Sgt. Fury #64 - Marvel Comics

SGT. FURY No. 64, March 1969

If Gary Friedrich’s aim for “The Peacemonger” was to make this publication’s audience experience the sheer pointlessness of war, then he succeeded in doing just that with arguably one of the most depressing conclusions penned during the Silver Age of Comics. Indeed, having already been traumatised by the death of Lee Baker from Captain Savage’s Leatherneck Raiders, it’s hard to imagine many a bibliophile’s anguish wasn’t made all the worse when the pacifist scientist at the centre of all the fierce fighting shockingly commits suicide rather than remain living in America at the plot’s end. 

Just as disconcerting though is probably just how Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos even manage to reach the aforementioned nuclear expert, when the Japanese guarding Doctor Terry Reiker know they are coming. Instead of simply shooting Nick’s soldiers dead as they slowly climb up the horrendously high stone parapets of the jungle-based castle, the Imperial infantrymen bizarrely decide to hold fire, and only unsuccessfully attack the infiltration force once they have clambered over their defences; “We must let them enter! Alert our elite guard! They will handle the Americans after they have scaled the wall!”

For those readers willing to overlook this contrivance though, the following close combat battle is certainly packed full of pulse-pounding pugilism, with even the likes of Killer Manelli and Gabriel Jones getting a moment in the spotlight as the pair torment their foes with a deadly bugle blast. Furthermore, the fact that the despondent defector shockingly turns out to be a woman gives everyone in the comic’s considerable cast a moment’s pause, and leads to a rare glimpse of Nick Fury being uncomfortably embarrassed by the situation.

Debatably much more convincing than its narrative are Dick Ayers pencils and John Severin’s inks. Together, the creative pair impressively imbue all the action with both the scintillating speed, as well as the savage ferocity, this twenty-page periodical deserves. In fact, Fury and Reiker’s dash through the castle’s claustrophobic corridors and subsequent rescue by Savage is so packed full of nail-biting tension, that it genuinely appears certain another of the ensemble are going to meet a grim demise.

Written by: Gary Friedrich, Pencilled by: Dick Ayers, and Inked by: John Severin