COLONEL PHIL PARKER
Real Name: Phil Parker
Identity/Class: Human (World War II Era)
Occupation: Army intelligence officer
Group Membership: US Army Intelligence
Affiliations: Howling Commandos (Izzy Cohen, Dum-Dum Dugan, Nick Fury, Gabe Jones, Dino Manelli, Pinky Pinkerton, Reb Ralston, Sam Sawyer)
Enemies: The Imperial Japanese Army
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Pillbox" Parker
Base of Operations: Mobile in the European and Pacific Theaters of Operations during World War II
First Appearance: Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos I#10 (September, 1964)
Powers/Abilities: Colonel Parker was an experienced intelligence agent who could read and speak Japanese. He was trained as a paratrooper.
Height: 6'0" (by approximation)
Weight: 190 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black, white around the temples
History: (Sgt. Fury & His Howling
Commandos I#10 (fb) - BTS) - Phil Parker was Sgt. Nick Fury's
commanding officer prior to his time in the Howling Commandos. He once
offered to give Fury a battlefield commission but Fury refused to
accept it. (see comments)
(Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos I#10 (fb)) - Now in G-2 Army Intelligence, Colonel Parker was parachuted behind the lines of the Japanese armed forces in Okinawa to gather information about Japanese strengths and defenses. Parker was able to access and photograph military documents then slipped away in the night to rendezvous with a submarine waiting off the beach but he was spotted by enemy soldiers and shot. Wounded, Colonel Parker was taken prisoner by the Japanese.
(Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos I#10) - Sgt. Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos were sent by their superior Captain Sam Sawyer to rescue Colonel Parker. Although most of the Howlers were apprehended by the Japanese and added to the stockade where Parker and other captured Americans were held, one Howler, Izzy Cohen, disguised himself as a Japanese officer. Although Izzy could not speak Japanese, Colonel Parker threw his voice to make it sound like Izzy was talking and delivering orders that the prisoners be loaded into a transport to Tokyo. Aboard the ship, the Howlers, Colonel Parker and the other captured prisoners broke free and defeated the crew, commandeering the vessel for themselves. They found an American aircraft carrier and transferred aboard it. Colonel Parker thanked Nick Fury for saving him and again offered him a battlefield commission but Nick refused, believing he could do more good as a sergeant than as an officer.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Dick Ayers and George Roussos.
In the story, Nick Fury asserts he served under Phil Parker during the Battle of the Bulge but that can't be right -- the Howlers had just been battling Erwin Rommel in issue #6, a battle which could not be later than 1943 and the Battle of the Bulge occurred in the winter of 1944, which later adventures would be depicted as a battle the Howlers participated in (such as Sgt. Fury & Howling Commandos I Annual #4).
It's possible that the submarine waiting to rendezvous with Colonel Parker was the U.S.S. Sea Wolf, commanded by Captain Simon Savage - he was the one who ferried the Howling Commandos to Okinawa.
This profile was completed 7/20/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Colonel Phil Parker should not be confused with:
images: (without ads)
Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos I#10, page 15, panel 6 (Phil Parker, main)
Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos I#10, page 22, panel 1 (Phil speaking with Sgt. Fury in brown uniform)
Appearances:
Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos
I#10 (September, 1964) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Dick Ayers
(pencils), George Roussos (inks)
First posted: 09/13/2021
Last updated:
09/11/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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