How and Why I Watched the Star Wars Prequels: An Embarrassing Anecdote

Before I can share the story of how I watched the Star Wars prequels, first I need to speak briefly about my history with the Star Wars franchise so that you might better understand why I deserved my punishment.

It would have been at my 3rd birthday that I received my first two Star Wars toys (R5-D4 & Yoda); I bought my third with birthday money (Dengar). I memorized the book & tape versions of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back from the children's cassette collection in my house. Star Wars was the first Marvel comic book I was a fan of. Even after I stopped playing with the toys, I kept filling gaps in my toy & comic collections. I went to the theatrical 'Special Edition' re-releases.

Then came college. I made a conscious decision at that time to set the Star Wars films aside because I felt I'd watched them too often and needed a break so that when I watched them next, it would seem more fresh to me. Still, I'd made no conscious decision about the forthcoming movie The Phantom Menace. I couldn't quite wrap my head around the idea that there would be an actual brand-new Star Wars movie, but I was intrigued. Except... I was a college student who worked every evening of the week and I'd moved to a new city where I had no friends. I had no one to see the film with nor much free time in which to see it. I never decided "I'm not going to watch it," but it quickly became clear I wasn't going to see it in theaters. Heck, I didn't even see the trailer (though I recall hearing about all the people who went to Meet Joe Black so they could watch it). As the online reactions came in, I began to think I'd done right to keep away from the film; people on the internet claimed it was plagued by juvenile comic relief and flat dialogue. And I came to realize then that I was okay with moving on from Star Wars. As a teenager, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life and in my listlessness, I had time to indulge many obsessions. However, by '99 I was heading towards my career and becoming passionate about that - some of my old obsessions had to be let go, and Star Wars wound up among them (comics & old-time radio were spared).

I became so detached from Star Wars that when the film Attack of the Clones came up somewhere in my online travels my immediate reaction was, "Huh, they're still making those?" The mocking reception The Phantom Menace received had all but convinced me it would be ridiculous to continue the intended prequel series. Some time after that, I began to openly jeer at Star Wars. I don't recall much of what I said, but one point I made to my friends was they had had to suffer through watching the nadir of the franchise unfold on the big screen, while I had been spared. I don't know how obnoxious I might have been on that point, but (as this anecdote will bear out) I definitely struck a nerve.

So.

Thanksgiving weekend, ten years ago: My sister and I had been visiting my brother and his wife and just finished the long drive home. It was late afternoon of Thanksgiving Monday, meaning I would be back to work the next morning. I returned to my apartment to find a message from my friend Alex, wondering if I would like to watch movies with he and our friend Craig.

An invitation to watch movies with Alex was not to be discarded lightly. Besides enjoying the company of my friends (especially with the return to work looming), Alex owned a digital projector and thus offered the best home theater option of our group. For me to refuse an invitation to Alex's, I would have to be either very busy or the movie would have to be very lousy. I phoned him up and he confirmed the evening's plans: "Do you want to see Willow and THX-1138?" I answered him honestly: "I don't really want to see Willow again but you know, I've always been curious about THX-1138." Great; Craig would be at my apartment soon to ferry me over to Alex's. If there were any hints in Alex's tone of voice - any suggestion of deceit or mockery - I completely failed to notice.

Craig arrived and we began the trip to Alex's. "It should be interesting to see THX-1138 anyway," I remarked. I didn't understand why Craig was smiling so broadly, but then he'd always been a gregarious John Banner-like fellow. Anyway, Craig had to make a detour and run an errand before we could reach Alex's and we talked about many things during the trip. At last, we arrived. Alex had already darkened the room, lowered the screen, turned on the projector and paused the film before its opening credits.

Now, that was unusual for Alex. When you went to see a film at Alex's you first had to get through the pre-show; Alex would have an image from Something Awful he wanted you to see or an article from Slashdot or a gif at YTMND. Much like the olden days when films were preceded by newsreels and cartoons, there would be some pre-entertainment entertainment. But not on that night. And how strange that the film was on a DVD (not a computer file) and the DVD already loaded and begun to play, rather than waiting on the DVD main menu.

I tell you all of this so that you might appreciate both my naivete and the amount of effort my friends indulged in.

Alex unpaused the film.

"Was THX-1138 a Fox film," I wondered to myself. "I guess so."

"Ah, Lucasfilm - of course."

Now I exclaimed something aloud; either "What?" or "Oh, no!"

