| Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos | |
|---|---|
 Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (May 1963). Cover art byJack Kirby andDick Ayers. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Format | Ongoing |
| Publication date | May 1963 – Dec. 1981 |
| No. of issues | 167 |
| Main character(s) | Sgt. Fury Izzy Cohen Dum Dum Dugan Gabe Jones Junior Juniper Eric Koenig Dino Manelli Pinky Pinkerton Rebel Ralston |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| Written by | Stan Lee (1-28, Annual #1) Roy Thomas (29-41, Annual #2) Gary Friedrich (42–57, 59–73, 75–76, 83, 94, 96–98, 100, 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 115–116, Annual #3–4, 6) |
| Penciller(s) | Jack Kirby Dick Ayers |
| Inker(s) | Dick Ayers George Roussos John Severin |
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos is a comic book series created byJack Kirby andStan Lee and published by Marvel Comics from 1963 to 1981. The main character, Sgt.Nick Fury, later became the leader of Marvel's super-spy agency,S.H.I.E.L.D. The title also featured theHowling Commandos, afictionalWorld War II unit thatfirst appeared inSgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (cover dated May 1963).
Stan Lee has described the seriesSgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos as having come about due to a bet with his publisher,Martin Goodman that the Lee-Kirby style could make a book sell even with the worst title Lee could devise.[1] Lee elaborated on that claim in a 2007 interview, responding to the suggestion that the series title did not necessarily seem bad:
It did at the time. First of all, it was too long for a title — we didn't have any that were six words. And "Howling" was a long word, and "Commandos" was a long word. I got the name "Howling Commandos" because in the Army there was a group called theScreaming Eagles. And I loved the sound of that. So I figured we'd have the Howling Commandos.[2]
Comics-artist contemporaryJohn Severin recalled in an interview conducted in the early 2000s that in the late 1950s, Kirby had approached him to be partners on asyndicated,newspapercomic strip "set in Europe during World War Two; the hero would be a tough, cigar-chomping sergeant with a squad of oddball GIs — sort of an adultBoy Commandos",[3] referring to a 1940s wartime "kid gang" comics series Kirby had co-created forDC Comics.
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos followed an elite special unit, the First Attack Squad, nicknamed the "Howling Commandos", which was stationed in a military base inEngland to fight missions primarily, but not exclusively, in theEuropean theatre of World War II. Under Captain "Happy Sam" Sawyer, Fury was the cigar-chompingnoncom who led the racially and ethnically integrated unit (racial integration was unusual for the then-segregated U.S. military, though possible in elite special forces units).[4] Lee was obliged to send a memo to the color separator at the printing plant to confirm that the characterGabe Jones wasAfrican American, after the character had appeared withCaucasian coloring in the first issue.[5]
The series ran 167 issues (May 1963 - Dec. 1981), though with reprints alternating with new stories from issue #80 (Sept. 1970), and only in reprints after issue #120 (July 1974); at this point the formalcopyrighted title in theindicia, which had been simplySgt. Fury, was changed to match thetrademarked cover logo,Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos.[6][7] Following seven issues by creators Lee and Kirby (who returned to collaborate on #13 and on the opening and closing pages of #18),[6]pencillerDick Ayers began his long stint on what would be his signature series, penciling 95 issues, including two extra-lengthannuals.[8]John Severin later joined as inker, forming a long-running, award-winning team; he would, additionally, both pencil and ink issues #44-46. The series' only other pencilers came on one issue each byTom Sutton (which Ayers said was "done that time I asked for a furlough and reassignment")[9] andHerb Trimpe ("They shuffled Trimpe and me around, [him] toFury and [me] and Severin to[The Incredible] Hulk" Ayers recalled.)[9]
Roy Thomas followed Lee as writer, himself followed byGary Friedrich, for whom this also became a signature series.[10] Ayers said in 1977, "Stan Lee leftFury first to Roy Thomas because thesuperheroes were gaining in popularity at that time it was best he concentrate on them", referring to the young Marvel's then growing line of superhero comics, such asFantastic Four andThe Amazing Spider-Man. "I must admit I resented somewhat those superheroes taking Stan away fromFury!"[11]
Friedrich began as a co-scripter of issues #42-44 (May–July 1967). The Friedrich-Ayers-Severin team began in earnest, however, with #45 (Aug. 1967), the first of what would be several of the series' "The" stories: "The War Lover", a shaded exploration of a trigger-happy soldier and the line drawn, even in war, between killing and murder. Daring for the time, when majority public sentiment still supported the undeclaredVietnam War, the story balanced present-day issues while demonstrating that even in what is referred to as "ajust war", a largermorality prevails. As one writer in the 1970s observed,
...Sgt. Fury #45 took a firm moralistic stance for the rest of the series by premiering what would become one of the most acclaimed series of stories in comics: the Gary Friedich "The" series, beginning with "The War Lover". ... Future stories in that fashion — all but one written by Friedrich — would center on what war could do to "The Assassin" (#51), the tragedy of a man turned hired liquidator, his family held hostage byHitler'sGestapo; "The Informer" (#57), an observation on loyalty and trust, staged in a GermanPOW camp; "The Peacemonger" (#64) [about a World War IIconscientious objector]; "The Deserter" (#75), an allusion to the real-life execution of PrivateEddie Slovik; "The All-American" (#81),Al Kurzrok's tale of a man [caught] between the twin microcosms of sport and war; and ultimately, "The Reporter" (#110), an account of ajournalist faced with the [question of] when might a human life be forfeit? Many feel, also, that #46's tale, "They Also Serve", should be included ... for that story might as easily have been called "The Medic"....[12]
At his best, Ayers' art inSgt. Fury showed "a clear, forthright storyteller, excellent in medium close shots with a subtly out-of-focus background. He blended large panels with thin or small ones for movement, and often provided vast,cinemascopic panoramas for his writers to work with.... [E]ven in a scene that would ordinarily be static you could feel his characters breathing."[13] Inker Severin "took the art even further, laying dark, scratchy inks" that gave grit to Ayers' pencils.[13] Ayers himself "liked the results of John Severin's work onSgt. Fury immensely", he said in 1977. "He added details beyond what I'd put in. He always seemed to go one step beyond."[11]
Friedrich continued through #83 (Jan. 1971), with the late part of this run having reprint issues alternating with new stories. He returned for the even-numbered issues from #94-114 (Jan. 1972 - Nov. 1973).[6]
Sgt. Fury ran concurrently with two other, short-lived Marvel World War II series,Capt. Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders (later titledCaptain Savage and his Battlefield Raiders), which lasted 19 issues from 1968–1970; andCombat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen, which lasted nine issues from 1972-1973. The Howlers guest starred in #6 and #11 of the former series, and #4 of the latter.
