Cap Meets Fury

 

Sgt. Fury #13 (December 1964) shows us the first time Nick and Captain America met. Eventually, the two men will team-up countless times, both during the war and in modern times after Nick takes over SHIELD and Cap gets thawed out. There is no doubt that either one of them would gladly give his life for another. So it's a fun idea when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby decide to give Sgt. Fury a bad first impression of the future Avenger.

The issue begins in a London movie theater, where Nick and his gal Pam are watching newsreels. When footage of Nick and the Howlers is shown, the crowd reacts with subdued "good show" reaction. But when Cap and Bucky are on screen, the crowd applauds wildly. Pam expains this is because Captain America is new, but Fury still feels some jealousy.

In the meantime, Cap and Bucky are on a mission that takes them into occupied France. There's a build-up of German forces near the coast and they need to find out what's what.

They sneak ashore... well, I guess "sneak" isn't really the right word, since they are soon in battle with what seems to be half the Wehrmacht. 

I know that one of Cap's skill sets is supposed to be "master tactician," but his plan here pretty much consists of punching Germans until he stumbles across the information he wants. Well, at least initially. Later on, we'll see he and Bucky pulling off a pretty nifty con on the Germans. So perhaps punching his way into the Fortress Europe is just the first part of that plan.

They soon find out that the Germans are shipping large numbers of slave laborers from Poland and other Eastern countries. There's no big factories in the area, so what's up with that? The partners rescue some American airmen who were about to be executed and send them pack to their submarine rendevouz with a message to send over the Howlers.

Cap and Bucky then disappear from the story for awhile. Back in England, we get some scenes of the Howlers training--practicing judo and going on a long hike with full packs. This isn't an essential part of the main story, but it is important to help continue to build three-dimensional characterizations of the Howlers and their supporting cast. This is especially important in a book like this, where the action is undeniably over-the-top. Solid characterizations keep the cast grounded and relatable even in the midst of the wild combat scenes. 

In this case, there's some humor from Captain "Happy Sam" Sawyer putting the Howlers through their paces and a nice humanizing moment for him when he realizes they are exhausted after their hike and turns his back on them so they can relax without him seeing them looking beat.

But it's not long before word comes that the Howlers are needed, giving Nick the satisfaction of knowing he'll be able to show Cap how a real soldier gets things done. A few panels later, they've parachuted into France. Here we get several pages of non-stop action, in which the Howlers are slowly whittled down in numbers. Gabe is wounded and Izzy is detailed to take him back to their submarine pick-up point. Dum-Dum and Dino break away from the Howlers to capture a bunker and use the cannon there to give the others cover to advance. When Fury and Reb jump on a train, Percy remains behind to hold off some advancing Germans.

Nick and Reb find themselves in a box car full of slave laborers. Also aboard is a young American soldier we recognize as Captain America. Bucky is there as well, wearing the uniform of a Hitler Youth as he "guards" the prisoners.

The two Howlers hide their weapons in rolls of cloth and soon the train arrives at the entrance to a huge tunnel--a tunnel the Nazis are building underneath the Channel with the intention of invading England.

How Cap and Bucky set up things to be where they are at this point isn't explained, but it doesn't need to be. During their absense from the story, they obviously pulled off a clever ploy or two, putting them in the right place at the right time. This is definately a part of Cap's skill set and, by not taking time for a flashback, Stan and Jack get us into the final action scene right away.

Soon, Cap and Bucky are back in costume. Nick sees them in action and soon realizes that Captain America is the real deal.

The Howlers are soon seperated again from the two superheroes, finding an escape hatch near enough to England to get home. Cap, in the meantime, blows the tunnel, putting an end to the invasion plans. Nick and Reb end up in the hospital for a few days, where we learn the other Howlers got home okay as well. Nick worries about Cap and Bucky, not realizing that they are in the neighboring hospital room recovering from their own injuries.

It's a great story, full of wonderful Kirby-drawn action. Taking Cap out of the story for a time, then bringing him back in out of uniform so that Nick doesn't initially realize who he is, is clever and effective. Nick's initial jealousy of Cap is understandable, but it's also in character for him to readily admit his mistake later on. It was inevitable that Stan and Jack would eventually show up Stan and Cap's first meeting and it's satisfying that they did such a good job with it.

Next week, we'll look at Part 3 of The Great Darkness Saga.