Men of War

"A Promise to the Dying"

Cover Date August 1979
Issue #19
Pages 6
Type Original Story
Cover Price 60¢
Featured Character Hans von Hammer
Also Featuring Eric von Strasser (first appearance, 10 yr old son of a pilot killed in von Hammer's Jagdstaffel), The Black Wolf, Schmidt

Synopsis

Eric von Strasser, a ten-year-old boy whose father was killed in von Hammer's Jagdstaffel, arrives in the Ace's world with a grief that has no useful target. Von Hammer must reckon with the specific human cost of his victories, not in the abstract, but in the form of a child old enough to understand what he has lost and young enough to still believe someone is responsible.

Collector Notes

The introduction of Eric von Strasser is one of the most emotionally ambitious moves of the Men of War period. A child as a consequence of the Ace's excellence forces a confrontation that enemy pilots and military superiors cannot. Kanigher understood that von Hammer's most dangerous encounters were never in the sky.

Creative Team

Writer Robert Kanigher
Penciler Howard Chaykin
Inker Howard Chaykin
Letterer Ben Oda