Sgt. Fury #8

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Not a bad story by: Ex-Sgt. Stan Lee
Passable art by: Ex-Corp. Dick Ayers
Inked by: Geo. Bell
Lettered by: S. Rosen
22 pages

I know what you’re thinking.
Didn’t we just read Sgt. Fury #7 pretty recently?
Yes.
But isn’t Sgt. Fury bimonthly?
Yes.
Wait. This comic is from May. You were just reading March comics.
Yes.
You haven’t even finished March yet. We haven’t read the March Iron Man story.
True.
I know you’re mostly going in publishing order, but sometimes move things around for story reasons.
I do.
But that doesn’t make any sense here, right? You only move things around when comics tie into each other, and Sgt. Fury is set in WWII. How can it tie in directly with any superhero comics?

Well, there’s the rub. For reasons we’ll go into later, we are reading Avengers #6 two months early. And, as noted on the first page, this issue does tie into Avengers #6! Sort of, at least. They were released the same day and star the same villain, Dr. Zemo.

It makes for a pretty uncommon occurrence in comics, where fans like to track what a character’s first appearance is. Dr. Zemo has two. He was introduced on the same day in two different titles, two stories set twenty years apart. We’ll meet him here in Sgt. Fury, then see what he’s up to twenty years later menacing the Avengers.

It’s a pretty cool and unique quasi-crossover. In service of it, we’re reading Sgt. Fury #8 two months early.

Dr. Zemo only really shows up in the last few pages of this comic. We learn he’s the top Nazi scientist, and that his castle is full of death traps. In the end, Zemo escapes, but his death ray is destroyed.

The other major introduction in this issue is Percival Pinkerton, Percy to his friends. Junior Juniper had died in issue 4; they finally have a replacement. Pinkerton is easy to underestimate, a well-mannered British gentleman who always carries an umbrella… but be careful of making fun of men with umbrellas.

Along the way, Gabe gets a pretty good action sequence, but it leaves him with a wounded leg.

I like Dick Ayers as an artist and he does a fine job this issue. But he has big shoes to fill. This book really was a masterpiece under Kirby, and I miss him already.

Rating: ★★★☆☆, 52/100
Significance: ★★★★☆

I read this story in  Sgt. Fury Epic Collection vol. 1: The Howling Commandos. You can also find the story in Marvel Masterworks: Sgt. Fury vol. 1. Or on Kindle.

Characters:

• Sgt. Nick Fury
• Dum-Dum Dugan
• Gabe Jones
• Rebel Ralston
• Dino Manelli
• Izzy Cohen
• Percival “Percy” Pinkerton
• Happy Sam Sawyer
• Dr. Zemo/Zemo

Story notes:

• Narrator notes Dr. Zemo also appears in Avengers #6.
• Commandos take Nazi company as prisoners of war to camp in England.
• Promotion list on board; no Howlers promoted.
• Permanent replacement for Junior Juniper: Percival “Percy” Pinkerton.
• Howlers take PT boat to mainland Europe; mission: capture Dr. Zemo, who has invented a death ray.
• Gabe sustains leg injury.
• Zemo, a Nazi scientist with his own castle.
• Death ray destroyed; Zemo escapes.
• Narrator notes title is now monthly.

#196 story in reading order
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