Creature Commandos
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The Creature Commandos are a fictional DC Comics team of military superhumans first deployed in World War II. The original team was introduced in Weird War Tales #93 November 1980, created by Robert Kanigher and Jim Craig.
The modern team first appeared in their own mini-series Creature Commandos #1 May 2000, this version was written by Tim Truman and drawn by Scott Eaton.
History
Project M
Project M was a secret government organization which operated during World War II and specialized in experimental biotechnology and necromancy. Known creations of the Project include the Creature Commandos, Miss America and the G.I. Robot. The Project's main scientist is one Professor Mazursky. He was aided by Robert Crane. As told in Young All-Stars #12, they operated from a secret underground complex on mythical Ferris Island in New York.In 1942, Project M created the Creature Commandos. They were: Lt. Matthew Shrieve (normal), Warren Griffith (werewolf), Sgt. Vincent Velcoro (vampire), Pvt. Elliot "Lucky" Taylor (frankentstein's monster) and Dr. Myrra Rhodes (medusa).
Art by Jim Craig
Project M yielded other interesting specimens. Most notably, they were behind the creation of the heroine, Miss America. Prof. Mazursky kidnapped her after his original subject perished. At first, his experiments appeared to have left her incapacitated. He later returned her unconscious form to the surface world. After that, she began a masked heroing career but was critically injured while fighting alongside the Freedom Fighters. Project M recovered her and nursed her back to health. While there, Project M was visited by the Young All-Stars, who had discovered that Project M had been infiltrated. A criminal named Deathbolt was tehre seeking a new physical host for the disembodied brain of the Ultra-Humanite. The Ultra-Humanite took over the body of a dinosaur recovered from Dinosaur Island.
During the same visit, the All-Stars witnessed the unfinished body of the creature that would later be known as G.I. Robot.[link]
Word War II
The team's first mission was in France, where they destroyed Nazi manufactured android duplicates of the Allied leaders. In their next mission to France to free scientist Dr. Renee Frederique. The Commandos ultimately found her in a death camp, and they had no choice but to kill her. Her knowledge of a chemical nerve gas was too risky to be left in Nazi hands. Because of his his part in the killing, Taylor attempted suicide. Although the doctors attempted to repair him, he remained mute for the rest of the series. On another morally dubious mission the team caused the deaths of dozens of super-soldier children.In 1943, the Commandos were deployed to Dinosaur Island in the South Pacific. They were supposed to solve the disappearance of several Allied spotter planes. They discovered a hidden Axis naval base and were able to trick the dinosaurs in turning on the Japanese navy. Shrieve took pictures for his commanders as proof of the island's existence. But Taylor destroyed them, he believed that the war would bring destruction to the dinosaurs.
When next they returned to Dinosaur Island, they met the first J.A.K.E., the G.I. Robot. He met the Commandos' when their plane was attacked by a dinosaur and crashed into the beach. Together, the soldiers discovered an underwater civilization, a supposed lost colony of Atlantis situated in the Pacific. The lost colony had created a group of robots to carry on the work of Atlantean conquest, and these androids took control of the G.I. Robot's mind. J.A.K.E. ultimately overrode their commands and sacrificed itself to destroy the colony.
At the end of the war, the remaining Creature Commandos and J.A.K.E. 2 were forced to man a rocket aimed at Berlin. But the rocket went radically off course and headed out of the atmosphere into deep space.[link]
Art by Scott Eaton
Modern Era
Somehow the original team later returned to Earth and to Project M, where they continued to serve as a special operations force. To keep pace with their aging physiology, Mazursky the doctor who had originally transformed them, continued to perform a series of body modifications. This process extended their lives, but at the cost of their humanity.At an unspecified date in the near future, the various original team members adopted code names. Project M continued to grow in size, and the originals came to form the core field team codenamed M-Team Alpha. The Alpha team was sporadically infused with new operatives as attrition took its toll. Presumably, Lt. Shrieve died or retired along the way. In his place came Capt. Lucius Hunter formerly of Hunter's Hellcats. Hunter was said to be 74 years old, and a recipient of extensive body modifications and rejuvination therapies. Other new members are: Aten a mummy like communications specialist, The Bogman an amphibian grunt remsembling the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and recently revived cyborg Gunner MacKay, who along with his partner "Sarge" had died during World War II. Both Lucius Hunter and Gunner macKay were feature characters in Our Fighting Forces.