I looked to my friends for an explanation and they were quick to provide it: "We're tired of you lording it over us because you've never seen the prequels, so tonight we're watching them!" They had even gone to the expense of rentals just to pull this off.

And so, I watched the first two Star Wars prequels. They definitely weren't great movies. And yet, I had to admit I could still claim I had an advantage over my friends: at least I was seeing those films for the first time - they'd witnessed them before and now had to watch them again. Regardless, I had learned a lesson about controlling my pride and for that, I do genuinely thank my friends. Even if they did make me sit through those movies.

I don't know why I'm reminded of this anecdote now, but anyway everyone - enjoy that new Star Wars movie!

My 100 Favourite Movies

Until last week, I suppose I didn't know what my 100 favourite films were.

However, my IMDB list My Favourite Films now has 100 titles listed in it. I've listed them chronologically, rather than ranking them by any notion of quality. I would never claim they are the greatest 100 films ever made - 'cause I know some of them couldn't be. These are, simply put, 100 films which do not tire me; to me, they are absorbing films.

I've also got a 2nd place list, 3rd place list and 4th place list, just in case you've seen everything in my top 100 yet want more recommendations. There's no chance your taste in film is quite like mine, but I hope some of my listings interest you in checking out pictures you might have otherwise overlooked.

"I have heard of it, and need to see it." Usagi Yojimbo #150 review

Having reached its 150th issue at Dark Horse Comics, you may well wonder if the recently-released Usagi Yojimbo #150 is a landmark issue. How fortunate that I'm here to address your wonderment!

"Death of a Tea Master" is a self-contained story wherein a European man named Rodriguez (Spanish?) is visiting the court of Lord Odo, testing his prowess with the saber against the katana styles of Odo's men. As part of the report Rodriguez is compiling, he wishes to observe the act of hara-kiri and demands Lord Odo order his subordinate Nobu the tea master to perform the deed. Unfortunately for Rodriguez, the tea master had a friend: the rabbit ronin Miyamoto Usagi.

It wasn't that long ago that Stan Sakai celebrated 200 issues of Usagi Yojimbo (added up between thre publishers). Sakai's fidelity to his creation over the decades is matched only by the likes of Sim, Aragones or the Pinis. And yet, for all the many recurring characters and relationships within the book's cast, Sakai has always kept this series very easy to jump in on, with only a handful of particularly lengthy storyarcs. "Death of a Tea Master" features no previously-met characters - anyone can begin their exposure to Usagi Yojimbo with this issue and not be left out.

Sakai celebrated 200 Usagi Yojimbo comics with a tale featuring a determined sculptor crafting 200 Jizo statues. Issue #150 has nothing as obviously celebratory, yet it is a special event in a certain way; the character of Rodriguez is perhaps the first European character seen in this otherwise all-Japanese series. Although an animal-person like the rest of the cast, Rodriguez's manner of dress, wavy hair, saber and cross (a symbol seen only once previously in the series in a story which made the point of how deep underground Christianity was at the time in Japan), Rodriguez is the first time Sakai has brought in an outsider to Japanese culture to comment upon it.

In a sense, it's strange that it's taken Sakai this long - after all, Sakai has lived most of his life in the USA, not Japan (and precisely zero years in feudal Japan). As a Japanese man in the west he's qualified to look at Japan as either outsider or insider. Although Rodriguez may ultimately prove to be an usual blip in the Usagi Yojimbo experience - perhaps there will never be another European character - it feels good to think how little of the world Miyamoto Usagi inhabits has actually been glimpsed in the thousands of pages Sakai has devoted to it thus far. Clearly, there is much more for Sakai to draw upon for stories and he need not retire the series yet (unless he's exhausted, which doesn't seem to be the case).

And now that we have had a story where someone from the west comes to observe the east, we see in Rodriguez the worst of westerners. Rodriguez operates under the pretension of honor, plying Lord Odo to his bidding by questioning the lord's own honor; he's a hypccrite, but because Lord Odo is a true man of honor, he cannot call Rodriguez out. Rodriguez plays upon the idea of the west being more innately civilized than the east, calling them "heathen" to Lord Odo's face. Rodriguez treats the life of Nobu the tea master casually; for Rodriguez - and so many in the west of the real world - eastern lands are simply a sideshow where one is entertained by the oddities of humanity.

Usagi Yojimbo is being published by Dark Horse Comics nearly every month and is available digitally at Comixology.

