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Sgt. Fury Epic Collection #1
Sgt. Fury Epic Collection, Vol. 1: The Howling Commandos
From the heart of the Silver Age Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers bring you the World War II adventures of Sgt. Nick Fury! These creative titans took the Marvel method and applied it to the combat genre, creating the "war comic for people who hate war comics." Starring Fury, Dum Dum Dugan and the rest of the Howling Commados, the series was an instant hit and would even inspire filmmaker Quentin Taratino's Inglorious Basterds. In this augural Sgt. Fury Epic Collection, our heroes battle more Nazis than you can shake a bayonet at, team-up with Captain America and Bucky, battle the nefarious Barons Strucker and Zemo, and set out to capture Adolf Hitler himself! COLLECTING: VOL. 1: SGT. FURY (1963) #1-19
448 pages, Paperback
Published March 26, 2019
18 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Stan Lee
7,563 books2,340 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 18, 2025
A fun read if you're into WWII and cringe-worthy plot-lines of them '60s vibes. That's what it is. Some nice issues with guests like Cap and Reed from the war, or something like an origin of how Fury had that accident with his eye, but other than that it's mostly silly dialogue with nice artwork.
November 28, 2021
The Rat Patrol... in (Four) Color(s)
I just finished reading my thus far favorite Epic Collection and am eagerly anticipating a volume 2. Sgt. Fury was a Marvel Comic I saw ads for and knew about from Nick Fury's then-current-day appearances in Fantastic Four #21 and of course the Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. series. But I had never read a Sgt. Fury story until this book. What fun stuff, punctuated by melodrama and a tragedy, but really it's The Rat Patrol several years before that iconic WWII series debuted on the small screen in 1966. I strongly suspect series creator Tom Gries was a Sgt. Fury fan and probably a Merry Marvel Marcher to boot! But more on that at the close (see Appendix).
This book boasts the first 19 issues of arguably the least-read Silver Age Marvel Comic barring Millie the Model. It's an underappreciated treasure ripe for rediscovery by fans of the Lee and Kirby team and of Silver Age Marvels. Kirby penciled the first seven issues, returned for #13 featuring Captain America and Bucky, and finally drew the first and last pages of #18. That's a lot of classic Kirby art. His initial seven-issue hitch was penciled at the same time he was drawing Fantastic Four #14-26.
In the bullpen warming up was frequent Kirby collaborator Dick Ayers, who was often relegated to the role of an inker. He takes over penciling the book in #8 and his work is very good, but of course pales in comparison to the King. It also reads like Ayers' penciled pages were handed to anyone who chanced by the Marvel offices that day, so inkers range from good old reliable George Roussos to Frank Giacoia to Vince Coletta to Steve Ditko. Ditko's inks over Ayers on #15 are an especial treat! So what that Happy Sam comes out looking a lot like J. Jonah Jameson.
The stories can be repetitive and should not be binge read. I read one a week or so and found them familiar like an old friend, never a bore. There isn't much in the way of continuity between issues, so no overarching soap opera to recall when taking up the book. While their home base is outside London, England, there's not even a consistent setting between issues. The Howling Commandos are dispatched to the four corners of the globe. In this collection alone, they fight in Germany, Holland, Japan, Norway, the North African desert and in the jungles of Africa.
The one noteworthy thread of continuity is the recurring character of Pamela Hawley, a Red Cross nurse and daughter of Lord Hawley. Nick and Pamela fall for each other and, in a reverse-Pygmalion, she tries to transform the uncouth dogface Fury into a proper gentleman, one who sips his tea with pinky extended. Pamela first appeared in #4 and Spoiler Ahead! makes her final appearance in #18 where she is reported to have been killed in action (off-screen). That raised two things in my mind: (1) Stan Lee lacked the ability to meaningfully kill off a character. The death of Junior Juniper earlier in the series felt like a throwaway and lacked any sense of loss, and I felt the same lack at Pamela's passing. It was clumsily telegraphed throughout the issue with Fury all of a sudden uncharacteristically lovesick. "Bad show, wot?" as Pinky would put it. (2) Gerry Conway should cite this issue when defending himself for killing Gwen Stacy. Conway says Lee was on board originally, but after the fan backlash denied approving the story. Sgt. Fury #18 shows Lee setting the precedent for killing a romantic interest before she could undermine the hero's independence and appeal. End of Spoiler
I found the book consistently good throughout. Among the standouts were the first two issues, "The Fangs of the Desert Fox" in #6, the following issue's "Court Martial of Sgt. Fury," "The Crackdown of Captain Flint" in #11, and of course the Captain America issue #13. The one I came closest to disliking was "Killed in Action" #18. And while the story is just okay, I love the Ayers and Ditko art in #15.
