Sgt. Fury And His Howling Commandos #2



"7 Doomed Men!"
writer: Stan Lee
pencils: Jack Kirby
inks: Dick Ayers
letters: Art Simek
colors: ?

Grade: A+

This issue truly strikes gold. Intense, feel-good action, laugh-out-loud humor, strong characterization, and enhanced art all converge to create a story that positively surpasses the first one and takes the series into a whole new realm of excellence.

I think at least part of this can be attributed to Kirby. The intensely fun 5 page action sequence that opens this story seems like something Kirby drew first and Lee added words to later. In the first issue, it seemed like Kirby was scrambling to work around Lee's story, but the story gets the heck out of the way in this issue in order to allow for some sincere fun. I notice that, whereas Lee attributed the "story" to himself on the first page of the previous issue, he only credits himself with the "script" this time. That would seem to back up my theory.

That five page action sequence is absolute gold. It's amazing how much fun Jack has with justified violence. Normally, I think any sane reader would cringe at having the good guys toss live grenades in the faces of their adversaries, but these guys were Nazis, America's greatest enemy who almost took over the world. There's absolutely no guilt in watching Able Company's exceptionally brutal retribution as a result.

Of course, the strongest aspect of this issue is the characterizations it begins to lend to the Commandos. Whereas it was hard to get a fix on them last issue, Stan gives us a lot to work with this time around:

Nick Fury doesn't seem quite so over-the-top alpha male this time around. He's still unnecessarily pushy and domineering, but it comes off as more of a calculated act than a personality flaw, especially when we see him show true strategic leadership at various points in this issue (not just leading by being the craziest, most fearless member of the outfit) and in showing genuine concern to his commanding officer about his troop not getting rest, even while concealing this concern from the troop and going so far as to fire an automatic weapon at them to get them up and going.

Incidentally, this is the first time anyone ever uses Nick's first name in the comic, as Happy Sam addresses him by it.

Happy Sam Walks a careful line between reminding Fury that he's his commanding officer when necessary, but talking with him as a true friend who respects Fury otherwise. Maybe it's because I'm just coming off of reviewing the Batman run, but Happy Sam seems like Nick Fury's Commissioner Gordon, pulling rank when necessary, but generally needing and respecting the phenomenal warrior working under him.

Dum-Dum seems far more comfortable as the second ranking soldier in this issue than he did in the previous one. At no point do we see him seriously disagree with and attempt to undermine Fury; And while he's every bit the loose cannon he was in the last issue, he unleashes it solely on the enemy, remaining amusing and non-threatening, even when Junior steps out of line by attempting to command the outfit in Fury's absence. I also really enjoyed the terrible jokes Dum-Dum kept making at his wife's expense.

Junior has a brain on his shoulders and the ambition to eventually lead.

Dino once again uses his acting skills to take on the role of a German officer. Signs of his vanity also re-emerge as he twice expresses a desire to have cameras present so that he can be in the news reels.

Reb's Kentucky accent comes through clearly for the first time in this issue, as does his quick sense of humor.

However, Izzy and Gabriel are still relegated to the background in this issue. Virtually all we know about either of them came from the "Meet the Howling Commandos" spread in issue #1.


While I find it laugh-out-loud hilarious when the unit pretends to surrender to a half-senile old Nazi officer, resulting in the line:

"YOU captured those seven? Maybe Der Feuhrer iss RIGHT! Maybe ve ARE the Master Race!",


this portion of the story also got me thinking. The true point here is that the Howling Commandos are the master race -- their courage and attitude appear to make them invulnerable in this story, able to take on anything. And, battling the greatest villain in real American history, we enjoy seeing them be so invulnerable against an impotent Nazi threat, casually getting themselves thrown into a concentration camp without any fear of something happening to them. It's all clearly fantasy, but it's fun fantasy. Don't bother wondering how the commandos snuck into that German town in the beginning of the issue, or how they pull out nuclear cooling rods with their bare hands and swing them around without repercussion, because their seeming invulnerability is so much of their charm. Of course, that invulnerability will get revoked on occasion in the title, but let's be realistic: a crack team of commandos like that, repeatedly going on the kind of absurdly impossible suicide missions they go on, would not live long. Eventually, there'd be that one fatal mission where the whole team would fail to return home. But reality has no place in this title unless served in small, poignant doses.

I found it interesting how the final panel attempted to address the question I raised in my previous review about whether any of these adventures had any basis in historical fact. Apparently the answer is generally no, though Lee made a desperate attempt to connect the destruction of the nuclear facility in this issue to Hitler's abandoning of the Nazi nuclear program.

