Mixed-Media Exhibition

Showcase Hub

The Showcase Hub: Beyond the standard comic page, the visual legacy of Enemy Ace lives on through unique promotional print, standalone licensed items, and creative physical builds. This hub serves as the master gateway to four specialized archival galleries: custom fan-crafted action figures, vintage promotional print campaigns, scale model aircraft assemblies, and licensed apparel.

Fan Crafted

Custom Fan Figures

2 items

This space displays unique, hand-sculpted statues and custom-tailored action figures created by dedicated artisans to capture the grim, commanding presence of the character.

Custom Build · 6" Scale

Custom Articulated Action Figure

This beautifully engineered custom 6-inch action figure brings the Enemy Ace to life through high-end fan craftsmanship and meticulous hand-painted detail. Utilizing articulated parts from modern collectors' toy lines, the figure captures Hans von Hammer in a classic, authoritative stance, sporting a rich forest-green military suit beneath a long, olive trench coat with a textured fur collar. Complete with his signature golden-crested flight helmet, large aviation goggles, an Iron Cross collar medal, and a sweeping, vibrant yellow flight scarf that adds an elegant sense of motion, this unique artisan creation stands as a stunning testament to character devotion.

European Import · 1/6 Scale · ~9"

Imported Resin Model Kit Bust

This elusive 1/6 scale German resin model kit bust showcases a highly detailed, three-dimensional interpretation of the Enemy Ace based directly on Joe Kubert's definitive character design. Standing approximately 9 inches tall, the intricately sculpted piece captures a stoic Hans von Hammer outfitted in his signature leather flight jacket, texture-rich fur collar, large pilot goggles, and a dynamically flowing yellow flight scarf. Mounted on a custom display pedestal adorned with a stylized hammer-and-wings insignia, this rare and mysterious collectible — noted as a limited European import — originally surfaced as an unbuilt, unpainted garage kit, making a fully finished version like this an extraordinarily unique treasure for a dedicated collection.

Promotional Print Archive

15 items

This archive preserves rare retail posters, print advertisements, and publisher marketing prints that trace the historical promotion of the series over the decades.

House Advertisement · Late 1964

DC Comics "Takin' Off For The First Time" House Advertisement

This is the original full-page national DC Comics house advertisement from late 1964 announcing the character's literal first appearance to the world. It was designed to shock newsstands and introduce readers to the property before a single story had ever gone on sale. This layout represents a monumentally risky, historic corporate gamble by writer/editor Robert Kanigher — rather than slicing up pre-existing comic frames, Joe Kubert illustrated an original standalone layout specifically for this ad canvas.

The visual composition features an unmasked, battle-hardened Hans von Hammer on the left looking down grimly at an incredibly detailed, dynamic front-angle action sequence of his signature crimson Fokker Triplane strafing an Allied Nieuport biplane out of the sky.

House Advertisement · Early 1965

DC Comics "Only Showcase Dares" Launch Advertisement

This full-page house ad launching Enemy Ace ran in early 1965 in titles like Star Spangled War Stories #121 and Sea Devils #22, and marked the literal birth of Enemy Ace as a standalone, leading character in DC history. After a brief debut as a backup feature in Our Army at War #151 (February 1965), DC immediately recognized the character's breakout potential. This advertisement was pushed out across national newsstands to announce his massive upgrade to a full-book feature in Showcase #57 (July–August 1965).

Master letterer Ira Schnapp designed this ad using a striking, stacked four-tiered repetitive header layout stating "Only SHOWCASE DARES..." running down the left-hand column — specifically engineered to shock readers and emphasize the highly unusual, controversial nature of a comic book told entirely from a German pilot's perspective.

House Advertisement · July/August 1965

DC Comics "Readers — Why Do You Force Enemy Ace to Kill Again?" House Advertisement

This full-page house ad was the immediate historical follow-up to the "Only Showcase Dares" campaign, specifically designed to promote the character's second consecutive tryout issue. It ran across main July/August 1965 titles, including Batman #173.

