History:(Daring Mystery Comics I#2/4 (fb) - BTS) - Ronald Wolverstone-Clodd was born to a wealthy British family but gave up his wealth to become an actor.
LT. RONALD WOLVERSTONE-CLODD
Real Name: Ronald Wolverstone-Clodd
Identity/Class: Human (World War II era) (British)
Occupation: Pilot, intelligence agent;
former actor
Group Membership: Sky Devils (Captain K-4, Lt. Rene D'Auvergne), MI6
Affiliations: Colonel Vince Alderman, Isadore "Izzy" Cohen, Timothy "Dum-Dum" Dugan, Nick Fury, Red Hargrove, Sam Sawyer, John Steele
Enemies: Nazis
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: London, England, UK
First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics I#2 (February, 1940)
Powers/Abilities: Ronald Wolverstone-Clodd was
trained as an actor and intelligence officer and was skilled at
espionage. He could speak German and was also an excellent hand-to-hand
combatant. Ronald was a terrific combat pilot.
As one of the Sky Devils, he flew a modified snub-nosed Grumman model fighter craft armed with bullets and tracers. Ronald briefly wielded the Zodiac Key and learned how to fire its energy blasts and cause it to teleport.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 170 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
History:
(Daring Mystery Comics I#2/4 (fb) - BTS) - Ronald Wolverstone-Clodd was
born to a wealthy British family but gave up his wealth to become an
actor.
(Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos I#34 (fb) - BTS) - On May 10, 1940, Ronald Wolverstone-Clodd was working as an agent for British intelligence in Holland when the nation was invaded by the forces of Nazi Germany in a "blitzkrieg" attack. Carrying papers that were important to England's defense, Wolverstone-Clodd had to get out of Holland safely with his papers. The British sent a commando team led by the American Lt. Samuel Sawyer with the civilians Nick Fury and Red Hargrove. Along the way in Holland, they befriended Timothy "Dum-Dum" Dugan and he joined their group. Ronald encountered a driver who offered to take him to the coast but the driver was actually an agent of the Gestapo. As they were approaching Ronald's destination, the agent drew a pistol on him. Ronald struggled with the agent and the car went off the road. The Gestapo agent was knocked out in the collision and Ronald fled on a bicycle, heading toward the English Channel.
(Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos I#34 (fb)) -
By the time Lt. Sawyer's team found Ronald, they had already met the
Gestapo agent, who claimed to have been robbed by his chauffeur.
Thinking Ronald was a Nazi agent, Fury pursued him on another bicycle
and tackled Ronald, bringing him to the ground. When Fury accused him
of being a Nazi, Ronald insisted he was working for British
intelligence. Fury tested him with the question "Waddaya feed a sea
lion?" and Ronald answered with the proper response: "As long it has
the sea, it needs nothing else." Ronald explained his encounter with
the Gestapo agent to Fury and indicated that he was still carrying the
briefcase with the papers Britain needed. Fury and his allies guided
Ronald to the English Channel, soon pursued by a Nazi patrol. The five
men headed into the water but Ronald couldn't swim so Fury took charge
of his briefcase while Dugan helped support him through the waters.
Ronald thanked Fury and Dugan and told them he wanted to live so that
he could have second crack at the Jerries "in uniform." The five men
were picked up by a British patrol boat that returned them to England.
(Daring Mystery Comics I#2/4) - Ronald Wolverstone-Clodd joined the Sky Devils, a team of pilots equipped with American Grumman model planes but serving under the auspices of the Royal Air Force and Colonel Vince Alderman. The Sky Devils were led by the American Captain K-4 and also included Lt. Rene D'Auvergne of France. The three men flew their planes into combat to defend a British plane that was in a dogfight with a German bomber. The three Sky Devils shot down the Nazi bomber then flew back to their base in London.
(Daring Mystery Comics I#4/2) - After a Nazi zeppelin dropped sea mines in the Thames River, the Sky Devils were ordered by Colonel Alderman to investigate. The three men boarded a scouting plane together and K-4 spotted the zeppelin's hiding spot in an immense cavern. Landing the plane in the hidden airfield next to the cavern, K-4 ordered Ronald to scout the airfield. Ronald snuck down to the airfield and stealthily attacked a member of the German ground crew, knocking him unconscious. Donning the crewman's coveralls, Ronald pretended to be a member of the crew so he could spy on them. One of the other workers revealed the zeppelin's next target was the Seine in France. Ronald snuck back to K-4 and Rene to share what he'd learned. Again aboard the scouting plane, they took after the zeppelin, firing their machine guns at the vessel. K-4 boarded the zeppelin and sent it on a collision course with a cliff then bailed out. Rene and Ronald intercepted K-4 midair with the scouting plane then celebrated their victory over the enemy.
(Daring Mystery Comics I#5/3) - The Sky Devils were ordered by Colonel Alderman to obtain pictures of Nazi naval and air bases on the coast of Europe. Ronald and Rene were sent out on the mission while K-4 remained assigned to London. Ronald and Rene flew together in a single craft with Rene at the controls while Ronald operated the machine gun. As they neared the Nazi base, they were engaged in aerial combat by three Nazi planes. Ronald shot down two of the German crafts but an anti-aircraft gun hit their propeller. Ronald took the controls and glided the plane to the ground. Soon after their landing, they were surrounded by Nazi soldiers, who took them prisoner.
