''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' was a comic book series created by

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential c ...

and

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which w ...

and published by Marvel Comics from 1963 to 1981. The main character, Sgt.

Nick Fury Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury Sr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, he first appeared in '' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos' ...

, later became the leader of Marvel's super-spy agency, S.H.I.E.L.D. The title also featured the Howling Commandos, a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditio ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

unit that

first appeared In American comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader intere ...

in ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #1 (

cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

d May 1963).

Publication history

Stan Lee has described the series ''Sgt. 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. Lee elaborated on that claim in a 2007 interview, responding to the suggestion that the series title did not necessarily seem bad: Comics-artist contemporary

John Severin John Powers Severin (; December 26, 1921 – February 12, 2012) was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics '' Two-Fisted Tales'' and '' Frontline Combat''; for Marvel Comics, ...

recalled in an interview conducted in the early 2000s that in the late 1950s, Kirby had approached him to be partners on a

syndicated Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sport ...

comic 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 adult ''

Boy Commandos Boy Commandos is a fictional organization from DC Comics first appearing in ''Detective Comics'' #64 (June 1942) by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. They are a combination of "kid gang" characters, an international cast of young boys fighting Nazis — ...

''", referring to a 1940s wartime "kid gang" comics series Kirby had co-created for

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

. ''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 in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

to fight missions primarily, but not exclusively, in the

European theatre of World War II The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main Theater (warfare), theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Nazi Germany, Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 Sept ...

. Under Captain "Happy Sam" Sawyer, Fury was the cigar-chomping

noncom A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

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). Lee was obliged to send a memo to the color separator at the printing plant to confirm that the character

Gabe Jones Gabriel "Gabe" Jones is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, he made his first appearance in World War II war comics seri ...

was

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, after the character had appeared with

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

coloring in the first issue. 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 formal

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

ed title in the indicia, which had been simply ''Sgt. Fury'', was changed to match the

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from oth ...

ed cover logo, ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos''.''Sgt. Fury''
(issues #1-120) at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos''
(issues #121-167) at the Grand Comics Database Following seven issues by creators Lee and Kirby (who returned to collaborate on #13 and on the opening and closing pages of #18),

penciller A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

began his long stint on what would be his signature series, penciling 95 issues, including two extra-length annuals.

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 by

Tom Sutton Thomas F. Sutton (April 15, 1937 – May 1, 2002) He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from high school in 1955, and worked on art projects while stationed at Fort Francis E. Warren, near Laramie, Wyoming. Later, stationed at Itam ...

(which Ayers said was "done that time I asked for a furlough and reassignment")Ayers in Lovece, ''Nimbus'' #3, p. 9 and Herb Trimpe ("They shuffled Trimpe and me around, imto ''Fury'' and eand Severin to '' /nowiki>The Incredible/nowiki> Hulk''" Ayers recalled.)

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

followed Lee as writer, himself followed by

Gary Friedrich Gary Friedrich (; August 21, 1943 – August 29, 2018) was an American comic book writer best known for his Silver Age stories for Marvel Comics' '' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'', and, in the following era, for the series '' The Monster o ...

, for whom this also became a signature series.''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
at the

Ayers said in 1977, "Stan Lee left ''Fury'' first to Roy Thomas because the superheroes 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 as ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...

'' and ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...

''. "I must admit I resented somewhat those superheroes taking Stan away from ''Fury''!"Ayers in Lovece, ''Nimbus'' #3, p. 7 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 undeclared

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, the story balanced present-day issues while demonstrating that even in what is referred to as "a

just war The just war theory ( la, bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics which is studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policy makers. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that a war i ...

