Weird Crushes: Nina Petrova - The Angel Of Death

   After picking up the first two "Johnny Red" collections  (Writeup HERE) I then went and had a bit of a binge at the online "Johnny Red" archives and that led me to rediscover a character I was rather taken by during my younger years.  

 Nina Petrova.

  

British Boys comics in the 1970s didn't really go in for  female characters. If they popped up at all they were either there to make the tea or get rescued so when this fiery Russian was introduced into the pages of "Battle" in August 1978 it was a real eye-opener.

 
The first meeting between Nina and Johnny Red did not go well

  This was where fans got their first look at Nina Petrova, commander of the "Night Witches" an all-female night-bomber squadron and one of the first women in British comics who could really take care of themselves.

 (I went and did a bit of research at this point: The better known Judge Hershey and Judge Anderson didn't make their first appearance in 2000AD until almost two years later. ) 

   Having successfully got right up the nose of our hot-tempered Liverpudlian hero, Nina then calmly points out that it's a lot easier to be heroic when you've got a Hurricane armed with eight machine guns while her girls go into battle in outdated, plywood biplanes. This causes a somewhat miffed "Red Devil" to issue a challenge. He will fly with her on any mission she cares to name. That night Johnny mans the gunner's seat as Nina takes him into the night sky above the hellhole of Stalingrad and the pair of them made the Germans' lives hell.

 Once they'd got over their initial problems "The Red Devil" and "The Angel Of Death" went on to a warm relationship based on mutual respect and killing lots of Germans. And you could guarantee that every time the two paired up there would be fireworks.

      Note that Nina is definitely a lot more easy on the eye here.

    Given the target audience it shouldn't really come as a surprise to learn that  any romantic implications were always low-key, if they existed at all. 

      Make of that what you will.

  

  Now let me pull up my soapbox for a moment: There's a lazy tendency to get female characters established in one of two ways. Minimal clothing or by making them so much superior to the hapless males around them. The first only works up until a point and the second is just bloody annoying.
 I think it says a lot about the writing that Nina Petrova never appears in anything less than a baggy jumpsuit but still remains memorable, mainly down to her character. Brave, fierce but a true friend and a true heroine.

   For years I'd been convinced that Nina Petrova either died in battle or was murdered by the NKVD but I've been pleasantly surprised to find this not the case. As far as I can tell, she made her final appearance in August 1981. After crashlanding during an ill-fated supply run into Leningrad the "Angel of Death" opted to join those defending the city and was last seen waving goodbye to Johnny Red as he flew back to his squadron. I like to think she survived the war.

  The story doesn't quite end there. Garth Ennis, a self-confessed fan of British comics and Johnny Red especially, went on to do his own series about Russian's legendary female fliers.

  It's worth a read.

   It's sort of sweet really.

 All pictures are and forever remain the property of  Egmont Publications and if you want to read more, check out the online library here: http://www.falconsquadron.sevenpennynightmare.co.uk/
 Or buy the "Johnny Red - Stalingrad" TPb when it comes out in January.

 As a final note, the "Night Witches" were a real-life air unit. Yes, they really did fly biplanes into battle and yes, they were guaranteed a painful death if the Germans ever got hold of them. If you have any vodka in the house, drink a toast in their honour.