Creator credits for Jessica Jones (season 1)

The usual caveats apply: it is difficult to know precisely who is responsible for many of the ideas which appear on comic book pages; although I attribute them to the original credited writer & artist, this does not mean the letterers, colorists, inkers, editors or people whose names didn't appear in the books did not have a significant degree of influence on the finished product. With that out of the way...

Brian Michael Bendis: co-creator of Jessica Jones, a cynical, alcoholic, superhumanly strong private detective who was briefly a costumed super hero, now runs Alias Investigations; Jessica Jones spying on a philandering wife then having an argument with the offended husband which causes him to knock him through her office door; Jessica meeting Luke Cage at a bar he runs then having sex with him; Luke Cage with shaved head and goatee (Alias #1, 2001); of Jessica having a past with Killgrave which left her with PTSD; Killgrave's victims meeting in a support group (Alias #24, 2003); of Killgrave as a rapist (Alias #25, 2003); of Malcolm, the nearest person Jessica has to a secretary; Jessica being stalked by an adoring teenager (Alias #6, 2002); Jessica calling herself Jewel; Jessica's power of flight (Alias #12, 2002); Jessica gaining her powers in a car accident which killed her parents and brother Phil (Alias #22, 2003); Killgrave commanding a crowd of people to inflict violence upon themselves and each other; Jessica discovering she's immune to Killgrave's powers (Alias #28, 2004); detective Angela Del Toro; the Night Nurse, a medic who treats superhumans (Daredevil #58, 2004)

Michael Gaydos: co-creator of Jessica Jones, a cynical, alcoholic, superhumanly strong private detective who was briefly a costumed super hero, now runs Alias Investigations; Jessica Jones spying on a philandering wife then having an argument with the offended husband which causes him to knock him through her office door; Jessica meeting Luke Cage at a bar he runs then having sex with him; Luke Cage with shaved head and goatee (Alias #1, 2001); of Jessica having a past with Killgrave which left her with PTSD; Killgrave's victims meeting in a support group (Alias #24, 2003); of Killgrave as a rapist (Alias #25, 2003); of Malcolm, the nearest person Jessica has to a secretary; Jessica being stalked by an adoring teenager (Alias #6, 2002); Jessica calling herself Jewel; Jessica's power of flight (Alias #12, 2002); Jessica gaining her powers in a car accident which killed her parents and brother Phil (Alias #22, 2003); Killgrave commanding a crowd of people to inflict violence upon themselves and each other; Jessica discovering she's immune to Killgrave's powers (Alias #28, 2004)

Stan Lee: co-creator of Killgrave, a man dressed in purple who can control the actions of others through the sound of his voice (Daredevil #4, 1964); the Hulk (Incredible Hulk #1, 1962); the Hulk colored green (Incredible Hulk #2, 1962); a team of heroes banded together including the Hulk in their number (Avengers #1, 1963); people with powers called "gifted" (X-Men #1, 1963)

Jack Kirby: co-creator of the Hulk (Incredible Hulk #1, 1962); the Hulk colored green (Incredible Hulk #2, 1962); a team of heroes banded together including the Hulk in their number (Avengers #1, 1963); people with powers called "gifted" (X-Men #1, 1963); the flag-wearing super hero Captain America (Captain America Comics #1, 1941)

George Tuska: co-creator of Luke Cage, a wanted man who received unbreakable skin from an experiment; Luke wearing a yellow shirt and blue pants; of Cage haunted by the death of Reva Connors (Hero for Hire #1, 1972); Claire Temple, a woman associated with Luke Cage (Hero for Hire #2, 1972); of Luke Cage exclaiming "Christmas" as an epithet (Hero for Hire #11, 1973)

Archie Goodwin: co-creator of Luke Cage, a wanted man who received unbreakable skin from an experiment; Luke wearing a yellow shirt and blue pants; of Cage haunted by the death of Reva Connors (Hero for Hire #1, 1972); Spider-Woman, heroine Jessica Jones is based upon (Marvel Spotlight #32, 1977); Claire Temple, a woman associated with Luke Cage (Hero for Hire #2, 1972)

Steve Englehart: co-creator of Patsy Walker being capable in a fight; of Patsy's mother Dorothy (Avengers #141, 1975); of Luke Cage exclaiming "Christmas" as an epithet (Hero for Hire #11, 1973); of Patsy Walker wanting to be a hero (Amazing Adventures #15, 1972)

