Brûlant #3
"Mission X" delivers a gripping wartime tale in Brûlant #3 (1967), a standout entry in the series' early run. Written by Robert Kanigher and illustrated with dynamic precision by Irv Novick, the story follows Lt. Johnny Cloud as he battles a Nazi killer ship, guided by the memory of a hawk that once saved his life—and now, a new generation of that same spirit. The haunting cover by Joe Kubert captures the moment’s intensity, framing a pilot and his avian omen against a storm-laden sky.
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Lt. Johnny Cloud's plane sinks with a load of special magnetic torpedoes, but he failed against a Nazi killer ship, and lost Swift Hawk... Cloud recalls how, as a boy, a hawk saved him from a wolf. Now another "Swift Hawk is his "co-pilot". The hawk leads C flight through cloud cover to a killer ship targeting Merchant Marine vessels. Swift Hawk suicide-bombs a plane as Johnny's sinks to the bottom. Yet the explosion jars loose the torpedoes and frees him - to find a new-hatched "Little Swift Hawk" waits back at base.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).