percival percy pinkerton – Page 2

Sgt. Fury #12

When a Howler Turns Traitor!

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

Previous	#271	Next
X-Men #8	Reading order	Fantastic Four #33
Sgt. Fury #11	Sgt. Fury	Sgt. Fury #13

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.

Sgt. Fury #11

The Crackdown of Capt. Flint!

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

Previous	#257	Next
Avengers #9	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #17
Sgt. Fury #10	Sgt. Fury	Sgt. Fury #12

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.

Sgt. Fury #10

On to Okinawa!

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: July 9, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee (the ol’ three-striper himself)
Illustrated by: Dick Ayers ( the ol’ high-flyin’ corporal)
Inked by: Geo. Bell
Lettered by: S. Rosen
22 pages

A feature of this comic has been a desire to send the Howlers to every theater of the war. They are based in England, but have already fought in Germany, Italy, Africa… now they’re off to Japan. Does it make any actual sense that a single squadron would have such geographically disparate missions? I don’t think we’re supposed to worry about it.

Captain Sawyer describes Okinawa as Japanese-occupied. An odd phrasing. Japan had conquered it over 60 years earlier. At some point, it’s just part of Japan. At the time the comic was published, Okinawa was occupied by America, but has since been returned to Japan. It remains part of Japan to this day.

Captain Sawyer and the other characters refer to the Japanese as “Japs”. Today, this is generally recognized as a racial slur that was prevalent among 1940s Americans. Having the characters use such language is likely historically accurate.

Sgt. Fury #9

Mission: Capture Adolf Hitler!

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: June 9, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Sensational story by: Ex-Sgt. Stan Lee!
Awe-inspiring art by: Ex-Corp. Dick Ayers!
Inked by: Geo. Bell
Lettered by: S. Rosen
22 pages

Nick Fury is always on his best behavior when on a date with Pam. Unfortunately, their lovely evening is brought to a halt when Fury’s Howlers splash mud on him. He starts to lose his temper, only to be scolded by Pam, who is more impressed by Percy’s gentlemanliness. Fury then gets a scolding from the Captain for the muddy uniform. This remains the funniest title.

The Howlers’ mission is to sneak into Berlin and capture Hitler. Seems easy enough until Fury is recognized by Baron Strucker.

Sgt. Fury #8

The Death Ray of Dr. Zemo!

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.