While deep undercover, Medusa discovered that Earth's dimension was in danger of invasion by a military alliance from the alternate earth of Terra Arcana. This other-dimensional conglomerate of warlords included Lord Saturna, Hyathis of Alstair (killed by Tazzala), Tazzala of Korrl (Queen Bee III), Sayvar reptile lord of Llarr, Kraad of Kranaal, Simon Magus of Blackstaff, Xotar the Weapons Master, Kromm of Mosteel (killed by Saturna), and the Troll King (killed by Velcoro).
In order to conquer earth the one remaining free dimension, Saturna's alliance enlisted the assistance of a powerful consortium on Future Earth. This group from Earth gave weapons and teleportation technology to the alliance in return for alien real estate. Tazzala and Magus soon betrayed Saturna, cutting their own deal with Murray. In the M-Team's raid on Terra Arcana, Velcoro and Gunner were captured by Claw the Unconquered. Claw was convinced to ally with them, and his people joined the battle against Saturna. In conclusion Tazzala killed Saturna and was, herself, killed. Terra Arcana's future was then left in the hands of it's people.[link]
Membership
Original Team
- Warren Griffith - Warren was a simple farm boy who suffered from clinical lycanthropy. Project M gave him the ability to change into a true Werewolf.
- J.A.K.E. - The first G.I. Robot, destroyed itelf and lost Atlantean colony.
- J.A.K.E. 2 - The second G.I. Robot. Lost in space with the Creature Commandos.
- Dr. Myrra Rhodes - Also known as Dr. Medusa. After inhaling strange fumes she grew snakes for hair and superficially resembled one of the Medusae.
- Lt. Matthew Shrieve - Matthew was their team leader. He was a fully human hard as nails soldier.
- Pvt. Elliot "Lucky" Taylor - Lucky barely survived stepping on a mine. He was stitched back together against his will, he resembles the Frankenstein monster and has damaged vocal cords.
- Sgt. Vincent Velcoro - Vincent volunteered for the project in order to commute a 30-year sentence in the brig. Like a Vampire he can now change into a bat and requires human blood to survive.
Modern Team
- Aten - The Mummy like communications specialist.
- The Bogman - An amphibian grunt resembling the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
- Gunner - A cyborg named Gunner MacKay, who died during World War II.
- Hunter - Seventy-four year old Captain Lucius Hunter formerly of Hunter's Hellcats.
- Medusa - Myrra Rhodes whose body has mutated since her first appearances.
- Patchwork - Elliot "Lucky" Taylor who's pretty much the same.
- Velcoro - Vincent Velcoro, who like Myrra has mutated even further due to his treatments.
- Wolfpack - Warren Griffith, who is even more feral and out of control in this incarnation.
Trivia
- The Creature Commandos mini-series is not billed as an "Elseworlds", but the author Tim Truman describes it as taking place "a second in the future". Various modifications were made to the team member's names and appearances. Truman renamed original team members Velcro and Myrna as "Velcoro" and "Myrra".[link]
- He said he based Patch's character on the DCU's Patchwork Man from Swamp Thing v.1 #2.[link]
- The villains in this series are old JLA villains dating back from 1960 through 1963. Xotar's first appearance was Brave and the Bold #29. Simon Magus, Saturna, the Troll King are from JLA #2. Hyathis, Kromm and Sayvar from issue #3. Tazzala is presumably some relation to Zazzala, who appeared in JLA #23. Kraad is from JLA #25.[link]
- The usage of Claw the Unconquered in this series is rendered true to his pre-Crisis origins.[link]
Resources
- [Cosmic Teams Creature Commandos]
- [Small DCU Guide entry]
- [Toonopedia - War that time forgot]
- [Supermanartists.org DC History 7]
- [Dave's Long Box review of Weird War Tales #119]
- [Fanzing Interview with Tim Truman]
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