Enemy Ace

Hans von Hammer
Cover toShowcase#57 (July/August 1965) featuring The Enemy Ace (art by Joe Kubert).
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Our Army at War#151 (February1965)
Created by	Robert Kanigher Joe Kubert
In-story information
Full name	Hans von Hammer
Team affiliations	Five Warriors from Forever

Enemy Ace(German:Feindliches Ass) is aDC Comicsproperty about the adventures of a skilled but troubled Germananti-heroandflying aceinWorld War IandWorld War II,Hans von Hammer,known to the world as"The Hammer of Hell".Debuting in 1965, the comic was written byRobert Kanigherand drawn byJoe Kubertand the character has been revived several times since by other writers and artists.

Overview

Enemy Ace first appeared inOur Army at War#151 (February1965),in a backup story that quickly gained popularity. As aWorld War Ipilot flying for theGermans,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.

The cover ofStar Spangled War Stories#148, highlighting the fatal fall of Von Hammer's puppy, Schatzi.

The early series stories centered around World War I aerial combat and the tactics employed by the early knights of the air, along with their honor.The stories were often a stark contrast between the dark brooding character Von Hammer and his softer, kinder side as inStar Spangled War Stories#148 where Von Hammer rescues a little dog he names "Schatzi" and proceeds to befriend him, even introducing him to his dark hunting companion the gray wolf who accepts little Schatzi rather than eating him. The Von Hammer stories were not big on happy endings, and Von Hammer goes on to lose Schatzi in a haunting scene by dropping him accidentally from his Fokker during air combat. He grieves the loss of the dog, then proceeds to massacre the remaining British pilots in an act of bloody revenge. Von Hammer was a dark character, portrayed as the inevitable result of war.

Unlike most comic book characters, Von Hammer does not have an arch-enemy, though a French pilot known as The Hangman was a persistent opponent. The majority of Von Hammer's opponents follow the same code of honor as he does, which includes not attacking a helpless pilot.

Created byRobert KanigherandJoe Kubert,the Enemy Ace was based loosely on the real-life Red Baron,Manfred von Richthofen.Both flew Crimson RedFokker DR1triplanes. Both were ofaristocraticblood. Both awarded themselves a trophy with each downed enemy plane. Both were the highest scoringflying aceof the First World War. The main difference between the two was that Von Hammer survived to old age, whereas Von Richthofen was shot down and killed before the war ended.

The character's stories have been praised as among DC's strongest war stories of theSilver Age of comic books.He was revived for a fewgraphic novels.The first wasEnemy Ace: War Idyll(1990) byGeorge Pratt,where Hammer is revealed to have lived until 1969, dying peacefully upon turning over his memoirs to and concluding his interviews with a troubledVietnam Warveteran-turned-journalist.

Tim Truman'sGuns Of TheDragon1998 mini-series saw Von Hammer in1927 Chinateaming up with an elderlyBat Lashand Biff Bradley, the brother ofSlam BradleyagainstMiss FearandVandal Savageon an adventure toDinosaur Island.

Cover ofEnemy Ace - War in Heaven TPB.

A more recent work isGarth Ennis'sEnemy Ace: War in Heaven(2001), with art byChris WestonandRuss Heath.Here, von Hammer's character and story arc is based on several real-life German pilots, notablyAdolf Galland.The series recounts the pilot's activities duringWorld War IIwhere he is persuaded to once again fight as a pilot of theLuftwaffe.Von Hammer is placed in charge of his owngruppeand initially serves on theEastern Front.Thoughno friendto theNaziregime, he rapidly amasses numerous kills flying a red-paintedBf 109against theRussians,and later in defense ofGermany(flying a scarletMe 262) against American bombers. Nevertheless, von Hammer becomes increasingly disillusioned as he continues to witness the horrors of war. During a battle, he is shot down and crashes near Leningrad. In his attempts to make it back to his own lines, he witnesses many horrible sights on the Russian front, including cannibalism. In 1945, after bailing out of his damaged aircraft, he inadvertently parachutes into theDachau concentration campand is outraged to discover the German perpetration ofthe Holocaust.His patience with the Nazi regime at an end, Von Hammer proposes a mutiny upon returning to his airbase and later surrenders hisJagdverbandto advancingAlliedtroops, namelySgt. Rock'sEasy Company,after setting fire to the fighter unit's remaining aircraft.

Von Hammer makes a guest appearance of sorts as an opponent ofGeneral Wade Eiling's father in a tale set during the First World War.

In2008,he is featured in Bruce Jones'The War that Time Forgot.He also appears inBooster Goldin 2009, during World War I. When Booster is thrown back in time and caught in the middle of the war, alongside Cyrus Lord, the ancestor ofMaxwell Lord,von Hammer aids their escape from captivity behind German lines rather than abet their torture and further stain his hands with blood.

During the "Dark Nights: Death Metal"storyline, Enemy Ace is among the superheroes that were revived byBatmanusing a Black Lantern ring.