Side notes:

Last issue, I was impressed by Fury's willingness to sacrifice his own men for the sake of fulfilling a critical mission. This issue, I'm impressed by Fury's willingness to put the success of the critical mission on the back burner in order to save Dum Dum. These two events completely contradict each other, but I'm somehow not bothered by that.

The fact that the commandos unleash a hideous howl when entering battle, combined with the fact that they were even introduced on the first page of the first issue as resisting tyranny with said howl, gives them an uncomfortable resemblance to Confederate soldiers in the Civil War. Did Lee mean to draw parallels between the North and Nazi Germany?

Are we still in the days leading up to D-Day, or will that timeline get conveniently ignored as time progresses?

Lots of coloring errors in this issue, most notably in the fact that Gabriel is Caucasian for much of this issue, and a weird blend of colors for the remainder (as if someone attempted to re-color his face after making his skin white). Izzy's hair is also blonde on page 18.

Is there some connection between the biblical character of Gabriel and African Americans that I don't understand? We've got Gabriel in this comic and (soon) Mal in the pages of Teen Titans, another early black hero who models himself after Gabriel and also carries a horn. What's the connection?

I wonder what thoughts went through Stan and Jack's heads as they worked on the concentration camp sequence, and if their Jewish heritage played a significant role in such thoughts.

Nick is drawn much better in this issue. Kirby tones down the apish qualities a bit and gives him a shirt to wear this time.

A great quote from page 4:

"Look! It iss THEM! The Commandos!!...The vay they yell -- it iss as though THEY haff US out-numbered!!"

Okay, Commandos have to be trained to deal with any number of things, but I find it hard to believe they're all trained horseback riders.

So what's the story with Able Company? Was it assembled as a sort of all-star commando troop to take on the most impossible of missions, or did the group earn a name for itself as time progressed, resulting on their being sent on an endless chain of suicide missions?

The true facts about Nazi Infantrymen and WWII era rifles inserted into this issue were a nice touch. I had to read a reprint of #1, so I have no idea if there was similar content in the first issue.


The plot synopsis in one sentence: The Commandos are sent to stop a shipment of heavy water to a Nazi nuclear research facility and make a detour to liberate a concentration camp.

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #4



"Lord Ha-Ha's Last Laugh"
writer: Stan Lee
pencils: Jack Kirby
inks: G. Bell
colors: ?
letters: Sam Rosen

grade: B

***Normally, the idea of spoiler warnings in a review for a 48 year old comic book would seem ridiculous, but I feel compelled to make such a warning this time around. If you plan on ever reading this issue of Sgt. Fury and have not already done so, then I strongly suggest avoiding this review and all the reviews that follow in this thread. You may want to read this one for yourself.***



Four issues in, and we already have a first death of a main character. I wonder how common this sort of thing was in war comics of the time period.

It certainly seems shocking to me, and yet it's treated so matter of fact to the cast. I guess hardened commandos would need to deal with it in that way. I applaud Lee and Kirby for showing such true-to-life restraint in the treatment of Junior's death, but I certainly would have enjoyed watching those tough facades crack for just a moment in dealing with the loss of their compatriot. Sure, Fury stumbles on his words, Dino wonders which one of them will die next, and Izzy remarks that they are all expendable, so maybe it's just Kirby holding back then . These reactions are all done in a single unexpressive panel, and then life moves on.

Fury certainly gives more emotional attention to Pamela at the end, and maybe they mean to infer that that's why someone like Pamela is so important to a soldier...life affirming things like romance help put the horrors of war in the emotional background.

Or maybe I'm reading too far into it.

At any rate, Kirby's restraint in depicting Junior's death makes more sense when you consider that he served in WWII himself. Chances are, he understood, first hand, the need to downplay the death of a comrade.

And so we have our first death, done less to draw sympathy and more to present the true horrors and dangers of war. In just the second issue, Lee and Kirby took us to a concentration camp. Now Junior is dead...randomly killed in one of their dozens of impossible showdowns -- a simple reminder of the risks they continually take in a war that isn't done justice when glorified and wiped clean of its horrors.

Suddenly, the Howlers seem even more heroic as a result. It's not hard to leap into impossible dangers when there's no true risk. It's why, in 1975, Len Wein created John Proudstar as a member of the All New, All Different X-Men with the full intention of killing him off early on. Doing so showed that their adventures weren't just fun and games. The stakes were now incredibly high, and the dramatic tension so much greater as a result. I never realized Lee and Kirby had done this first, more than ten years earlier.

(Too bad I already know who the only other major death in this run will end up being.)

