Writer – Stan Lee
Artists – Dick Ayers, Jack Kirby
Inker – Chic Stone
Letters – Artie Simek

At the moment, there is only one thing that is on Fury’s mind and that is the woman he loves and who, more to the point, seems to love him which he finds baffling. Lady Pamela Hawley is no random dame but a classy woman and why she would want anything to do with him is beyond reasoning and yet Fury cannot help but think about it and think about her. So it is that he plans on asking her to marry him, right after he gets back from his latest mission though. Said mission involves him and the rest of the Howling Commandos tasked with taking out a German ship and they plan to do just that. It should be an easy mission, something that they could practically do in their sleep and yet, there are still risks and those risks are German soldiers, most of whom are ashore on leave though the boat is not undefended. Things go smoothly at first as the commandos start to remove the resistance in front of them and begin to plant the bombs but things do not always go as planned and soon the Germans become aware of the heroes and then it is a race against the clock. Written by Stan Lee, the man does a great job of balancing the duty that Fury feels and the love of the woman he wants to marry throughout the pages of this book. When it is crunch time, Fury is all about the mission but there is a moment where he falters when the ring he bought Pamela is almost lost to the ocean. It is but a moment but every single one counts when on a mission like this and it could have cost him the lives of his men as well. Thankfully, he and the Commandos manage to pull it all off without any need for bandaids or worse. The book packs a punch though when Fury gets home and takes his leave, looking to make that proposal a reality, only to find out from Pamela’s father that she passed away in the latest bombing to hit London. It is a shocking moment and it not only hits Fury but the reader as well and really shows that not every story has a happy ending no matter how much a person might want one. Dick Ayers draws the book again for the majority of it with just a slight assist from Jack Kirby and not only does it read great, it looks it too. Altogether a very solid actioner with a touch of drama and tragedy to round it all out as well.

4 out of 5