Review- THE ENEMY ACE ARCHIVES VOL. 2

THE ENEMY ACE ARCHIVES VOL. 2 (DC, 2006; Hardcover)

Collects the Enemy Ace stories from Star Spangled War Stories Nos. 143-145, 147-150, 152, 158, 181-183, 200 (cover dates March, 1969- July, 1976)

Writers: Bob Kanigher and Joe Kubert (#200)

Artists: Joe Kubert, Neal Adams (#144), Russ Heath (#152), and Frank Thorne (#181-183)

The tone of this series changes drastically in these issues. While the heroic portrayal of the “Hammer of Hell”, Baron Hans Von Hammer, was always interesting because he was the enemy of our country, it is even more interesting that the hippie anti-war sentiments crept into a series set during World War I. While those sentiments were very much of the time they don't age well 40 years later in a series set 100 years in the past. 

Artwork by Neal Adams.

Fortunately those shortcomings are more than made up for with the top shelf artists who grace these pages. The late, legendary Joe Kubert; god among men Neal Adams; the brilliant photo realistic artwork of Russ Heath; and Frank Thorne's cinematic, widescreen “camera angles”. While these guys are all great, there is an overall sense of DC not knowing what to do with the character, hence the on again, off again publication, with the character ultimately becoming relegated to a back up strip.

The Hangman returns in #145. Rather than make this some story about his sister wearing his guise in order to get revenge on Von Hammer we get a return of the man himself. This seems like a missed opportunity to keep the realistic, grounded feel of the series. Also, his black wolf hunting companion in the forest gets less “screen time” this time out. I enjoyed that in the issues collected in Volume 1.

Star Spangled War Stories #148 is a steaming pile of crap. The Hammer of Hell gets a dog. A dog which he takes in his red tri-wing Fokker in dogfights in the air. A dog who falls out of the plane and dies. A dog who a man who has killed dozens of enemies mourns like none other. Just terrible. 

Artwork by Russ Heath.

There are more than enough stories for a Volume 3, but I seriously doubt that it will ever happen. Maybe I should pick up Showcase Presents Enemy Ace Vol. 1 for further reading.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.

The OCD zone- The covers for Star Spangled War Stories #152, 181-183, and 200 are not included. I guess the collected editions editor who mapped this book out wasn't very good at darts.

DC forgot to include the story from Detective Comics #404, which was published during this time frame. It is included in the Showcase Presents Enemy Ace Vol. 1 black and white phonebook, however.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: Foreword by Robert Klein and Michael Uslan (2 pages).

Creator biographies. (2 pages)

Linework and Color restoration rating: 3 out of 5. Things are passable to dreadful, depending on the issue. While there is a discernible attempt to maintain the original color palette, it is done with half-assed lazy “airbrush” gradients which are the result of allowing the computer to fill in the shape rather than doing it “by hand” on computer. Since DC has an aversion to upgrading the restoration on anything, this is as good as it will ever get. 

Whenever I see completely half-assed color restoration like this it makes me think of that Timmy O'Toole episode of The Simpsons, and the half-assed fix that Groundskeeper Willie does. 

 

THAT'LL do it!

Star Spangled War Stories #147 has murky linework reconstruction.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Creamy off white dull matte finish coated stock. This paper is the ultimate, as it looks vintage but feels high end.

Binding rating: 5 out of 5. Smyth sewn binding, six stitches per signature. The book block is rounded along with the casing, allowing this book to lay completely flat as Godzilla intended.

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Review- THE ENEMY ACE ARCHIVES VOL. 1

THE ENEMY ACE ARCHIVES VOL. 1 (DC, Second Printing, 2002; Hardcover)

Collects Our Army At War Nos. 151, 153, 155, Showcase Nos. 57, 58, and Star Spangled War Stories Nos. 139-142 (cover dates February, 1965- January, 1969)

Writer: Bob Kanigher

Artist: Joe Kubert

DC was liquidating their Archives stock a couple of years ago. It was not uncommon to find boxes of them at comic conventions or in comic shops selling sealed copies for $20. I grabbed both of these Enemy Ace Archives with no real knowledge of the title. One of the greatest joys of collecting comics, especially the collected edition variety, is that all comics from all eras exist simultaneously. I can just as easily discover Enemy Ace in 2014 as I can The Sixth Gun. It is the relative affordability of collected editions that has leveled the playing field in terms of access to vintage material such as this. 

Enemy Ace is the story of Rittmeister Von Hammer, “The Hammer of Hell”, a “human killing machine” Germain airplane pilot in the days of World War I. He flies his tri-wing crimson fokker in battle against French and English airplane fighter pilots. The fact that this book is written with the German as the hero a mere twenty odd years after World War II is curious. Hogan's Heroes was a television series around this time that made Nazis seem almost palatable to people. I wonder if there were some Anti-Semitic leanings in the country at the time. It just seems strange to have the star of the series be the enemy of our country. Or maybe I am reading something when there is nothing.

While I have no interest in World War I or dogfights in the sky, the writing and artwork are of such high quality that the material transcended my perceived limitations of the genre. Indeed, Von Hammer is a man of honor and filled with guilt and regret. His only friend is a black wolf that he sees whenever he goes into the forest for shooting practice. If not for one encounter with a woman it would almost seem as if the wolf was a figment of his imagination, which would be infinitely more interesting.

The original batch of issues were published in 1964 and 1965. The strip was resurrected in 1968 due to popular demand. The first batch was set in 1917, while the second batch mentions 1914. There are no occurrences that would disrupt the continuity if this is indeed the case. 

There is a recurring antagonist called the Hangman who is eerily similar in appearance to Hooded Justice in Watchmen. Seeing as how Alan Moore based most of the characters on 1960s Charlton heroes it is not a stretch to think that Hooded Justice may be an homage to the Hangman. 

While this was a very enjoyable read it is apparent how out of step with the times that DC was. Marvel was so much hipper than DC during the '60s.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.

The OCD zone- DC Archives are wonderful books with really high production values. It makes many of DC's current collected editions choices all the more frustrating. DC knows how to make quality books and chooses not to.

The covers to Our Army At War #153 and 155 are not included.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: Foreword by Joe Kubert (2 pages)

Linework and Color restoration rating: 4 out of 5. Most of the linework looks really good, but Showcase #58 is somewhat murky. There is also some pixelation in that issue.

The original color palette is maintained for the most part. The problems I have with it mostly stem from the occasional lazy airbrush gradient blends. While the spirit of the original comics is maintained the blends are sometimes harsh and unpleasant to look at if you have original comics (or scans of them) to compare side by side. It should be noted that this critique is being done with “2014 eyes”. There have been leaps and bounds in the technology and techniques used to restore these books since this book was released. This was a perfectly serviceable restoration job for the time that the book was published. Comparing this book's restoration to modern collections would be a lot like taking a mastering job done for a 2002 DVD and playing it on a modern high definition television and pointing out the limitations in the resolution compared to a Blu-Ray. It is not an entirely fair comparison. It should also be noted that DC's restoration techniques were the gold standard at the time of publication.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. This paper is the ultimate. Dull matte finish coated stock with a slightly creamy color to it, like the original pulp paper had when the book was brand new. I love the look of pulp paper when it is mint. I loathe it when it is yellowed or browned. This paper is the best of both worlds.

Binding rating: 5 out of 5. Smyth sewn binding, 8 stitches per signature. Book lays completely flat. Again, the quality of this book only makes the cost saves DC has done on so many modern collections even more maddening.

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