I have about 20 issues of Howling Commandos left, having been reading them all along. Some of the stories in the Friedrich/Ayers run are very good and actually feel like genuine war stories, so you have those to look forward to. In general though, the title felt very stagnant, with Junior Juniper's death in issue 4 (i think) as perhaps the most significant event of the whole run. The Howlers successfully maintain status quo throughout.

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Yeah, the fact that 6 characters have stories from 1963 to 1981 in a setting from 1944 to 1945 means you can't help but have very little actual plot development. Issues 4 (Junior's death), 5 (first Baron Strucker), and 6 (dealing with racism in a direct way which "mainstream" 616 doesn't do until years later) have all been pretty good, much better than I expected.

In a way, the very fact that the title was so long-running is one of the things that compels me to read it. My main motivation in reading the order has been to experience what a reader at the time would be exposed to; and Sgt Fury was obviously fairly popular.

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Well, starting after issue 79 it somewhat irregularly alternates between originals and reprints, and then becomes reprint only after 120 (c.1974) but it's still a really long run at over 100 issues. I can send you a list of the original stories after 79 if you want.

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How does the Sgt Fury stuff compare to Nick Fury AoS (I'm in late '66/early '67 right now)? I was thinking of checking it out given how important Fury is, but find his character increasingly more irritating every issue I read.

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Just found the site and am glad to find other people doing the same thing!

I read and collected comics in the 70s and settled on Marvel as my first choice. Avengers #1 was the pride of my collection. I ended up selling everything around 1980 to help pay for a computer, which I have to say worked out very well.

When the GIT DVD-ROMs started showing up the warehouse store a few years back, I picked up what they had and read through a few issues. I didn't think about it for a couple years and went to get the rest and found them OOP so I've been paying a bit more to fill them out. Just got a copy of the Hulk one on ebay yesterday.

Also found out about the Essentials series and figured that between them, I could at least read through the silver age and into the 70s. I had looked at the Marvel site before to see what was available online and wasn't too impressed. It sounds like they've done some work since then. When I reach the limits of what I can get my way, I'll check it out again.

So I started reading through a few months ago and keeping a log - I'm at about 100 issues so far. I had read the early issues of the main lines before in a pocket book reprint series from way back, so I knew what I was getting into. Stan Lee had some great ideas and created a new direction for comics, but I am looking forward to reading some other writers again (besides his brother). I like the Kirby art and the iconic characters he helped create, but my favorite at the time I was reading was John Buscema.

I'm off to check some boxes now.

Welcome new person.

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Love new blood. Welcome Rich.

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They're not very similar aside from some of the characters and goofy, over-the-top dialogue. AoS is just a lot more dynamic because it has the potential for crossovers and guest appearances and whatnot. Plus they just have a lot more going on, all the gadgetry and vehicles essentially turn Fury into a super-hero vs. just being a foot soldier. Howling Commandos is just silly most of the time, with the exception of the Friedrich/Ayers run that I mentioned before. When they got on the book they actually started to examine some of the darker aspects of war, which is what a war comic should be about imo.



Isn't that a great feeling, I remember my first day. Incidentally, I also started out with one of the DVD's, Amazing Spider-Man, and if you're anything like me you'll be jonesing for more before long.

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I just stumbled across the site yesterday and will definitely be taking up the challenge! Thanks for putting so much effort into it.

While I'm a huge fan of the characters, it is mainly due to films more than comics so I wanted to trudge back to the beginning and sift through all the highs and lows and interactions between them all. Being a bit (a lot) of a completest I didn't want to miss anything so knowing the order is here is very calming to my obsession!

Welcome, and Enjoy your reading. Are you just now starting issue #1 or are you a little into it?

Let us know what you think (if you look around the forums, you will see hate for some titles, love for others).

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