A group of augmented soldiers published by
DC Comics. The
Creature Commandos were created by
Bob Kahniger and
J.M. DeMatteis and first appeared in
Weird War Tales #93.
During the days of World War II, the U.S. government began a
secret program called Project M. Project M (the M stood for
Monster) was designed to take prey upon the fears common to all men
by keying on terrifying archtypes. In this case, the archtypes were
the famous monsters that all men feared. To this end, a group of
soldiers were subjected to experiments to make them appear like
well-known movie monsters.
First was a young farmer who suffered from lycanthropy, a psychological
disorder that made him believe that he was a wolf. The scientists at
Project M subjected the young man, Warren Griffith, to a series of
experiments that gave him the ability to change into a wolf-man.
Next came Vincent Velcoro, a sergeant who was convicted of attacking
a superior officer and sentenced to thirty years in jail. Velcoro
agreed to be the subject of experiments in exchange for his freedom.
The result of the procedures is that Velcoro gained the ability to
change into a bat and required blood to survive, giving him all of the
appearances of a vampire.
Another member of the team was a private named Elliot Taylor. Nicknamed
"Lucky" by his fellow soldiers, Taylor failed to live up to his name
when he stepped on a mine. Though he survived the explosion, the
resulting surgery gave him a Frankenstein-like appearance and the
inability to talk. He became known as the Patchwork Man.
Led by Lt. Matthew Shrieve, the group was sent on a number of missions
by the U.S. government, often times with results that were as monsterous
as the appearance that the group portrayed. Along the way, they picked
up a female doctor named Myrra Rhodes. Rhodes was exposed to a
mysterious gas that caused her hair to become snakes like the
legendary Medusa.
The Creature Commandos as they became known fought all over the
European and Japanese theaters. They eventually ended up on Dinosaur
Island, helping to use the dinosaurs to attack Japanese ships. Soon
after the group was labeled as being "too human" and ordered to pilot
an experimental spacecraft. The spacecraft became lost along with
its crew for a time.
When the group returned, they were joined by other members, including
a radio man named Aten who was wrapped up like a mummy and a
man called Bogman who was amphibious and looked like the Creature
from the Black Lagoon. The group helped stop invaders from another
dimension.