Fury has a squad of 6 men. There's former circus strongman, Dum Dum Dugan. Trumpeter, Gabriel Jones. Kentucky jockey, Reb Ralston. Brooklyn mechanic Izzy Cohen, whose Jewish heritage makes the war on Hitler that much more personal. Hollywood hunk Dino Manelli. And recent college graduate Junior Juniper. Fury along with the rest are under the command of one Captain 'Happy' Sam Sawyer; who just happens to be anything but cheerful.
Now, you may be wondering where's Pinky Pinkerton; the British playboy turned commando? Well, turns out he wasn't an original member of the Howlers as Fury's squad is known as. But an early shocking death will bring forth the Brit's membership onto the team within the first half dozen issues. An unknown element for it's time, having a good guy die (and stay dead) added yet another layer of realism.
One thing many don't realize it that while Sgt. Fury came about as a bet between Stan Lee and Martin Goodman, the crux of this comic book was a result of Jack Kirby's time as a solider in the European theater. The ideas behind this book were a therapeutic way for Kirby to deal with the horrors of war he experienced. For this reason, it was one of the few titles that Kirby didn't mind when Stan Lee overtook as the alleviation of his PTSD was worth the backstabs from the Marvel editor-in-chief.
There's a lot of wild stories in this volume. Sgt. Fury meets his match when he is introduced to Baron Strucker. The Howlers take on assignments in Africa and the Pacific theater where Pinky's origin is revealed. Catch a glimpse into the future when the Howlers reform during the Korean Conflict. Oh, and in the most crazy story of them all, the Commandos kidnap the Fuhrer!
Over the summer I completed a graphic novel biography about Jack Kirby. It was that book which inspired me to finally bite the bullet and get serious about completing my Sgt. Fury collection. But this task wasn't easy as just about half of the issues in the titles' 167+ run are reprints. And some issues were reprinted more than once! Being a gigantic bargain hunter, I went for the cheapest option which meant that my entire run is a mix of first run and reprints upon reprints. It took a while, but I got this run complete.
I'm very thankful Marvel did a volume of Marvel Essentials on the Howlers. A first issue is valued at about 4 grand. This collection contains issues 1-24 and the first annual; all of which would probably cost me just under $10K to own. This book is out of print. So I did pay a bit more than the original cover. But I saved a lot going this route.
Sadly, Marvel never made a volume 2. Shortly after this book was published, the House of Ideas decided to end this beloved line of black and white reprints for more expense all-color anthologies made on high quality paper- the Epic Collections.
If you ask me, I'd prefer giving up the color and paper quality in exchange for saving cash. But Marvel never bothers to refer to me.
That's okay. I'm sure I'll get my chance someday.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
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