Determined to get word back to K-4 about the forces they'd seen at the Nazi base, Ronald and Rene were only held in a Nazi cell for a few hours. When their guards came to bring them food, Ronald and Rene sprang on the guards, knocked them out, then donned their uniforms. Leaving the prison, they went to a nearby telegraph office and knocked out the soldiers stationed there. With the telegraph, they sent word to K-4 about what they'd seen at the Nazi base. As K-4 led an RAF attack on the base, Ronald and Rene, still wearing German uniforms, attempted to flee aboard a train. However, one of the soldiers on the train had been at the telegraph office and recognized them as spies. Ronald and Rene fled to the roof of the train with Nazi soldiers in pursuit. K-4 recognized them from the air and shot down the pursuing Nazis then flew low enough for Rene and Ronald to grasp on his landing gear. K-4 flew them to safety as the RAF destroyed the base. Colonel Alderman remarked that he had only wanted a few pictures, not for the base to be wiped out!
(The Marvels Project I#2 - BTS) - Later in 1940, the Sky Devils piloted a convoy plane over Frankfurt to deploy Nick Fury and Red Hargrove on a mission to liberate scientist Abraham Erskine.
(The Marvels Project I#3 - BTS) - With intelligence from Erskine, the Sky Devils piloted bombers over Frankfurt to destroy one of the Nazi labs where he'd been employed. While doing so, their bombing unleashed John Steele, who had been held prisoner in the laboratory.
(The Marvels Project I#4) - As Fury, Red and the Sky Devils camped outside Frankfurt they met John Steele and soon realized he was an American and an ally.
(The Marvels Project I#5) - Fury, Red, the Sky Devils and Steele journeyed through Nazi-occupied France and passed through a town whose populace had recently been executed by the Red Skull (Johann Shmidt).
(Fury III#1 (fb) - BTS) - Shortly afterward, Captain K-4 was caught and killed by the Nazis. This apparently caused the Sky Devils to split up.
(Fury III#1 (fb)) - Soon after in 1940, Sawyer assigned Ronald to work again with Nick Fury and Red Hargrove, plus demolitions expert Isadore "Izzy" Cohen. Sawyer directed the four men to Castle Zodiac in the Loire Valley of France, which had recently been captured by the Nazis and was reputed to hold occult artifacts, including the Zodiac Key. The four men parachuted into France near Castle Zodiac. Fury and Ronald landed on two Nazis that were stationed as guards. Needing more intelligence about the Nazis inside, Ronald volunteered to don a German uniform and scout the interior.
Exploring Castle Zodiac, Ronald found the Zodiac Key was in a laboratory being tested by the Germans, not being prepared for study in Berlin as they had expected. While "Izzy" prepared explosives, Fury ordered Ronald to get into the laboratory and retrieve the Zodiac Key. Ronald brazenly picked up the Zodiac Key and was challenged by one of the guards, who demanded his identity. As his bluff fell apart, Ronald dropped his attempted disguise and instead struck the guard in the face with the Zodiac Key. To Ronald's surprise, the Zodiac Key emitted energy blasts when he hit the guard. "Izzy" blew up the laboratory and the four men started to exit as Ronald continued to fire the Zodiac Key at the Nazis, not understanding how it worked but exploiting its power. However, a Nazi bullet struck Ronald in the chest. Fury helped Ronald exit Castle Zodiac and into a jeep. Dying, Ronald continued to clutch the Zodiac Key. Seeing the moon in the sky and afraid the Nazis would reacquire the Zodiac Key, Ronald willed the key to teleport itself to the moon. The moment the Zodiac Key disappeared, Ronald died from his gunshot wound.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and unidentified artist.
In Fury III#1, Wolverstone-Clodd was revealed to be the previously unidentified British spy from Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos I#34. That's a pretty snappy piece of continuity that fits his past perfectly well!
Since the Germans were planning to mine the Seine in Daring Mystery I#4/2, that indicates it's set during the Battle of France (which ended in June, 1940), which again, fits Ronald's non-Sky Devils continuity very well!
Throughout the Marvels Project I#2-3 the Sky Devils' planes were seen but not the men at the controls.
The Sky Devils had a handbook entry in the Marvel Mystery Handbook, which revealed the name of their superior, Vince Alderman.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Ronald Wolverstone-Clodd should not be confused with:
images: (without ads)
Daring Mystery Comics I#4/2, page 3, panel 4 (main)
Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos I#34, page 13, panel 5 (face)
Daring Mystery Comics I#2/4, page 2, panel 5 (in Sky Devils plane)
Appearances:
Daring Mystery Comics I#2/4 (February, 1940) - unidentified writer, unidentified artist, unidentified editor
Daring Mystery Comics I#4/2 (May, 1940) - unidentified writer, unidentified artist, unidentified editor
Daring Mystery Comics I#5/3 (June, 1940) - unidentified writer, unidentified artist, unidentified editor
Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos I#34 (September, 1966) - Roy Thomas
(writer), Dick Ayers (pencils), John Tartaglione (inks), Stan Lee
(editor)
Marvel Mystery Handbook: 70th Anniversary Special (2009) - Michael
Hoskin (writer), Maurice Gutwirth (pencils), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
The Marvels Project I#2-5 (November, 2009-March, 2010) - Ed Brubaker (writer), Steve Epting (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fury III#1 (July, 2023) - Al Ewing (writer), Scot Eaton (pencils), Cam
Smith (inks), Tom Reilly (artist), Adam Kubert (artist), Ramon Rosanas
(artist), Tom Brevoort (executive editor)
First posted: 09/15/2025
Last updated:
09/15/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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