1960s Star Spangled War Stories

Continuing our look at DC's war comics of the 1960s, here is Star Spangled War Stories, with two heroes about as opposite as you could get.

Mademoselle Marie from Star Spangled War Stories #88 (December-January, 1959/1960) with cover art by Jerry Grandenetti, and the Enemy Ace from Star Spangled War Stories #148 (December-January, 1969/1970) with cover art by Joe Kubert.

Mademoselle Marie debuted in Star Spangled War Stories #84 (August, 1959) but her French resistance fighter found that her series did not last long.  Still, the battle doll continued on, guest starring with other World War II heroes, including Hunter's Hellcats, Johnny Cloud, the Haunted Tank, Sgt. Rock and the Unknown Soldier (who would eventually take over her title and claim it for his own as well).

Enemy Ace was Hans Von Hammer, a flying ace from World War I....who worked for the Germans.  Debuting in Our Army At War #151 (February, 1965), Hammer kept up his fight through a few issues there, moving to Showcase, then taking over Star Spangled War Stories for a time.   Though he was the enemy, Hammer fought with honor, even after losing his spot in the title, though resurfacing in Unknown Solider for a time towards the end of that series' run.

Balloon Buster And Enemy Ace In World War I

It's the eternal war of good versus evil...and those who fought those wars were as different as the wars they fought.

But, there were two men on opposite sides of the first World War who had their careers covered in comic books....so, let's take a look at the lives of the Balloon Buster and the Enemy Ace!

Balloon Buster

Lt. Steve Savage got his start in All-American Men Of War #112 (November-December, 1965) by Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath, but the character was born and raised in Mustang River, Wyoming, raised by a poor farmer, who taught junior how to shoot a gun (any gun).  Savage promised his father on his death bed to make his name remembered, enlisting in the Army Air Corps to be a pilot.  Savage was insubordinate, a risk taker, gaining the nickname Balloon Buster as he used German attack ballons as his favorite targets.  

Savage was not the world's best pilot, but his can do attitude and success rate kept him in the air (at least for issues #113, #114 and #116, then Our Fighting Forces #133 of September-October, 1971, his only non cover appearance to this time, before...well, time to introduce the other player on the field....).

Enemy Ace

Hans von Hammer first appeared in Our Army At War #151 (February, 1965) by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert (hidden behind a Sgt. Rock cover), with his first cover being Showcase #57 (July-August, 1965), then moving to a run at Star Spangled War Stories starting with issue #138 (April-May, 1968), Hammer was the son of an aristocratic German family, being one of the first to enlist in German flight training school as World War I began.  An impeccable flyer, Hammer was also guided by an incredible sense of honor, refusing to kill unarmed or wounded opponents.  

Hammer got an impressive record of kills over the years, earning the nickname the Hammer of Hell, but was deeply conflicted about war and killing, appearing in Our Army At War #153 and #155, Showcase #57 and #58, then a run in Star Spangled War Stories from #139 to #150 and #152...at least until he had a confrontation with Balloon Buster!

The Fight!

The Balloon Buster and the Hammer of Hell first met in Star Spangled War Stories #181 (July-August, 1974) to #183 (November-December, 1974) by Robert Kanigher and Frank Thorne (though only the Enemy Ace made the first two covers....barely, so, offered instead a tease of the battle between the two, so instead some interior art including American biplane vs Fokker...which ended with both continuing their battles in World War I later).

After the battle, Balloon Buster only had 3 appearances in Unknown Soldier (#262 to #264) and a bit in Crisis On Infinite Earths, with his tales ending in Batman: Legends Of The Dark Knight Annual #7 (1997, with a slightly different history), while the Enemy Ace had only one more appearance in Star Spangled War Stories #200, then for about half the issues of Men of War (time travelling to meet the JLA and JSA during this run), then to back ups in Unknown Soldier from #251 to #253, and #261 to #267, missing the Balloon Buster issues), as well as a bit in Crisis; Post-Crisis, Hammer had many appearances, in the superb Enemy Ace: War Idyll, even post World War I, including meetings with Swamp Thing and Vandal Savage with the battle always continuing...

  

Swamp Thing World Wars

Swamp Thing is not the first person you think of when you think of war comics, but, for two very special issues in 1989, the spirit of Alec Holland was involved in some weird war tales, teaming up with a few characters from the two World Wars as he had sought refuge from an Invasion! of his own (as the Dominators had taken him out of that war, leaving his love, Abby Arcane, on her own).

