SGT. CHARLES BASS

Real Name: Charles Bass

Identity/Class: Human (World War II era)

Occupation: Drill sergeant

Group Membership: US Military

Affiliations: Nick Fury, Captain Jacobs, Jim Schaeffer

Enemies: Nazis

Known Relatives: Danny Bass (son)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Fort Dix, New Jersey

First Appearance: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos I#62 (January, 1969)

Powers/Abilities: Sgt. Bass was a well-seasoned drill sergeant, a long-time leader of men, and a specialist in armed and unarmed combat.

History: (Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos I#62 (fb)) - Sgt. Bass was an experienced drill sergeant, but was disappointed in his son Danny, who was against war and refused to follow in his father's footsteps.

(Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos I#62) - In 1941, Sgt. Bass was put in charge of new recruits which included Nick Fury and Jim Schaeffer. Fury and Bass began to clash almost immediately, and when Fury stated that he thought he could beat Bass with one hand, Bass answered the challenge, and beat Fury in their brawl.

    Over the next three weeks, Bass picked on Fury repeatedly for having challenged him before, tripping him on the obstacle course then punishing him for tripping by making him do the course over ten times. That night, Fury went to Bass's office to have it out with him, but his fellow trainees turned on him, afraid that Fury would bring Bass' wrath down on all of them. Fury and Schaeffer fought them off while Bass watched in secret, proud of Fury. All the same, Bass had to punish Fury for his actions, and pushed him even harder, continuing to trip him on obstacle courses, and forcing him to breathe in poison gas to toughen him.

    By the time they reached their final exercise, Bass feared that he would have to make Fury his first drop-out, and wondered if he was only being hard on him because he reminded him of his son. Fury went to Bass' superior, Captain Jacobs, to get a discharge, but Bass beat him there, and Jacobs refused to grant a discharge.

    Bass sent his trainees on their final exercise of basic training, across a course that would be fired on with blank ammunition. However, Nazi saboteurs had broken in and replaced the blanks with live ammunition. Bass ordered Fury to take charge of the men and get them out alive, and Fury reluctantly agreed. Fury managed to reach the saboteurs and killed them all single-handedly.

    Bass visited Fury in the hospital a week later as he recovered from his injuries, and congratulated him for passing his basic training. They shook hands, and Bass went on to train more recruits.

Comments: Created by Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers and John Severin.

His first name was revealed in Nick Fury's handbook profile in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#8 (August, 1983).
Thanks to Angelo Mammone for pointing this out!

Profile by Prime Eternal