Synopsis
Deep within his family fortress — a gothic sanctuary that feels increasingly like a prison — Hans von Hammer spends a restless, sleepless night keeping a grim inventory of regret. Outside, his black wolf prowls the shadows of the Black Forest, a primal mirror to its master's psychological torment.
The psychological haunting takes a literal turn in the skies over the Western Front. Von Hammer is forced to take flight alongside Stefan, an eager young pilot in his Jagdstaffel. Amidst the clouds, the Enemy Ace faces a harrowing nightmare scenario as he encounters The Skeleton Patrol, an elite French squadron whose black aircraft are painted with macabre skeleton motifs to project the specter of death. Led by an unnamed, vengeful French Flight Commander, this squadron acts as a symbolic, anonymous mirror to von Hammer's own grim reputation. The confrontation culminates in a tragic battlefield casualty that deeply underscores the unromantic horrors of the war, leaving a grieving von Hammer under the medical care of a somber base nurse named Marlene.
Collector Notes
The publication of Star Spangled War Stories #144 centers around one of the most famous "missing" creative stories in Silver Age comic history. The issue was originally assigned to the legendary Alex Toth, who handed in a completely finished, penciled, inked, and lettered Enemy Ace tale. However, Toth was notorious for heavily modifying scripts to "improve" them. Because he altered Robert Kanigher's narrative so drastically that it ran a page over the standard allotment, Editor Joe Kubert refused to pay for the work and rejected the submission. Toth famously threw the completed pages into the trunk of his car, and the artwork was never seen again.
With the printing deadline looming, Kubert enlisted a young Neal Adams. In a miraculous feat of speed, Adams stepped in and completely penciled the 21-page interior story under a crushing deadline. To maintain visual continuity for the readers, Adams intentionally channeled the gritty, kinetic line style of Joe Kubert — one of his artistic idols.
While Kubert executed the core illustration for the front cover — featuring Hans von Hammer challenged by a ghostly personification of Death — Adams assisted heavily with the layout, design, and specific ink touch-ups to provide a more dynamic, modern depth, with both artists officially signing the lower cover layout. Because of this frantic behind-the-scenes scramble, this issue is a cornerstone collectible, serving as a landmark milestone in the DC Universe Illustrated by Neal Adams historical compendium.
