Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #36

Eric Koenig begins his commando training as a member of the Howlers. While Stan Lee leaves the readers wondering if Eric has defected as a double agent for the Nazis, the Howlers seem to welcome the German with open arms. Captain Sawyer and Fury are ready to have Eric posing as a German officer in their upcoming mission with full confidence in Koenig's abilities.

The Howlers continue to worry over their recently fallen comrade. I won't reveal who the injured Howler is yet for spoilers sake. However, the early prognosis is not good. The commando took a massive beating in the last issue and opened up a slot for Koenig to join the squad.

The major excitement takes place aboard a speeding train along a snowy Alpine mountain range. If it brings back memories of that scene in Captain America: The First Avenger, you are not alone. I'm wondering if this issue was the inspiration for that very dramatic and important scene in the movie. 

As for the mission itself, it has the Howlers boarding the train which is secretly transporting a German officer to Italy to help Mussolini who's losing his battle with anti-fascist forces and the Allies. The train is disguised as being a hospital transport allowing the Nazis to pass through neutral Switzerland. Fury's men are supposed to  prevent this and hopefully capture the officer while posing as neutral safety inspectors.

It's here where the reader is supposed to be skeptical of where Eric Koenig's loyalties lie because the target is someone who Koenig has known for a very long time and loves like a brother. 

Not the best issue. It's really slow in getting started as the first 10 pages are more filler and mission prep. In other words, it's like a soap opera set during WW2 with the Howlers worrying about the injured commando, Eric reminiscing over his relationship with the mission's target and Nick Fury exposing his soft side for his Howlers. It's all done internally and really bogs the story way down.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.