Alter ego Samuel Sawyer Fictional universe Marvel Universe | ||
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Team affiliations Howling CommandosUnited States Army Similar Pinky Pinkerton, Junior Juniper, Rebel Ralston, Gabe Jones, Dum Dum Dugan | ||
General Samuel "Happy Sam" Sawyer is a fictional character in Marvel Comics Marvel Universe. His first appearance was in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1.
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Publication history
From 1963 to 1974, Samuel Sawyer appears in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1-22, 24-29, 31-36, 38-43, 45-48, 51-54, 57-61, 63, 65-67, 70, 72, 74, 77-79, 81, 83-84, 88, 92, 94, 96, 98, 102, 110, 114-117 and Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Annual #1-4. In the same series, the character appears also in flashbacks in #44, 73, 75, 86 and 106.
In the same period, the character appears in other war comic books Captain Savage and his Battlefield Raiders #11 (1969), Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen #1-2 (1972), #6 and #8-9 (1973) and War Is Hell #8 (1973). Later in What If? #14 (1977), an alternate version of the character appears in What If... Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos Had Fought World War II In Outer Space?.
He appears also in Thor #233 (March–April, 1975), Invaders #40 (May 1979), Captain America #273-274 (September–October, 1982), Marvel Fanfare #10 (September, 1983), Marvel Comics Presents #77 (1991) Fury #1 (1994) and in a flashback with the Howling Commandos in Gambit vol. 3 #10 (1999).
The character has an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z HC vol. 6 (2008).
The character appears in issues #1-3, 7-8 of The Marvels Project (2009). Happy Sam appears with the Howling Commandos in Black Panther/Captain America: Flags Of Our Fathers #1-4 (2010), the adventure takes place during World War II.
Fictional character biography
Happy Sam Sawyer was assigned to the British Commandos by the U.S. Army. He trained in parachuting in Britain in 1940 by Finley's Flying circus that comprised daredevil parachutist Nick Fury and pilot Red Hargroves where they nicknamed him Happy Sam ironically, because of his deadly serious and consistently stony demeanor. In 1942 Sawyer, who had been wounded in North Africa and was deemed unfit for combat missions, organised and led the Howling Commandos, Bull McGiveney's Maulers, Jim Morita's Nisei Squad, and Sgt Bob Jenkin's The Missouri Marauders as well as the Deadly Dozen. When artist John Severin joined Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos with issue #44, Severin drew Sawyer as being much older and balder than his original depiction as a young man.
In a Sgt Fury annual set in the Korean War, Sawyer was a Colonel, in another annual set in the Vietnam War, Sawyer was a full general.
In modern times, Baron Strucker created an LMD of Sawyer that attacked the original Howling Commandos as well as Captain America. Sawyer would sacrifice himself when the LMD detonated itself while trying to gain missile navigation override codes.
In the wake of his death, a S.H.I.E.L.D. assault Helicarrier has been named in his honor in the mini-series Iron Man: Hypervelocity. There is also a Samuel J. Sawyer Memorial Veterans Hospital.