- Enemy Ace
Superherobox
caption =
character_name = Hans von Hammer
publisher =DC Comics
debut = "Our Army at War " # 151 (February, 1965)
creators =Robert Kanigher Joe Kubert
alter_ego =
full_name = Hans von Hammer
species =
homeworld =
alliances =
aliases =
supports=
powers ="Enemy Ace" is the name of
DC Comics property about the adventures of a skilled but troubled Germanflying ace in theWorld War s, Hans von Hammer.Overview
Enemy Ace first appeared in "
Our Army at War " # 151, (February 1965) It was a backup story that quickly gained popularity. As aWorld War I pilot flying for the Germans, his stories told the German side of the war, in which Hans von Hammer was a man of honor andchivalry , a flying knight in hisFokker Dr.I , but he was haunted by his duties and the constant death surrounding them.Created by
Robert Kanigher andJoe Kubert , the Enemy Ace was taken almost directly from the real-life Red Baron,Manfred von Richthofen . Both flew vermillion aircraft. Both were ofaristocratic blood. Both were the highest scoringflying ace of the First World War. But the comic book character was able to delve deep into the realm of fantasy where no history book could reach.Fact|date=February 2008The character's stories have been praised as among DC's strongest war stories of the Silver Age of comic books. He was revived for a few
graphic novel s. The first was "Enemy Ace: War Idyll" (1989) by George Pratt, where Hammer is revealed to have lived until1969 , dying peacefully upon turning over his memoirs and concluding his interviews with a troubledVietnam War veteran-turned-journalist .A more recent work is
Garth Ennis 's "Enemy Ace: War in Heaven" (2001), with art byChris Weston andRuss Heath . The series recounts the pilot's activities duringWorld War II where he is persuaded to fly again as a pilot of theLuftwaffe . Here von Hammer's character is based on several real-life German pilots, notablyAdolf Galland . von Hammer is put in charge of his ownsquadron and serves on the Eastern Front (flying a red-paintedMe-109 ), then in Germany itself (flying a scarletMe-262 ). He becomes increasingly disillusioned as he witnesses the horrors of war, includingcannibalism when he was shot down behindRussia n lines. In 1945, after bailing out of a damaged craft, he inadvertentlyparachute s into theDachau concentration camp and is outraged at what his government was doing in perpetratingthe Holocaust . Upon returning to his airbase, he led amutiny , destroyed his squadron's aircraft, and surrendered to Allied troops, namely Sgt. Rock's unit, at his first opportunity.Recently, in issue #139 of the latest Robin series, von Hammer's great-granddaughter Lieutenant Ilsa von Hammer appeared as part of a group of soldiers that included Johnny Cloud's grandson and a legendary soldier known only as the Veteran. This group, handling missions which may be more unusual than the normal military is equipped for, recruits Robin to assist on their missions.
In 2008, he is featured in Bruce Jones' "
The War that Time Forgot ".von Hammer's Aircraft
*
Fokker Dr.I —World War I
*Messerschmitt Bf 109 F—EarlyWorld War II
*Messerschmitt Bf 109 G—Eastern Front
*Messerschmitt Me 262 —Used late war until surrender."Note: Not only are all of Von Hammer's aircraft painted bright red, but his WW2 aircraft lacked the standard
swastika insignia on the tail."Volumes
There have been a number of trade paperback collections as well as original graphic novels:
*"Enemy Ace: War Idyll" (by George Pratt,
graphic novel , 128 pages, 1983, ISBN 0930289781) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=1340 DC profile for "Enemy Ace: War Idyll"] ] [comicbookdb|type=issue|id=49536|title="Enemy Ace: War Idyll"]
*"The Enemy Ace Archives" (byRobert Kanigher andJoe Kubert ):
** "Volume 1" (224 pages, April 2003, ISBN 1563898969) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=1142 DC profile for "The Enemy Ace Archives Volume 1"] ]
** "Volume 2" (196 pages, September 2006, ISBN 1401207766) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=5553 DC profile for "The Enemy Ace Archives Volume 2"] ]
*"Enemy Ace: War in Heaven" (byGarth Ennis andRobert Kanigher , with art byChris Weston ,Russ Heath ,Christian Alamy andJoe Kubert , collects 2-issue mini-series and "Star Spangled War Stories " #139, 128 pages, 2003, ISBN 1563899825) [comicbookdb|type=issue|id=68790|title="Enemy Ace: War in Heaven"] [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=5553 DC profile for "The Enemy Ace Archives Volume 2"] ]
*"Showcase Presents : Enemy Ace Volume 1" (January 2008) [ [http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=8757 DC profile for "Showcase Presents Volume 1"] ]In other media
Toys
A deluxe action figure has been released which includes Black Wolf and a smaller scale version of his Fokker DR-1. [ [http://www.dccomics.com/dcdirect/?dcd=3195 DC's deluxe action figure model] ]
Novels
Von Hammer appears as a vampire in
Kim Newman 's "Anno Dracula " universe novel "The Bloody Red Baron", alongside other fictional German pilots and von Richtofen himself.Notes
References
*
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/enemyace.htm Toonopedia Entry]External links
* [http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Jupiter/3981/dcwar/enemyace.htm The Enemy Ace Biography]
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