Of course, I wonder if the Comics Code would have allowed this in a superhero comic in the 1960s. I'd imagine one of the perks of writing a pseudo-historical war comic enmeshed in our country's true violent history is being able to depict violence and death to an extent that it was not allowed in other genres. The gun firing, the grenade throwing, and the body counts in each issue certainly couldn't be done in a superhero mag of the time period, and I doubt the death of a major character would have worked either. No wonder Stan and Jack were so eager to write a war series.

Then again, I wonder if even a war story had attempted to depict the death of a major character within the confines of the Comic Code before. Look at how careful Stan is to avoid outright stating Junior has died in this issue. The cover only promises that, "one commando will fight no more after this nightmare mission!" and when Dum-Dum asks, "Sarge, what's the scoop? How bad did Junior get it?" Fury only replies with, "Bad enough, Dum-Dum. He...won't be...coming back," with Reb then referring to Junior going out the way he would have wanted. Maybe the emotional restraint shown by Stan and Jack was done in order to avoid censure from the code -- doing everything possible not to draw more attention to the death than was absolutely necessary.


Whether Stan and Jack had planned to kill Junior from the start or made that decision partway in, it seems to me that there were several reasons why Junior was the one who had to go:

1. Ethnicity. As stated in my previous review, every other Howler represents an ethnic group that was, at one point, marginalized by American culture (African American, Southern, Irish, Italian, Jewish). Junior, on the other hand, had an English last name and, without an English accent and with an American Ivy League background, would appear to be an American ancestor of early British Protestant Settlers; mainstream 1960s America, essentially. I hate to think of the Howlers as some sort of Affirmative Action group where Whitey always has to die, but Junior certainly didn't serve as the kind of meaningful symbol of anti-discrimination and national harmony in the face of tyranny that his compatriots did.

2. Looked too much like Reb. Each other Howler is pretty easy to distinguish from one another with even broad pencil strokes, but Reb's hat is the only thing that allows you to tell him and Junior apart from a distance. Whenever they're in costume, they are very easy to confuse for one another.

3. Ambitious personality. Each of the Howlers is beginning to develop some sense of personality at this point, but all that Junior has displayed was the ambition and ability to one day usurp Dum-Dum back in issue #2. Clearly, that wasn't going to work in a tight-knit group like the Howlers unless Dum-Dum was going to die (and he's just too darn fun to get rid of). Either Junior was going to get promoted out of the group, or he had a personality that was ill-suited to the title. You'd either have to kill him off or ignore his earlier ambition and start back at square one with the kid.

I find it interesting that Jack chose not to include Junior on the cover. He hadn't died at the point in the story being depicted. Maybe the cover was drawn ahead of the story being written, and Jack wasn't sure when Junior was going to die?

Of course, check out the only other Howler that was left off the cover -- Gabriel. At least he's finally correctly colored as an African American throughout this issue. Are the miscolors and the cover absence this time all coincidence, or was there that much of an ordeal with attempting to include an African American hero in a mainstream comic at the time?

Also worth noting: This is the first appearance of Pamela Hawley and her father, though she doesn't seem particularly notable at this point.

The inevitable side notes:

This issue explicitly sets the date as "World War II," with no other specifics offered. Once again, there seems to be a conscious attempt to move the series away from any kind of historical time-table within which to constrain the series' progression. I'm still not sure the series could have ever lasted as long as it did if it held to the time-table established in the first issue, with D-Day already being planned. It's probably a smart idea to avoid dates and references to major events in the war at this point.

Fury helplessly trapped in an airraid shelter with Nazis flying overhead and his own soldiers above ground without him -- I would have liked Lee and Kirby to have spent more time here and taken Nick's frustration a bit further. Giving more attention to Pamela talking him down in their first meeting would have been a powerful move -- a woman who can tame Fury's rage. It certainly would have made me understand Fury's feelings for her a bit more.

Why is there a Nazi flag in the Howlers' barracks on page 4? I'm assuming the gun above it suggests that they use it for target practice, but that's not really obvious from the panel.

An Ad for Avengers #4 promising an appearance by "Sub-Mariner". Wow. Finding that issue on the stands after such a misleading solicit must have been a real heart-stopper.

Lord Ha-Ha, an Englishman captured and used as propaganda against the Allies -- was there a historical counterpart to this? I'm not sure I buy the idea of having him specifically taunt the commandos in each announcement so that they'd try to sneak into Berlin to get him and then get caught, themselves. Seems a little far fetched to me.

Wow. The Howlers just fly a lone bomber directly into Berlin, deploy 20 miles outside of the city limits, and fight their way in. Good thing Junior dies at the end, because this all seems so unbelievable otherwise.

Little moments like the one in which a German circus performer is all set as their contact in Berlin make me more intrigued with the spies who lay all the resources out for the commandos than with the commandos themselves. How in the world do you establish and conduct communications with a sympathetic German residing WITHIN Berlin? Has there ever been a comic series that focused on the spy networks that did this kind of work during WWII?

