Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Relase: September 9, 1965 Cover: November 1965 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee, Army Vet! Pencilled by Dick Ayers, Air Force Vet! Inked by Frank Ray, Air Force Vet! Lettered by S. Rosen, Teacher’s Pet! 20 pages
Stan and Dick want to take this opportunity to give a heartfelt thanks and well done to the countless wonderful guys and gals who did so much under the banner of the U.S.O., to keep up the morale of lonely Allied fighting men, both near and far from home! We’ll never forget ’em!
Happy Sam orders the Howlers on a furlough back to the States, including Percy and Hans.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Release: April 8, 1965 Cover: June 1965 12 cents You’ll relive the torment of warfare in this script by Ex-Sgt. Stan Lee You’ll see the blaze of battle in this artwork by Ex-Corp. Dick Ayers You’ll feel the drama of conflict in this inking by Ex-Corp. Frank Ray You’ll hear the sounds of attack in this lettering by exquisite S. Rosen 20 pages
Let’s remind ourselves of the dramatic final page of the previous issue.
This story picks up where that left off. Lady Pamela Hawley died in a bombing raid before Nick could propose to her. Now we see him trying to deal with his pain and frustration. Will revenge bring him catharsis?
After Nick is working the Howlers too hard, Captain Sawyer orders a furlough. They decide to take their “furlough” in occupied Holland and track down the Squadron behind Pam’s death.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Release: March 11, 1965 Cover: May 1965 12 cents Writer: Stan Lee Penciller: Dick Ayers Inker: Chic Stone Letterer: Artie Simek 20 pages
“Once again, sudden death claims another victim!” reads the cover.
The “once again” refers to Junior Juniper, the first Commando to fall in battle, all the way back in issue 4. Letting us know that this was a series with consquence. It wasn’t a sure thing our heroes would make it back after each mission.
Since then, they all have turned out okay. But let’s read on.
The art is credited to Ayers and Stone, but Jack Kirby was brought in to redraw most of the famous final sequence.
The issue begins in the middle of intense action. Sgt. Fury is in his fancy duds, clearly having been on a date that’s been interrupted by an air raid.
Since Roussos left, this title is having trouble finding a consistent inker for Ayers. We had Giacoia last issue and Ditko the issue before. This issue, Vince Colletta finds time between issues of Thor to lend his inks. Colletta had been a sergeant in the Air Force, so he fits the credits scheme of noting the military service of this series’ contributors.
We pick up where last issue left off, with the Commandos still in the Sahara desert. They are ready to return home, but are instead given a new assignment.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Release: January 12, 1965 Cover: March 1965 12 cents Written with machine gun power by Ex-Sgt. Stan Lee Drawn with howitzer impact by Ex-Corp. Dick Ayers Inked with rifle-fire sharpness by Ex-Corp. Frank Ray Lettered with bloodshot eyes by Artie Simek Civilian 1st Class 20 pages
The cover is striking because of the dominant yellow. We haven’t yet seen a cover with such a coloring scheme, but they’ll become more common, and they’ll always catch my eye. This particular color evokes the intense heat of the desert.
Hans Rooten takes his new place as squad mascot. He’s even got a uniform to indicate his “mascot” status. He’s written far more sensibly than, say, Rick Jones is in Avengers. He is allowed to train with the Commandos, but not on dangerous maneuvers, and he doesn’t go on missions, whereas the Avengers take Rick to fight most any super-villain.
The only not-particularly sensible thing is why they continue to let Hans believe his father is a traitor. Now that he’s safely in England, there’s surely no harm in telling the kid his father is a heroic Allied double agent. But these were his father’s wishes, so the child will go on thinking himself to be basically an orphan, with the Howlers the only family he has left.
This page is from the original comic, found online.
Hans has already figured out the character of Sgt. Fury: “He is yelling at me! That means he likes me!”
Hans wants to be a Howler when he grows up. Nick hopes that when he grows up, there won’t be any need for Howlers.
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
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.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Release: November 10, 1964 Cover: January 1965 12 cents Written with the explosive power of a live grenade by: Ex-Sgt. Stan Lee Drawn with the savage impact of a block-buster by: Ex-Corp. Dick Ayers Inked with the smashing force of a Sherman tank by: Geo. Bell Lettered with a brand new bottle of India ink by: Artie Simek 20 pages
We’ve met Baron Strucker twicebefore. Fury’s only recurring foe at this point. But now he’s got his own team of commandos backing him up, the Blitzkrieg Squad.
The idea of the Blitzkrieg Squad is that each is specifically chosen to be a match for a commando. The brawler matches Dugan; the charmer, Manelli; the musician, Gabe; the mechanic, Izzy; the horseman, Reb; the aristrocrat, Percy.
I was a bit confused by the word “Junker” in the context and had to look it up. It refers to a Prussian noble, not somebody who trades in scraps.
Fighting Side-By-Side With… Captain America and Bucky!
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Release: October 8, 1964 Cover: December 1964 12 cents Written and drawn by the Titanic Two: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Inked by: Dick Ayers Lettered by: A. Simek 23 pages
Jack Kirby returns for one final issue of Sgt. Fury, likely motivated by the choice of guest star. Under Kirby, this was one of Marvel’s best titles. It’s perhaps lost a step under Ayers, though remains one of the better series we are reading.
So far, one could almost question why we are reading this World War II series along with all the superhero ones. It is certainly the odd duck in my reading list. We have had two points of crossover so far. The Commandos teamed with a young Mr. Fantastic when he was Major Richards of the OSS, and we saw an older Colonel Fury team up with the Fantastic Four. This is the third point of crossover between Nick Fury and the superhero titles. There will be more.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Release: September 8, 1964 Cover: November 1964 12 cents Possibly the most dramatic battle thriller ever written by: Sgt. Stan Lee Perhaps the finest example yet of the artistic skill of: Cpl. Dick Ayers A new inking triumph by: Geo. Bell Another lettering victory by: S. Rosen 20 pages
The Howlers are in an English pub. Axis Sally is on the radio. She is broadcasting Nazi propaganda from Berlin, calling on all Americans of German or Italian descent to turn against America and side with their own people. Of course, Dino Manelli is the Italian-American member of the Commandos, and has already had to deal with prejudice within the ranks.
Dino reminds us it’s possible to love his heritage and still want to fight against tyranny.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandoes Release: August 11, 1964 Cover: October 1964 12 cents Two-fisted tale by: Ex-Sarge Stan Lee, U.S. Army Power-packed pencilling by: Ex-Corp. Dick Ayers, U.S. Air Force Inking by: Geo. Bell Lettering by: Art Simek 21 pages
This is a familiar story. Captain Sawyer is temporarily replaced by the uptight rules-obsessed Captain Flint.
He does things like insist on uniform regulations that end up giving their position away on a mission that required subterfuge.
By the end of the story, the Howlers have taught him to loosen up a bit. I don’t much care for rule sticklers myself, hate when I have to work with them. My experience is that they don’t come around quite so easily in real life.