It represents an incredibly clever, meta-fictional marketing strategy utilized by Robert Kanigher to frame the explosive reader feedback the character received. Instead of running a standard corporate promotional block, the text uses a five-tiered layout scripted by master letterer Ira Schnapp that directly breaks the fourth wall — playfully shifting the moral responsibility of Hans von Hammer's lethal actions onto the audience itself with lines like: "READERS... WHY DO YOU FORCE ENEMY ACE TO KILL AGAIN BECAUSE OF YOUR THUNDEROUS ACCLAIM FOLLOWING HIS APPEARANCE IN SHOWCASE?"

House Advertisement · 1968

DC Comics "Savage Battle Skies" House Advertisement

This 1968 promotional insert — which ran in titles like Showcase #73 and Doom Patrol #118 — was drawn by Joe Kubert and lettered by Ira Schnapp. Following his legendary 1965 debut trials in Our Army at War #151 and two trial appearances in Showcase #57–58, DC realized they had an absolute hit. This full-page advertisement was pushed out across national newsstands to announce that Enemy Ace was officially taking over the headline spot of Star-Spangled War Stories starting with Issue #138 (April–May 1968).

The composition uses a striking, high-contrast silhouette illustration by Joe Kubert. It features a stark, towering portrait of the Rittmeister in his full fur-lined uniform coat looking out over a tangled, fiery aerial dogfight involving his signature red Fokker Triplane.

This layout represents some of the final, defining comic work by legendary DC logotype designer and master letterer Ira Schnapp. Schnapp hand-inked the iconic title headers ("RETURNING to the SAVAGE BATTLE SKIES of 1918" and "The HAMMER of HELL") using his signature bold, stretched block letters before retiring from the DC staff later that year.

House Advertisement · Early 1968

DC Comics "Plumed Knights of the Air" House Advertisement

This full page ran in early 1968 in major titles like Showcase #73 and Doom Patrol #118 and is highly unique in that it contains no promotional pricing, no comic book covers, and no retail release dates. Instead, it functions purely as a cinematic mood piece designed to announce that Enemy Ace was officially taking over the headline spot of Star-Spangled War Stories starting with Issue #138.

This visual asset is incredibly rare and represents a massive creative shift for DC's marketing team, focusing entirely on the strip's poetic anti-war philosophy. It serves as a brilliant companion piece to the "Savage Battle Skies" ad — while that ad used a dark silhouette to announce the Star-Spangled move, this ad was circulated during the exact same months to establish the tragic, honor-bound tone of the new series.

Comic-Book Strip Advertisement · Late 1968

DC Comics "Enemy Ace is Back" Comic-Book Ad Snippet

In late 1968, this horizontal strip comic book ad ran on the bottom of issues like The Atom & Hawkman #39. Drawn by Joe Kubert and lettered by Ira Schnapp, the ad layout uses a heavily stylized, diagonal repeating block pattern stating "ENEMY ACE IS BACK!" running down the upper-left quadrant. Master letterer Ira Schnapp hand-inked these block outlines using an identical font weight across five stacked layers, forcing the title to visually jump off the cheap newsprint paper stock.

The lower right corner features an incredible, front-facing close-up portrait of the Rittmeister drawn by Joe Kubert — a classic example of the Pure Frontal Choice style, capturing his intense, deeply shadowed eyes, his buckled green leather flight helmet, and his yellow flight scarf trailing out over his shoulder.

Schnapp wrapped up the horizontal baseline text using a classic, bold callout reading: "The HAMMER of HELL flies again in every issue of Star Spangled WAR stories!" — finalizing the visual handoff from his original 1965 tryouts directly into his permanent 1968 headline run.

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Promotional Lithograph · 1987–1988

History of the DC Universe — Promotional Jam Poster

Commissioned to celebrate the grand reconstruction of the DC timeline following Crisis on Infinite Earths, this legendary "jam portrait" stands as one of the most ambitious cross-company collaborations in comic history. Master artist Joe Kubert meticulously handled the structural scaling, pencil drafts, and layout positioning for the overall 53-character assembly. Individual definitive artists were then brought in to draw their signature characters directly onto the master boards.

Independent icon and The Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens was tasked with illustrating Hans von Hammer (Enemy Ace), perfectly capturing his solemn, old-world Prussian dignity. On the top row of the poster, Enemy Ace is nestled precisely between Joe Staton's Guy Gardner and Bill Sienkiewicz's Plastic Man (flanked closely by Martin Nodell's Golden Age Green Lantern and Jack Kirby's Darkseid).

