The Losers - Goodbye Broadway, Hello Death!

Our Fighting Forces one hundred and fifty-six is another stellar artistic effort by the team of Jack "King" Kirby and his go-to inker Mike Royer. In this tale The Losers head back stateside to handle some espionage which is threatening the "Big Apple" and points beyond.

The Losers are in New York City to enjoy a Broadway show, but in the harbor the war is dramatically at hand when a Nazi U-boat appears and destroys a ship. The U-Boat is found quickly enough by the Coast Guard and seemingly destroyed, but it's commander named Helmut Steger escapes into the very heart of NYC.

The Losers then are contacted to help with his round up despite being on leave, and soon enough they find him making illicit contact with a local spy. They find that the Nazi U-Boat commander is carrying a paper which will allow him to locate a second Nazi submarine hidden off the coast.

The Losers are picked to use this info to get aboard the second sub which is armed with a missile aimed at the middle of New York and they stop the launch in the nick of time. By this time seeing a Broadway show is far from their desire.

There are real events which may have been the inspiration for this story, as Hitler and his forces were intent on bringing the war to the U.S. home front and they used their infamous U-Boats to attempt accomplish that. For more on one botched mission called "Operation Pastorius" check out this article.

More Losers to come next week. More submarines tomorrow...stay tuned.

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