Brothers In Arms, Part Two

First up, Swamp Thing #82 (January, 1989) under a cover by John Tottleben, in a story by Rick Veitch and Alfredo Alcala, Swamp Thing finds himself waking up in the body of a dead soldier, Alexander Holland, found by Easy Company (and reanimating the body to interact with Sgt. Rock and his crew), earning him the nickname of Lazarus.  

Swamp Thing finds out it is May, 1945, the ending of World War II, and, as a Nazi SS soldier retrieves mystic artifacts from the Castle Von Hammer (including the Claw of Aelkhund sealed behind the wall in the castle with the remains of a French World War I aviator).  Easy Company gets a new assignment, taking out a Nazi meat-packing plant, with Rock and Lazarus going to scout it out.  

While, next to the plant, Anton Arcane meets the Nazi with the artifacts, planning some supernatural feet with them that would save the dying Reich....yet, Arcane had plans beyond what the Austrian painter had, including a sacrifice of one of the bulls (which had supernatural strength) and taking advantage of this war, as he had the past, to perform medical experiments to prolong his own life, as well as make his inhuman Un-Men.  

Rock and Lazarus approached the plant, with Swamp Thing calming a large bull there, with Rock taking that as a sign that Lazarus would unleash the animals as a distraction while Easy Company stormed the plant.  Easy had it easy for once, as a group of allied planes had missed their target and would be able to bomb the plant instead.  Rock went looking for Lazarus, only to find him dead this time (as Swamp Thing had vacated his body, reforming in his usual form, to go after Anton Arcane, who had been his enemy for decades....though Swamp Thing thought they hadn't met yet).  

Confronting Arcane, Swamp Thing was dispatched in fire when confronted with the Claw of Aelkhund, and burst into flames, as Arcane was impaled by the bull Lazarus had let free.  Easy Company later found the bull and had a barbecue, yet Arcane had escaped (as he would later menace Swamp Thing soon after his first appearance).  Easy Company's medic, "Pappy", was really the Unknown Soldier, who had a mission of his own, which was to get the mystic items from the Nazis (which he did).  

This left Rock and Easy, with Sgt. Rock still wondering when that last piece of metal might fall from the sky, ending the war for him.

Meanwhile, back in the modern day, Abby Arcane was met by Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man (who was going by Floro now, and working with the New Guardians during the Invasion!), who said he could not find Swamp Thing in the green (the mystic force Swamp Thing worked with to protect the Earth), but Abby still had faith that her husband was alive.

Sgt. Frank Rock and Easy Company had been fighting World War II for decades in the comics, usually dealing with the hard, cold facts of war, but occasionally dealt with some of the supernatural side, working with the crew of the Haunted Tank and even participating in the Crisis with them and the Losers.  Rock represented the "every man" of World War II, and was said to have died with the last shot of World War II.

The Unknown Soldier was one of those odd things that Sgt. Rock encountered, being an immortal fighting the German forces behind the lines using his disguises during World War II, and even had supposedly helped finish the war ending the threat of Hitler in the end of April, 1945.

Brothers In Arms, Part One

Following Swamp Thing forward put us back in World War I in Swamp Thing #83 (February, 1989) by Rick Veitch, Tom Mandrake and Alfredo Alcala, under a cover by Rick Veitch with a fokker flying into eerily swamp clouds.  

 

 

Here, Anais Arcane and her two children, Aniela and Gregori, had taken refuge in the castle of her cousin, Baron Hans Von Hammer, noted as the Hammer Of Hell, a World War I flier (for the Germans, thus making him an Enemy Ace) while her husband fought in the war.  The Baron saved Anais and her family from a plane with two pilots while they were walking in the woods, with one French pilot dead and burned, and the other wandering out of the swamp, still alive but misformed (as Swamp Thing had come into his body, but had less success in stitching it back together).  

Anais had to go to the medical school her other son was attending, as they had planned to kick Anton out for a host of problems, then went searching for him near the battle front (where Anton was taking advantage of the war to perform human experiments, though his mother only saw that he was "helping").  

Taking him back to Castle Von Hammer to help the misformed Frenchmen, Anton reunited with his siblings (not a happy one for his sister or brother), and took to experimenting on the wounded Frenchman (who, while recuperating, still was not able to resist, especially after being subjected to torture under Anton's care.....though he recognized this man as his foe, and his mother, who looked like her granddaughter, Abby).  