We get all too many panels of the escaped lion (uninteresting) yet never see those German trucks fall into Junior's trap by rolling into the mud while pursuing the Howlers in a high speed chase. This was kind of a big moment not to depict.

Page 14, panel 1:

Reb: Some way for a Howler to die...fallin' onto a li'l ol' circus floor, eh, Junior?

Junior: It looks like fun, Reb. I'd like to try it, myself!

...Foreshadowing?


Nick's decision to preserve the memory/dignity of Pam's brother is especially impressive/shocking considering that his disgraceful actions indirectly caused Junior's death.

A quick review of the talents the Howlers bring to the fight: Izzy is a mechanic wiz, Dino has acting/impersonating abilities, and Dum-Dum has expertise with explosives, adding up to one crack team of specialists. So what are Gabe and Reb's specialties? Surely, playing a trumpet and cracking one-liners aren't on the same level of usefulness to the outfit.


The plot synopsis in one sentence: Nick meets Pamela Hawley during an air raid on London, The Howlers are ordered to sneak into Berlin and capture Lord Ha-Ha, a British citizen (and Pamela's brother) being used as a propaganda mouthpiece by the Nazis, they do so, it turns out that Ha-Ha is a traitor, he attempts to alert the Nazis to the Howlers' whereabouts, they mistakenly kill him, Junior dies in the final showdown, and Nick returns to Pamela, telling her that her brother died as a hero instead of hurting her with the truth.


Good issue overall, but this modern-age reader expected a major character's death to be treated as a bigger spectacle than it was. I understand why it was appropriate to do the opposite, but I still feel a bit cheated.

Beyond that, I can't say the characterization or action were particularly impressive this issue, but I certainly didn't find them disappointing either.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #6



"The Fangs of the Desert Fox"
writer: Stan Lee
pencils: Jack Kirby
inks: Geo Bell
letters: Art Simek
colors: ?

Grade: A


There's so much to love about this issue, but I think the two main aspects I loved are as follows:

1. The Howlers do not complete their mission. It's about time that this team faces an impossible situation that it can't surmount. Granted, upon close examination, the failure of the mission can easily be chalked up to the actions of their new unpredictable comrade, but it's still nice to see that even the Howlers have limits.

2. FINALLY, this team of ideal diversity faces a true bigot, and it allows the characters to shine more brightly in contrast.

Gabe, in particular, finally get to play an important role. Whereas he's generally been kept safely to the side and maintained an inoffensive temperment in the past, Stonewall's racism gives him all the license necessary to show tough stoicism at first ("He won't bother me none, Sarge. I'm used to his kind"), go off on the guy with full savagery later, and finally be a critical hero who saves his life at the end (though someone needs to explain to Lee that blood type AB is the universal receiver; Stan was clearly thinking of type O when he wrote that portion).

It is interesting, though, that just as Gabe is about to rightfully tear into Stonewall for his absurd level of racism that has just jeopardized the entire mission, Gabe's skin turns white again. I'm getting really tired of this level of censorship (unless it really is just a repeated error, but it seems too convenient here).


Once again, Lee is the master of saying something without really saying something. I guess it comes with pushing boundaries the way he repeatedly has in this title, but just as he never outright said Junior had died back in issue #4, yet did everything he could to imply it, he outright avoids referring to Izzy as a Jew, yet does everything possible to let us know that's exactly what Izzy is, first having Stonewall only have issues with Gabe (African American) and Izzy, then telling Izzy to go back to the "ghettos," objecting to Izzy's last name (Cohen), and finally having Izzy say "I notice you ain't complainin' about my religion all of a sudden."

Of course, watching Izzy risk his life to single-handedly get Stonewall out of an impossible trap and then have Gabe be the one to save him with a blood transfusion at the end was damn satisfying, if a bit hokey.


This issue also provides some more useful background information about two of the Howlers:

-Reb is an expert with the Burp Gun (a sub-machine gun, I believe).

-Dum-Dum is a former prize fighter. This would seem to conflict with what we were told in the "Meet the Howling Commandos" spread in issue #1 about him being a former circus strongman. I suppose he could be both, but then why wasn't the prize fighter bit mentioned in the first issue? Seems like the more memorable former career.


Kirby's art is still frustrating me in this issue. For one thing, Rommel looks NOTHING like the real Rommel -- there isn't even a resemblance. The facial structures are completely different. Granted, Kirby didn't have Wikipedia and Google Images at his disposal, but still.

Also, consistency continues to be a problem for him. Check out Izzy's face on page 20, panels 7 and 8. It's like comparing Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk. Now go back and look at Izzy on page 7. Not only is his face completely different, but he's roughly a foot shorter.