Von Hammer's descendants

A possible descendant of Von Hammer appears in the story "Ghost of the Killer Skies" inDetective Comics#404 (Oct. 1970). Batman investigates sabotage and murder taking place during shooting of abiographical filmbased on Von Hammer. The mastermind behind the sabotage is stunt pilot Heinrich Frans, who bears a strong resemblance to Von Hammer and claims that he was his ancestor. Believing that Von Hammer was a ruthless man, Frans is outraged that the film's story has his ancestor showing respect and mercy to his enemies, despite Batman countering that Von Hammer's story is more one of "a man caught between his feeling of duty and his own best instincts". Frans falls to his death during an aerial duel with Batman, both men using vintage World War I planes. During the duel, it is heavily implied that the spirit of Von Hammer helps Batman pilot his craft far better than the crimefighter could on his own. At the end, it is not confirmed if Heinrich Frans was indeed Von Hammer's descendant.

In issue #139 of theRobinseries, von Hammer's great-granddaughter Lieutenant Ilsa von Hammer appeared as part of a group of soldiers that includedJohnny 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.

Another possible descendant appears inSuperman#689. Will Von Hammer works as a private investigator in Berlin. He possesses some superhuman invulnerability as he is also the descendant of World War II hero Stormy Foster. In DC's 'New 52'Shademini-series, Will helps theShadein tracking down the latter's past.

Swamp Thing#86-87 revealed von Hammer and his father, Otto von Hammer, to be ancestors of the Arcane clan (Anton, Gregori, Anais, Aniela, Abigail, Tefe and others).

An unnamed gorilla wearing Enemy Ace's costume appears as a minor character in 2019's Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. He's part of Gorilla City's air defenses and, in the past, he flew his biplane to face a giant Jimmy Olsen turned into an ape, who was wrecking havoc in their city. In the present, he shows up alongside a myriad of minor characters to help Jimmy fight a robot invasion.

Von Hammer's aircraft

• Fokker Dr.I-World War I
• Messerschmitt Bf 109F- earlyWorld 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, his World War II aircraft lacked the standardswastikainsignia on the tail, which causes friction with one of his officers who is fervently loyal to the Nazi Party.

Collected editions

There have been a number oftrade paperbackcollections as well asoriginal graphic novels:

• Enemy Ace: War Idyll(byGeorge Pratt,graphic novel,128 pages, hardcover (1990), softcover (1995),ISBN0-930289-78-1)
• The Enemy AceArchives(byRobert KanigherandJoe Kubert):
  • Volume 1(212 pages, October 2002, hardcover,ISBN1-56389-896-9,collects:Our Army at War(1952) #151, #153, #155;Showcase(1956) #57-58;Star-Spangled War Stories(1952) #138-142)
  • Volume 2(196 pages, September 2006, hardcover,ISBN1-4012-0776-6), collects:Star Spangled War Stories(1952) #143-145, #147-150, #183, #200)The copy on the dust jacket does not accurately reflect the contents. It says "completing the collection of all of the original Kanigher/Kubert Enemy Ace tales (and adding in collaborations with artists Neal Adams, Russ Heath and Frank Thorne), this volume's ten stories display some of comics' greatest talents at the peak of their creative powers..." The book contains 13 stories and does not include any stories by Neal Adams, but is credited with one story as artist WITH Joe Kubert (issue #144- "Death Takes No Holiday"..). Two Enemy Ace-branded stories fromOur Army at War#146 are not included in this collection as they are not, in fact, Enemy Ace stories. They were both retitled reprints of previously-published non-Enemy Ace stories ( "Balloon for a Hawk" fromOur Fighting Forces#60, retitled as "No! I will not go up in that papier mâché coffin!" and "My Brother, The Enemy Ace!" fromAll-American Men of War#101, retitled as "Brother Enemy!" ), each with a single Kubert-drawn introductory page added (featuring Von Hammer).
• Enemy Ace: War in Heaven(byGarth EnnisandRobert Kanigher,with art byChris Weston,Russ Heath,Christian Alamy andJoe Kubert,collects 2-issue mini-series andStar Spangled War Stories#139, 128 pages, 2003,ISBN1-56389-982-5)
• Showcase Presents:Enemy Ace Volume 1(552 pages, Black & White, January2008,ISBN978-1-4012-1721-1,collects:Detective Comics(1937) #404;Men of War(1977) #1-3, #8-10, #12-14, #19-20;Our Army at War(1952) #151, #153, #155;Showcase(1956) #57-58;Star Spangled War Stories(1952) #138-145, #147-150, #183, #200;Unknown Soldier#251-253, #260-261, #265-267)

In other media

Television

Enemy Ace appears in the teaser of theBatman: The Brave and the Boldepisode "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure!", voiced byJohn DiMaggio.

Merchandise

A deluxe action figure has been released which includes Black Wolf and a smaller scale version of his Fokker DR-1.

Novels

• Von Hammer appears as a vampire inKim Newman'sAnno Draculauniverse novelThe Bloody Red Baron,alongside other fictional German pilots and von Richthofen himself.
• During the 1970s, Enemy Ace was parodied inSparky ComicsasBaron Von Reichs-Pudding,an incompetent German pilot from the Great War.

See also

• Manfred von Richthofen
• Adolf Galland
• Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp

External links

• Enemy Aceat the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)
• Enemy AceatDon Markstein's Toonopedia.Archivedfrom the original on June 17, 2016.
• The Enemy Ace Biography