Enemy Ace

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

Enemy Ace (

Enemy Ace first appeared in Our Army at War #151 (February 1965),^[3] in 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.^[1]

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.^[4] The stories were often a stark contrast between the dark brooding character Von Hammer and his softer, kinder side as in Star 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 by

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 (1990) by George Pratt,^[5] where Hammer is revealed to have lived until 1969, dying peacefully upon turning over his memoirs to and concluding his interviews with a troubled Vietnam War veteran-turned-journalist.

A more recent work is

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

In 2008, he is featured in Bruce Jones' The War that Time Forgot. He also appears in Booster Gold in 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 of Maxwell Lord, von Hammer aids their escape from captivity behind German lines rather than abet their torture and further stain his hands with blood.^[6]

During the "Dark Nights: Death Metal" storyline, Enemy Ace is among the superheroes that were revived by Batman using a Black Lantern ring.^[7]

Von Hammer's descendants

A possible descendant of Von Hammer appears in the story "Ghost of the Killer Skies" in Detective Comics #404 (Oct. 1970). Batman investigates sabotage and murder taking place during shooting of a biographical film based 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 the

• Enemy Ace: War Idyll (by
  ISBN 0-930289-78-1)^[5][8]
• The Enemy Ace
  Archives (by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert
  ):
  • Volume 1 (212 pages, October 2002, hardcover,
    Star-Spangled War Stories (1952) #138-142)^[9]
  • Volume 2 (196 pages, September 2006, hardcover,
    ISBN 1-4012-0776-6), collects: Star Spangled War Stories (1952) #143-145, #147-150, #183, #200)^[10]
    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 from Our 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" from Our Fighting Forces #60, retitled as "No! I will not go up in that papier mâché coffin!" and "My Brother, The Enemy Ace!" from All-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 (by
  ISBN 1-56389-982-5)^[10][11]
• ISBN 978-1-4012-1721-1, 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)^[12]