GEN. ROY THOMAS

Real Name: Roy Thomas

Identity/Class: Human (World War II era) (possibly British? - see comments)

Occupation: Military general/expert

Group Membership: The Army (possibly British Army - see comments)

Affiliations: Sgt. Nick Fury

Enemies: Nazis

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile

First Appearance: Marvel Mini-Books: Sgt. Nick Fury (1966)

Powers/Abilities: General Roy Thomas was a decorated military officer, having earned the rank of general, and he was also a military expert.

Height: Unrevealed (see comments)
Weight: Unrevealed (see comments)
Eyes: Unrevealed (see comments)
Hair: Unrevealed (see comments)

History: (Marvel Mini-Books: Sgt. Nick Fury (fb) - BTS) - War hero General Roy Thomas made a name for himself as a military expert and became friends with Sgt. Nick Fury.

(Marvel Mini-Books: Sgt. Nick Fury) - While on a mission, Gen. Thomas' plane was reported missing, prompting the London newspapers to print a photo of Gen. Thomas, remarking on the general's adventures and how his disappearance was a great loss. Weeks later, Sgt. Nick Fury read a report from Nazi-occupied France that Thomas was still alive and he began working with the French Underground to bring Thomas back. After parachuting into France under cover of night alongside his Howling Commandos squad, Sgt. Fury was greeted by "General Roy Thomas" and Fury quickly noticed that "Thomas"' scar was on the wrong side of his face. Suspecting a trap, Fury punched the supposed "Thomas" and the Howling Commandos escaped a group of Nazis by knocking several out and disguised themselves as Nazis. Once onboard a plane to return to headquarters, one of the Howling Commandos asked how Fury knew the mission was a trap and Fury revealed that the London newspapers had earlier printed Thomas' photo in reverse and how the Nazi agent posing as Thomas had his scar on the wrong side of his face to match the misprinted photo. Explaining that Thomas' scar on the right side of his face, Fury suspected that Nazis had intended to have the imposter Thomas return to headquarters with the Howling Commandos as a spy.

Comments: Created by an uncredited writer and artist (possibly Larry Lieber or Flo Steinberg and Marie Severin? - see comments).

The Marvel Mini-Books were VERY small comic books that were sold inside plastic eggs dispensed from gumball machines for a nickel in the 1960s. Each book was only about the size of a quarter and continued a basic story. Six Marvel Mini-Books were made, including the Amazing Spider-Man, the Mighty Thor, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America and surprise inclusions Sgt. Nick Fury and Millie the Model.

Since the comic featuring Gen. Roy Thomas was in black & white, it was impossible to determine his eye and hair color. Additionally, he was only ever seen from the shoulders up and not next to any other character so his height and weight were equally impossible to determine.

The Marvel Comics Mini-Comics: A Mini-History book by Mark Evanier that came with the Marvel Comics Mini-Books hardcover box set suggests that Marie Severin drew most of the Marvel Mini-Books (with the exception of the Captain America, which appeared to be drawn by Carl Hubbell, and Millie the Model, confirmed in the hardcover as being drawn by Stan Goldberg). It also reveals that Flo Steinberg had confirmed she had written at least one of them (though which one was not confirmed) and that Larry Lieber confirmed that he may have written a couple of them but that he didn't recall which ones or even for sure that he DID write any of them. Evanier does admit that he would not be surprised if Larry Lieber indeed had written some of the Mini-Books.

General Roy Thomas was an obvious homage to then-Marvel writer Roy Thomas.

While not explicitly stated, there were hints that General Roy Thomas was British. For example, the Nazi posing as Thomas greeted the Howling Commandos by calling them "mates" and when Thomas first disappeared, his disappearance was reported by newspapers in London, England.

Oddly enough, the Howling Commandos departed Nazi-occupied France immediately after encountering the Nazi trap so it appears General Roy Thomas remained missing, as he was never seen in any other comics. One does have to wonder if Earth-616's Marvel writer Roy Thomas was a later relative of this military general, however...

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
General Roy Thomas has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Marvel Mini-Books: Sgt. Nick Fury, p12, splash page (General Roy Thomas, main image)
Marvel Mini-Books: Sgt. Nick Fury, p44, pan2 (General Roy Thomas, side profile headshot)

Appearances:
Marvel Mini-Books: Sgt. Nick Fury (1966) - uncredited writer (possibly Larry Lieber or Flo Steinberg?), uncredited artist (possibly Marie Severin?), uncredited editor

First Posted: 01/18/2021
Last updated: 01/18/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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