Customer Reviews

The Enemy Ace Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)

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This volume, along with "The Sgt. Rock Archives", reprints excellent work by the team of Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert. What is particularly astounding about both volumes is that each contain a level of maturity and depth not found in the DC Comics super-hero line at that time (which is not to say those stories are without value). While it is not quite as sophisticated as the stories being told in comics today, both Rock and Enemy Ace tell riveting and complex stories in the war milleu. Enemy Ace is particularly daring, telling the story of a WWI German pilot, and bringing a great sense of moral ambiguity to the procedings.

The key attraction of the Enemy Ace is the depth of Hans von Hammer. He's a skilled fighter and killer, without equal, and so, he is a loner. But above all else, he is a man of duty: to his fatherland, to his men, and to himself. His trophies mean nothing, the opinions of his commrades in arms mean nothing. Only his duty. It's this sense of duty that allows us to sympathize with this otherwise enigmatic soldier, whose only friend is a wolf in the Black Forest.

There are many touches which help bring the character to life. The almost chivalric code that pilots live by, with the loser falling to his death while saluting the victor, for example, bring the war into focus. As does the violence. Now, this isn't "Saving Private Ryan" of course, but Kubert and Kanigher do make it plain that the life of a pilot is nasty, brutish, and short, even for a good one. Hammer live under a very real threat of death everytime he takes to the skies. And Hammer knows this, making him that much more human.

What is particularly interesting about this volume is there is a certain level of repetition. Kanigher was clearly taking his time and finding his way in developing his character, trying to make him work. Thus, we often read variations of the same dialog and themes for much of the volume. Towards the end, Kanigher seems to have gotten hold of the character, as there is a great deal of confidence, and the repetition deminishes. I note this not as a complaint, but with intrigue.

Hopefully, DC will continue publishing volumes of Enemy Ace. While I love the "Big Gun" character, some lesser characters, like the Enemy Ace, offer great storytelling as well, if not better in some cases. This volume is a testiment to that fact.

Enemy Ace was the first character of its kind in comics. Telling the story of a war from the point of view of the foe. However that statment is kind of overplayed as usually the German Hans von Hammer was fighting the French or British. In this volume you will not see him against any American.

The idea of one who's main focus is duty is a powerful one. Von Hammer is a character that can't one can't help but respect. the stories are fine and the art is first rate.

We see only the first glimpse of what later issues will bring on the agony of survival and the inability to protect the young unready men thrown against the foe.

The origional issues are still cheep enough the you can get them for less than the price of this book, however I still favor the Hardcover which will last a lifetime of reading.

And that's what stories are for.

This series had alot going for it , stories by the great prolific writer Robert Kanigher (RIP) and art by the great Joe Kubert.
They manage to capture that lost era of the air knights very well. Many of these early stories are similiar perhaps with the tormented german ace Von Hammer battling expertly drawn enemy air machines and the code of fighting that men had during the war is even aptly expressed. I do question though the idea that the other airmen would be calling him a killing machine and avoiding him, instead they would probably cling near him hoping that his skill and luck would help them survive. Still this was groundbreaking stuff, having a story about German ace who is killing allied airmen in combat. But as nasty as ww1 was people often had a stronger moral code at least in the airwar. This didn't apply to the German army when they attacked Belgium in the start of the war though. A blot on them that they later didn't repeat thankfully. What does ring true is the feeling many airmen had during the war that few would survive the fighting and that was actually the case. With seven out of ten dying in their burning aircraft, they wore no parachutes and this made death more certain for so many good flyers on both sides. Even the Red Baron; on whom this character is based on somewhatdid not survive the war. The stories do have some back story on our Prussian hero, and his upbringing that helps explain his situation. The german society at that time was extremely militaristic and martial in many ways which lead to further disasters in the second world war for everyone else. That is not to say that the military is a bad thing but their society was teaching blind obediance to the military in this period. Von Hammer's father was such a man to be sure. You also get the early excellent Hangman stories here, ( the French ace whom Von Hammer must face) the best thing here is that they reconstructed the art so it looks great. Unlike the shoddy later dc archives in which they just copied some comic book page and it's all faded and looks bad. So it's a top notch effort here. VOlume two is even better imo but this is the place to start with the great character, a lone wolf fighting man of the airwar.

I was extremely pleased with this archival edition of The Enemy Ace. Other reviews posted here discuss the stories contained within this edition, but I want to comment on the quality of the materials used. This edition is beautifully executed with top quality paper and inks. The colors are vibrant and really showcase the beautiful artwork that is a hallmark of this series. Considering that this series was printed on cheap comic book paper when originally issued, this is probably the first time that these stories have been executed the way that they deserve. The cover is made from a beautiful simulated leather and the volume contains a short forward by the artist, Joe Kubert.

I ordered this for my husband, he had most of these comics years ago, but they were destroyed, he has already read it twice, amazing!