Marvel Read-Through: Nick Fury
It seems I’ve made a mistake in my reading order. In fact, I left out the entire origin of an important character: Nick Fury. I’ve seen him appear in comics as an agent and head of S.H.I.E.L.D., I’ve even read the issue that explains how he has not aged since WWII, but it completely slipped by me to read his first appearance and beginnings. Perhaps it’s because the main order I’m following separated the WWII-set comics from the rest or perhaps it’s just an honest mistake on my part, but now I’m going back to the 1960s for the man himself: Sgt. Nick Fury, leader of the Howling Commandos.
Sgt. Fury #1 introduces readers to Nick Fury and his team of soldiers, the Howling Commandos, quite well. Each character is named and given a small backstory, while Fury gets the spotlight and the personality. It’s a very ‘60s-esque comic, a bit jarring to read as I near the ’80s in my read-through, but it was good ‘ol Stan Lee at his Stan Lee-est. That is both a good and a bad thing. Stan creates characters and storylines like no other, but for a comic set in the middle of World War II, it feels neutered. There are no superheroes. It is strictly a war comic with nothing sci-fi or fantasy about it, but it has the light-hearted tone of 1960s comics. This includes a lack of explicit violence which feels very out of place in a war story. I’m not saying that all good war media needs to be graphically violent, but the Commandos spend more time punching Nazis and sparing their lives than gunning them down to a point where it was unrealistic and silly. They all hold and fire guns, but we never see a bullet land on target. It’s a product of its era and a casualty of the old comics code, but it really is hard to overlook Allied soldiers never once actually killing a Nazi on-panel, especially since the Commandos are so widely-known by the Allies and the Axis as the most dangerous soldiers alive.
As for the character that this is all for, he was the most unlikeable comic book protagonist I’ve come across thus far in my reading. Fury is a tough-as-nails take-no-shit hardass at the best of times, but in the few issues I read of his WWII exploits, he was a downright asshole to his men. It didn’t come across the same as in the modern-day-set comics. It wasn’t the personality trait that makes Fury the iconic character he is. It was just mean and at times hard to read. I wasn’t rooting for him in the slightest most of the time. The rest of the Commandos are perfectly fine as heroes; they crack jokes and take care of one another, easily winning the audience over. But Fury is so unlikeable I wondered how he managed to star in his own comic for so long.
These two problems are what made the emotional beats so jarring. The comic was so non-violent and lighthearted and then kills off major characters in extremely sad and emotional moments that come completely out of left field. Also, we’re supposed to feel for Fury when he loses someone he cares about, but I can’t stand the guy to begin with. Junior Juniper goes down in Sgt. Fury #4 and it is a sad moment but it just doesn’t fit in with the rest of the comic. Even that issue was far from serious until suddenly one of the main squad is dying in his friends’ arms. It was weird.
I had no idea Fury had a wartime sweetheart who was killed just before he could propose and this was the only time across all five issues I read where I actually felt some emotions for the character. Sgt. Fury #18 is an expertly-written comic that finally showed a softer side of Fury. And by softer side, I mean just a side of him that isn’t a total dick. I really liked this issue. Yes, it suffered from the strange shift in tone as Junior’s death, but it was written way better and the emotional payoff of Fury discovering that the love of his life has been killed was a great moment. It was genuinely sad and brought some much-needed character development to Nick Fury. He wasn’t just the tough squad leader, he was now a real person with real emotions.
I also read the issue where Fury loses his eye and is forced to adopt his iconic eye patch. This was another good issue. It was action-packed and suspenseful and the violence felt more real and graphic. Maybe this comic just took a while to settle in and find its place, but the final two issues I read were actually very good.
Issues Read:
Sgt. Fury #1, #4–5, #18, #27
Favorite issue: #18 and #27 are tied
