(Popular Comics 046, 1939)
The Phantom of the Sky (AKA the Phantom Sky Raider AKA the Black Phantom) is a mysterious pilot who has been flying around the American West, viciously attacking and shooting down civilian planes and painting a skull-and-crossbones calling card on them. He turns out to be a nameless French WWI flying ace, shot down and left for dead but actually just trapped in a delusion of an unending war in which he is essentially conducting guerrilla air combat. He proves elusive but eventually the Masked Pilot and his pal Tom shoot him down. He does manage to survive the crash, so hopefully he got some help for his nightmare existence.
Here's where I thought I might say something about the Masked Pilot but... he's just a pilot hero. He flies around with Tom and solves problems with his plane. You might think that he wears a face-concealing mask because he's horribly deformed but no, he wears a regular domino in his civilian getup so it's just an affectation. I suppose a pilot with a gimmick is technically better than one without, but only just.
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