Stan Lee will write the book through 28 and then pass it to his protégé Roy Thomas. Gary Friedrich comes aboard with #42 and in collaboration with Ayers is reported to have made the book something special. I would love to read those later issues, so am wishin' and hopin' and prayin' that Marvel keeps these Epic Collections coming or--dare we hope?--issue an omnibus edition complete with letters pages and other extras.
Appendix
Is The Rat Patrol an Unacknowledged Adaptation of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos? YES!
As I read through these 19 issues I could not escape the thought and later the conviction that Tom Gries must have drawn inspiration from Sgt. Fury when creating the 1966-68 World War II series The Rat Patrol. Compare the cast of the comic to the television series:
The Hardbitten but Goodhearted Sarge. Sgt. Nick Fury and Sgt. Sam Troy (Christopher George). Both men are rough, tough, and gruff but would readily give their lives for the men they love like brothers.
The British Soldier attached to an American Unit. Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton and Sgt. Jack Moffitt (Gary Raymond). Pinky in his red beret with yellow pom-pom is played primarily for laughs and appears based on English actor Terry-Thomas. Stan Lee lets no cliché go unturned, having Pinky open sentences with "I say," then slathering like thick-cut marmalade the middle with "poor blighter," "chaps," "blokes," "jolly good," "stiff upper lip, old bean" and then closing out with a rhetorical "wot?" Pinky, like a proper British gentleman, bears an ever-present bumbershoot (umbrella), and like John Steed's of later Avengers TV fame, it is employed in many a miraculous and life-saving manner.
Moffitt is a more serious and studious Englishman than Percy. He's the "brains" of the Rat Patrol. Moffitt also draws characteristics from Hollywood star turned Howling Commando Dino Manelli in being the glamor-boy of the unit and the only one who can speak German, a skillset frequently employed by both the Commandoes and the Rat Patrol when bluffing their ways into and out of sticky situations.
The Good Ol' Boys. Blond-haired Rebel Ralston was lifted wholesale from the comic pages as played on TV as Private Mark "Hitch" Hitchcock (Lawrence P. Casey). Each man wears a non-regulation Southern hat. The resemblances and drawls are too strikingly similar to be coincidental. You don't agree? Who was there, Sarge, you or me?
The Master Mechanic. Brooklyn's Izzy Cohen and Pvt. Tully Pettigrew (Justin Carr) have each proven themselves pivotal players in hotwiring or patching together at pit-stop speed Nazi command cars and battle-damaged Jeeps.
The Nazi Archnemesis Baron Strucker and Captain Hans Dietrich (Hans Gudegast aka Eric Braeden). Ah, the old enemy who is my equal that I begrudgingly respect and would even like under other circumstances cliché! But it plays well in both characters, and each adversary's chemistry with Sgts. Fury and Troy has made many an issue and episode all the more enjoyable. Baron Strucker proved so popular Lee brought him into the 1960s as a Hydra power-player and continuing thorn in Fury's side.
Left on the bench were Howlers Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones, who never received a television equivalent, but don't feel too bad as they each landed plum assignments with S.H.I.E.L.D.
Read the comic, watch The Rat Patrol and see what you think.
I just finished reading my thus far favorite Epic Collection and am eagerly anticipating a volume 2. Sgt. Fury was a Marvel Comic I saw ads for and knew about from Nick Fury's then-current-day appearances in Fantastic Four #21 and of course the Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. series. But I had never read a Sgt. Fury story until this book. What fun stuff, punctuated by melodrama and a tragedy, but really it's The Rat Patrol several years before that iconic WWII series debuted on the small screen in 1966. I strongly suspect series creator Tom Gries was a Sgt. Fury fan and probably a Merry Marvel Marcher to boot! But more on that at the close (see Appendix).
This book boasts the first 19 issues of arguably the least-read Silver Age Marvel Comic barring Millie the Model. It's an underappreciated treasure ripe for rediscovery by fans of the Lee and Kirby team and of Silver Age Marvels. Kirby penciled the first seven issues, returned for #13 featuring Captain America and Bucky, and finally drew the first and last pages of #18. That's a lot of classic Kirby art. His initial seven-issue hitch was penciled at the same time he was drawing Fantastic Four #14-26.
In the bullpen warming up was frequent Kirby collaborator Dick Ayers, who was often relegated to the role of an inker. He takes over penciling the book in #8 and his work is very good, but of course pales in comparison to the King. It also reads like Ayers' penciled pages were handed to anyone who chanced by the Marvel offices that day, so inkers range from good old reliable George Roussos to Frank Giacoia to Vince Coletta to Steve Ditko. Ditko's inks over Ayers on #15 are an especial treat! So what that Happy Sam comes out looking a lot like J. Jonah Jameson.
