Book Review: Enemy Ace: War Idyll S&N by George Pratt

[gren99]

Enemy Ace: War Idyll
George Pratt (http://www.georgepratt.com/
~160 pages, Signed and Numbered Edition
DC Comics & Graphitti Designs
ISBN 0-563890-10-0
Published: 1991

Softcover version is here.

The first book I've chosen to review here also happens to be the first limited edition book i ever bought -- and one of my favorite graphic novels to boot. Hopefully people willl indulge me if I choose to ramble a little now and then.

   

This is the packaging the book came in, some 20 years ago.'s a signed and numbered edition, limited to 2000 copies. Mine is #385.
Back before Marvel and DC both had an aggressive specialty hardcover publishing operation, Graphitti Designs made a name for itself creating sublime S&N editions of interesting and important publications. Back in '91, I was a junior in college and the asking price of $67.50 (cover minus 10% for having a pull box at my local comic shop) was a pretty hefty chunk of change, but it's a purchase I've never regretted.

   

The S&N hardcover unboxed and next to the original hardcover publication from DC comics (if the dustjacked looks a bit weird -- i put my hardcovers in dustjacket protectors and this one has seen a lot of wear.) Notice the different in height: it's oversized almost on par with the more current "Absolute" editions that DC publishes. Also note (for future refrence!) the embossing on the front cover.

   

Pictured above is the signed and numbered inset, which is attached to the back endpaper.

   

The first pages of the actual story. Created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, Hans von Hammer, the "Enemy Ace" was a Silver Age DC character loosely based on the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthoven. Set in 1969, "War Idyll" effectively functions as a coda to his life story. An American journalist visits von Hammer in his retirement home for the purpose of interviewing him about his expieriences in World War I.

   

The resulting narrative is rife with some very visceral aerial combat scenes, realized in artists George Pratt's impressionistic paint.

   

As the narrative develops, a downed von Hammer returns to the trenches that criss cross the war zone, only to find no ongoing fighting.

"I-is it over?", he asks with equal parts anxiety and relief -- only to be told that no, it is not.

It's Christmas - a nod to the Christmas truce(s) that occured along the western front in 1914.

   

The story of von Hammers wartime exploits bring out a recollection by journalist Edward Mannock, who served as a tunnel rat in Vietnam. Recognizing a kindred spirit, von Hammer entrusts his wartime diary to Mannock. Note the look and shape of said diary -- it is a dead ringer to the look of the limited edition hardcover, right down to the embossing on the cover!

   

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the S&N edition is the inclusion of actual pages from von Hammers diary, written in (surprisingly excellent) german, on beautiful cream-colored, vellum-like paper.

   

In order to allow for the majority of reader to actually *read* these entries, the english translation of the various pages are included on semi-transperant, rice-paper like pages (and include the occaisional black and white sketch by Pratt.)

   

Upon conclusion of the story, a sketchbook section is included. The art in this section is far looser and even more impressionistic in nature. This particlar image, with its predominant use of greens and browns, in my opinion evokes the savagery of war and the despondency it instills in people.

   

More sketches.

   

The final entries in the sketchbook, accompanied by a chilling quote by Adolf Hitler:

"But that's what the young men are there for."

   

The book concludes with a final set of war diary entries, from von Hammer (in german) and Mannock (in english.)

I've tried my level best not to spoil the vast majority of the story, which, to be perfectly fair may well be the weakest part of the book. I think it should be obvious that this is not a story that romantices or glamourizes war and as such, might nut be for everyone. The points it makes are subtle and while the inclusion of a story such as the christmas truce might seem trite today, in 1991 (before wikipedia and/or movies made on the subject matter), it was the first I had ever heard of the story and as such, found it to be almost too extraordinairy to be true.

Times have changed.

   

A few extras: The poster above was released by DC Comics alongside the original hardcover. I had it laminted a while back and it now hangs in my bedroom.

   

"War Idyll" is still in print today (as a softcover collection; see link above) and DC has also published two Archive editions featuring the Enemy Ace. The above image is from the first volume and should give folks an indication of how the character was drawn during his Silver Age heydey.

A more recent (and modern) interpretation of the character was provided by Garth Ennis, Chris Weston, Christian Alamy and Russ Heath with the volume "War in Heaven", which chronicles von Hammer's (reluctant) exploits in WWII.

[fleggett]

Hey, I have one of those (#272)! It really is a terrific production. Graphitti Designs used to be the premier limited hardcover publisher for comic-related art. They've done books for DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, First Comics, and others.

These often show up on eBay since the print run was rather high, but good luck finding a seller willing to offer it for the original $75 MSRP.

An excellent review!

[gren99]

(08-08-2011 02:10 AM)fleggett Wrote:  Hey, I have one of those (#272)! It really is a terrific production. Graphitti Designs used to be the premier limited hardcover publisher for comic-related art. They've done books for DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, First Comics, and others.

These often show up on eBay since the print run was rather high, but good luck finding a seller willing to offer it for the original $75 MSRP.

An excellent review!

thanks!

i've got a few more graphitti books around my bookshelf and been contemplating reviewing one or two more. some choices would be the early matt wagner grendels? the first three american flagg! collections -- or perhaps the end-all, be-all: the oversized B&W hardcover collection of marvel's 'earth X'...complete with molded plastic case and audio CD soundtrack. i think graphitti quit making books after that (they still make t-shirts.)

but what i really, really, really want to do is convince my spouse to do a review of her set of 'ciba collection of medical illustrations' by frank netter (the whole 13 volume set.) she promised she would if she had the time...

[fleggett]

GD did at least one more after Earth X (Southland Tales), but I suspect Earth X broke their bank. From what I recall, it went way over schedule, has a mammoth print run (6,000), and was their most expensive book ever produced in terms of material and labor. Only From Hell matched the MSRP ($95), but FH wasn't nearly the production that Earth X was.

Because of the print run, Earth X can be had regularly and for little more than a song on eBay. Which is annoying for us who paid the full retail. <grrrr>

I hate the fact that they went into the "apparel and toy" business and have basically quit making books, but I guess Superman t-shirts and Green Lantern power rings are better for their bottom line.

I looked up that Netter set. Only $5,100 on Amazon! You'll have to really wine and dine your spouse!

[gren99]

(09-08-2011 06:46 AM)fleggett Wrote:  I looked up that Netter set. Only $5,100 on Amazon! You'll have to really wine and dine your spouse!

the two HC i kinda regret buying more than any other were the earth X for pretty much all the reasons you mentioned plus the fact that it is so damn unwieldly that i have to keep it in the shipping box in a cupboard (it shared space with my diablo II CE and a pretty mediocre macross die cast i bought 15 years ago.)

i could live with the fact that as S&Ns go its nigh worthless but whats the point of owning it if you can't display it?

the other HC that annoyed was the comicbook size slipcase of crisis on infinite worlds that DC did. some of those slipcases (their pre-absolute edition premium format) were totally worth the money (deadman; green lantern/green arrow) but for the crisis one they marked it up to a cool $100 and said it would never be reprinted...

...until they DID reprint it as both a SC and an absolute (which i would have much preferred.) grrr!

the netter books were a christmas present to her a few years ago. i found a very nice set on ebay -- still cost $1000.

they are amazing illustrations and i hope i an get her to do some text and pix in the next couple of weeks.

[fleggett]

Oh, man, you hit a raw nerve by mentioning the Crisis hardcover, but for different reasons. I (foolishly) bought the S/N edition at the MSRP, a whopping $250. At the time, I thought DC was going to really pull out all the stops, since the slipcased HC was $99.95. I figured they'd include all sorts of goodies for the $150.05 premium.

All they did was pull 2,500 of the slipcased editions off the shelf and have the artists sign the slipcase. I'm serious, DC did absolutely nothing beyond that. I then saw where DC had partnered with Dynamic Forces to produce this edition. At that point, the pieces began to fall into place, as DF has a NOTORIOUS reputation for doing this sort of BS and charging out the wazoo.

I should not've purchased the book, but I felt committed, as I requested it through my local comics specialty store and they made a great effort to obtain one (at the time, it was in high demand - almost as high as the S/N hardcover of The Dark Knight Returns). I still feel ripped off, even after almost 23 years.

Anyway, whenever a publisher claims something will never be reprinted, that's just marketing crap. Everything gets reprinted sooner or later, especially during a cash grab (assuming, of course, the publisher hasn't gone under).

Yeah, the Earth X book is rather unwieldy, but I'm a "the bigger the better" type, so I really like it. Have you seen Centipede's Lovecraft or King art books? I honestly don't think I've ever laid eyes on anything as large.

That was one helluva Christmas present. Is she a doctor? Sounds like you got a deal for real at only $1,000!

[gren99]

ech. DF was like the worst possible successor to graphitti designs one could possibly imagine. i loathed their cheap S&N with a pretty sizable passion. i've only ever bought one thing from them (an american flagg! giclee, now hanging upstairs near the bedroom) and was gifted a frank miller daredevil print. the notion of putting a sticker with a few signatures on it versus at times re-imagining the entire book production design just feels....depressing.

being on the hook for $250 for that ...yeah, ok. you win -- you have way more reason to be pissed off than me.

i actually wound up buying the 'canonical' earth X HC marvel put out in their slightly oversized hardcover format a few years later and have to admit that the book really does improve WITHOUT the coloring. the extra size helps -- it's one of the tallest books in my colllection (i got a few taschen books that are a bit bigger.)

haven't seen the centipede stuff. i was sorta forced to kinda retire from buying comics and such after being laid off and not having had a job in years (working in the tech sector....kinda sucks these days.)

as for the spouse -- she actually works for AT&T wireless (and no, she can't help folks with bad iphone reception...), but medical history is her hobby and we have lots of books on the evolution of anatomy around here. i knew the netter books were her holy grail, so when i saw the chance...