And Happy Sam looks thirty years older and completely different in this issue. Part of this is a coloring glitch that gives him white hair, but that certainly isn't the whole problem.

At the same time, Kirby does get some redeeming panels in with this issue. His far shot of Rommel's forces on page 18 absolutely blew my mind.


The minor details:

- Love that the issue begins with Fury on a bicycle because his vehicle broke down and he doesn't want to miss a date with Pam. While this is definitely a more serious issue than the previous one, little moments like this one keep the laughs going.

- Is England the Howlers' permanent home base? They've been based there for at least three issues now.

- So Fury is in England, on his way to a date with Pam (presumably in a relatively civilized area of England) and he stumbles upon a German encampment. Were these guys really just strolling around in England during the war?? They don't come across as an invasion force. Maybe they were spies or advance troops?

- The Howlers rarely get a week off between missions. Wow. No wonder Fury was concerned about them not getting leave a few issues back.

- Dino's chute doesn't open and he's plummeting toward the earth, and Fury dives after him. Someone explain to me how Fury sped up his fall to catch up with Dino, especially with his arms and legs as far apart as possible.

- Why does Happy Sam have a tattered Nazi flag in his office? War souvenir??

- Kirby's image of Stonewall firing on a Nazi radio man on page 11 comes off as particularly violent. The guy was presumably unarmed aside from the grenade he's already thrown, and Stonewall fires an automatic at the guy at point-blank range.

- Stonewall has an issue with Italians, but not the Irish? Maybe Dum-Dum just seemed like a worthy comrade in comparison to Izzy (a Jew).

- Fury catches on to Stonewall's racism a lot faster than he caught on to Strucker poisoning him last issue. Either he's being depicted as smarter in this issue, or Lee is implying that Fury has dealt with racists before. I suppose the latter is likely considering that Fury's team is so diverse. I like the idea that Fury may have had to fight to put Gabe and Izzy on the team against the judgment of higher-ups. Then again, I'm probably inferring a lot more than Lee intended to imply.

- What's the point of Stonewall's page-long conversation with the German prisoner? I suppose it adds a bit of a twist, fooling us into believing Stonewall might be about to change his racist tune, or maybe he really was beginning to change his mind?

- If only the prisoner had learned what we already know: Anytime a German prisoner runs out to greet the attacking Germans in this title, he gets mistaken for the enemy and mowed down.

- Page 15, panel 4, looks really cool, but it's damn hard to tell what's happening. Couldn't tell if the planes were diving or falling.

- Ah, an age in which we could still hope that a random Arabian family would be supportive of American forces. How the times have changed though, as a well-meaning Howler calls them "Ay-Rabs."

- If Rommel is already involved in a plot to kill Hitler, than we're already into 1944 and once again approaching D-Day. Cei-U has warned me to ignore references to the war's timeline in this title, but I just can't help myself.

- Kirby's final frame is a little over the top. Fury's final thoughts on racists might have carried a little more weight if not delivered directly to the reader with the floating heads of the other Howlers behind him.


The plot synopsis in one sentence: The Howlers are sent in to take out Rommel (who is commanding forces in Africa), but before they can do so, Dino is injured during training, forcing Fury to temporarily replace him with George Stonewall, who quickly proves to be an outright bigot, Stonewall screws up the mission twice by failing to trust Gabe and Izzy, Izzy and Gabe save Stonewall's life, it turns out that it's better Rommel survived since he's involved in a conspiracy to kill Hitler, and as Stonewall is transferred out of Able Company at the end, he leaves his PO address for Izzy and Gabe, suggesting that he's learned his lesson.


A fantastic issue, full of all the action, comedy, and boundary-pushing that make this title legendary!

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #8



"The Death Ray of Dr. Zemo!"
writer: Stan Lee
art: Dick Ayers
inks: Geo Bell
letters: S. Rosen
colors: ?

grade: A+


Without a doubt, this has been my favorite Howlers adventure yet, and for many different reasons:


Reason 1 -- Universe Building

It's been astonishing watching the Marvel Universe develop in the background house ads throughout these issues, but it's no more apparent that the MU has finally arrived than in this issue, where this title (along with the other core Marvel titles this month) receives a letters column, and where the Howlers take on Baron Zemo, the very same villain concurrently debuting in this month's issue of the Avengers (though he technically first appeared, unnamed, four months earlier in Avengers #4). Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four are off on a cosmic adventure with the Watcher this month, thoroughly expanding the limits of this new shared universe that the Sgt. Fury magazine has found itself squarely in the middle of. While I don't expect Fury and the Howlers to go off on a mission to battle the Skrulls anytime soon, the very idea that villains they encounter now can have an impact upon the superhero titles occurring in present time, two decades later, is pretty darn cool. In fact, in about half a year, we'll be seeing Fury in his own present day ongoing feature with S.H.I.E.L.D. in the pages of Strange Tales.