Lee explained the series's transition to reprints: "... so much fan mail came in from readers who wanted more ofSgt. Fury, but we didn't have time, I didn't have the men to draw it, I didn't have the time to write it, and we were busy with other things, so we just started re-printing the books, and strangely enough, the reprint versions ofSgt. Fury sold as well as the original ones had!"[14] The final issue, #167 (Dec. 1981) reprinted the first issue.[7]
Sevenannual publications appeared, the first titledSgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Special King Size Annual #1 (1965), and the remainder titledSgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos King-Size Special #2-7 (1966 - Nov. 1971), with hyphen and sans "Annual". The final three contain reprints only, save for a 10-page framing sequence in #6. In annuals #1 and #3, the Howlers reunited for a special mission each in theKorean War and theVietnam War, respectively; annual #2 found them storming the beaches atNormandy onD-Day in 1944, and annual #4 was a flashback to theBattle of the Bulge.[15]
One latter-day story was published inSgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (July 2009), as the cover logo read; its copyright indicia readSgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos One-Shot #1. The 32-page story, "Shotgun Opera", was by writerJesse Alexander and artistJohn Paul Leon.[16]
In addition to Fury, the elite special unit ofU.S. Army Rangers nicknamed the Howling Commandos consisted of the following:
In issue #34 (Sept. 1966)[10] it is shown that a young Nick Fury with his friend Red Hargrove, left their childhood neighborhood to pursue their dreams of adventure, eventually settling on a daring wing-walking aviation act. Their death-defying stunts caught the attention ofLieutenantSamuel "Happy Sam" Sawyer when Fury and Hargrove were training BritishCommandos in low-level parachuting. Sawyer was serving with the British Commandos in 1940 and underwent training by Fury.[5] Sawyer enlisted them for a special mission in theNetherlands. Nick and Red later joined theU.S. Army, with Fury undergoing basic training under a Sergeant Bass atFort Dix inNew Jersey. Both Fury and Red were stationed atSchofield Barracks,Oahu,Hawaii when theImperial Japanese Navy attacked the base on December 7, 1941, and Red was among the many killed in theattack on Pearl Harbor.[19]
Sawyer recruited selectU.S. Army Rangers to his "Able" Company. Sawyer assigned Fury the command of the First Attack Squad, nicknamed the "Howling Commandos". They and the Second Attack Squad (the "Maulers", led by Sgt. "Bull" McGiveney, with Cpl. "Ricketts" Johnson),[20] and, later,Jim Morita'sNisei squad[21] were stationed in a military base inEngland to fight specialized missions, primarily, but not exclusively, in theEuropean theatre of World War II, eventually going as far afield as thePacific theatre,Africa, and, once each, in theMiddle East and on theRussian front. Fury fell in love with a beautiful Englishnurse, Pamela Hawley, who is killed in a German bombing raid on London before he could propose to her.[5][22]
The Howling Commandos' earliest (but not first-published) assignment occurred in the autumn of 1942. They were to recover Britishrocket scientist Dr. Henry MacMillan from a German military base in occupiedNorway. Their success brought them to the attention of BritishPrime MinisterWinston Churchill, who incorporated the unit into theBritish Army, and given the title of "Commandos".
The Howlers fought against the likes ofGerman GeneralErwin Rommel and inter-squadbigotry, often in the same story. Antagonists includedBaron Strucker,Captain America's nemesesBaron Zemo and theRed Skull (Adolf Hitler's protégé), and otherAxis villains. The Howlers encounteredOffice of Strategic Services agent Reed Richards (laterMister Fantastic of theFantastic Four) in issue #3 (Sept. 1963), and fought alongside Captain America andBucky in #13 (Dec. 1964).
They reunited for missions in theKorean War, where Fury received a field promotion tolieutenant, and in theVietnam War, each in a summer-annual special, as well as at a present-day, fictional reunion gala in issue #100 (July 1972).
The Howling Commandos appear in media set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe, consisting ofBucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan),Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough),Gabe Jones (Derek Luke),Montgomery Falsworth (JJ Feild),Jim Morita (Kenneth Choi), Jacques Dernier (Bruno Ricci),[23]Happy Sam Sawyer (Leonard Roberts),Junior Juniper (James Austin Kerr), andPinky Pinkerton (Richard Short).[24]
To this day, Stan claims that [the replacement for the canceled titleThe Incredible Hulk] was the result of a bet between him and Goodman. As Stan tells, Goodman told him their books were selling because of buzzwords likeAmazing,Fantastic,Mighty, andIncredible. Stan answered that the Lee-Kirby style was responsible ... and offered the following challenge: "I'll do a war book with the worst title I can come up with, but if it's done in the Marvel style, I bet it'll sell."
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