", a larger

morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...

prevails. As one writer in the 1970s observed, At his best, Ayers' art in ''Sgt. 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.... en in a scene that would ordinarily be static you could feel his characters breathing."Lovece, ''Nimbus'' #3, p. 7 Inker Severin "took the art even further, laying dark, scratchy inks" that gave grit to Ayers' pencils. Ayers himself "liked the results of John Severin's work on ''Sgt. Fury'' immensely", he said in 1977. "He added details beyond what I'd put in. He always seemed to go one step beyond." 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). ''Sgt. Fury'' ran concurrently with two other, short-lived Marvel World War II series, '' Capt. Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders'' (later titled ''Captain Savage and his Battlefield Raiders''), which lasted 19 issues from 1968–1970; and '' Combat 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 of ''Sgt. 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 of ''Sgt. Fury'' sold as well as the original ones had!" The final issue, #167 (Dec. 1981) reprinted the first issue. Seven annual publications appeared, the first titled ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Special King Size Annual'' #1 (1965), and the remainder titled ''Sgt. 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 the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

and the

, respectively; annual #2 found them storming the beaches at

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

on D-Day in 1944, and annual #4 was a flashback to the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

. One latter-day story was published in ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #1 (July 2009), as the cover logo read; its copyright indicia read ''Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos One-Shot'' #1. The 32-page story, " Shotgun Opera", was by writer Jesse Alexander and artist John Paul Leon.

Characters

In addition to Fury, the elite special unit of

US Army Rangers United States Army Rangers, according to the US Army's definition, are personnel, past or present, in any unit that has the official designation "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the US Army Ranger School, even if t ...

nicknamed the Howling Commandos consisted of the following: *

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum Dum" Dugan - A former circus strongman, Dum Dum is Fury's good right hand. He occasionally refers to his wife ("ugh!") in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

and his mother-in-law ("double ugh!") as reasons that he enlisted, preferring fighting Nazis to dealing with them. * Private Isadore "Izzy" Cohen - The first demonstrably

Jewish American American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by religion, ethnicity, culture, or nationality. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who descend from diaspora J ...

comic book hero. Izzy is a master mechanic.Alexander, Mark
"Wah-Hoo!! Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos"
''

Jack Kirby Collector TwoMorrows Publishing is a publisher of magazines about comic books, founded in 1994 by John and Pam Morrow out of their small advertising agency in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Its products also include books and DVDs. List of magaz ...

'' #24 (April 1999) * Private Gabriel Jones - An

serving in an integrated unit. (The regular U.S. armed forces were not in real-life integrated until after the war, in 1948. However, certain elite units were in other comic books.) * Private Dino Manelli - He is modeled after

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

. A swashbuckling movie actor, born in Italy, Dino enlisted to give back to the country that gave him so much. He is fluent in both Italian and German. * Private Robert "Rebel" Ralston - an ex-jockey from Kentucky Bluegrass country. * Private Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton - Loosely modeled after real life Commando and movie actor

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other role ...

, this British soldier replaced Juniper in issue #8 (July 1964). * Private Jonathan "Junior" Juniper — In an unusual and daring move for comics at the time, Junior was killed in action after a few issues (#4, Nov. 1963). As one comics historian wrote in 1999, "Today that's no big deal but in 1963, comics heroes simply didn't die; not permanently, anyway. Suddenly, with the death of 'Junior' Juniper, the series acquired some real cachet. It now played like a true-life war drama where people got killed and never came back. You wondered who would be next." * Private Eric Koenig - A defector from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

who joined the squad in issue #27 (Feb. 1966). * Private Jim Morita - Was an American of Japanese descent who served in the US army as a ranger during WWII. He joined a Nisei Squadron under the command of Capt. "Happy Sam" Sawyer and served with the Howling Commandos on several missions. * Private Jacques "Frenchie" Dernier - Was a member of the French Resistance against the Nazi occupation during WWII.

Fictional team history

In issue #34 (Sept. 1966) 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 of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Samuel "Happy Sam" Sawyer when Fury and Hargrove were training British

Commando 40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations forc ...

s in low-level parachuting. Sawyer was serving with the British Commandos in 1940 and underwent training by Fury. Sawyer enlisted them for a special mission in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Nick and Red later joined the U.S. Army, with Fury undergoing basic training under a Sergeant Bass at

Fort Dix Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force A ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

. Both Fury and Red were stationed at

Schofield Barracks Schofield Barracks is a United States Army installation and census-designated place (CDP) located in the City and County of Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Hawaii. Schofield Barracks lies adjacent to the ...

