Aces High was a short lived comic book series published by EC Comics in 1955 as the fourth title in its New Direction line. The bi-monthly comic was published by Bill Gaines. It lasted a total of five issues before being cancelled, along with EC's other New Direction comics.
Aces High was dedicated to tales of air combat and front line service of Allied airmen during World War I and World War II. Many of the stories were in an anti-war vein.
Contributors to Aces High include George Evans, Wally Wood, Jack Davis and Bernie Krigstein.
Aces High was reprinted as part of publisher Russ Cochran's Complete EC Library in 1988. Between April and August 1999, Cochran (in association with Gemstone Publishing) reprinted all five individual issues. This complete run was later rebound, with covers included, in a single softcover EC Annual.
Aces High may refer to:
Aces High is a 1976 Anglo-French war film directed by Jack Gold and starring Malcolm McDowell, Peter Firth, Christopher Plummer and Simon Ward. The screenplay was written by Howard Barker. As acknowledged in the opening credits, the film is based on the 1930s play Journey's End by R. C. Sherriff with additional material from the memoir Sagittarius Rising by Cecil Lewis. The film moves the action from the trenches to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). However, many characters are very recognisable (the idealistic officer whose sister is the girlfriend of a more senior officer who drinks too much, the neuralgia suffering officer accused of funking). It tells the story of a Royal Flying Corps squadron in the First World War during one week of battle, where the high death rate of pilots puts an enormous strain on those remaining.
In a one-week timeframe, life at the front in a RFC squadron is documented. The real story begins a year before with fighter ace Major John Gresham (Malcolm McDowell) speaking to a class of pupils at Eton College in October 1916. One year later, a new recruit arrives at Gresham's base in France, 2nd Lt. Croft (Peter Firth). Gresham had been his house captain at Eton and is also the boyfriend of his older sister. Gresham already relies on alcohol to cope with combat stress and continue flying. Now the strain of being responsible for this young recruit (a potential brother-in-law) is an additional burden. Croft has to learn how to survive not only in the air but on the ground as well as he makes some minor mistakes in squadron etiquette.
Aces High is the second volume in the Wild Cards shared universe fiction series edited by George R. R. Martin. It was published in 1987 and dealt with two main plots that linked the stories in the volume: the arrival of the alien Swarm and a Masonic conspiracy led by a bookish villain named the Astronomer. In the end, these two storylines connect.
The title "Aces High" comes from the name of a popular and ritzy restaurant of the same name that caters to a clientele consisting solely of Aces — those victims of the Wild Card virus who gain "superpowers" as a result of their exposure — and features in several of the stories, along with its proprietor Hiram Worchester (aka Fatman).
Aces High contains the following short stories:
The stories "Jube" and "Unto the Sixth Generation" occur as interludes between the other stories; the former throughout the entire book, the latter ending just after "If Looks Could Kill".