Sgt. Fury

''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' was a comic book series created by Jack Kirby and Stan 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 the Howling Commandos, a fictional World War II unit that first appeared in ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #1 (cover dated 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 recalled in an interview conducted in the early 2000s that in the late 1950s, Kirby had approached him to be partners on a syndicated, newspaper 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''", referring to a 1940s wartime "kid gang" comics series Kirby had co-created for DC 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 in England to fight missions primarily, but not exclusively, in the European theatre of World War II. Under Captain "Happy Sam" Sawyer, Fury was the cigar-chomping noncom 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 was African American, after the character had appeared with Caucasian 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 copyrighted title in the indicia, which had been simply ''Sgt. Fury'', was changed to match the trademarked cover logo, ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos''.''Sgt. Fury''
(issues #1-120) at the Grand Comics Database''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 Dick Ayers began his long stint on what would be his signature series, penciling 95 issues, including two extra-length annuals. 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 by Tom Sutton (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 followed Lee as writer, himself followed by Gary Friedrich, for whom this also became a signature series.''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
at the Grand Comics Database 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'' and '' The Amazing Spider-Man''. "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 story balanced present-day issues while demonstrating that even in what is referred to as "a just war", a larger morality 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 and the Vietnam War, respectively; annual #2 found them storming the beaches at Normandy on D-Day in 1944, and annual #4 was a flashback to the Battle of the Bulge.

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 nicknamed the Howling Commandos consisted of the following:

* Corporal 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 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 comic book hero. Izzy is a master mechanic.Alexander, Mark
"Wah-Hoo!! Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos"
''Jack Kirby Collector'' #24 (April 1999)
* Private Gabriel Jones - An African American 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. 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, 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 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 Samuel "Happy Sam" Sawyer when Fury and Hargrove were training British Commandos 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. Nick and Red later joined the U.S. Army, with Fury undergoing basic training under a Sergeant Bass at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Both Fury and Red were stationed at Schofield Barracks, Oahu, Hawaii when the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the base on December 7, 1941, and Red was among the many killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.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 squad were stationed in a military base in England to fight specialized missions, primarily, but not exclusively, in the European theatre of World War II, eventually going as far afield as the Pacific theatre, Africa, and, once each, in the Middle East and on the Russian front. Fury fell in love with an English nurse, 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. Their success brought the attention of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who incorporated the unit into the British Army, and given the title of "Commandos".

The Howlers fought against the likes of German General Erwin Rommel and inter-squad bigotry, often in the same story. Antagonists included Baron Strucker, Captain America's nemeses Baron Zemo and the Red Skull ( Adolf Hitler's protégé), and other Axis villains. The Howlers encountered Office of Strategic Services agent Reed Richards (later Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four) in issue #3 (Sept. 1963), and fought alongside Captain America and Bucky in #13 (Dec. 1964).

They reunited for missions in the Korean War, where Fury received a field promotion to lieutenant, and the Vietnam War, each in a summer- annual 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'' episode "Old Soldiers", rescuing Captain America and Wolverine from the Red Skull.
* The Howling Commandos appear in '' The Super Hero Squad Show'' episode "Wrath of the Red Skull", consisting of Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, and Izzy Cohen.
* The Howling Commandos appear in '' The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes'', led by series original character and Nick Fury'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.
* 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 ( Sebastian Stan), Dum Dum Dugan ( Neal McDonough), Gabe Jones ( Derek Luke), Montgomery Falsworth (J. J. Feild), Jim Morita ( Kenneth Choi), and Jacques Dernier (Bruno Ricci). In February 2010, director Joe Johnston stated that the World War II-era super team the Invaders 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 Captain America leads in the film. After Captain America frees the Howling Commandos from a Hydra base, they assist him in dismantling Hydra and defeating the Red Skull.
* 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 ( 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", consisting of Dugan (reprised by McDonough) and new members Happy Sam Sawyer ( Leonard Roberts), 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+ 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 Bucky Barnes, 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

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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