign that he is special. Cloud asks if he can engage the bandits, but Mack orders him to fall back and guard the rear while the more experienced pilots attack. Consequently, he misses the action. Cloud feels deflated. Back at base, he confronts Mack who tells him that he protects all his new pilots, adding: “I’ve never lost a man first time out.” 

The next day, the flight is sent to intercept bombers. They confront a gaggle of German fighters with high casualties. Amidst the chaos, Cloud makes a radical move: He soars above the action and then dives sharply into the melee. KREEEEEEEE!

Cloud sings the song of a warrior facing the spirit of death as he approaches terminal velocity ...

Image Credit:

AAMOW#82 (December 1960); Art: I. Novick; Writer: R. Kanigher.

Johnny Cloud TM DC Comics.