Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: December 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Dick Ayers
Inker: Steve Ditko
Letterer: S. Rosen
20 pages
| Previous | #305 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Journey Into Mystery #113, Story B | Reading order | Amazing Spider-Man #22 |
| Sgt. Fury #14 | Sgt. Fury | Sgt. Fury #16 |
This is pretty exciting. Ditko inking Ayers. Definitely the first time we’ve seen that. And the opposite of the roles I most associate each artist with. It’s mostly not obvious to my untrained eye that Ditko is the inker, but I think I see him shining through on some of the faces, particularly Captain Sawyer and some of the ladies.
George Roussos had been the regular inker up to this point, under the pseudonym George Bell. It looks like last month marked the end of his regular Marvel work for now. He will return in a couple years and eventually become a staff colorist at Marvel.
Roussos has likely been coloring many of the comics we’ve read as well, but I don’t often have colorist credits in front of me, and am anyway often reading these stories in recolored reprints. So I’ve certainly failed to appreciate his coloring contributions.
We’ll see Roussos once more in the near future, because we still haven’t read the Hulk story from last month. And then we’ll see him again, eventually.
The idea of these 15 issues has been to take the Commandos to every theatre of the war– Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, England, Japan, Africa… Holland was due.
The first panel makes me weirdly uncomfortable. They are in what is supposed to be a secure room, yet we see the dialogue outside of the room, implying they can be heard outside the room. Very poor operational security.
The story is this. Agent X is a spy in Holland who has sent word of a secret Nazi invasion force. He also knows the precise spot to blow up the dikes to flood the Nazis but not harm the people of Holland. The Commandos must go to Holland, wait for Agent X to make contact, and then blow up the dikes.
The identity of Agent X is known only to the Supreme Allied Commander. Dwight Eisenhower assumed the position of Supreme Allied Commander for the European theatre in December 1943. Previously he had been the Commander of the US forces only. That suggests it is now at least December 1943, perhaps even already 1944. We’ll try to pay attention to see if any later facts contradict that idea.
The Commandos also learn that Mayor Rooten is a “quisling”. That’s another word for a collaborator, or traitor; a Dutch citizen loyal to the occupying Germans. The word comes from Vidkun Quisling. Not the way I would want to get into the dictionary.
Often I don’t like these kid sidekicks or mascots. Not a fan of Wesley Crusher, Snapper Carr, or Rick Jones with the Avengers. Hans Rooten I think works okay. Particularly because he is mostly allowed to be a child; not overly precocious, nor taken needlessly on dangerous missions. His mother is dead, his father a traitor to the Dutch… he wants to run away and join the Commandos because he has nowhere else to go.
Hans is cool. I like Hans.
Dutch girls recognize Manelli, the movie star. Perhaps it’s not a great idea to take an international celebrity on undercover assignments.
This mission successful, Agent X asks the Commandos to take Hans to Britain. Why is he so concerned for the child? Well, there are numerous clues that Agent X is in fact Mayor Rooten.
Looks like the Commandos have their own teenage mascot.
He has this whole pathos thing going on in that he thinks his dad is a traitor; yet his dad may secretly be a hero.
Remember, it’s not too late to join the Merry Marvel Marching Society.
On a personal note, this is the oldest issue of Sgt. Fury I own in original form.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 56/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
You can find this story in Sgt. Fury Epic Collection vol. 1: The Howling Commandos. Or on Kindle.
Characters:
- Sgt. Nick Fury
- Dum-Dum Dugan
- Dino Manelli
- Gabe Jones
- Rebel Ralston
- Percy Pinkerton
- Izzy Cohen
- Hans Rooten
- Happy Sam Sawyer
- Mayor Rooten/Agent X
- Vandeveer
Story notes:
- Plan to destroy the dikes codenamed Operation Deluge.
- “Boche” is a perjorative term for Germans.
- Commandos play poker; Ralston very good at it.
- David Niven reference.
- Vandeveer betrayed the underground, but Agent X convinced the Gestapo he had betrayed them.
- Cohen blew the dike and flooded the invasion force.
- Agent X asks Commandos to take Hans to Britain.
| Previous | #305 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Journey Into Mystery #113, Story B | Reading order | Amazing Spider-Man #22 |
| Sgt. Fury #14 | Sgt. Fury | Sgt. Fury #16 |
