Comicon Advent Calendar 2024 Day 11: A ‘Silent Night’ With Enemy Ace
by Richard Bruton
Time to kick back, forget that you haven’t sorted the presents for the family yet, put on some Christmas music, and relax and enjoy our next peek behind the window of the Comicon Advent Calendar…
Today, as you can see, it’s a John Byrne and Andy Kubert tale from 1988, Silent Night, featuring Enemy Ace in something seasonal in the midst of the horrors of World War I.
It’s a simple thing, set in an Allied hospital, where soldiers recover from their injuries, making the best of their lot. You have one young lad enamoured of the romance of war, drawing the enemy ace’s plane, only to be chastised by one of the old boys, pointing out just how many of his comrades are missing, presumed dead…
And into this comes Enemy Ace, the German flier landing outside the Allied hospital, bringing much-needed supplies to make everyone’s Christmas a little better.
He’s encouraged to spend some time with them, to share in what he’s brought, even getting to dance with the pretty young nurse there, before paying his respects and making to leave…
After this, there’s a moment of realisation, of something of a thawing of conflict, lessons learned, but not too many.
There’s a simplicity in the story, all told, fittingly, without words, perhaps a bit of a hamfisted and overly sentimental way of hammering the points home, Byrne doing his version of the enemy coming together for the single day before headed back to being enemies. But it’s Christmas, and if there’s a time where we can accept a bit of sentimentality, it’s this time of year.
And there’s also a joy in seeing Byrne’s art here finished by the great Andy Kubert, giving it a rougher, edgier look than you’d expect. Plus, the dedication to both Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, two men who really knew just how to craft a war story, is a nice touch.
Enemy Ace in Silent Night – Writer and penciller, John Byrne, finished art by Andy Kubert, colours by Glenn Whitmore
Originally published in Christmas With The Superheroes 2, 1988
You can find all of the Comicon Advent Calendar entries right here.
