"Totentanz" in French "Danse Macabre" or in English "Dance of Death" is the title of this remarkable Unknown Soldier story from Star-Spangled War Stories #158. The Unknown Soldier was a very popular DC war hero, a man horribly wounded but who took his bandaged features behind enemy lines and as a master of disguise brought the Nazi menace down many times. This time he's headed to a "Death Camp" named "Totentanz" where a young woman is held captive. The Nazis think she's just another pretty face, but she's actually an important war fighter who has led many to freedom beyond the clutches of the Nazi menace.
The Unknown Soldier is able to penetrate the camp in disguise as the "husband" of the woman and so he's put to work and to torture just as were the Jewish prisoners. There is no overt revelation that the prisoners in this story are Jewish but it's exceedingly clear in the story written and drawn by war maven Joe Kubert. Kubert's gritty and evocative style was ideal for stories of this kind which required the reader to forget the glossy heroics of the super folk and rather keep their attention on the real. Kubert kept it real. This one of the comics in this collection I bought off the stands at the time, and I can only imagine it was because of the powerful and unusual cover by Kubert.
Though not part of this collection We Spoke Out, this issue of Star-Spangled War proclaims a poster of the Robert Kanigher's WWI German Enemy Ace. Here's that poster by Joe Kubert. Enjoy!
Anticipate more Enemy Ace action later this month.
Note: This post originally appeared at Rip Jagger's Other Dojo.
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