Area 88

Kaoru Shintani’s gritty aerial-combat saga, originally a Japanese manga, was adapted for English-speaking readers by Viz in a six-issue series from 1988 to 1989. Scripted by James D. Hudnall and Satoru Fujii alongside Shintani, it follows the mercenary pilots of a foreign legion air force, where desperate men trade their freedom for a paycheck in a brutal, fictional war. Shintani’s hyper-detailed aircraft art set a new standard for realism in comics, making this a landmark import that introduced American audiences to the visceral drama of modern manga warfare.