Unknown Soldier

"I Am My Own Executioner - Death of a Double!"

Cover Date March 1982
Issue #261
Pages 8
Type Original Story
Cover Price $1.00
Featured Character Hans von Hammer
Also Featuring Monika, General von Kurtz

Synopsis

The definitive grand finale and resolution of the two-part "I Am My Own Executioner" identity-theft saga. Refusing to remain grounded while General von Kurtz's surgically altered impostor tarnishes his personal honor over the Western Front, the real Hans von Hammer orchestrates a daring escape from his isolation ward with the crucial aid of nurse Monika. Taking to the air in an un-painted plane with no squadron markings, the true Rittmeister hunts down his deceptive double, leading to a brutal, face-to-face aerial confrontation. The narrative reaches a definitive, uncompromising conclusion as the fake Enemy Ace meets the violent death his stolen identity invites, leaving the real Hans von Hammer alone again to bear the heavy psychological cost of being the one true "Hammer of Hell"

Collector Notes

A dark and gripping second chapter of the identity-theft saga that brilliantly highlights the tragic, zero-sum nature of Robert Kanigher's late-era war scripts. John Severin's hyper-detailed, texturally rich line art delivers spectacular mechanical accuracy to the fluid aerial combat panels, rendering the smoke, tearing canvas, and cloud layers with visceral realism. Backed by Gaspar Saladino's unmatched lettering typography, the narrative explicitly subverts traditional comic tropes by denying the hero a clean triumph, instead forcing the Rittmeister to absorb the devastating psychological guilt of killing his own man just to keep his pursuit of the double alive

Creative Team

Writer Robert Kanigher
Penciler John Severin
Inker John Severin
Letterer Gaspar Saladino