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

when the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

attacked the base on December 7, 1941, and Red was among the many killed in the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawa ...

.This paragraph per ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #62 (Jan. 1969) Sawyer recruited select U.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), and, later, Jim Morita's

Nisei is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generatio ...

squad were stationed in a military base in

to fight specialized missions, primarily, but not exclusively, in the

, eventually going as far afield as the Pacific theatre,

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and, once each, in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and on the Russian front. Fury fell in love with an English

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

, Pamela Hawley, who died in a bombing raid of London before he could propose to her. The Howling Commandos' earliest (but not first-published) assignment occurred in the autumn of 1942. They were to recover British rocket scientist Dr. MacMillan from a German military base in occupied

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Their success brought the attention of British

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Winston Churchill, who incorporated the unit into the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

, and given the title of "Commandos". The Howlers fought against the likes of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

General Erwin Rommel and inter-squad

bigotry Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, rel ...

, often in the same story. Antagonists included Baron Strucker,

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1 ( cover dated March 1941) from T ...

's nemeses

Baron Zemo Baron Zemo () is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Heinrich Zemo and his son Helmut Zemo have both been depicted as a major adversary of Captain America and the Avengers, as well as the l ...

and the

Red Skull The Red Skull is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and its predecessor Timely Comics. The first version, George Maxon, appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 and #4. The main ...

(

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's protégé), and other Axis villains. The Howlers encountered

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all bran ...

agent Reed Richards (later

Mister Fantastic Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member, and the leader, of the Fantastic Four. Richards has a mastery of mechanical, aerospace ...

of the

) in issue #3 (Sept. 1963), and fought alongside Captain America and Bucky in #13 (Dec. 1964). They reunited for missions in the

, where Fury received a field promotion to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

, and the

, each in a summer-

annual Annual may refer to: * Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual * Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

special, as well as at a present-day, fictional reunion gala in issue #100 (July 1972).

In other media

Television

* The Howling Commandos make a cameo in the ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to ...

'' episode "Old Soldiers", rescuing

and

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a musc ...

from the

. * The Howling Commandos appear in '' The Super Hero Squad Show'' episode "Wrath of the Red Skull", consisting of

Dum Dum Dugan Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum Dum" Dugan is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an officer of S.H.I.E.L.D. and is one of the most experienced members of Nick Fury's team, known for his mark ...

, and Izzy Cohen. * The Howling Commandos appear in '' The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes'', led by series original character and

's father Jack Fury and consisting of Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Rebel Ralston, Izzy Cohen, Dino Manelli, Pinky Pinkerton, and Wolverine.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Though initially unnamed as a group, the Howling Commandos appear in media set in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...

. * Introduced in the 2011 live-action film '' Captain America: The First Avenger'', screenwriter Christopher Markus explained, "They are commandos and at one point they do howl. They're called the Howling Commandos in the script, but no one says that out loud." Their number includes

Bucky Barnes James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally introduced as a sidekick to Captain America, the character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and first appeared ...

( Sebastian Stan), Dum Dum Dugan (

Neal McDonough Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'' (2001), Deputy District Attorney David McNorris on ''Boomtown'' (2002–200 ...

), Gabe Jones (

Derek Luke Derek Nathanial Luke (born April 24, 1974) is an American actor. He won the Independent Spirit Award for his big-screen debut performance as the titular character in the 2002 film '' Antwone Fisher'', directed and produced by Denzel Washington. ...

), Montgomery Falsworth (

J. J. Feild John Joseph Feild (born 1978) is a British-American film, television and theatre actor. He started his television career in 1999. Feild played Fred Garland in Philip Pullman's ''The Ruby in the Smoke'' and ''The Shadow in the North'' televisio ...

