Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1-9

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1-9

Originally released in 1963

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Jack Kirby (#1-7), Dick Ayers (#8-9)

Before he was an agent of SHIELD, before he even had an eyepatch, Nick Fury was a soldier in World War 2. I thought that Nick Fury was a character who had been around since the 1950s at the latest, so I was surprised to find out that his first appearance wasn't until after the debut of the Fantastic Four.

The Howling Commandos are introduced in a double page spread at the start of issue 1, though outside of Fury, I only recognize Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones.  I think they were the only ones who made the transition to Fury's Agent of SHIELD days - that doesn't seem like it bodes well for the remaining members, but given the time period of this comic, I can't imagine that this series would involve Fury's band of soldiers getting whittled down little by little until only three of them are left alive. (The other two members whose introductory captions are cut off are recent college graduate Jonathan "Junior" Juniper beside Fury and actor Dino Manelli on the right page)

The series does seem to be pushing the limits of what would be allowed in the 1960s under the strict Comics Code Authority guidelines, at least to some extent. There's mild uncensored cursing (in German, but it's obvious what the words are meant to be) and lots of Nazis getting shot, albeit just off-panel.

The Howling Commandos get their name from how they howl when they do something impressive or to psyche themselves up, though it's written out as "Wah-Hoo!", which makes them come across less like wolves and more like a group of Mario impersonators. (I get that spelling out onomatopoeia like that seems like something that could change over time, but it makes it funnier from a modern perspective)

When it comes to the soldiers under his command, Fury is grouchy, curses at them as much as the time period would allow, and has impossibly high standards, but he ultimately cares for them.  As a result, it's funny to see his captain, "Happy" Sam Sawyer, have a similar dynamic with Fury that Fury has with his own men.

Issue 2 escalates the situation dramatically, as the Nazis are building their own atomic bomb and the Howling Commandos are sent to put a stop to it.  As a side note, one thing that I like about this comic is how forward-thinking it feels compared to the time period that it was set in, or even the time period that it was written in.  Stan Lee's writing of women could be questionable at times, but here, when the leader of the French resistance is revealed to be a woman, nobody bats an eye.  She's not hit on by the Howling Commandos (unlike Jean in the X-Men), she doesn't flirt with the Howling Commandos (unlike Janet in the Avengers), she's not a damsel in distress (unlike the early appearances of the Invisible Woman), and nobody questions her leadership role or acts shocked that a woman is in charge - they just carry on.

Likewise, Gabe Jones is a black main character in a time where those would be very rare in Marvel or DC comics (Black Panther wouldn't be created for another three years), and no comment is made on his race. I get that Marvel likely wouldn't want to deal with period-accurate racism (though from what I recall, African American soldiers encountered much less of it in Europe compared to back home in America), but it's a nice touch.

There were times where I noticed a bit of a disconnect between Stan Lee's writing and Jack Kirby's art, such as a few instances where the Commandos shoot at Nazis that are off-screen only for dialogue or narration to say that they surrendered or ran off. I'm not sure if this was a Comics Code Authority issue where nobody could die, or at least that the protagonists couldn't kill anyone, or a choice to keep the books suitable for a younger audience.

The series generally takes a light-hearted tone with its subject matter, with the Howling Commandos often having a quip or a snarky remark regarding their situation. (The Commandos are sent to a concentration camp early on as part of a plan, though they're not in there for long and it glosses over the worst of it) Despite it being early in the days of Marvel Comics setting up its shared universe, they still manage to work in a few cameos here and there, though Captain America hasn't made any appearances yet.

However, there are times where the series addresses the horrors of war. By the end of issue 4, one of the Howling Commandos is killed in a fairly unceremonious manner. No dramatic sacrifice or last stand on his part - he's just shot in a Nazi attack and dies.

The nature of the series results in it being quite heavy on the action, with the different fronts of World War 2 allowing Lee and Kirby to include a wide variety of scenarios to keep things interesting from issue to issue.

Issue 5 introduces Fury's arch-enemy, Baron Strucker.  Strucker would later go on to be one of the heads of HYDRA in the present day of the Marvel universe, though for now, he's a Nazi nobleman who seeks to humiliate Fury by challenging him to a duel, drugging him, and having Fury's defeat filmed for propaganda purposes.

It turns out that I spoke too soon on the racism front (I write out these blog entries as I go through the comics, and I felt like I shouldn't go back and change what I'd written earlier), as issue 6 does address it; a last minute replacement on a mission is bigoted against black people, Jewish people, and Italians, causing Fury to lose his temper at the man even more than usual.  Between that and the replacement being the only one (aside from Dino, who's injured) who can speak German in the Commandos, I was fully expecting that he'd be a Nazi spy, but he turns out to be a homegrown bigot.

The mix of real world history and the fictional Marvel universe allows for a decent amount of variety in the foes that Fury faces, ranging from real life Nazi Field Marshal Rommel to future Avengers villain Baron Zemo.

As time goes on, we get a clearer picture of who Nick Fury was prior to enlisting.  He's not a man who can live an ordinary life - a 9-to-5 job isn't for him, and he dislikes authority figures and is quick to get into fights.  If not for World War 2, and later his job as the head of SHIELD, he'd likely be drifting aimlessly without a purpose in life.

In contrast, he's in his element in World War 2, and his training is intended to make the war itself seem like a picnic by comparison. As a result, the Commandos get a reputation for taking on suicide missions and surviving. By the time of issue 9, their status has become legendary enough that they're believed to be the only ones who can accomplish a simple-sounding plan. They'll be dropped into Germany, dressed as civilians. And once they're in enemy territory, as a bushwhackin' guerrilla army, they're gonna be doing one thing and one thing only: killing Hitler. ...er, capturing Hitler.

These issues did a great job with stirring up the imagination. Partway through, I was picturing what the lives of the Howling Commandos were like prior to the war, or thinking of what a modern series with them would be like.  While I'm sure it's probably already been done, I'd be interested to see a miniseries like Inglourious Basterds where it's not limited by real world history or Marvel continuity. The Howling Commandos would go on an extended campaign in Germany to kill the Nazi leadership and end the war, and there'd be no guarantee that anyone (even Nick Fury) would survive.

This series did a great job with letting Lee and Kirby work on something that wasn't superhero related while still providing world-building for this fledgling Marvel universe. I wasn't sure if I'd like this going into it, but I was quickly hooked, and it did a great job with humanizing Nick Fury and making him more than just the mysterious spymaster who knows far more than what he's telling anyone. The rest of the Howling Commandos stuck with me more than I expected, though some were more memorable than others - out of the group, "Rebel" Ralston was the most forgettable. Surprisingly grounded given the era (the only sci-fi or fantasy element is Baron Zemo's one-of-a-kind death ray), this felt like a definite highlight of the Lee-Kirby collaboration.