David Mazzuchelli: co-creator of Nuke, a government-sponsored soldier who takes red, white and blue drugs to increase his adrenaline and reduce pain (Daredevil #232, 1986); of Nuke's real name Simpson (Daredevil #233, 1986)

Frank Miller: co-creator of Nuke, a government-sponsored soldier who takes red, white and blue drugs to increase his adrenaline and reduce pain (Daredevil #232, 1986); of Nuke's real name Simpson (Daredevil #233, 1986)

George Perez: co-creator of Patsy Walker being capable in a fight; of Patsy's mother Dorothy (Avengers #141, 1975); of the Wasp costume Jessica's own costume was derived from (Avengers #194, 1982)

Sal Buscema: co-creator of Spider-Woman, heroine Jessica Jones is based upon (Marvel Spotlight #32, 1977); Luke Cage exclaiming "Sweet Christmas" as an epithet (Defenders #24, 1975)

John Romita: co-creator of Luke Cage, a wanted man who received unbreakable skin from an experiment; Luke wearing a yellow shirt and blue pants; of Cage haunted by the death of Reva Connors (Hero for Hire #1, 1972)

Roy Thomas: co-creator of Luke Cage, a wanted man who received unbreakable skin from an experiment; Luke wearing a yellow shirt and blue pants; of Cage haunted by the death of Reva Connors (Hero for Hire #1, 1972)

Joe Orlando: co-creator of Killgrave, a man dressed in purple who can control the actions of others through the sound of his voice (Daredevil #4, 1964)

David Anthony Kraft: co-creator of Patsy Walker having comics books based on her life as created by her mother (Defenders #89, 1980)

Mark Gruenwald: co-creator of Patsy Walker having comics books based on her life as created by her mother (Defenders #89, 1980)

Alex Maleev: co-creator of detective Angela Del Toro; the Night Nurse, a medic who treats superhumans (Daredevil #58, 2004)

Steven Grant: co-creator of Patsy Walker having comics books based on her life as created by her mother (Defenders #89, 1980)

Ed Hannigan: co-creator of Patsy Walker having comics books based on her life as created by her mother (Defenders #89, 1980)

Don Perlin: co-creator of Patsy Walker having comics books based on her life as created by her mother (Defenders #89, 1980)

David Michelinie: co-creator of the Wasp costume Jessica's own costume was derived from (Avengers #194, 1982)

Steve Gerber: co-creator of Luke Cage exclaiming "Sweet Christmas" as an epithet (Defenders #24, 1975)

Joe Simon: co-creator of the flag-wearing super hero Captain America (Captain America Comics #1, 1941)

Michael Fleisher: co-creator of Jessica Drew's occupation as detective (Spider-Woman #21, 1979)

Carmine Infantino: co-creator of Spider-Woman's Jessica Drew identity (Spider-Woman #1, 1978)

Frank Springer: co-creator of Jessica Drew's occupation as detective (Spider-Woman #21, 1979)

Marco Checchetto: co-creator of Oscar Clemons, an aged police detective (Punisher #1, 2011)

Ruth Atkinson: co-creator of Patsy Walker, a red-headed young woman (Miss America #2, 1944)

Tom Sutton: co-creator of Patsy Walker wanting to be a hero (Amazing Adventures #15, 1972)

Otto Binder: co-creator of Patsy Walker, a red-headed young woman (Miss America #2, 1944)

Marv Wolfman: co-creator of Spider-Woman's Jessica Drew identity (Spider-Woman #1, 1978)

Greg Rucka: co-creator of Oscar Clemons, an aged police detective (Punisher #1, 2011)

Chris Claremont: co-creator of Jeryn Hogarth, a lawyer (Marvel Premiere #24, 1975)

Terry Kavanagh: co-creator of Killgrave surviving certain death (X-Men #34, 1998)

Pat Broderick: co-creator of Jeryn Hogarth, a lawyer (Marvel Premiere #24, 1975)

Roger Cruz: co-creator of Killgrave surviving certain death (X-Men #34, 1998)

Mark Bagley: co-creator of Killgrave as a rapist (Alias #25, 2003)

Win Mortimer: co-creator of the Night Nurse (Night Nurse #1, 1972)

Jean Thomas: co-creator of the Night Nurse (Night Nurse #1, 1972)

...And from there, I welcome your corrections/additions!