), Jim Morita (

Kenneth Choi Kenneth Choi (born October 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for playing Henry Lin on the television series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014), Chester Ming in Martin Scorsese's '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013), and Judge Lance It ...

), and Jacques Dernier (Bruno Ricci). In February 2010, director

Joe Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston II (born May 13, 1950) is an American film director, producer, writer, and visual effects artist. He is best known for directing effects-driven films, including '' Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' (1989), '' Jumanji'' (19 ...

stated that the World War II-era super team the

Invaders ''InVader'' is the fourth album by Finnish glam metal band Reckless Love, released on 4 March 2016 through Spinefarm Records. Track listing All songs written by Olli Herman, Pepe Reckless, and Ikka Wirtanen, unless otherwise noted. Reception Wr ...

would appear in "the entire second half" of the film, though he later explained that "the Invaders" had been discussed simply as a possible name for the squad of commandos

leads in the film. After Captain America frees the Howling Commandos from a

Hydra Hydra generally refers to: * Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology * ''Hydra'' (genus), a genus of simple freshwater animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria Hydra or The Hydra may also refer to: Astronomy * Hydra (constel ...

base, they assist him in dismantling Hydra and defeating the

. * In the 2014 live-action sequel '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', the team is specifically identified as the Howling Commandos as part of a Smithsonian exhibit. * Dugan and Morita appear in a flashback depicted in the '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' live-action television series episode " Shadows", with McDonough and Choi reprising their respective roles. They assist

Peggy Carter Margaret Elizabeth Carter is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is usually depicted as a supporting character in books featuring Captain America. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kir ...

( Hayley Atwell) in capturing Hydra agents following the events of ''The First Avenger''. * The Howling Commandos appear in the '' Agent Carter'' live-action television series episode "

The Iron Ceiling "The Iron Ceiling" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American television series '' Agent Carter'', inspired by the films '' Captain America: The First Avenger'' and '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', and the Marvel One-Shot sh ...

", consisting of Dugan (reprised by McDonough) and new members Happy Sam Sawyer (

Leonard Roberts Leonard Roberts (born November 17, 1972) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sean Taylor in ''Drumline'' and for playing Forrest Gates in the fourth season of '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and D. L. Hawkins in a recurring ro ...

), Junior Juniper ( James Austin Kerr), and Pinky Pinkerton ( Richard Short). While the team assists Carter on a mission, Juniper reveals he was the one who came up with the name "Howling Commandos" before he is later killed in action. * Alternate timeline versions of the Howling Commandos appear in the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

animated series '' What If...?'' episode " What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?".

Video games

The Howling Commandos appear as NPCs in '' Captain America: Super Soldier'', consisting of

, Jim Morita, Dum Dum Dugan, and Montgomery Falsworth.

Collected editions

* '' Marvel Masterworks: Sgt. Fury'' Vol. 1 (''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #1-13) * ''Marvel Masterworks: Sgt. Fury'' Vol. 2 (''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #14-23, ''Annual'' #1) * ''Marvel Masterworks: Sgt. Fury'' Vol. 3 (''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #24-32, ''Annual'' #2) * ''Marvel Masterworks: Sgt. Fury'' Vol. 4 (''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #33-43) * '' Essential Sgt. Fury'' Vol. 1 (''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #1-23, ''Annual'' #1) * ''Marvel Epic Collection'' Vol. 1 (''Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos'' #1-19) ISBN 978-1302916572

References

External links

* *
Marvel Directory: Nick Fury

at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on May 19, 2017.

at Don Markstein's Toonopedia

from the original on August 31, 2015. {{Jack Kirby 1963 comics debuts 1981 comics endings Characters created by Jack Kirby Characters created by Stan Lee Comics by Gerry Conway Comics by Jack Kirby Comics by Stan Lee Comics characters introduced in 1963 Fictional soldiers Fictional World War II veterans Howling Commandos Nick Fury titles Marvel Comics set during World War II