Very well done I grew up in the 70's and I was a big fan of Enemy Ace. The first time I read his adventures it was the three parter trilogy where he takes on Steve Savage aka The Balloon Buster. A few years later DC reprinted a couple of his stories and I was hooked.
So when DC published the archives and War In Heaven I was interested. It took me a few years to actually get around to buying them. I'm a 39 year old man with a family, job etc. Things tend to happen that cause distraction. But I finally got around to purchasing both archive volumes and a copy of War In Heaven.
It was worth the wait. As I got older and learned how to count years I realized that Hammer would only have been in his forties when WW2 began. I often wondered what the character would have done. Somehow the idea of just sitting out the war didn't seem believable.War in Heaven does a good job addressing that issue.
I'm unfamiliar with Garth Ennis. The last time I was following comics was in the eighties when I was a college student. Then it was all about The Watchmen, Dark Night, Ronin, and so on. Mr. Ennis is a newcomer to me. I'm impressed with what he's done here. Even if much of his work dosen't appeal to me.
This is a different Hammer from the one I grew up with. But that's okay. He's older, more mature and taciturn even in his thoughts. We all change as the years go by, or at least we should. Von Hammer has changed. Not as much introspection anymore. He knows what he is. No need to talk about it anymore.It's a done deal.
We only see a glimpse of the younger Hammer a couple of times and then it's sparse.Enough for us to see that he is has changed, but that there is still humanity within "The Human Killing Machine".This was always his saving grace. I found that I liked the middle-aged Enemy Ace.
I also found it to be believeable that he would fight for the Nazi's, because he was also fighting for Germany. Many a WW1 veteran fought for Nazi Germany because of their sense of loyalty. Many of them didn't like Hitler, but they couldn't turn their backs on their country. For better or for worse.
Von Hammer is one of Germany's best warriors, a product of the German aristocracy. The Nazi's didn't like the aristocracy, but they needed them. It was a tense relationship and War In Heaven does a good job addressing this uneasy balancing act.
I found the art to be excellent. And unlike some posters I liked the fact that Russ Heath worked on the second chapter.Heath was always my favorite artist back during the old Haunted Tank days. I liked his eye for technical details. It's a nice connection to the old Enemy Ace. But he isn't Kubert. I believe that if Kubert would have drawn the second chapter it would have been distracting. It would have been jarring to have Kubert draw the his most famous character in the jet age.
It's been sixteen years since I purchase a graphic novel. War In Heaven is a good way to end the dry spell.
Graphic SF Reader Excellent work here, as men of character are forced to fight in a war, and deal with the propagandists and politics at the same time. High quality. A desperate German airforce brings back their aging, veteran star pilot, to train the resources they have left.
With one all-star cameo briefly near the end.
Enemy Ace Soars Enemy Ace War In Heaven is a tremendous artistic work filled with fascinating historical details. Author Garth Ennis is in fine form, supplying great character portraits, an interesting plot and tension in the form of Hans Von Hammer's aristocratic noblesse oblige in contrast to slavish servility to Nazi dogma.
Ennis expertly includes details about design flaws in the Me-109G and the Me-163 Komet. He also includes a strange but true example of British fighter planes operating on the Russian Front. It's these type of details, combined with his hard hitting writing that vault Enemy Ace into the heavens.
Artists Christian Alamy and legend Russ Heath each draw one volune of this work. Both artists do a spectacular job and depict aerial combat in a vivid and gritty manner.
Most of us view air war as a clinical exercise, aerial knights gallantly dueling it out in the skies. But Garth Ennis shows the gruesome aspects of fighter combat in a very powerful scene where Hammer engages a Soviet bomber. Don't worry, I won't spoil the surprise.
Russ Heath also presents a flesh and blood image of air war in his segment of the work during a combat flight between Hammer and his wingman Peter.
I loved this book and hope that Garth Ennis returns to the World War II theme. It's one of his finest pieces.
Well done, Mr. Ennis. Once again Ennis presents a well-told (if somewhat timeworn) continuation of another vintage character, in this case recalled Luftwaffe ace Hans Von Hammer. The splitting of the story into two parts is well done, although this leads to some unevenness in the artwork. And so it happens that the first part (in which every rivet and panel is lovingly depicted in the horrors of the Ostfront) is better looking than the second part, but the second part has the real meat of the story and includes deeper characters which make up for the comparatively bland artwork. Is the story of a German fighting man who grows disillusioned with his war worn out? Sure. It's been done. Ennis isn't covering any new ground as far as that goes. But don't let that stop you. Stories like this don't come along every day.
A superb addition to the life of Hans von Hammer I have enjoyed the adventures of Enemy Ace in both the DC Showcase edition and the superb George Pratt graphic novel War Idyll, but those stories are separated by 50-plus years. My big question has always been, "what happened in-between?" ENEMY ACE: WAR IN HEAVEN provides the answer. Set from 1941 - 1945, the "Hammer of Hell" is brought out of retirement by the Luftwaffe to lead a squadron of younger pilots. von Hammer, now 46, has no love for the Nazi regime, yet he accepts the position because he has a sense of duty to fight for his country... and fight he does, racking up so many kills that his distaste for Hitler is conveniently ignored by his peers. But von Hammer's sense of duty can only last so long when it comes to the ineptitude and atrocities he witnesses in a Germany under Nazi rule. In the end, he has to make a difficult decision.
I normally run the other way when writer Garth Ennis gets his hands on any company-owned character, but this is a happy exception. Ennis captures the character perfectly, giving us a tired man in middle-age going back to war because that's what gives him life. Thankfully, this story doesn't have the standard Ennis shock value, though there is one scene of a bailed-out pilot falling into the propeller of another plane. Well, at least it fits the story. A nice cameo by Sgt. Rock helps to anchor the action firmly within the greater DC Universe.
Art duties are split between Chris Weston and Russ Heath. Weston does a great job on the first half of the book, perfectly capturing the feel of WW2 styles and machinery. Comics legend Russ Heath finishes off the story, providing a nice blend of his classic style and Weston's stylish renderings. While the differences between the two artistic styles are noticeable, it's really not a problem at all.
Rounding out this collection is a classic tale from Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert: Star-Spangled War Stories #139, featuring Enemy Ace vs. the Hangman. Its inclusion is made all the more enjoyable by the fact that Weston incorporates an image from it into his art for the main story.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