Across My Desk: Sacred Hope

When books intended for disposal cross my desk I try to be attentive to the foreign language editions, always wondering if I might find a Portuguese-language title. True, it seldom happens as the University does not have a great focus on that language, but occasionally something appears and I quickly offer a donation to rescue it from neglect. These books are eventually sent to my relations in Angola to help populate the ISTEL library. Obviously, simply because a book is printed in Portuguese it doesn't mean it's useful to them, but they have so many English-language donations in their library (despite many students there not knowing the language) that I assume giving them any book in Portuguese may have a benefit to someone at some point down the road. After all, among a million-person local population, they have the largest library (and that's still not saying much).

One day I was casually preparing a book for disposal when my eye glanced over the back cover. "Um aniversario," it said. I paused. "A birthday?" I wondered. I quickly flipped through the book; English. I checked the title; English. I checked the author; ...vaguely Portuguese. I checked the country of publication; Tanzania. "Tanzania? Pretty sure they don't speak Portuguese there!" My hand wavered on whether to dispose of the book.

Finally I discovered a neat trick - one you can use in your own home - I read an extract from the book. Suddenly it became clear - this was a collection of poetry by an Angolan author which had been translated into English. Angolan poetry! I came that close to getting rid of it! Happily, I rescued it for my own collection.

The book is Sacred Hope by Agostinho Neto, who ultimately became the leader of the MPLA and president of Angola. I had never actually tried to read books written by Angolans (books dealing with Angola are uncommon in this part of the world) so here was an opportunity for insight into Angolan culture (at least, culture circa 1974).

I can't say that these poems have done much to expand my knowledge of the culture. They are primarily a litany of frustration, expressions of sorrow and outrage at the Portuguese who were then in charge of the country. Neto's thoughts seemed consumed by the struggle he was in (the poems were written from the 50s to the 70s and are very much in a singular tone). Perhaps post-independence Angolan poets had something else to say about their nation but at this time - mostly anger. Perhaps the most surprising thing to note were the many references to slavery, despite it having been abolished well before then. Neto wrote of slavery as something which was, to him, still alive. That holds up with other accounts I've read about life in African colonials - that the colonizers behaved like slave-masters.

The poetry is interesting primarily in an academic fashion and the book - well, it will stand on a shelf with my all-too-few other tomes on Angola.

Deadpool Corps: Rank & Foul reprinted again!

It doesn't matter that I stopped working for Marvel in 2012 - with eight years of work, they were bound to keep reprinting some of it - and with a Deadpool movie on the way, naturally it's time for:

DEADPOOL CLASSIC VOL. 15: ALL THE REST TPB

Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI, JOHN LAYMAN, STUART MOORE, CHRIS HASTINGS & MORE Penciled by PACO MEDINA, LEANDRO FERNANDEZ, LEE GARBETT, JUAN DOE, AL BARRIONUEVO, SHAWN CRYSTAL, BONG DAZO & MORE Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS

It's the latest and greatest volume in the increasingly flexibly named Deadpool Classic series! The ever-sociable Wade Wilson is back — rubbing shoulders with his bro Cable, laughing it up with his other bro Wolverine and forging an all-new bromance during FEAR ITSELF with...the Walrus? The "Identity Wars" take Deadpool, Spider-Man and the Hulk on a long strange cross-dimensional trip, but what twisted reflections of themselves will they see? And in the wake of Steve Rogers' return, will Wade Wilson become the new Captain America? (Spoiler: no.) Learn all there is to know about Deadpool and friends, right here! Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA: WHO WON'T WIELD THE SHIELD #1, CABLE (2008) #25, DEADPOOL & CABLE #26, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #38, DEADPOOL ANNUAL (2011) #1, INCREDIBLE HULKS ANNUAL #1, WOLVERINE/DEADPOOL: THE DECOY #1, FEAR ITSELF: DEADPOOL #1-3 and DEADPOOL CORPS: RANK AND FOUL #1. 360 PGS./Parental Advisory ...$34.99 ISBN: 978-0-7851-9690-7

Besides the profiles I wrote for Rank & Foul, I was also the one who named the book. I'm still kinda proud of that pun.

Unearthed: Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #117

Today being Remembrance Day, I want to look at one of my personal favourite military comic books. The subject for today is Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #117, from 1974. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos was, of course, the comic book which introduced the world to Nick Fury, who is better-known today for being the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Stan Lee famously claimed he titled the book "Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos" to settle a bet that he could publish anything and make it a success, but that's probably a tall tale he came up with after the fact to "apologize" for coming up with that title.

