"Tanguy and Laverdure, and a little bit Dan Cooper" Topic

If you are looking for an inspiration for your Cold War Aviation scenarios maybe this report about two comic series is also interesting for you.
Report in german and english.

link

Both Tanguy and Laverdure as well as Dan Cooper were a big part of my childhood. And formed a big part of my interest in aviation. Highly recommended

There is also a little bit of Buck Danny, another comic book pilot, in the article.

Dan Cooper tangling with UFO's with Canadian F-104's in the one story prompted me to have mom buy me the Matchbox kit which had Canuck decals to boot. The first model that I ever painted (pretty easy even for 8 year old as it was silver). That was the starting point of my decades long modelling hobby which at one point led, through one modeller, to find miniature figures and roleplaying and thus my profession.

Tanguy and Laverdure (or Stork Squadron as the series was called here in Finland) was even greater than Dan Cooper. The goofines of Laverdure and more solemn Tanguy created a nice mix of humor and action.

Even if I know like mere 20-30 French words I actually just two weeks ago had visiting French friends bring me two compilations (Integrals) Tanguy et Laverdure especially since 70's I've been pondering how The Menace in Mururoa story ends since the book that ran it was cancelled in mid story…

The Sky Fighters is only very remotely linked to Tanguy et Laverdure but recognizable if you know the comics. I knew about the TV seires but have never seen it; of course it was available through YouTube… :D Will need to watch some as the faces of the actors were, of course, heavily used in some printings of the albums in order to cash in the popularity of the series, so even if I've never seen an episode they seem like old friends.

I bit my teeth (not literally) into Buck Danny and Dan Cooper when I in elementary school learning French. Buck Danny was an interesting case, as it followed the blond hair pilot from the events of Pearl Harbor to a long modern-day career as an air commander (Lt. Col. rank, I believe) in the US Navy, all thanks to comic book time. It followed historical events until the end of the Korean War, after which all conflicts took place in fictional countries, or with spies such as Lady X. There's also this running gag (quite apart from the running gag that is the third member of Buck's wing, Sonny Tuckson) where they manage to wrack up a surprising number of crashes.

Dan Cooper has two modes: sci-fi stories set in the mold of Blake & Mortimer, with futuristic plane designs, and space exploration in the 50s; and more realistic stories grounded in Cold War and later peacekeeping operations. The hijacker D.B. Cooper is speculated to have been a fan of the series, hence the name. Cooper has had two different wings, one of them consisted of stereotypes somewhat like the Black Hawks (a First Nations pilot in the RCAF would not have braids, especially mid-century). Of course, there are obvious signs that the author was Belgian, such as the herd of bison outside of Montreal in one album.

All of the fictional pilots in this thread appear in the Buck Danny books "The Blue Angels" & "The Man in The Leather Mask" at an air show, plus other nationalities, including a very erroneously named Imperial Japanese Air Force team (it should have been JASDF).

I used to love the Tanguy and Laverdure TB series (shown in the UK as "The Aeronauts"). I hope it crops up on some classic TB channel.sometime. The actors were quite popular in the UK as I recall, they even appeared on BBC quiz shows :)