The Case of the Black Gauntlet is the first of two stories in Issue 9 of the Adventures of Biggles comic series published by Action Comics of Sydney, Australia. The story is followed by The Case of the Remarkable Perfume The story is an adaptation of The Case of the Black Gauntlet from Biggles of the Special Air Police.
Synopsis[]
Biggles receives a black gauntlet with a swastika in gold and is reminded of an event during the war. Soon after Raymond persuades Biggles to be the technical advisor for a film of WW2 combat flying.
Plot summary[]
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This is a fairly faithful adaptation of the original, with all the key events depicted:
- Biggles receives the parcel with the gauntlet and recalls the events are Marham which are depicted in detail.
- He meets Gainsforth and Raymond who persuades him to act as technical adviser.
- Over at the film site, he finds an Messerschmitt with a black gauntlet painted on the side of the cockpit. Gainsforth says he was at Marham during the events in the past and he picked up the other gauntlet of the pair. They go into the office to look for it but it is gone.
- Unlike the original where there are several days of uneventful filming before the fateful last day, here the very next day Peterson goes missing and Biggles is persuaded to fly the Spitfire.
- The same brief radio exchange between Thea and Biggles takes place where she announces her intentions. Like in the original Biggles declares his unwillingness to shoot at a woman even if he had real ammunition. He evades Thea's attacks several times but finally Biggles is forced to fly low over the ground to dodge. As drawn, it appears that he does not expect to see the telegraph wires and avoids them just in time, flying under them. In the original, the manoeuvre is somewhat deliberate.
- The end of the story takes place not at a cinema but at a private film viewing. Here Gainsforth makes the same confession as in the original. For some reason, Raymond and Biggles are in uniform, complete with peaked cap and all!
Characters[]
The Special Air Police[]
- Air Commodore Raymond
- Biggles
- Algy Lacey
- Ginger Hebblethwaite
- Bertie Lissie
Others[]
Others[]
Mentioned[]
Aircraft[]
- Supermarine Spitfire
- Messerschmitt Me 109 - for some reason it has a radial engine!
- Percival Provost - camera aircraft
- Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Gallery[]
A B-17 at Marham. The multi-panel glazing of the bombadier's station suggests a B-17E model. The F had a simplified 1 piece canopy with a flat "chin".
The extended tail section with a rear gunner position is consistent with a E model. The tailfin ought to have a larger and more pronounced fillet though.
Thea with her Messerschmitt. Note the radial engine. There were experimental 109s with radial engines but these were distroyed during the war.
Another view of the Messerschmitt.
Here the Messerschmitt appears to have morphed into a Focke-Wulf!
At least the choice of a Provost as cameraship is sensible and the drawing is reasonably accurate.
Raymond and Biggles in Metropolitan Police uniforms?
Places[]
Visited[]
Mentioned[]
Research notes[]
Illustrations[]