The artwork was initially distributed to direct-market comic shops as a 24×36 promo in 1987. In 1988, Graphitti Designs partnered with DC to offer a high-end, heavy-stock lithograph version via a special mail-in postcard voucher included exclusively with the History of the DC Universe deluxe slipcase hardcover. The piece became so iconic that a giant, full-scale mural of the artwork permanently decorated the walls of DC Comics' New York City headquarters for decades until the office relocated.

Collector's Note: While the deluxe book and its internal gatefold page came out in 1988, reference archives and historical databases indexing the specific standalone mail-away poster frequently log it under October 9, 2003.

Retail Promotional Poster · 1988

Enemy Ace: War Idyll Promo Poster

This 1988 retail promotional poster showcases the breathtaking watercolor and ink mastery of legendary artist George Pratt, created to tease the ground-breaking graphic novel Enemy Ace: War Idyll. The cinematic, close-up composition thrusts the viewer directly into the frantic chaos of World War I aerial combat, highlighting a fierce, grit-toothed Hans von Hammer behind the firing Spandau machine guns of his crimson Fokker Triplane. Splattered ink washes and bleeding watercolors depict a roaring enemy biplane spiraling out of control in the background, beautifully capturing the raw, visceral trauma and tragic beauty that defines the series' historical legacy.

House Advertisement · Mid-1990

DC Comics "For Some, War Never Ends — War Idyll" House Advertisement

This mid-1990 full-page house ad ran in mature titles like Animal Man and Hellblazer — Vertigo precursors whose readership represented the exact literary audience DC was courting for this high-end graphic release. The layout documents the specific artistic marketing strategy DC deployed to capture older readers.

The center-right typography ditches the dual-war comparison entirely and instead hits the reader with a deeply melancholic character statement: "FOR SOME, WAR NEVER ENDS." This highlights the central theme of a broken, elderly Hans von Hammer dying in a sanitarium while trapped entirely inside his own memories.

George Pratt's masterful, cold-palette blue and gray watercolor texture takes up the entire left half of the canvas. The composition features an elderly, hollow-eyed von Hammer lying in a hospital bed, staring blankly upward as his mind hallucinates a fiery, hand-painted 1918 aerial dogfight directly above him — showing his crimson Fokker Triplane spinning downward through a smoke-filled sky.

House Advertisement · 1990

DC Comics "Enemy Ace: War Idyll" House Advertisement

Produced in mid-1990, this full-page color comic book ad drawn by George Pratt ran in titles like Swamp Thing #99 and Hellblazer #33. It captures the exact moment DC pitched this title as a literary, mature-reader masterpiece rather than a standard, monthly newsprint comic. The ad leans heavily into the book's dual-timeline premise with the opening text block: "TWO MEN. TWO WARS. ONE CONFLICT." — referring to the narrative bridge connecting the aging Rittmeister Hans von Hammer's memories of World War I to the young, traumatized American reporter Edward Mannock's experiences in the Vietnam War.

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Retail Promotional Poster · 1990

Enemy Ace: War Idyll Retail Fold-Out Poster

Distributed exclusively to direct-market comic book shop retailers to advertise the launch of George Pratt's fully painted masterpiece, this 8.5" × 22" vertical fold-out poster features George Pratt's breathtaking original oil painting utilized for the primary hardcover dust jacket, highlighting the distinct expressionistic strokes that define the book's prestige tone.

The haunting imagery depicts a weary, elderly Hans von Hammer walking in a graveyard, staring up at a skeletal specter — a phantom pilot clad in his classic World War I flight uniform. It serves as a visual encapsulation of the book's core premise: the inescapable ghosts of battlefield trauma.

Retail Promotional Poster · January 1992

Armageddon: Inferno Retail Promo Poster

Armageddon: Inferno was the 1992 sequel to the previous year's Armageddon 2001 event. The storyline follows the time-traveling heroes, the Linear Men, as they recruit historical and contemporary warriors from across the DC timeline to stop the cosmic villain Abra Kadabra from altering reality.

To grab the attention of retailers and fans, this oversized promo poster (17" × 22") features five "Totally Unexpected" character pairings across the miniseries. Enemy Ace & Lobo is featured in a bottom-left vignette — within the actual comic, the Main Man (Lobo) is flung backward through time and space, violently crashing right into the snowy trenches of the Western Front in 1917, where he crosses paths with a thoroughly bewildered Hans von Hammer. The brief crossover acts as a hilarious clash of fundamental worldviews: Hans von Hammer represents strict, aristocratic Prussian battlefield honor, while Lobo represents chaotic, cigar-chomping interstellar butchery.