Reason two -- Jack's gone.

Stan promises Jack is just taking time off to stay on top of some other work, but I hope he's wrong. I do know both leave the title soon to stay on top of all the new titles popping out of the emerging MU. Now, if we were talking about any other book, I'd be espousing Jack's virtues and lamenting his departure, but I think he's done a very poor job on this title, often making each character look like one another, maintaining no consistency in appearances, and drawing some very confusing panels that are very hard to figure out.

In contrast, Dick Ayers is a welcome change. For the first time, each Howler has his own distinct face. If I couldn't see the color of their hair, I'd still absolutely know who each one was.


Reason 3 -- Percival Pinkerton

I frickin' love this guy. Not only is his laid back, non-intimidating demeanor tremendously fun when paired with his combat abilities, but he takes the title's push for equality one step further. We've come to accept the Irishmen, the Southerner, the African American, and the Jew, but now we have an apparent homosexual to contend with -- and, unlike the others, this guy isn't just like everyone else once you get past the label. Pinkerton is definitely different and comfortable being so. This issue makes it easy for us to be comfortable with him, as well.

Of course, continuing Stan's legacy of never outright saying certain things, we don't know for sure that Pinkerton is a homosexual, but the taunting soldiers he meets certainly imply as much, and Pinkerton does not feel the need to correct them. I wonder if Stan was going for the double meaning when Pinkerton declares, "And I associate only with Gentlemen!" on page 4. Either way, the idea of this rough, tough hot bed of alpha males working with, depending upon, and bunking with a homosexual was bold, bold stuff. It's impressive to see that, as soon as they see Pinkerton can fight, they never bother themselves with any other concerns about him.


Reason 4 -- Gabe and the tank

Gabe gets a pretty big moment in this issue, putting his own life on the line to single-handedly take out a German tank in order to save the rest of the Howlers. That, in itself is impressive, as is the fact that they finally color his face with a deep, dark African American complexion and pink eyes while undergoing his moment of glory (though they do color him white again later in the issue. This time, I'm relatively sure it was an error). However, what impresses me the most is that, after his moment of triumph, we watch the Howlers take turns carrying him all the way into the German city they're about to invade and even forestall they're fleeing from the pursuing German forces in order to get Gabe medical attention, and they do all of this reflexively and without a moment's thought. If there was any doubt left as to whether Gabe was an equal member of the team, there's your answer.

Reason 5 -- references to "back home"

It's a little thing, but both Gabe and Percy make references to the streets they grew up on in this issue, making them feel a little more real, and reminding us once again that the Howlers are really a cross section of America as a whole, each representing the towns, communities, and streets they came from. Even beyond that, Izzy refers to being from Brooklyn, Dino refers to his movie career, Reb refers to Carpetbaggers (reminding us of his Southern origins), and Dum-Dum jokes at his wife and mother-in-law's expenses, all reminding us that these are full-fleshed out characters with real identities and real roots. It makes their putting their lives on the line for our nation all the more impressive.

Reason 6 -- The Howlers believe in what they do.

We've seen this before, but I feel it received more prominence here. Gabe thinks of his debt to Uncle Sam while taking out the tank, Dino and Dum-Dum both consider how the Nazis' unwavering adherence to procedures and authority has weakened and blinded them, and Fury is willing to blow himself up with a stick of dynamite to make a point to the German doctor about the cowardice of Nazis and the determination of Americans. Without making these sentiments forced and over the top, a clear message is given that the Howlers don't really do this because they have to, nor because they love a good fight, nor even for revenge (and Fury, Dino, and Izzy all have good reasons for wanting revenge -- in fact, they all do when you think of Junior). At the heart of it all, they do this because they truly believe in the cause in a deep way that transcends labels and war-time propaganda.


Reason 7 -- Junior isn't forgotten.

It's both a great continuity move and a great way to give the Howlers a sense of history and a greater sense of peril as they push onward. Both Stan and Fury give a lot of attention to the memory of Junior in this issue, particularly as his spot is finally being filled in this issue. I respect that.


The minor details:

- All of the Howlers are passed up for promotion in this issue, even right after capturing an entire squad of SS soldiers. We know from issue #5 that Nick has refused promotion after promotion, but Izzy is genuinely offended by the fact that he was passed up, and Reb is resentful, two panels later, when he feels that Fury is still treating them like "Li'l ol' recruits". I wonder if Stan means to imply this has to do with their colorful ethnic backgrounds, or if it's just because they're square pegs in a round-holed army that believes in following orders and pleasing superior officers more than the rough tough determination that the Howlers display which channels the American Ideal. In a sense, one could argue that bureaucracy itself is a very Nazi concept.

