Great Pages: STAR-SPANGLED WAR STORIES #144

From Star-Spangled War Stories (Vol. 1) #144 (1969)

For part of his career, the World War I character named Enemy Ace resided in the pages of Star-Spangled War Stories. There, in stories mostly written by Robert Kanigher with art handled by Joe Kubert, the German pilot took to the skies over a war-torn Europe. Though he was working with America’s enemies, Hans von Hammer lived by a strict code of honor and fought without malice or anger. He had a job to do, a job he was extremely good at, but a job he didn’t particularly enjoy. Seeing young men, no matter their nationality, killed in their prime did not fill him with joy. Kanigher and Kubert told many stories based on this simple premise.

As the 1960s ended, Kubert found himself with tighter deadlines and more responsibilities. The story goes that Kubert turned to Alex Toth to pencil an issue of Star-Spangled War Stories that Kubert didn’t have time to do. Toth turned in pages that bore little resemblance to the script Kanigher had written. Scrambling, Kubert turned to Neal Adams to do a quick turnaround on the story. The young hotshot turned in pages that looked almost exactly like they’d been done by Kubert himself. With Kubert’s inks over top them, it nearly looked like a standard issue of the series. Adams disappeared and allowed Kubert to shine. In pages like the one seen above, as a pilot dressed like a skeleton comes bearing down on Von Hammer and an ally makes a bold sacrifice, the two legendary artists are working well together. It was a wonderful pairing that readers would rarely see again.