Baron Hammer tolerated Anton's presence for a time as he had given the aviator drugs to help him sleep as he dealt with the horror of air battle, and Anton used the Von Hammer library to further his own occult research.  

Eventually, Anais caught Anton using the supernatural objects in spells on the Frenchman in a cavern under the castle, and was disgusted by the evil her son was performing.  Anton turned to kill his mother, who was saved as the Enemy Ace had returned just in time to shoot Anton (who wandered off, surviving due to his early experiments in the occult and medicine, now more determined to prolong his life after meeting a strange swamp man for the first time).  Hammer used the Claw of Aelkhund (which his father had gotten decades ago during a trip to America) to dispatch Swamp Thing off in time again, walling up the room under the castle with it and the dead Frenchman's body, as Anais later learned of the death of her husband.  

Meanwhile, back in the modern day, Abby was informed by the Phantom Stranger, that Swamp Thing was in neither heaven nor hell after the Dominators' attack, but Abby still believed her Alec was alive (though she would have to deal with her ex-husband, Matt Cable, as his support checks were now ending).

The Enemy Ace was a short running feature of the adventures of Baron Hans Von Hammer, a German fighter pilot of World War I, and how a man who could fight ruthlessly in aviation battles dealt with the fact that he had to kill for his country.  The Enemy Ace had a few odd foes, such as the Hangman and St. George, and even traveled in time, being manipulated by the Lord of Time to fight the Justice League and Justice Society.

As Abby dealt with her problems waiting for her husband to return to her, Swamp Thing continued to fall back in time, including the Wild West (with Jonah Hex, Johnny Thunder and more), the Revolutionary War (with Tomahawk) and Camelot (and Merlin, the Demon and the Shining Knight).....in a story that, sadly, caused much controversy in its time, with the writer of the story leaving DC after not being able to tell the story in the way he had planned, resulting in a months' long delay as a replacement team had to be found to wrap up the story (close to what was originally planned, but missing a key component).

JLA JSA Fifth Multiple Crisis

History time again, and how appropriate that is for this batch of JLA/JSA team-ups, since they all involve a bit of history.

The first, is where the two teams are attacked by people who had long passed away, the second was dealing with the return of an old foe and a mystery, and the third, an extra long team-up, had the two teams dealing with the New Gods (and was history for both a sad and happy reason as well.

Time to look back at a few meetings of the Justice League and Justice Society....

Crisis From Yesterday

Now that the JLA and JSA could easily cross worlds thanks to their Transmatter Machine, the JLA and JSA decided to have a party on Earth-1's Gotham in Justice League of America #159 (October, 1978) by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin, but, as the cover by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano, there were some party crashers!

Before getting to the battle, a chance to review with the JLA and JSA, as they took the time...Earth-1 Batman reflects on his meeting with the Earth-2 Huntress in Batman Family, Earth-2 Flash says his life is supposedly easier after revealing his identity to the world in DC Special Series #11 (or so he says to Earth-1 Flash), Earth-2 Green Lantern was starting a back up in Earth-1 Green Lantern's title, and the JSA had just ended their All-Star Comics run with issue #74.....

....then, BOOM!

The heroes of today were attacked by History's Heroes...Jonah Hex, Viking Prince, Miss Liberty, the Black Pirate and the Enemy Ace!  These past heroes were plucked out of time by the Lord of Time (himself tired of battle from manipulations he had with Kamandi and Karate Kid), had retreated to a place "out of time" where he had constructed the Eternity Brain, a machine that would help him take whatever he wanted...by stopping time!

But, the Lord of Time found out that if he stopped time, he would be unable to start it again, and the Eternity Brain was set in its plans.  So, he plucked five heroes from history, gave them powers and set them to beat the JLA and JSA, thinking that if the teams were given a solid defeat, they would come back even more powerful, and, tracing back History's Heroes, would come and stop the Eternity Brain!

The JLA and JSA members at the party were all rendered comatose, except for JLA members (Superman, Flash, Elongated Man and Hawkman), and JSA members (Dr. Mid-Nite, Wonder Woman, Star-Spangled Kid and Huntress).  They remaining members faced History's Heroes again, and lost...giving the Lord of Time hope they now had the fight in them to defeat the Eternity Brain....

Crisis From Tomorrow

Picking up from the last issue, Justice League of America #160 (November, 1978) by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin (with cover by Dillin/McLaughlin), had Superman reflecting on the attack by History's Heroes (he recognized Miss Liberty and the Enemy Ace, Flash knew of Jonah Hex, and Elongated Man had heard of the Black Pirate, though no one knew of the Viking Prince).

The JLA/JSA were using a modified Cosmic Treadmill to go to where the Lord of Time was, his castle outside of time...all as History's Heroes were attacking the Lord of Time's castle as well, but finding out it was well defended by the Eternity Brain.  Meanwhile, back in 1978, Aquaman (who had been late to the party due to being on monitor duty), was working to revive the comatose heroes.

Still, the eight active JLA/JSAers were assaulting the Lord of Time's floating castle, but slowly being eliminated by his various time traps....until only Elongated Man remained, to find the Lord of Time pleading with the Eternity Brain to not go on....and, through an act of bravery, Elongated Man stopped the Brain, saving all of time!

Back at the hospital, as after clearing all the heroes of the energy leaving them comatose, Green Lantern was able to follow the trail through time and rescue the others.  After returning History's Heroes to their proper times, the JLA and JSA would recover...even Elongated Man was able to bounce back from his injuries!

Ending on a happy note, the JSA now had to move to being a back up in Adventure Comics (and they were dealing with a sinister plot by the Secret Society of Super-Villains, who were taking on less active members of the team....).

The Murderer Among Us: Crisis Above Earth-One

The JSA was recovering from their members being stalked by the Secret Society of Super-Villains, and troubles introduced during their run in Adventure Comics (including the death of a member), when Mr. Terrific returned to the team in their second to last Adventure Comics adventure....which led into Justice League of America #171 (October, 1979) by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin, with cover by Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano.

This time, there was a murder among the team while gathered in the JLA Satellite....that of Mr. Terrific, who had wanted to be a part of this gathering, as he told the two Flashes, because of the return of an old enemy of his (and the Earth-2 Flash)...

...the Spirit King (though, this was the first appearance of that villainous alter ego of Roger Romaine).  Mr. Terrific stormed off, then a wall in the Satellite blew, with Superman finding Mr. Terrific dead.  Recent enrolled to the JLA Zatanna tried to trace the identity of the killer off a piece of metal, but a mystic backlash...putting her in a coma, leaving the rest of the present members of the two teams to wonder which of them was the killer!

I Accuse...

Superman spelled it out in the beginning of Justice League of America #172 (November, 1979) by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin (though Batman took center stage on the Dick Giordano cover)...

....that someone on the JLA Satellite must be the killer!

So, Superman had the Green Lanterns and Dr. Fate put a mystic green energy shell around the Satellite so no one could leave...and set the detectives Earth-1 Batman and Earth-2 Huntress into finding out which teammate could have done it.

With Batman going through the clues, and Huntress checking a hunch to see what the Spirit King was stealing in Gateway City using the Transmatter Machine to link to the JSA's Brownstone computers...

...Batman was able to deduce the identity of the killer!

Scroll quickly if you don't want it spoiled!

It was...the Spirit King!   The Spirit King had used a seismograph to track the Earth-2 Flash, and possessed him, but did come out of the Flash's body long enough to kill Mr. Terrific.  Still in possession of the Flash's body, the Spirit King escaped (as the mystic shield didn't cover the Transmatter Machine).

The JLA tries to claim victory even with the villain escaping (as they didn't believe any of the heroes were responsible), but the JSA somberly left the JLA Satellite to go to Earth-2 to bury Mr. Terrific (and, later chronicled in a flashback, finally catch the Spirit King, freeing Jay Garrick Flash from his clutches, in Spectre #54 of the 1990s), and had their last adventure in Adventure Comics in the 1970s.

Where Have All The New Gods Gone?

The JLA and JSA were trying something new, half of each team would go to each other's Earths in Justice League of America #183 (October, 1980) by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin (under a Jim Starlin cover).  Or at least that was the plan.

The first four of each team were hijacked....and appeared in New Genesis!

JLAer Superman explained where they were (having met the Forever People and been to Supertown once in the days of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen), that this was the home of the New Gods...

....a race of incredibly powerful beings who were forever at war with their opposing numbers from Apokolips.

Batman and Green Lantern of the JLA patiently listened, as did Power Girl, Huntress and Dr. Fate of the JSA (though the Earth-2 Wonder Woman was a little put off by the phrase of "New Gods", as she believed in only one...as well as the Olympian deities she believed in).

Firestorm....had wandered off into the empty Supertown...finding Orion, and knocking himself unconscious through the shock.  As Orion was tending to Firestorm, the rest of the teams arrived, and fought Orion, at least until Metron, Mr. Miracle, Big Barda and Oberon arrived via Boom Tube. 

Knowing Mr. Miracle, Superman got the team to listen to him, who explained that Orion was moody due to feeling responsible for this tragedy, as he had recently killed Darkseid, which must have triggered this attack by Apokolips to empty New Genesis, that had been done by members of the Injustice Society (Fiddler, Icicle and the Shade).

The heroes would go to Apokolips and split into teams (coordinated by Metron, who had pulled the JLA/JSA from their Transmatter Machine to New Genesis), to find out where everyone had went.

On a sad note, this was the last issue completed by artist Dick Dillin, who passed away while working on the next issue.  His incredible legacy for all he did for the JLA will always be cherished.   

Apokolips Now

Picking up where the last issue left off, Justice League of America #184 (November, 1980) by Gerry Conway, George Perez and Frank McLaughlin (with cover by George Perez and Dick Giordano), continued the JLA/JSA/New Gods team-up....

with a great deal for the heroes to do all over Darkseid's home planet of Apokolips!

An incredible welcome for new artist George Perez, who was also working on New Teen Titans at the time, even though Dick Dillin had completed about six pages of the issue before he passed, DC had Perez draw this entire issue; the issue also had a few of Dillin's co-workers tell of that artist's great contributions to comics, as well as of his gentlemanly nature, in the letter's page).

Firestorm, Power Girl and Orion discovered the Injustice Society members reviving Darkseid and the heroes were captured by the villains; Superman (of E-1), Wonder Woman (of E-2) and Big Barda worked their way into Granny Goodness' Orphanage, finding that's where the New Genesis kids were, as well as finding out how Darkseid's consciousness had found its way to Earth-2 after "the final battle" of Darkseid and Orion in Adventure Comics, and how he got the Injustice Society to help him; Green Lantern (of E-1), Dr. Fate and Oberon found Highfather Izaya of the New Gods imprisoned, freed him and the group headed to confront Darkseid, who had an evil plan....and Batman (of E-1), Huntress (of E-2) and Mr. Miracle stormed Darkseid's Imperial Place, where they found out Darkseid's full plan...to transfer Apokolips to Earth-2, destroying the Earth in that dimension!

Darkseid Rising

Metron was nice enough to recap the previous two issues in the beginning of Justice League of America #185 (December, 1980) by Gerry Conway, George Perez and Frank McLaughlin (under a Jim Starlin/Robert Allen Smith cover)....


...which was that Darkseid, after being revived by the Injustice Society of the World members of Fiddler, Icicle and the Shade, had planned to have Apokolips "transferred" in time and space...


...and have it take the place of Earth-2, which would destroy that world and give Darkseid a universe of his own to plunder!

The heroes had plenty to do to stop him!

Batman, Huntress and Mr. Miracle had to free Firestorm, Power Girl and Orion (then Fiddler, Icicle and the Shade); while Highfather led Green Lantern, Dr. Fate and Oberon to attack Darkseid's Re-Creation Machine; Superman, Wonder Woman and Big Barda facing Granny Goodness in the tunnels below Darkseid's Palace..

..all to led Orion and Darkseid battle again as the now freed forces of New Genesis attacked the forces of Apokolips protecting the Re-Creation Machine (which would now transfer Apokolips to Earth-2)....still, all this effort and it was not enough.

Thankfully, Metron used all this distraction to redirect the Re-Creation Machine, having it focused now on Darkseid....which undid his return, defeating him and leaving the members of New Genesis free to go and rebuild their home.

All these tales were collected in fifth volume of Crisis On Multiple Earths (this one with a great George Perez cover combining the heroes of all of the crossovers of these issues)....all while getting ready for the Crisis On Infinite Earths (this volume showcasing the New Gods and History's Heroes, while Earth-X was in Volume 3 and Earth-S was in Volume 4), but one more collected volume was to come!