The story in #117 is titled "Taps for a Drummer!" and is written by Gerry Conway with artist Dick Ayers and inker Vince Colletta. Although Ayers had been a part of nearly all of the series run, Conway wrote only a handful of issues. Indeed, while the series would trudge on to 1981's #167, issue #120 would be the last all-new story. Even at this time, the series was frequently pre-empted by reprints.

As the story opens, Nick is running the Howlers through an obstacle course and heaps more abuse on them than usual, even performing a barracks inspection. The squad thinks this is related to his recent capture and torture at the hands of Baron Strucker but that piece of continuity will have to be forgotten as Fury and Gabe Jones are summoned to see Captain Sam Sawyer. Sawyer tells the duo about a soldier who was recently captured by the Nazis and prepared to serve as a test subject for a new viral weapon. However, that soldier escaped with a sample of the virus when Allied bombing hit the Nazi base.

Sawyer then reveals the reason Gabe is part of this briefing: the soldier in question is Danny "Drummer" Belllaman, an old friend of Gabe's who used to perform with him in a Harlem nightclub (Gabe on trumpet, Drummer on drums, natch). Sawyer wants to ensure Drummer and the vial are returned safely to Allied hands and is counting on Gabe to use his connection to Drummer to help guess where he's headed. Intelligence has already pinpointed Drummer as being in London - but he hasn't approached the Allies because he's afraid if he gives them the vial, they'll use it as a weapon themselves. Thus, Gabe's friendship will also help convince Drummer to trust them.

Drummer wanders the cold streets of London and begins to reminisce about his past, but ends his introspection by musing: "Can't worry about the past. It's today that means something... and it's tomorrow that counts! That's what they taught you, Drummer. That's what they made you learn." Nick and Gabe ask around for Drummer and eventually learn he was in a club playing the drums. Unfortunately, there are two Nazi agents also in pursuit and they reach Drummer first, opening fire at him in an alleyway. Fortunately, Nick & Gabe aren't too far behind and they battle the agents while Drummer hides amongst some ruined buildings. Drummer is surprised to see childern playing amidst the rubble, life carrying on normally in spite of the war.

Gabe finally reaches Drummer to help him, but Drummer replies, "It's time I did something for number one... and brother, that's me." The fight with the Nazis causes some of the rubble to collapse but Drummer leaps into action to save the children's lives. The collapse separates both Nick & Gabe and the Nazis from Drummer. Gabe explains to Nick that Drummer is someone who was beaten down by failure all his life, which is why his priorities have suddenly shifted. Drummer brings the children he saved back to their parents and muses over the event. "Maybe that's what it's all about... helpin' a pair'a kids... helpin' a lot of kids... If something like this virus ever belonged to either side, some kids would have to die... and the way I feel right now... I can't let that happen... and there's only one way I can stop it-- by getting rid of this junk for good!" So saying, he drinks the vial's contents.

Drummer is soon found by the Nazis, but when they demand the vial he tells them he drank it. Unfazed, they declare they'll haul his corpse back to Berlin with them and recreate the virus from his remains. Nick & Gabe arrive again and Gabe uses the blare of his trumpet to temporarily rattle the Nazis. As they scuffle, even Drummer helps out, shooting one of the agents before he can kill Nick. However, Drummer informs them what he did. "Maybe I haven't proved anything, Gabe... 'cept this: all my life people've been forcing choices on me-- but this was one choice... I made myself! Gabe-- buddy-- the pain's getting bad. Will you help me--- this one last time?" With a tear in his eye, Gabe delivers a mercy kill to Drummer.

Thoughts: This issue was my introduction to the Sgt. Fury series and it made quite a favorable impression. Although Ayers' art looks very crude (not helped in the least by Colletta's sparse inks), Conway delivered a very strong script, one which examined perhaps the most interesting of the Howlers - Gabe. Gabe, of course, is more fictional than most of the Howlers - segregation still existed in the US armed forces of World War II; in some ways, World War II helped encourage segregation in that soldiers in all US states had to lower themselves to the racist laws of the south, rather than challenge the hegemony.

Regardless, Gabe provided a means for Sgt. Fury's writers to comment on race. Few of them took the challenge, but by 1974 there were so many new African-American heroes bursting into comics that it was less provocative than it would have been before. And, race aside, it's ultimately the story of one soldier sacrificing his life for his ideals and his best friend being confronted with that tragedy. All of the moving moments in this story play out on the last page, but that last page makes the entire experience worthwhile.