Retail Promotional Poster · 1998

The Guns of the Dragon — Enemy Ace Promotional Poster

This 1998 promotional poster drawn by Timothy Truman (Signed "Truman '98") was created specifically to tease and announce the historic upcoming crossover miniseries, The Guns of the Dragon (published by DC Comics in late 1998), which brought together DC's most famous historical adventure heroes for a sprawling tale set in 1920s China.

Hand-Inked Bristol / Digital Tinted, this piece represented a monumental visual shift for the character, transitioning him entirely away from his traditional 1960s Silver Age aesthetic into a rugged, late-1990s direct-market look. Because The Guns of the Dragon takes place in 1927 (roughly a decade after the end of World War I), Truman deliberately renders a weathered, middle-aged Hans von Hammer. He has traded his pristine Imperial Prussian dress uniform for a heavily worn, fur-lined combat trench coat with frayed edges.

Magazine Advertisement · 2001

DC Direct — Incoming! Magazine Product Feature

This colorful 2001 magazine tear-sheet advertisement from DC Comics' Incoming! news publication serves as a nostalgic marketing archive, previewing the highly anticipated release of the original commercial DC Direct Enemy Ace Deluxe Action Figure Set. Sharing a layout with Bandai's Final Fantasy X figures, the promotional feature highlights the details of the classic deluxe box set, spotlighting the articulated 6-inch Hans von Hammer figure alongside his companion Black Wolf and a 3-inch scale replica of his signature crimson Fokker DR-1 Triplane.

Retail Promotional Poster · 2001

Enemy Ace: War in Heaven — DC Comics Promotional Poster

This official poster was used to advertise the upcoming release of the highly acclaimed comic book miniseries Enemy Ace: War in Heaven. Designed to mimic a striking, vintage World War II military propaganda poster, it uses stark black, white, and blood-red tones alongside German Iron Cross insignia.

The central artwork features a close-up portrait of Hans von Hammer readjusting his aviation goggles. In this specific storyline, the character is depicted as a disillusioned 46-year-old pilot forced to fly for Germany during World War II while actively despising the Nazi regime.

The bottom text block credits the creative roster behind the book: Garth Ennis (Writer), Chris Weston (Layout Artist), Christian Alamy (Cover/Finish Artist), and Russ Heath (Interior Penciler). The poster notes the story is a "Two-issue prestige format miniseries taking off in March" — the exact pre-launch marketing push by DC Comics ahead of the miniseries debut in March 2001.

Scale Builds

Scale Model Aircraft

3 items

This section highlights meticulously assembled, fan-built plastic and replica models that bring Hans von Hammer's legendary planes into three-dimensional reality.

Hand-built · 1/72 Scale · Resin

Custom Fokker Dr.I Triplane Scale Model

This 1/72-scale resin model represents the definitive World War I mount of the "Hammer of Hell," the iconic Fokker Dr.I Triplane. Expertly hand-built and finished by an artisan modeler, the aircraft replaces traditional olive-drab camouflage with a striking, uniform coat of vibrant crimson lacquer to match Joe Kubert's classic comic book illustrations. The multi-winged fighter is highly detailed with authentic canvas rib textures, dual front-mounted Spandau machine guns, precise cockpit rigging wires, and crisp black German Iron Cross insignias across the fabric surfaces, accented by the character's signature stylized face hand-painted directly onto the front nose cowling.

Hand-built · 1/32 Scale · Hasegawa Kit · 12" wingspan

Custom Messerschmitt Bf 109G Scale Model

This meticulously hand-built 1/32 scale Hasegawa plastic model kit beautifully replicates the Messerschmitt Bf 109G piloted by an aging Baron Hans von Hammer during World War II. Measuring 12 inches from wingtip to wingtip and 11 inches from rudder to propeller, the model features an intricately detailed interior cockpit and an artistic, weathered all-crimson paint scheme — a defiant continuation of his iconic World War I livery. Reflecting the complex lore of the character, the aircraft intentionally lacks standard Nazi party swastika tail markings, visualizing the Baron's fierce love for his German homeland alongside his deep, open contempt for the ruling totalitarian regime.

