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.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #35

After having Happy Sam Sawyer recount how Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan formed the Howlers, the attack on Pearl Harbor sees the death of a friend that was closer than a brother to Nick. In my review of the issue before, I stated that I hoped for the next issue (this issue) to provide the origins of how Izzy Cohen, Gab Jones and the rest joined the team. But I guess seeing several random Joes get draft notices from their local postman isn't very exciting storytelling. Surely one of them signed up voluntarily. Could there be an interesting story about that? 

Instead of going backwards, Stan Lee and Dick Ayers both move forward with the current events of 1942-43. With exception of Fury, the rest of the squad were captured by Nazi forces during a pre-D-Day invasion mission that took place in Greece. Transferred to Berlin, the Howlers undergo torture and questioning by the Gestapo. 

In order to rescue his men, Nick has to team up with his arch rival, Sgt. Bull McGiveney. Normally the Howlers are busting heads with Bull's bunch of soldiers in a macabre sort of friendly rivalry. If you can call fists, chains and 2x4s friendly rivalry.

When the action is over, a Howler will be seriously injured, a Nazi will defect and McGiveney and his men will earn a little bit of the respect of the Howling Commandos.

A really exciting issue that opens up some interesting possibilities with a German defector on the Howlers. For one, can Eric Koenig be trusted? And while I hate to see the injured Howler go, I appreciate the level of realism that the creative team put in this series. Sure, there's a level of comic book grandiosity to the villains. But with at least 2 former Howlers dead, countless injuries, and now another facing a medical discharge, Lee and Ayers really don't hold back on the fortunes of war.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #101

If you ever wondered how such a mish-mash of lunatics get paired together to become the Howlers, this is the issue you've been waiting for. If you thought it was all because of selective service randomly drafting recruits for the war effort, I don't think you really understand the Marvel Way of storytelling. Sure, most of these guys got drafted into the Army. A couple volunteered to fight. However, the way the unit came together was a story of fate, heroics and teamwork.

I thought it was a very good story. However, a couple of things seemed a bit far fetched to me. For example, my favorite Howler, Dum Dum Dugan, was a strongman in a European travelling circus when he met Fury and his CO, 'Happy' Sam Sawyer. Because of how well they worked together, Dugan was put in Fury's outfit upon request. Would that sort of placement been allowed back in 1942? I've glossed over how Dugan's trademark bowler isn't GI. But could just anyone say 'that guy has moxie. Enlist him. Then put him in my platoon!' 

While all of the Howlers appear here, in all honesty, this story is more about how the Fury/Dugan team came about. It's also about Nick's good friend Red Hargrove, whose death during the attack on Pearl Harbor inspired Fury to become a commando. 

Reprinting issue #34 of the series, this issue is a bit of a rarity as it's the first half of a 2-parter. Most issues up to this point have been stand alone. With 1 or 2 exceptions. It's possible that we get more of the Howler's origin in the following issue. Hopefully, the origins of Dino, Izzy and especially my next favorite Howler, Gabe, will be presented in the next issue giving those hardworking grunts their just due!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #33

The Howlers find themselves in the balmy Mediterranean. They're assigned to escort a member of the Greek royal family back home in hopes of boosting the war effort against the invading fascist Italian forces.

Issue #33 features a notable guest star: Navy seaman Captain Simon Savage. Although he's still mysteriously referred to just 'The Skipper,' you get the feeling that Marvel has big plans for this character. In just 2 short years, he'll be leading his own squad of grunts. Sure, his spin-off won't last 2 full years. But that's more because of the demise in popularity of war comics and nothing personal against the seasoned helmsman. 

If Savage's solo series is half as exciting as a Howling Commandos issue in which he guest stars, I really wanna get my hands on them on day!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #32

One of my favorite issues of the series thus far. Yes, the Howlers fight Nazis, while strapped to some skis in the Bavarian Alps. But what takes this story to 11 is the main story which sees a Nazi spy infiltrating the Allies' British base and posing as a doctor. This physician hypnotizes the group's lone Jewish commando, Izzy Cohen, turning him into a traitor against the rest of the Howlers.

The irony of a Jew becoming an unwitting weapon of evil of the Nazis isn't lost on me. It's a thrilling story that speaks of the atrocities of the Holocaust without actually mentioning the horrors by name. It was Stan's brilliant way of making readers think without being preached at and dutiful discipline Roy Thomas put this Marvel Way of story writing to masterful use here! But I just got to ask: were Allied military bases just crawling with Nazi saboteurs?

Two issues in a row see Hitler's goons covertly operating within a stone's throw of London. We're 32 issues into the series and I think we've had a least a dozen spies and traitors in our midst. As much as I have praised the stories of this series being original; I mean we had hypnotism and G.I.s on skis in this issue alone. But was it really this bad during World War II to basically have half of all the occupants of your typical European theater military instillation be spies?! 

