Wednesday, November 26, 2014

The Earth-3 Howling Commandos?!?

We all know who these guys are...

(click to embiggen to full Howlin' size!!)

..but most of us have forgotten these guys:

I like Sigfried's hat.

Most folks have indeed forgotten Baron Strucker's Blitzkrieg Squad, specifically designed to counter the Howling Commandos.

The following paragraph is cribbed from Jeff Christiansen's excellent Marvel Universe Appendix, a first stop for anyone researching Marvel obscurities:
Ordered by Adolf Hitler to find some way to defeat Sgt. Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker spent hours studying the files on the Howlers. He finally concluded that the best way to defeat them would be to create a commando squad of Nazis who could match each of the Howlers' skills. He recruited the strongman Siegfried to match "Dum-Dum" Dugan; the flute player Otto to match Gabe Jones; the mechanic Ludwig to face "Izzy" Cohen; the charming Fritz to counter Dino Manelli; the horseriding Ernst to defeat "Reb" Ralston; and the aristrocrat Manfred to face "Pinky" Pinkerton. Strucker personally trained the six men under his command, until he was satisfied that they were the equals of the Howling Commandos, and called them his Blitzkrieg Squad.
 The Blitzkrieg Squad only had 8 appearances, including one in the Invaders when they tried to assassinate Churchill. It wasn't the only time they tried to assassinate Churchill...

So anyway, with Strucker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I hoping that these guys turn up, too. Because Ant-Man and Black Panther have to fight somebody, right?

From Sgt. Fury Annual #1 (1965)

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