Thanks to the MCU, Nick Fury has become a cornerstone character of the modern Marvel Universe. His function as the connective tissue across the early Marvel movies played a key role in establishing the expansive cinematic universe we enjoy today. With Fury’s presence being felt once again in the MCU in this year’s Secret Invasion and The Marvels, what better time to go back to his roots in his original 1960s series, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos.
Berlin Breakout compiles issues #20-36 of the ongoing Howling Commandos series as well as the first two Annuals. The ongoing stays rooted in World War II, but Annual #1 shifts forward to Fury and his commandos in the Korean War. Founding Marvel scribe Stan Lee scripts the first half of the issues here before backing off into an editorial role and letting Roy Thomas take over writing duties; while Dick Ayers provides pencils for every issue and is paired up with assorted inkers.
Stan’s writing was singular for his time. There is no doubt an appeal to his style and tone, but within this collection it has not aged half as well as some of the his other series at this time. Here in Sgt. Fury, the focus is less on the standard wartime escapades of the commandos and more on the camaraderie and banter between the crew. It’s a unique way to frame these otherwise run-of-the-mill stories, and I’m sure in the ’60s these were solid, but read today they do not retain their appeal.
Meet the titular Commandos
Credit: Marvel Comics
At first I found the macho banter engaging in the first issue or so, and it is impressive that each character reads distinct from the others, however that’s where the positives began and ended for me. These comics read much wordier than modern issues and it wears thin rather quick. The near-constant assault of verbiage packed into nearly each panel slows the pacing to a crawl. I may have been invested in Fury’s knock-down, drag-out brawl with Baron Strucker (issue #29), but when I have to wade through a swath of back and forth insults before, during and after each strike it kills any momentum in the situation. Unfortunately, this is a constant across every issue, making it very hard to read consecutive issues.
Despite the great Jack Kirby cover to this collection, his skilled pencil makes no appearances – by this point, the series’ art duties had been handed over to Dick Ayers. Ayers deserves major credit here as he single-handedly pencils every issue in this collection. To me he lends a consistent style to each story, but he never has the opportunity to stretch beyond Stan’s word bubbles. More often than not, one comes to a page covered in more words than pictures. There’s no doubt of Ayer’s talent as an artist and his consistency remains impressive when compared to modern comics where we’re lucky to have one artist draw four or five consecutive issues. However, his work remains constricted by the writing and never reaches any visual peaks.
The all too common image to word ratio.
Credit: Marvel Comics
When it comes to the reprint quality, this collection is printed on the standard Epic Collection paper stock and cover. There are some strangely unexplained portions not reprinted here though. Annuals #1 and #2 are both missing companion stories promoted on their respective covers. Both covers state that three separate stories are included within the Annual, but only one story per Annual makes it into this reprinting. It’s a strange decision that has no explanation. There’s also slim offerings in the backmatter here. Only a handful of pencil reproductions round out this volume.
In the end, Berlin Breakout presents a time capsule of an era largely to its own detriment. These stories were written for a much different audience than today’s. It’s interesting to peruse an issue or two as a fan of comic history, but I find it difficult to imagine any modern reader will pick this up and be gripped. There’s too many elements that do not work clashing with the few that do. This is not a day-one purchase, but a collection that could be checked out out of curiosity and a significant discount.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.