- Page 4, panel 2, is priceless, as those soldiers taunt Percy and throw every possible insinuation of his being gay at the reader without Stan saying it.

- The house ad on the back of the front cover -- early inspiration for Pac Man?

- Fury rams a submarine periscope with a PT boat. HOW COOL IS THAT?!

- More rambling about the American Ideal/Dream -- Some scholars have argued that the reason Baseball is America's pasttime is because every player gets a chance to bat, just as the American Dream is supposed to guarantee every citizen a chance to succeed through their own ambition and hard work. In a similar manner, Dino, Gabe, and Dum-Dum all get a chance "at bat" in this issue, taking on absurd odds with the entire company depending upon their individual success. In that sense, it's actually an odd blending of the American Dream and communism -- the individual must succeed through his own efforts in order to benefit the community.

- The story makes it very clear that Zemo has (foolishly) developed only one Death Ray so that, when it's destroyed, so are any hopes of making more of them. Wouldn't Zemo still have blueprints and, even if those were blown up in the castle, wouldn't he be able to go back to the drawing board and use his intellect and memory to make another Death Ray within a reasonable span of time?

- On page 19, how did Fury know that they had succeeded in breaking Zemo's listening equipment? Maybe because he yelled "Ohhh!! My EARS!!" with the microphone still on? Ridiculous as that move was, it still isn't clear proof that the listening equipment was disabled.

- Ayers' only real penciling fails in this issue are on pages 19 and 22. On 19, it's impossible to tell why the Howlers are in danger from the wall that's closing in. Are they unable to run past it? It sure seems that the wall ends only about fifteen feet ahead of them (and, as a criticism to Stan, WHY would the controlling circuit breaker be accessible from within the trap?). Ayers other fail is on page 22 when I had no idea that the biplane was within the castle. The colorist added to this confusion by giving the completely unspecified blank background a sky blue coloring. The exhaust coming from the rear of the plane even looks like a cloud.


The plot synopsis in one long sentence:

The Howlers are assigned Percival Pinkerton as a replacement for Junior, Percy quickly proves himself in spite of his flamboyant demeanor, the Howlers are sent to Germany to stop Baron Zemo and obtain or destroy the death ray he has invented, Gabe is injured while saving them along the way, they take a detour to get him healed, they take on Baron Zemo, force him to flee, and he remotely destroys the death ray.


Awesome, awesome issue full of action, humor, rich characterization, and more boundary pushing.

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #9



"Mission: Capture Adolf Hitler!"
writer: Stan Lee
pencils: Dick Ayers
inks: Geo. Bell
letters: S. Rosen

grade: A-


Well, it was inevitable -- The most effective company of Allied soldiers in all of WWII on a mission to capture Hitler. Of course, there's no way the mission can succeed, both because history doesn't show Hitler being captured and because Fury still believes he's at large in the modern day Fantastic Four #21, but that doesn't really hamper the fun at all.

This was a great issue. Simple, uncomplicated, but incredibly fun, and I think a lot of that is due to Ayers' art. He really seems to have spent a great deal of time studying/designing Fury's face prior to this issue, as he repeatedly shows it in different contexts, each time looking very different, but each time clearly being the same face. Compare the humor of seeing him clean shaven on page 2, being his normal self on page 3, worried and all business on page 21, and (my personal favorite) looking like he's feeling a little too cool while disguised as a German officer on page 17. Whereas Kirby's greatest flaw was his faces, they appear to be his replacement's specialty. Ayers' work truly made this issue all the more fun.

I think Ayers' only flub was on the second to last panel of page 21. That soldier's neck and shoulder appear to be rising out of the grass, and he doesn't look at all injured even while he's just taken a fatal wound. Pretty much killed an otherwise powerful moment.

Speaking of which, that self-sacrificing pilot who got the Howlers home in the end was a nice touch. I always love the attention Lee gives to the unsung heroes working on the sidelines to help make Allied missions a success. This was a shining example of that.

Perhaps the single most important aspect of this issue is that it establishes Baron Strucker as their first recurring antagonist. He's a much more pathetic, unthreatening figure this time (though he does a nice job of punching Fury with a phone), but it's nice to see a familiar face, all the same. Missed his having the monocle this time around, though.

One thing that always strikes me as odd is how Stan takes such care to explain technicalities like who is speaking what language and how the events of certain issues tie into real history, yet he never explains the fine details of how the Howlers accomplish something like getting into the same room as Adolf Hitler. They just do. I really wish Stan would either take the time to explain more of the logistics of these Howler missions to make them a little more believable, or reduce them into simpler 10 page stories (two per issue) that don't try to explain anything. Either we should be thinking while we read these or we should just be enjoying the simple fun of it all and shutting our brains off. I feel like we're caught somewhere between the two.

Minor details:

A kinder, gentler Nick Fury dating Pam Hawley. I love it. Nick truly is a complicated man presenting the facade of being simple for the sake of his soldiers. We even see this when he's genuinely surprised and proud to learn that the Chiefs of Staff recommended him for the mission. All of this actually makes his change in demeanor in the present day of Fantastic Four #21 a little easier to accept.

Still loving Pinkerton. Check out the first panel of page 7. While the rest of the Howlers run across the German countryside, Percy is power walking and keeping pace.

Izzy's full name is Isadore.


The plot summary in one sentence: The Howlers are sent on a mission to capture Hitler, most of the group gets captured, Nick and Izzy capture Baron Strucker and get him to have Hitler attend the Howlers' execution and help them pose as German officers, they crash the execution and manage to capture Hitler, a self-sacrificing pilot gets them out of there by staying behind to cover their escape (saluting the Howlers as he dies), and they return to the US to discover that "Hitler" is an imposter, but this is still a PR victory for the US since they can now show that Hitler uses duplicates to protect himself.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #11



"The Crackdown of Capt. Flint!"
writer: Stan Lee
pencils: Dick Ayers
inks: Geo Bell
letters: Art Simek

grade: C

I had high hopes for this issue based upon the cover, assuming that Fury and the gang would be stuck under the authority of a commander who was unfit for duty. Unfortunately, that's not the story we got. Instead, this is a pretty predictable tale in which a "by-the-book" captain is temporarily put in charge of the Howlers, has no appreciation for how they work, and must ultimately learn to respect their methods. Sadly, it's done in such an over-the-top fashion though, with Captain Flint's transformation seeming so sudden, arbitrary, and unrealistic, ultimately resulting in his walking around the base, looking like Nick.

However, this issue does give us some valuable info worth noting:

- We finally get some background on Happy Sam. The last two issues have worked hard to steer away from the earlier suggestion that he was somehow less competent than Fury, instead clearly putting the two men on the same level. Additionally, this time around, we get a brief flashback to Sam working as a lone commando in Africa toward the start of the war, resembling Nick in his methods and result. We're then told that he was injured in a mission, resulting in his moving to a desk job and then training a group to do what he'd done. In fact, his reasoning for being away in this issue is to go out and train yet another group (presumably Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders). It's an interesting concept for Fury to actually be an imitation/protege of a secondary character in the title.

- We already knew that the Howlers were the first attack squad of Able Company, but now we finally see the full picture. There are four attack squads total in Able company, with Happy Sam being the Captain to all of them. There's also apparently a first sergeant they all report to (though we've never seen this character interact with The Howlers), and they all appear to wear a patch that says "7". Still no indication as to whether "first," "second," "third," and "fourth" indicate anything about these squads beyond being arbitrary designations. Anyone with more military knowledge than myself want to weigh in on this?

- Sgt. Bull McGiveney (of Sgt. Fury #7) returns in this issue, once more serving as a minor rival to Fury who seeks to ruin his career and replace him. Ayers' art was a little unclear on this, but it looks like McGiveney runs the fourth attack squad. His little attempts to make Fury look bad in front of Captain Flint felt tedious and cliche, so I'm glad Stan didn't spend much time on McGiveney here. He doesn't seem like a worthwhile rival.


Minor details:

- Check out Percy in the final panel of page 4. I love that Ayers always makes his movements look so effortless and graceful. In this case, he almost seems to glide/float across the wall while the rest of the team scurries over it.

- On page 14, Stan is careful to explain that most soldiers could never hit an airplane with a grenade while Dum Dum does just that, but there's no attempt to explain away the unlikeliness of Percy floating through the air with his parasol on page 15. Totally realistic, of course.

- The letters column expresses two interesting points. The first is that, while fans enjoyed Lee connecting this title to the Marvel superhero titles via Baron Zemo, they could not accept a fantastical "death ray" in a war mag. At the same time, fans are beginning for the Howlers to meet Captain America. I sense a conflict of desires here -- there's no way fans are going to be happy making further connections between this magazine and the superhero ones if they are unwilling to suspend their disbelief a bit further.


The plot synopsis in one sentence:

The Howlers get a new temporary captain who does things by the book, and the Howlers prove him wrong.


Not a great issue, but I'm intrigued by the background offered about Happy Sam. I also think Lee held back on explaining what his injury was and how it happened on purpose. Happy Sam's final mission seems like a great idea for an annual.