The story of World War II Soviet ace Lilya Litvak and her friend/at least for one night love interest Katya Budanova, from their days as flight instructors for the male pilots, through their being assigned to combat units, their triumphs and losses.
Both Lilya and Katya are in an unpleasant circumstance. Lilya's a Polish Jew, so while she's got zero love for the Nazis, life in the USSR isn't exactly a bed of roses, either. Katya's Ukrainian, so again, someone who might not have a lot of love for Stalin or the Soviets. But, of course, they have to play at being loyal citizens, even when their superiors insult, degrade or generally act like they should be grateful living under Soviet rule.
Lilya is the main character, as even much of the time spent on Katya is focused on her attraction to Lilya. It's Katya who gives Lilya the white lily that becomes her call sign. And for the most part, Lilya is the one who drives the story. She's the one who mocks the male pilots they're training for being cowards or throwing up at the sight of Nazi planes, who out-flies her flight instructor when they're given the chance to fly real combat aircraft. Lilya is the one shot down over Stalingard and has to make it back to the base (though Poulter glosses over the particulars of that).
Katya is mostly carried along in Lilya's wake. Not that she isn't a good pilot herself, but the story doesn't give the impression Katya was excited at the prospect of fighting on the front lines, so much as she was good enough to get the opportunity and it would keep her close to Lilya. A lot of her page time is devoted to worrying about Lilya, or being disappointed that Lilya is attracted to the male captain that commands their squadron.
The first two issues were drawn by Lovalle Davis, who unfortunately passed away shortly after finishing the second issue. Jake Bilbao had been working on covers for the series, and took over interior duties as well. Both artists took an unusual approach during the air combat scenes. They essentially drew from the bottom of the page to the top. It allowed for more a widescreen feel, I guess, but you had to turn the book on its side. They also tended to intersperse smaller panels through the page, and often drew those in the shape of the plane's canopy or crosshairs. That was a nice touch, because it let them give a sense of the scale of the battle, just how many planes were up there at once, but made sure the reader didn't lose track of the main characters.
The mini-series could easily have been six issues, considering issue 5
is nearly 40 pages itself, but it fits with the overall arc of the story. When Lilya experienced a loss and considered ending it all, she was able to go forward out of desire to keep fighting Nazis. Once she's gone, Katya is basically playing out the string.
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