Billy Bishop's Flying School by Kate Beaton

"Have you heard of Billy Bishop?" came the voice across the room from behind a new book.

"Well...yes," said I (of course). 

Thus was I introduced to the brilliantly irreverent intersection of history and comedy that is Kate Beaton's cartooning. Work such as hers can give us students of history a break, a refresher, even new insight into our usually sobering and arresting research. Just think of "Monty Python" or "The Wipers Times." 

Now read Kate Beaton. 

~ Kimball Worcester

                                                                                                            

In WWI, pilots were the cool new thing. So exciting! Flying aces! Nothing like that had ever existed before. That's why people like Billy Bishop could become a star and inspire all the young bros to sign up. The only real drawback was that for 99 percent of new recruits, an engine would blow up in their faces two minutes after taking off for the first time. Beyond that, it's a great life. Just don't fly during Red April, boys.

Kathryn (Kate) Moira Beaton (born 8 September 1983) is a Canadian comics artist and the creator of the comic strip Hark! A Vagrant. This Billy Bishop cartoon first appeared in the strip and is in included in Kate's compilation volume: