Star Spangled War Stories

"Hell's Angels - To End in Flames"

Cover Date December 1974
Issue #183
Pages 7
Type Original Story
Cover Price 25¢
Featured Character Hans von Hammer
Also Featuring Schmidt; The Black Wolf
Guest Characters Steve Savage ('the Balloon Buster')

Synopsis

The Hell's Angels trilogy reaches its conclusion as the encounter between von Hammer and Steve Savage is resolved, not through victory or defeat, but through the logic that governs all of Kanigher's war stories: that the best you can do is survive the moment you're in. The Black Wolf and Schmidt witness the end of a chapter in the Ace's sky war.

Collector Notes

The trilogy's conclusion is characteristic of the Enemy Ace run in its refusal of clean outcomes. Neither ace triumphs decisively; neither loses irrevocably. What Kanigher understood, and what separates Enemy Ace from most war comics of its era, is that the real subject is always endurance rather than victory.

Creative Team

Writer Robert Kanigher
Penciler Frank Thorne
Inker Frank Thorne
Letterer Ben Oda