Professor Mazursky of Project M conducted medical experiment on several soldiers and transformed them into the living embodiments of the classic archetypes of fear. A mental patient suffering from the delusion that he is a wolf named Warren Griffith is turned into a werewolf, a soldier court martialed for crippling his commander named Vincent Velcoro (originally spelled Velcro) was turned into a vampire and a soldier griviously injured by a landmine in the Pacific Theater named Elliot "Lucky" Tailor was patched back together as a Frankenstein's monster. They commandos are put under the command of Lt. Matthew Shrieve, a cold yet perfectly human commander who might be the most monstrous of them all.
The Commandos are first deployed into France, w herein they come up against Nazi created android duplicates of various world leaders, including Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill. On their next mission, they escort a prominent scientist, Dr. Renee Frederique, who had been kidnapped by the Nazis. As it turns out, the woman the command. , os rescued was a Nazi stand-in, but she sacrifices herself to save Sgt. Shrive after leading them into a trap and feeling remorse. Much to the Commandos chagrin, this display of humanity from an enemy does little to change Shrieve's overbearing hatred of the Germans. The Commandos later find the real Dr. Frederique after being captured and held prisoner in a death camp. She befriends Lucky, but he is forced to kill her so her knowledge of never gasses won't fall into the Nazis' hands. Lucky attempts suicide in anguish, but is patched back together by Project M. He is given rudimentary vocal chords this time.
The Commandos venture out of Europe following this. In a small town called Freedom, New York, the Commandos terrorize the town, which is made of Nazi sympathizers. The Commandos regret this, as the sympathizers are still human, but Shrieve views them as sub-human and threats to America. Another morally dubious mission the Commandos takes involves a boarding school in Germany that is brainwashing kids. The Commandos are unable to harm children, but Shrieve opens fire on them. In the end, all of the children are killed by an experimental steroid that had been tested upon them. The Commandos more than redeemed themselves after saving a group of blind French children, earning Medals of Honor in the process. Shrieve ultimately left the group, as he decided his personality clashed too much with the Commandos. However, after saving a group of French civilians, it was decided to to allow him back.
Later, the Commandos are temporarily trapped on Dinosaur Island after trying to find out why scouts have gone missing over the Pacific. As they escape, Shrieve flaunts that he has taken pictures of the dinosaurs to give to high command. In the end, the Commandos were able to destroy a fleet of Japanese war ships by turning the dinosaurs on them. The Commandos, not wanting to let innocent beasts become war machines, destroy the pictures. Around this time, Project M is able to perfect Griffith's serum, allowing him to control his transformations.
Shortly after, Myrna Rhodes, a plastic surgeon who repairs Shrieve's face after it is damaged, is exposed to strange chemicals and grows snakes for hair. She joins the team as Dr. Medusa. Shortly after, they discover a lost colony of Atlantis that had been sinking ships over the Atlantic. The J.A.K.E. 1 model of G.I. Robot accompanies them and is ultimately destroyed when he destroys the colony rather than let it bomb allied ships. They later meet his replacement and defend France alongside him.
In the end, the Commandos and J.A.K.E. are charged with an unidentified charge and given a choice between a death sentence and piloting an experimental rocket to Berlin. The rocket goes grievously off course and flied into deep space. Conflicting stories about what happens next exist. Nelson Hunter, monster hunter, claimed to have the heads of the Commandos, plus GI Robot, on his walls. Velcoro appeared as a special consultant to STAR Labs. An entire alternate version of the commandos exist; see the second team. However, the main team's history is elaborated upon next.
After being shot into deep space, the Commandos plus GI Robot are eventually collected by Brainiac. Aboard his ship, they are kept in statis for potentially decades until Superman encounters the real Brainiac. After Brainiac releases all of his statis held subjects, the Commandos, alongside Superman, his aunt Alura, cousin Supergirl and Ultra the Multi-Alien, whom had been somehow taken from the future by Brainiac, fight against several Brainiac drones. Later, the Commandos are captured by General Sam Lane and held in his Project 7734. They are never deployed against Kryptonians. After the disbandment of the Project, they come under the control of Maxwell Lord and are pitted against the Justice League International. The team stops fighting when it is able to shake off the mind control and realize they have nothing to fight for.
Members:
Lt. Matthew Shrieve
Dr. Medusa
Velcro
Patchwork
Wolfpack
G.I. Robot