According to MI5's (British Intelligence Agency) website, 115 Nazi spies were apprehended in The UK alone. Apparently, all of them operated out of the same base as Fury's Able Company...

No wonder it took us over 4 years to win the war against the Germans!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. 

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #92

The plans for the Allied invasion of Europe have been finalized. The Howler's C.O., 'Happy' Sam Sawyer, has been kidnapped thanks to a Nazi spy on the base. It's up to Fury and his men to rescue Captain Sawyer before a squadron of allied bombers destroy the instillation in France where the officer is being interrogated. 

It's a thrilling race against time because success of the war effort takes priority over the life of just one man. Even if it's a man as highly regarded as Captain Sam Sawyer.

I knew that Fury and most of the Howlers would survive. Unless Nick, Dum Dum and Gabe are all secretly LMDs in the pages of Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD. However, as other members of the team, as well as other operatives and Allied soldiers have lost their lives in the 30 previous issues, I wasn't sure if Sawyer was going to make it. It gets really hairy there and the tension was so palpable that the last 4 pages felt like I was watching a suspenseful action thriller instead of reading a comic book. Great story telling by Roy Thomas!

Reprinting the main story from Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #31.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #132

Reprinting issue #30.

It's a change of scenery for Nick Fury and the Howlers. Instead of going behind the lines of Nazi Germany, the Howling Commandos are sent to fascist Italy; where they're immediately captured and sent to a POW camp.

Fury's men are immediately hated by the Canadian Air Force captain whose become the de facto leader of the prisoners in the camp. Capt. Andre has been able to forge an uneasy truce with his captors and any slight disruption to the apple cart could cause ripples to that relative calm. As rowdy as Fury and the Howlers get, it turns out that the Sarge's bad boy behavior in captivity is a ruse so that he can meet with the camp's commanding officer who is secretly a member of the Italian resistance against Mussolini. 

Now the mission completely changes. The Howlers are tasked with playing Hogan's Heroes by faking an escape, disguised as Italian soldiers in order to steal a massive shipment of gold in hopes of crippling Benito's war machine.

There's one thing to say about this series: no matter how far fetched and insane the Howler's missions are, they never get old. Like switching over from Germany to Italy. Or staging a robbery of Fascist gold. This story originally came out in 1966, 4 years before that amazing war-comedy starring Clint Eastwood, Kelly's Heroes, did. Since I've now encountered 2 different stories involving American troops stealing enemy gold, I'm wondering if that was something that actually happened during World War II... If so, I'd like to read a book about such heists.

Very interesting and exciting read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #29

Fury and Baron Von Strucker battle with the fate of of a tiny French village literally in their hands. The Sgt. has the detonator in his mitts while his Nazi foe has the overriding kill switch within his grasp. 

Roy Thomas takes over the writing responsibilities from Stan Lee in this issue and the toe-headed wunderkind does a heck of a job. Artist Dick Ayers does one fine job as well and that thrilling cover by him- Amazing! Why isn't it considered one of the best of the Marvel Age of Comics?!

I had mentioned in my review of the last issue that I was surprised how wavering the Baron was feeling towards the final solution of Hitler. This issue, which may or may not, be the future leader of Hydra's last appearance in the World War II adventures of Nick Fury. If it is, then I have a sufficient explanation as to how Von Strucker becomes such a heartless would-be world leader of the Marvel Universe's most evil organizations!

An underrated classic!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #28

This issue is Stan Lee's swan song as head writer. To close things out, Lee pits Fury against his arch enemy, Baron Von Strucker!

I guess you could argue that Nick Fury's main foe is Adolph Hitler. But Fury does end up taking on Von Strucker as the head of Hydra later on in the 60s. So maybe I should refer to the Baron as Fury's most enduring enemy???

The Fuhrer himself guests in this issue, personally ordering Von Strucker to end the resistance forces in a town in France. The Howler's mission for this issue is to rescue the leaders of the French underground. However, when Fury discovers that the Nazis have rigged the entire town to explode, the Commandos must alter their plans to liberate the entire village!

A good issue that does something very implausible. It shows Von Strucker as not being 100% on board with Hitler's plans of total world dominance. It's that hint of a conscience that seems very out of character for the ruthless ruler of Hydra. Something must have happened between this issue and the swinging 60s to turn the Baron into a heartless terrorist leader.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos #128

In the pages of Essential Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos,Vol. 1, Fury's right hand man, Dum Dum Dugan was injured and sent stateside for rehabilitation. Unknown to the Howlers, Dugan was on his way back to them when his transport vehicle was shot down by the feared Nazi raider, the Sea Shark! Now as the Howlers, with help from the mysterious Navy Captain known only as the Skipper, scour the Atlantic for survivors of the attack, Dum Dum leads his comrades on a desperate mission of survival! That's because the Sea Shark has it in mind to finish off the job of elimination of all evidence of the villain's actions, which are in clear violation of the Geneva Convention!