The stories can be repetitive and should not be binge read. I read one a week or so and found them familiar like an old friend, never a bore. There isn't much in the way of continuity between issues, so no overarching soap opera to recall when taking up the book. While their home base is outside London, England, there's not even a consistent setting between issues. The Howling Commandos are dispatched to the four corners of the globe. In this collection alone, they fight in Germany, Holland, Japan, Norway, the North African desert and in the jungles of Africa.
The one noteworthy thread of continuity is the recurring character of Pamela Hawley, a Red Cross nurse and daughter of Lord Hawley. Nick and Pamela fall for each other and, in a reverse-Pygmalion, she tries to transform the uncouth dogface Fury into a proper gentleman, one who sips his tea with pinky extended. Pamela first appeared in #4 and Spoiler Ahead! makes her final appearance in #18 where she is reported to have been killed in action (off-screen). That raised two things in my mind: (1) Stan Lee lacked the ability to meaningfully kill off a character. The death of Junior Juniper earlier in the series felt like a throwaway and lacked any sense of loss, and I felt the same lack at Pamela's passing. It was clumsily telegraphed throughout the issue with Fury all of a sudden uncharacteristically lovesick. "Bad show, wot?" as Pinky would put it. (2) Gerry Conway should cite this issue when defending himself for killing Gwen Stacy. Conway says Lee was on board originally, but after the fan backlash denied approving the story. Sgt. Fury #18 shows Lee setting the precedent for killing a romantic interest before she could undermine the hero's independence and appeal. End of Spoiler
I found the book consistently good throughout. Among the standouts were the first two issues, "The Fangs of the Desert Fox" in #6, the following issue's "Court Martial of Sgt. Fury," "The Crackdown of Captain Flint" in #11, and of course the Captain America issue #13. The one I came closest to disliking was "Killed in Action" #18. And while the story is just okay, I love the Ayers and Ditko art in #15.
Stan Lee will write the book through 28 and then pass it to his protégé Roy Thomas. Gary Friedrich comes aboard with #42 and in collaboration with Ayers is reported to have made the book something special. I would love to read those later issues, so am wishin' and hopin' and prayin' that Marvel keeps these Epic Collections coming or--dare we hope?--issue an omnibus edition complete with letters pages and other extras.
Appendix
Is The Rat Patrol an Unacknowledged Adaptation of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos? YES!
As I read through these 19 issues I could not escape the thought and later the conviction that Tom Gries must have drawn inspiration from Sgt. Fury when creating the 1966-68 World War II series The Rat Patrol. Compare the cast of the comic to the television series:
The Hardbitten but Goodhearted Sarge. Sgt. Nick Fury and Sgt. Sam Troy (Christopher George). Both men are rough, tough, and gruff but would readily give their lives for the men they love like brothers.
The British Soldier attached to an American Unit. Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton and Sgt. Jack Moffitt (Gary Raymond). Pinky in his red beret with yellow pom-pom is played primarily for laughs and appears based on English actor Terry-Thomas. Stan Lee lets no cliché go unturned, having Pinky open sentences with "I say," then slathering like thick-cut marmalade the middle with "poor blighter," "chaps," "blokes," "jolly good," "stiff upper lip, old bean" and then closing out with a rhetorical "wot?" Pinky, like a proper British gentleman, bears an ever-present bumbershoot (umbrella), and like John Steed's of later Avengers TV fame, it is employed in many a miraculous and life-saving manner.
Moffitt is a more serious and studious Englishman than Percy. He's the "brains" of the Rat Patrol. Moffitt also draws characteristics from Hollywood star turned Howling Commando Dino Manelli in being the glamor-boy of the unit and the only one who can speak German, a skillset frequently employed by both the Commandoes and the Rat Patrol when bluffing their ways into and out of sticky situations.
The Good Ol' Boys. Blond-haired Rebel Ralston was lifted wholesale from the comic pages as played on TV as Private Mark "Hitch" Hitchcock (Lawrence P. Casey). Each man wears a non-regulation Southern hat. The resemblances and drawls are too strikingly similar to be coincidental. You don't agree? Who was there, Sarge, you or me?
The Master Mechanic. Brooklyn's Izzy Cohen and Pvt. Tully Pettigrew (Justin Carr) have each proven themselves pivotal players in hotwiring or patching together at pit-stop speed Nazi command cars and battle-damaged Jeeps.
