The Sniper

Some sources list Vernon Henkel as the Sniper’s creator, and others Bernard Klein. Henkel did work on the feature later, but it is clearly not his style of drawing in Military #5. Likewise, Klein’s usual writing partner, Ted Udall, wrote some early installments, but Klein’s art is also different from that in this first appearance. This character has similarities to the Marksman, but the features do not share any common creators. Both operated out of Europe, hopped around at will, and ended their runs fighting the Japanese. 

The Sniper was a European guerilla soldier—a Robin Hood with a gun—who operated across the continent to foil Nazi tyranny. His name and nation of origin were unknown, but his impact was great across Nazi-occupied Europe. He was first seen ambushing Gestapo officers in Austria in 1940. Aided by a local girl, Paula, he outwitted and killed his pursuers. (Police #5)

He fearlessly took his campaign right into Berlin, targeting Nazi chemist Kronitz who turned men into monsters. (#6) He found another mad Nazi, Dr. Heinrich Holtz, in the Black Forest. Holtz went Doll Man one step further with a process to turn troops into microscopic size. He put these troops inside the body of a suicide bomber headed for England. When the reverse serum was applied, these men would burst out from the pilot’s corpse. The Sniper, who was also a pilot, shot down the saboteur’s plane over water, and Holtz killed himself. (#14)

In Egypt, the Sniper was rescued by the woman Temket, who revealed ancient secret tunnels. (#16) The Nazis crafted an impenetrable flying battleship which the Sniper set aflame. (#19)

After America entered the war, the Sniper’s adventures turned towards the Japanese occupied lands of Southeast Asia (ostensibly because Germany had sufficiently “dug its own grave”). His tour began in the Philippines, where he offered his services to American forces under Paul Hammond. (#23)

There the Sniper met an arch foe, Suratai, the chief assassin of the Japanese Black Dragon Society. (#24) The hero even spared Suratai’s daughter’s life, but the villain then killed her himself—for betraying Japan. Suratai’s superior did not approve of such extreme actions and imprisoned him for misconduct. (#25) Suratai was too valuable to them to remain locked up. He returned immediately to lead the hunt for the Sniper. (#30) For his repeated failures, Suratai was eventually put in charge of a battalion of Japanese prisoners. These ex-convicts made expendable soldiers for the express purpose of routing the Sniper. Though he failed, his superiors saved his life in order to prop him up again. (#32)

The Sniper’s final fate is unknown. In his final adventure, he freed an American woman, the soldier Sgt. Judy Martin. As she sailed away, the Sniper told his comrade “Never mind how I feel! The war’s still going on and we’re still helping to win it!” (#34)