Hand-built · Scale Model Kit · Custom Display Base

Custom Messerschmitt Me 262 Jet Fighter Model

This stunning, hand-assembled scale model kit brings the final chapter of Hans von Hammer's military aviation career into three dimensions with a custom Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe twin-engine jet fighter. Painted in his signature, uniform crimson finish to match the traditional color of the "Hammer of Hell," the model features clean panel lines, a detailed clear canopy cockpit, and authentic German Balkenkreuz wing markings. The entire aircraft is mounted on a highly creative, custom-crafted wooden display base layered with a vibrant collage of classic comic panels, serving as a direct visual tribute to the legendary storytelling and artwork of the series.

Digital Art

3D Models

1 item

This section showcases three-dimensional digital interpretations of Hans von Hammer created by professional artists and production designers using modern rendering tools.

Digital · Blender 3D · Modern Era

"Enemy Ace" 3D Character Model

Created by: Phoenix Alma Santos

This breathtaking digital asset marks a phenomenal intersection between elite comic illustration and modern production software. The project began as a traditional 13 x 19 ink and gouache commission drawn by industry legend Travis Charest, which can be found in the Original Art section of this archive. The modeler who sculpted the digital asset is Phoenix Alma Santos, a professional Hollywood industry designer and production artist who notably builds 3D architecture, interfaces, and spacecraft models for Amazon's animated series Invincible.

Utilizing Blender 3D, Santos deliberately used the project to test rapid workflow translation pipelines, recycling base topology meshes while manually engineering complex material layers to perfectly match the raw, organic texture of the Rittmeister's fur-trimmed collar and distressed leather aviator coat. The resulting piece portrays an incredibly realistic, rugged, and battle-weary Hans von Hammer staring solemnly forward, perfectly capturing the psychological exhaustion of the character.

Licensed Apparel

Promotional Apparel Archive

3 items

This archive presents licensed apparel that document the historical promotion and lifestyle marketing of the series over the decades.

Licensed Apparel · All-Over Dye Sublimation · Modern Era

Licensed Modern All-Over Print Sublimation T-Shirt

This striking piece of licensed apparel showcases a bold, all-over print design that wraps a classic Silver Age composition entirely around a modern black crewneck t-shirt. Utilizing high-definition dye sublimation, the fabric prominently features Joe Kubert's definitive cover artwork from the landmark Star Spangled War Stories #138 (1968), highlighting a brooding, blue-hued Hans von Hammer staring straight ahead as a smoking, battle-damaged Allied aircraft streaks dramatically across the foreground. Anchored by the iconic, yellow-and-red block "Enemy Ace" title logo across the upper chest, this vibrant collector's garment delivers an incredible piece of contemporary lifestyle marketing that beautifully translates a historic key issue into a dynamic fashion statement.

Licensed Apparel · All-Over Dye Sublimation · Modern Era

Licensed Showcase #57 All-Over Print Sublimation Tee

This eye-catching, modern lifestyle garment utilizes edge-to-edge dye sublimation to wrap Joe Kubert's iconic artwork from the character's breakout milestone issue, Showcase #57 (1965), fully around the front and back panels. The vibrant, full-bleed design highlights a beautifully inked action composition of Hans von Hammer maneuvering his Fokker Triplane through an intense cloud of anti-aircraft flak and smoke, accented by a striking, bright-yellow vintage DC title banner running across the shoulders.

Licensed Apparel · Screen Print · DC Comics · Late 1990s–Early 2000s

Licensed Vintage Gothic Logo Graphic T-Shirt

This rare piece of officially licensed apparel, produced by DC Comics and distributed around the late 1990s or early 2000s, showcases a striking, screen-printed graphic compilation of Joe Kubert's definitive Silver Age character artwork. Set against a clean white fabric background, the design highlights a crisp, black-and-white inked portrait of a stern Hans von Hammer alongside his signature crimson Fokker Triplane, all anchored beneath a stylized, blood-red Gothic "Enemy Ace" title logo. Rendered with a thick, modern die-cut border layout, this vintage collector's shirt serves as a fantastic piece of wearable lifestyle marketing that beautifully celebrates the character's core visual identity.