What If.. the Howling Commandoes were international?

[dr_hermes]

Even though Stan Lee and Jack Kirby knew perfectly well that combat units were segregated during WW II, they didn't care... they threw Gabe Jones in there anyway. The Howlers were a real ethnic stew in any case, including a redheaded Irishman, an Italian, Jew and a Southern boy. I imagine they got the idea for this from postwar movies which often

Comments

[full_metal_ox]

With a cast that size, you'd of course need to rotate the focus and spotlight a few members at a time--as with LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES or AVENGERS.

Of course, some wartime hero teams were multinational, the most obvious examples being the BLACKHAWKS and, a couple decades after the fact, HOGAN'S HEROES; PAT PARKER, WAR NURSE's sidekicks the Girl Commandos also come to mind, with American, Chinese, and Russian members in addition to a fellow Briton.

[dr_hermes]

I completely forgot PAT PARKER. In fact, I think I've only seen a page or two.

To me, the Blackhawks were the essence of the wartime multinational team because that was their whole motivation.. the members came from conquered countries.

Close second would be Simon & Kirby's BOY COMMANDOES strip, with its machine-gun toting kids from Holland, France, Britain and err Brooklyn.