Summary
When it comes to a show whose main characters include a reanimated corpse, a feral weasel-man, and afish-woman in a water suit, tying into real-world history might not be very high on the agenda. But in episode three ofCreature Commandos,“Cheers to the Tin Man,” writer James Gunn and director Matt Peters gave audiences a tangible connection to American history, one that they may not have even intended.
The episode shows thebackstory of G.I. Robot, a member of Task Force M who was originally designed for the European theater of World War II as the ultimate Nazi killing machine. Left adrift after helping end the war, G.I. Robot was passed around as a collector’s item before ending up in the hands of a man named Sam, an avid WWII memorabilia collector with a side hustle as a neo-Nazi. Unfortunately for Sam and his compatriots, G.I. Robot’s programming directive didn’t change just because the war ended.
Creature Commandos’take on G.I. Robot’s backstory connects to DC Comics history, and maybe inadvertently makes the jump into American history as well, with a connection to one ofHBO’s most acclaimed miniseries. But how do these two seemingly very different properties have anything to do with each other?
DC’s Easy Company
InCreature Commandos’telling, G.I. Robot is a member of Easy Company, the storied Army unitled by Sgt. Rock, featuring a crack team of soldiers who seemed to find themselves participating in every major conflict of WWII. The creation of DC writer Bob Haney and artist Ross Andru, they made their first appearance inOur Army At Warissue 81 back in 1959. The series had more in common with other WWII-set comics of the era than with superhero stories, made up of characters who weren’t superhuman but were instead just very good soldiers. They even managed to break through the Army’s racial barriers, allowing Black soldier Jackie Johnson into their ranks.
They’ve continued to appear in comics over the years, and have even crossed paths with the likes of Batman and Superman on occasion. G.I. Robot never joined up with Easy Company in the comics; he instead first appeared in the seriesStar Spangled War Storiesissue 101 in 1961, in the first of many incarnations over the years. He was also designed by Easy Company’s original artist Ross Andru, though that appears to be his only connection to them in the comics. Having him be a part of the fabled company inCreature Commandosseems like a natural choice, given Gunn’s love ofshining a light on overlooked comics characters.
The Real-life Easy Company
As it turns out, DC’s Easy Company has a real-life analogue. The real Easy Company is E Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Also nicknamed “the Screaming Eagles,” they may not have been quite as prolific in battle as their DC counterparts, but they did participate in some of the most important conflicts in the war, includingOperation Overlord (aka D-Day)and the Battle of the Bulge.
It’s unclear whether DC’s Easy Company drew any inspiration from the genuine article, or if the name is just a coincidence, but it’s hard not to draw a connection to the real-life version, especially given how famous they’ve become in the decades since WWII. Their profile was first raised by historian Stephen E. Ambrose’s 1992 bookBand of Brothers,which detailed their exploits in the war, and they became a household name with the release of the HBO miniseries adaptation in 2001. Co-created byTom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the series was met with universal acclaim, setting the stage for the big-budget limited series that are commonplace on TV today.
It’s a brutal and unflinching look at thegrinding nature of war, a far cry from the amped-up valor of the comics. A Nazi-killing robot certainly would have come in handy for the real Easy Company many times. One thingBand of Brothersmakes abundantly clear is that the outcome of the war was anything but assured, with US troops frequently outnumbered and outgunned. Things thankfully turned out all right, even without a Nazi killing robot among the ranks, but this was no guarantee.
It’s entirely possible Haney and Andru didn’t intend to invoke the memory of the real Easy Company when they gave their fictional crew that name all those years ago, but for the Venn diagram of TV fans who’ve watched bothBand of BrothersandCreature Commandosepisode three, it’s fun to draw the connection anyway. The real Easy Company no doubt would have loved having G.I. Robot among their ranks. For one thing, they probably wouldn’t have been stuck shivering in the cold for nearly a month outside Bastogne, Belgium if the “Tin Man” were there to take out all the Nazis singlehandedly.