The Nazi Archnemesis Baron Strucker and Captain Hans Dietrich (Hans Gudegast aka Eric Braeden). Ah, the old enemy who is my equal that I begrudgingly respect and would even like under other circumstances cliché! But it plays well in both characters, and each adversary's chemistry with Sgts. Fury and Troy has made many an issue and episode all the more enjoyable. Baron Strucker proved so popular Lee brought him into the 1960s as a Hydra power-player and continuing thorn in Fury's side.
Left on the bench were Howlers Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones, who never received a television equivalent, but don't feel too bad as they each landed plum assignments with S.H.I.E.L.D.
Read the comic, watch The Rat Patrol and see what you think.
May 30, 2023
I pride myself on being a big fan of the Silver Age of Marvel Comics, but there's still so much I need to read. This was a series I'd wanted to read for a long time, but I finally took the time to dig into this Epic Collection. All I can say is... Wow. Stan Lee may not have been a perfect writer, but he truly nailed the specific personality and/or accent of every character. It really shows just how badass Nick Fury was from the very beginning, and it really satisfied my fandom of WWII literature (both fiction and nonfiction) as well. Volume 2 comes out soon, and although Jack Kirby's run on the internal artwork ended in this first volume, I can't wait to check it out!
May 12, 2024
I think this is the only Silver Age Marvel series by Kirby that I hadn't read. It's solid - Jack only draws a few of the issues in this volume (#1-7 & 13, I believe, without looking), but they're gorgeous. The stories are solid - the Easy Company gang don't have much in the way of personalities (it's clearly "the Nick Fury show"), but the plots are fun if you don't binge the issues too fast. It's not especially memorable, but it's solid entertainment.
July 5, 2019
Howling Commandos is a forgotten gem of the 60s Stan Lee/Jack Kirby power duo. Everyone talks about and praises Fantastic Four, Journey into Mystery and the Incredible Hulk, but I personally believe that this is in their top three works.
If I had to guess, this series isn't mentioned as often because it's not superhero affair. In contrast to the other Stan Lee books, Commados is very boots-on-the-ground. Not that it doesn't have fantastic elements to it and not that it doesn't incorporate colorful characters. The Commandos are delightful and well fleshed out, and the introduction of Nick Fury as the brash, tough-as-nails Sergeant would lay the foundation for one of Marvel's most storied and complex characters for decades.
If you're into war books, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, or all of the above, this is the collection for you.
If I had to guess, this series isn't mentioned as often because it's not superhero affair. In contrast to the other Stan Lee books, Commados is very boots-on-the-ground. Not that it doesn't have fantastic elements to it and not that it doesn't incorporate colorful characters. The Commandos are delightful and well fleshed out, and the introduction of Nick Fury as the brash, tough-as-nails Sergeant would lay the foundation for one of Marvel's most storied and complex characters for decades.
If you're into war books, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, or all of the above, this is the collection for you.
September 13, 2023
Easily my least favorite Epic Collection I’ve read so far… I don’t think I liked war comics to begin with. Just felt like propaganda at times and it also got really repetitive.
January 20, 2020
These comic books read like the Quentin Tarantino film Inglorious Bastards. Fun to read again after all these years
January 7, 2024
You can't go wrong with Stan Lee writing and Jack Kirby Art. The collection presents some early World War II comics, are they the best. No, EC's Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat were better. But these are good good guys beating up the Nazis. Sadly it seems e might have to repeat this lesson again, but the missions are impossible and complex. The comics do deal with racism of the Americans, something that 60's Marvel did.
The collection gives us everything and the Kitchen sink too, we have a team up with Captain America, Baron Von Strucker, Baron Zemo (Were there ever any good barons) and his love affair with nurse Pamela Hawley. Sgt Fury and his Howlers pull their missions off with skill and precision. The restrictions of the old Comic Book Authority where there no bodies of deceased people, lots of empty helmets on the ground was the closest to a death toll.
It is a fun series and light read for people.
The collection gives us everything and the Kitchen sink too, we have a team up with Captain America, Baron Von Strucker, Baron Zemo (Were there ever any good barons) and his love affair with nurse Pamela Hawley. Sgt Fury and his Howlers pull their missions off with skill and precision. The restrictions of the old Comic Book Authority where there no bodies of deceased people, lots of empty helmets on the ground was the closest to a death toll.
It is a fun series and light read for people.
July 26, 2019
Classic Stan Lee and Jack Kirby! They pioneered a new genre of comic book war hero with this collection. We see the earliest conception of Nick Fury, before the eye patch, before there was a SHIELD, and before he work the spandex agent of SHIELD outfits. I realize that comic art has progressed tremendously since the early '60's and perhaps it's simply nostalgia, but I love Kirby's art and the story is typical Stan Lee. It was a fun read and while I am not a big fan of war comics, I still enjoyed this one.,
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews