Review of "Showcase Presents: Men of War," by DC Comics

Review of

Showcase Presents: Men of War, by DC Comics ISBN 9781401243883

Five out of five stars

 This collection contains the DC Men Of War issues from #1 through #26. There are three main storylines of continuing tales. The first features the American super soldier named Gravedigger, sent on the deadliest and most critical of missions in World War II. The second is Enemy Ace, World War I German fighter pilot Baron Von Hammer, a man that fights with great chivalry against any and all enemies. The third features war correspondent Wayne Clifford as he faces danger in order to get the true story as to how the war is going. Sergeant Rock and Easy Company make a cameo appearance in one Gravedigger episode.

The action is the standard of DC war stories, where the heroes face great peril and all seems lost, yet they manage to  emerge relatively unscathed. Gravedigger is African-American, so his stories are a bit of a departure from the white hero format.

 My favorite stories are those featuring Enemy Ace. He is not depicted as a bloodthirsty killer, but as a humane man forced to do inhumane things. The Baron is a man that has a duty to perform and he will do so to the best of his abilities. Some of the stories also mention his aristocratic heritage and what it means to a German.