What Is The Externsteine -What is the D-Gruppe Connection?

 The first ever D-Gruppe (published) strip took place at Externsteine -The Revenge of the Ice Queen- and has been seen in other strips.  Never heard of it?  This is what Wikipedia says:

"The Externsteine is a distinctive sandstone rock formation located in the Teutoburg Forest, near the town of Horn-Bad Meinberg in the Lippe district of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The formation is a tor consisting of several tall, narrow columns of rock which rise abruptly from the surrounding wooded hills. The Hermannsweg, a long-distance hiking trail, passes through the formation.

Page  1 Return of the Ice Queen (c)2025 Ben R Dilworth/T. Hooper

"In a popular tradition going back to an idea proposed to Hermann Hamelmann in 1564, the Externsteine are identified as a sacred site of the pagan Saxons, and the location of the Irminsul idol reportedly destroyed by Charlemagne; there is however no archaeological evidence that would confirm the site's use during the relevant period.

Page from The Trial (c)2025 T. Hooper

"The stones were used as the site of a hermitage in the Middle Ages, and by at least the high medieval period were the site of a Christian chapel. The Externsteine relief is a medieval depiction of the Descent from the Cross. It remains controversial whether the site was already used for Christian worship in the 8th to early 10th centuries."

You've seen D-Gruppe and other German heroes at Externsteine in the above pages so now....a photo drop!

(c)2025 respective copyright owner

(c)2025 respective copyright owner

(c)2025 respective copyright owner

(c)2025 respective copyright owner

(c)2025 respective copyright owner

Scene References for D-Gruppe -Hermannsdenkmal

I found some of my old reference pics used for D-Gruppe. In this case of the statue from Hermansdenkmal since, if you are going to have characters land on it or fly by it you need scale.

One thing I did not know was true until; the mid 1980s is that there was an American counterpart to "Onkle Hermann" at New Ulm, in Minnesota.

There is a page with more information here:

https://mahoninghistory.org/2021/04/13/time-capsule-april-13-2021-salem-saint-gaudens-statue/

I had a story where the German and the American monuments were somehow magically interlinked.

Courtesy Brown County Historical Society, New Ulm, Minnesota; photographer unknown

Below: No, that is NOT Brian Blessed as King of the Hawkmen from the 1980s Flash Gordon movie!  Although I think someone is having a laugh here!

Courtesy Brown County Historical Society, New Ulm, Minnesota; photographer unknown

And....

Circa 1984 brother Mike and Dave Chung with myself on the steps leading up to Hermannsdenkmal. Now for some photos of the real monument ....

(c)2025the Respective copyright owner

(c)2025the Respective copyright owner

(c)2025the Respective copyright owner

The Task Force Germany Pages

Subzero over at Tales From The Kryptonian wrote a piece on these pages in 2015 when he found pages drawn by his late brother, Enrique, in the 1990s  you can find the post here:

https://talesfromthekryptonian.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-lost-team-germany-story.html

Task Force Germany may never have been completed but but members did appear during the Green Skies trilogy.  I thought this would be a great time to just look at Enrique's pencils.  So enjoy!