Unknown Soldier

"A Very Private Hell - The Substitute Ace"

Cover Date August 1982
Issue #266
Pages 8
Type Original Story
Cover Price $1.00
Featured Character Hans von Hammer
Also Featuring The Black Wolf
Guest Characters Lt. Steve Savage (The Balloon Buster)

Synopsis

The escalating 'A Very Private Hell' story arc takes an intense turn as the mercenary bounty hunter plot collides directly with the modern battlefield. When Lt. Steve Savage (The Balloon Buster) targets the German airfield on a relentless strafing run, he is unexpectedly ambushed and captured on the ground by the bounty hunter strike team. General von Kurtz attempts to force Savage into the cockpit under a deceptive 'Substitute Ace' scheme to dishonor the Rittmeister's name in the skies. However, Hans von Hammer violently refuses to let his bitter rival be weaponized as a corporate pawn, triggering an internal moral showdown at the base while the solitary Black Wolf watches from the tree lines

Collector Notes

This middle installment beautifully demonstrates the late Bronze Age era's willingness to cross-pollinate Robert Kanigher's premier WWI icons into a single, cohesive narrative timeline. John Severin's meticulously authentic pencils render the Balloon Buster with a raw, rugged grit that contrasts beautifully with Joe Kubert's earlier, more loose expressions of the character. Backed by Gaspar Saladino's clean lettering typography, the script brilliantly explores the shared dignity of these two opposing masters when faced with the corrupt bureaucracy of high command.

Creative Team

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