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 German flying ace in the World Wars, 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 a World 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 and chivalry, a flying knight in his Fokker Dr.I, but he was haunted by his duties and the constant death surrounding them.

Created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, the Enemy Ace was taken almost directly from the real-life Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen. Both flew vermillion aircraft. Both were of aristocratic blood. Both were the highest scoring flying 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 2008

The 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 novels. The first was "Enemy Ace: War Idyll" (1989) by George Pratt, where Hammer is revealed to have lived until 1969, dying peacefully upon turning over his memoirs and concluding his interviews with a troubled Vietnam War veteran-turned-journalist.

A more recent work is Garth Ennis's "Enemy Ace: War in Heaven" (2001), with art by Chris Weston and Russ Heath. The series recounts the pilot's activities during World War II where he is persuaded to fly again as a pilot of the Luftwaffe. Here von Hammer's character is based on several real-life German pilots, notably Adolf Galland. von Hammer is put in charge of his own squadron and serves on the Eastern Front (flying a red-painted Me-109), then in Germany itself (flying a scarlet Me-262). He becomes increasingly disillusioned as he witnesses the horrors of war, including cannibalism when he was shot down behind Russian lines. In 1945, after bailing out of a damaged craft, he inadvertently parachutes into the Dachau concentration camp and is outraged at what his government was doing in perpetrating the Holocaust. Upon returning to his airbase, he led a mutiny, 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 109F—Early World War II
*Messerschmitt Bf 109G—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" (by Robert Kanigher and Joe 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" (by Garth Ennis and Robert Kanigher, with art by Chris Weston, Russ Heath, Christian Alamy and Joe 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]