As much as Stan Lee could milk a dead horse with endless appearances by Doctor Doom in the pages of the Fantastic Four or Magneto giving the X-Men constant fits, the Marvel legend sure could keep things fresh in the pages of Sgt. Fury. Plus Stan the Man wasn't afraid to shake up the Howler's lineup. 

I think being veterans of World War II, Stan and the rest of the bullpen did everything they could within the confines of the Comics Code to make the war in Sgt. Fury as realistic as possible. So they added a few Nazi villains that were colorfully on par with the typical comic book baddie. Based on the fact that this version of the war occurs in a universe filled with superheroes, it makes sense that these Nazis seemed like demonic mad scientists bent on world domination and the spread of evil. ( Man, I'm starting to sound like Stan Lee here...) However, in the pages of Sgt. Fury, good men died, got injured, and bore their scars internally as well as externally.

Look, I am a huge fan of Nick Fury. I love his super spy adventures and I just adore his stint in the United States Army. These issues are some of the best works of the Marvel Age of Comics. Being a war comic, which has a sorta niche following, these books are seriously underrated. I'm glad I got my hands on all of the issues I needed for a full story run before the secret of these gems got out!

Reprinting the main story from Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #26.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #89

Reprinting the main story from Sgt Fury #27, this issue details why Nick Fury wears an eye patch now as an Agent of SHIELD. 

While working incognito in the Bavarian Alps, Fury sustains an eye injury. But rather than let the accident scuttle his important mission, Fury continues on, having to adjust to a lack of depth perception when having to fight his way out of fisticuffs with a squadron of soused Nazis.

The cover is a bit misleading. Yes, the eye injury is why Nick Fury will one day don an eye patch. However, it doesn't cause him to lose his eye yet. The damage is done. However, the medic at the end of this story tells Fury that it will be a few years before he'll no longer be able to see out of his left eye. 

Fury's diminishing eye sight will probably play a part in upcoming issues of Howling Commandos. I await to see just what part it will play. For now, Nick has a pair of eyes, working in a capacity yet to be fully determined. Calling the events in this story the origin of Fury's eye patch is in my opinion a rather loose definition of the word 'origin'. Still, Stan Lee's tale is way better than the genesis of how the Samuel L. Jackson Nick Fury lost his eye.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #25

During another important mission, Nick Fury is separated from the rest of his team. In this midst of everything, Fury's has sustained a head injury. Now as his Howlers search for their missing leader, Fury imagines his allies are the enemy and continues to evade important medical help.

A great psychological thriller by Stan Lee. It ranks up there with the original D.O.A. starring Edmund O'Brien or some of Hitchcock's earliest stuff. Great art by Dick Ayers with a sinister looking cover by the King, Jack Kirby!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #82

Reprinting the Nick Fury story from Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #24, the Howlers earn some furlough time back in the States. While a couple of the team goes off to visit family, incognito Hollywood actor Dino arranges for a special USO style performance for the rest of his compatriots. Of course, it's not all glitz and glamour as Fury runs a foul of a secret Nazi cell operating in the United States. 

Lots of fisticuffs! Some really awesome cameos. Tinsel Town's most famous celebrities including Bob Hope appear. I really liked the reverse secret identity aspect of the story involving Dino Manelli. Enlisted under his birth name, none of the celebrities at the bash know that Dino is actually an Army grunt participating in top secret missions. Dino has used his connections as an actor to throw this private show from the Howlers. However, Dino is in disguise as his dashing leading man self, hosting the fete in a full tuxedo. None of his celebrity peers even suspect that Dino is one Fury's unit. In fact, I thought it rather hilarious when one actor wondered aloud why this handful of guys warranted such a celebration thrown by Dino.

A good story with a refreshing change of pace. I liked the downtime aspects better than the actual meat of the story. I'm just hoping that by going with some reprints in order to chronicle the complete World War II career of the Howling Commandos, I'm not missing anything like pages culled because of bronze age comic book page counts or a secondary feature starring a solo member of Fury's team. 

The things I do to save a buck ..

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars. 

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #39

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos ran from 1963-1981 for a grand total of 167 issues. However, if you want to read about every mission Nick Fury and his troops conducted during the Second World War, you only have to purchase about half of those issues! Starting with issue #80, new material alternated every other issue with reprints. The series switched to reprints only with issue #120 after sales reports showed that those 2nd chance stories sold as well as the originals did. Some later issues reprinted material that members of the Howling Commandos interacting with members of the Leathernecks lead by former Naval commander Captain Savage who spun off earlier in the pages of Sgt. Fury. 

