Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: July 7, 1966
Cover: September 1966
12 cents
The peerless editing of Stan Lee
The preciocious scripting of Roy Thomas
The power-packed pencilling of Dick Ayers
The pulse-pounding inking of John Tartaglione
The pussycat lettering of Sam Rosen
20 pages
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|---|---|---|
| Sgt. Fury #33 | Reading order | Sgt. Fury #35 |
| Sgt. Fury #33 | Sgt. Fury | Sgt. Fury #35 |
“I don’t like Hitler’s goose-steppers any more’n you do, but as long as he don’t attack America, it ain’t my war!”
“It’s everybody’s war, Mister… I just hope they realize it before it’s too late!”
Recall last issue the Howlers were separated from Nick Fury during a mission in Greece. He is back in England now without them.
With nothing to do but wait for G-2 to bring back word on the fate of the Commandos, Captain Sawyer reflects on how he first met Nick Fury, and the group’s beginnings.
We saw some snippets of Fury’s past during his court martial in issue 7. We saw him as a young adult, poor, struggling to keep a job, and getting in fights with people like Spencer Parker. But Chaplain Lewis Hargrove testified that Nick was an orphan, a good person, and had been very good to his younger brother; his brother’s death at Pearl Harbor led to Nick becoming a Commando.
Because Roy Thomas is writing this issue, we can trust that the details about the past we learn this time will line up with what we already know. Were Stan writing, he would never have even remembered Hargrove.
This flashback takes us to the spring of 1940, when Nick and Happy Sam met. Happy Sam was in the UK, a US officer on loan to the British. Fury was a civilian teaching parachuting to the British along with the young Hargrove we’d met before. They normally did plane stunts for money.
At the time, Fury claimed this wasn’t his war, but Sawyer insisted it was everybody’s war.
We hadn’t learned Hargrove’s name before, but here we learn it’s “Red” and “Chip”. Presumably one of those is a nickname, but I’m not sure which. Stan claims we learned about Hargrove in issue 5, but it was issue 7. Another example of why I don’t trust Stan’s issue references.
Red Hargrove coined Sawyer’s nickname, “Happy Sam”. It seems to have stuck.
With a mission to Poland and in need of a lift, Sawyer hires Fury and Hargove to fly him.
Fury and Hargrove still want nothing to do with the war, but Sawyer continues to make his case, showing them the human cost of Hitler’s war.
Circumstances lead to a crashed plane and a search for a Nazi spy, and Fury and Hargrove more involved than they meant to be.
Along the way, they meat a circus strongman named Dum Dum Dugan. Who is in Europe because he’s scared of his wife.
Shenanigans ensue, and the group makes it back to England. All decide to enlist to help with the war, Dugan staying in England to enlist with the British and Fury and Hargrove enlisting in America.
They were stationed at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. Hargrove died, and Fury found renewed purpose.
We then see the assembling of the Howlers under Happy Sam… Dum Dum, Izzy, Reb, Dino, Gabe… and Junior Juniper, who we haven’t seen since his untimely death in issue 4.
We don’t see the Commandos’ first mission, but Stan promises to tell that story one day. And it will be told soon enough.
For now, Fury learns the Howlers are prisoners in Berlin. We’ll come back next issue to see if he can rescue them.
Here’s a house ad. We see this month’s Fantastic Four comic, which we’ll be reading promptly, the newest members of the Merry Marvel Marching Society. And a fun Thing sweater. With his backside on the backside.
And the letters.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 53/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Characters:
- Sgt. Nick Fury/Nick Fury
- Captain “Happy Sam” Sawyer/Lieutenant Sawyer
- Red “Chip” Hargrove
- Dum Dum Dugan
- Izzy Cohen
- Reb Ralston
- Dino Manelli
- Gabriel Jones
- Jonathan “Junior” Juniper
Story notes:
- Fury eager to return to Europe, but Sam tells him to wait for G-2 to locate the Howlers.
- Sawyer has been with the Howlers as long as Fury.
- Sawyer met Fury in Spring 1940. Fury was a civilian hired to teach parachuting to the British.
- Sawyer suggests Fury ease up a bit in the training.
- Hargrove was flying the training plane.
- Sawyer suggests Fury join the British army, but Fury notes this isn’t his war.
- Fury and Hargrove had been doing plane stunts for pay. Fury was a “wing-walker”, doing stunts standing on the wings while the pilot did loops.
- After the conquest of Poland, the British army recruited Fury and Hargrove as trainers.
- Nick often got Red/Chip Hargrove out of trouble when they were boys.
- Soldier notes that “Happy Sam” never smiles.
- Germany attacked Holland and Belgium, despite guaranteeing their neutrality. Called a “Blitzkrieg”, a lightning war.
- Sawyer ordered to Holland, but all RAF planes are being held in reserve. Sawyer requests that Fury and Hargrove accompany him.
- Sawyer finds that Nick and Red had beaten up a bar of English soldiers.
- Mission is to rescue Dutch agent from Holland with vital intelligence.
- Fury was the hottest shot in the PAL (Police Athletic League).
- Red coins the nickname “Happy Sam”.
- Hargrove likes to sing; others appreciate his singing less.
- Plane runs afoul of German E-Boat in channel. Red’s flying and Nick’s shooting take care of it.
- Car they are looking for has a white circle painted on the top. They find it on top of a wrecked car.
- Sawyer points to the displaced people, ordinary people victims of Hitler.
- Plane out of gas; E-Boat had given them a gas leak. Plane crashes.
- Agent’s chauffeur was Nazi spy; he grabbed the briefcase and ran off.
- Hargrove always chomping on cigarette holder.
- Searching for Nazi agent, they find a circus, and a strongman named Dum Dum Dugan.
- Dugan doesn’t like his hat being mocked.
- Dugan used to live in Boston.
- Fury first person to knock Dugan down in a fight since he last saw his wife. Wife is in Boton with the mother-in-law. Why he’s in Europe.
- The guy in the car was the Nazi agent. They’ve pursued the Dutch agent. That he was at the steering wheel but called the other guy the chauffeur should have been a clue.
- Dugan joins up. Figures America will be in the war soon enough.
- Dugan finds boat they can cross channel with.
- Boat taken out by German plane.
- Fury had promised Red’s brother (Lewis) he’d look out for him.
- British patrol boat rescues crew.
- Sawyer recalls Howlers first mission and how they got their name; Stan promises to tell us about it one day.
- G-2 has found Commandos are prisoners in Greece being transported to Berlin.
- Hitler intends to preside over execution. He’d previously insisted they always be shot on sight.
- Next issue: Four against the Third Reich. But who?
| Previous | #607 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Sgt. Fury #33 | Reading order | Sgt. Fury #35 |
| Sgt. Fury #33 | Sgt. Fury | Sgt. Fury #35 |
