The Vietnam War in Comics: SGT. FURY


"This is the BIG ONE! It's the soul-searing saga you thought you'd never see... the Howling Commandos in action today!"

So proclaimed the cover of 1967's SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS ANNUAL #3. In its bid to become “the most talked-about work of war-mag wonderment ever published,” this 50-page travesty features a cameo by President Lyndon Johnson (who talks like a bad version of a Mark Twain character), Viet Cong fighters who look like Mexican banditos (and like most other comic-book VC of the era, speak fluent English, their favorite phrases usually consisting of “Die, American swine!” and “Death to all Yankee imperialists!”), and a ridiculous plot to sabotage North Vietnam’s creation of a Hydrogen Bomb. Fury’s well-formulated plan consists of the Howlers disguising themselves as Vietnamese refugees (a ploy that’s perpetrated merely by donning different hats), infiltrating the city of Haiphong and detonating the bomb. “There she blows!” the Howlers joke, as their plane soars above the mushroom cloud. Stan Lee presents…Nick Fury executing thousands of civilians! Excelsior!

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