The first 23 issues of the series were collected in the pages of Essential Marvel Sgt. Fury, Vol. 1, along with material from the debut annual. While ownership of the black and white omnibus is rather pricey, as the book is out of print, it beats trying to pay thousands of dollars for those first few books. Sgt. Fury #167, the last issue of the series, is like a snake biting its own tale, reprinting issue #1. If you wish to go the color route, there's the premium priced Marvel Masterworks, although the House of Ideas hasn't produced an edition past Volume 4, reprinting issues 33-43, released in 2012.

As for this collector, I bit the bullet on the Essential Marvel collection. Then I found a mix of first run and reprint issues in order to have a copy of each story printed from the original run. Sgt. Fury #39 is a first run issue. It introduces readers to Colonel Fritz Klaue, a Nazi officer with an iron hand- literally. Over the years, his son Ulysses Klaue will grow to become an internal thorn on the side of the nation of Wakanda.

The Howling Commandos are sent behind enemy lines to discover the secret of the Fortress of Fear! G-2 has received word that the Nazis are developing a top secret weapon code-named 'Thunderer.' Once the soldiers learn what the Thunderer is, they are to neutralize it by any means possible. Seeing that the super weapon is a jet propelled plane and the Howling Commandos have no way out of the Bavarian Alps, it looks like the Thunderer is going to be taxing some Americans back into Allied territory!

Written by Roy Thomas and Dick Ayers, who also pencils this issue. Inks by John Tartaglione.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #79

In the Crimes Against Comics Dept., the Howling Commandos/Dracula team-up comes to a close. After a mere 3 tiny 8-page segments!

A very bloody World War II story that goes to show that Vlad Dracul will overlook personal blood lust when it involves Nazis rampaging his beloved Romanian haunts.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #78

It's the hump segment of the mere 3-part Sgt. Fury/Dracula tale. The first issue didn't have the two meet. Pleasantries and plans are made in this segment. The Howling Commandos aren't quite so jolly as they were in their original 60s and 70s run as they are here. But this is also a Marvel monsters story and not a Marvel war story. So, I'm okay with it. 

I just hate that this story isn't longer than 3 chapters! It just doesn't seem fair! I would love to see a Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD/Dracula follow-up. That would be epic. Unlikely. But epic!

The two one-and-done stories are polar opposites. The Iron Man and Rhodey story is forgettable. Literally. But the second story starring the immortal priestess Selene and the Joe Fix-it Hulk was really good. After a rowdy bar fight, Selene sets her sites on the Gray Hulk. Seems that after about 17,000 years, nobody quite has the stamina, attitude, and muscles as the Hulkster does. Only while Selene is drooling all over the behemoth, Hulk can only reply 'Not Interested' and that sort of rebuke makes the demoness want him even more!

3 out of 4 tales were rather enjoyable. The Iron Man story felt like every other generic 90s Iron Man story. Still, I liked this issue a lot more than many previous MCP offerings.Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #77

After 10 chapters, the Shanna the She Devil epic comes to a close- finally. And while I enjoyed the exciting ending and glad that one of my new favorite characters didn't die, that's not the segment of this issue I want to talk about!

Beginning in this issue, it's a Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos Old World team-up with Dracula! Holy Frickin' Cow! I love team-ups. Love Marvel horror. LOVE Nick Fury. This is a win, win, win! Only downside, this is only a three-parter! 

That just doesn't seem fair. We had a 25-part Black Panther story that ran slower than a snail in molasses. We have sat through numerous 7-12 part long runs starring Wolverine. That Shanna tale was 10 issues long. But we only get 3 parts of a Nick Fury/Lord of the Vampires war story? I'm gonna make the most of it, I promise you that!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Essential Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, Vol. 1

I just cannot get enough of the exploits of one Nick Fury. Whether he's an agent of SHIELD or the newest incarnation of The Watcher, if it's got Nick Fury in, I want it. And that's the case with Nick's time as a grunt Sargent during World War II. 

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 1-23 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.

Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos #1

Some stories need more than one issue to tell them. This one-shot celebrating Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos is one of those issues. Sent on a mission to recon a Nazi railroad built in Yugoslavia, Fury and Co. end up becoming allies with a Russian spy and run afoul of Baron Zemo, Baron Strucker, and Major Tito. It’s an epic story squashed into 32 pages (give or take.)

 

With few pages and tons of actions, some scenes are over in just a couple of panels. It’s like reading a video montage of a war movie, yet there’s some vital plot work occurring here and not enough time is given to its resolution.

 

A good tale, just much of it is very rushed and makes for uneven reading at times.

WORTH CONSUMING!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.