SGT. O'HOOLIGAN

Real Name: O'Hooligan (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human (World War II Era through Post-World War II Era)

Occupation: Soldier

Group Membership: U.S. Army

Affiliations: Bacardi Brothers, Combat Kelly, Flash, Cookie Novak, Major Thorn

Enemies: The Chinese military, Nazis, Yalu River Rosie

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile in Korea during the Korean war;
    formerly mobile in the European Theater of World War II

First Appearance: Combat Kelly I#7 (November, 1952)

Powers/Abilities: Sgt. O'Hooligan was an adept soldier in good physical condition. He often carried a rifle and grenades.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'0")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 170 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black

History:
(Combat Kelly I#28/4) - On January 22, 1944, O'Hooligan was present when Combat Kelly and Cookie Novak reported the destruction of the Germans' canon Anzio Aggie and later saw the duo carry in a captured remote-controlled German tank.

(Combat Kelly I#22/4) - In August 1944, Sgt. O'Hooligan was fighting alongside Combat Kelly and Cookie Novak in the Falaise Pocket of France. The trio were captured by the crew of a German tank and they tied Sgt. O'Hooligan to the barrel of their tank. Before they could do the same to Kelly and Cookie, the duo fought back and commandeered the tank. Poor O'Hooligan remained trapped on the barrel as they needed to use the tank to fight back against the Germans. When the fighting was finally done and they reconnected with their lines, O'Hooligan was still tied to the barrel, begging to be set free.

(Combat Kelly I#23/3) - In 1950, Cookie Novak enlisted to fight again in the Korean War. Sgt. O'Hooligan tested Cookie's combat prowess and found him lacking. Rather than assign Cookie to combat detail, he placed him on K.P. duty, during which Cookie caught a band of Chinese soldiers and forced them to do his cooking, providing a real Thanksgiving dinner for the men. This convinced O'Hooligan to approve Cookie for combat.

(Combat Kelly I#7) - Sgt. O'Hooligan accompanied Major Thorn as they surveyed an enemy camp where all of the soldiers had been doped with sleeping medication by Combat Kelly and Cookie Novak. When O'Hooligan saw Kelly and Novak were also sleeping, he wanted to smack them with his rifle but Major Thorn was grateful to them for their work and told O'Hooligan to stand guard over them.

(Combat Kelly I#8/3) - Sgt. O'Hooligan was on a patrol with Cookie Novak when Cookie suddenly went missing from the patrol. Unknown to O'Hooligan, Cookie had been captured. By the time O'Hooligan returned to Major Thorn to inform him of Cookie's disappearance, Cookie had already returned to camp in a captured aircraft.

(Combat Kelly I#9) - Sgt. O'Hooligan returned from a 3-day leave in Pusan and complained to Kelly and Cookie that another soldier had asked him to buy a child's doll but the soldier had transferred out by the time he returned. Having recently befriended a Korean family, Kelly and Cookie bought the doll off O'Hooligan to give to the family as a present.

(Combat Kelly I#9/2) - Sgt. O'Hooligan woke up Kelly and Cookie to order them to begin their graveyard shift on the guardhouse. The duo discovered Yalu River Rosie escaping the camp and immediately gave chase. O'Hooligan saw them depart and not knowing what had happened, accused them of going AWOL. When he later found Combat Kelly and Yalu River Rosie together in a pool of water (having just fought each other atop a waterfall), O'Hooligan accused Combat of impropriety, swimming with a female combatant. O'Hooligan delivered Kelly to Major Thorn, who ordered him to the stockade. When Cookie returned, Thorn likewise ordered O'Hooligan to send him to the stockade.

(Combat Kelly I#10/2) - After Kelly and Cookie used a flamethrower to clear out a mountainside bunker full of Chinese soldiers, Sgt. O'Hooligan and Major Thorn found them after they tumbled down the mountain, scorched from the fight. O'Hooligan and Thorn gave them a playful kiss of thanks.

(Combat Kelly I#10/3) - After Cookie captured a prisoner, O'Hooligan rewarded him with a 24-hour pass. Unfortunately for Cookie, while on his pass, he was robbed by a spy and knocked out, overstaying his pass. When he was returned to camp by Military Police and told his story, O'Hooligan threw him in the stockade as punishment.

(Combat Kelly I#11/3) - After Cookie was wounded by shrapnel, Sgt. O'Hooligan insisted he be examined but the sergeant quickly became jealous when he saw Lt. Blake, the beautiful nurse who tended to Cookie's injury. O'Hooligan refused to let Cookie join the squad to see a film of dancing girls, instead sending him out on a transportation detail. However, it turned out Cookie had been sent to pick up the beautiful actresses from the film!

(Combat Kelly I#12/3) - Cookie and O'Hooligan found a dog which repeatedly saved their lives in battle. O'Hooligan was won over by the canine and permitted Cookie to keep him.

(Combat Kelly I#13/3) - Cookie and O'Hooligan argued about whose pin-ups were the most beautiful. They asked Flash, a female news correspondent, to judge. Flash picked Cookie's collection because the photograph he was carrying was of her, taken during her days as a model!

(Combat Kelly I#14/3) - Sgt. O'Hooligan was annoyed to find Cookie posing for photographs for Flash instead of digging the latrine he'd ordered him to dig. O'Hooligan ordered Cookie to dig until he told him to stop then took a nap while Cookie labored. While O'Hooligan slept, Cookie ended up capturing three enemy soldiers with only a shovel, earning a medal from Major Thorn. When O'Hooligan returned and found Flash taking a photo of Cookie with his medal, he accused Cookie of dereliction of duty and kicked Cookie. Angered, Major Thorn ordered O'Hooligan to dig the latrine himself.

(Combat Kelly I#34/5) - When Kelly and Cookie were defeated in battle by the Chinese and about to be carried away as prisoners, Sgt. O'Hooligan came to their rescue with a squad of soldiers. O'Hooligan fought the Chinese while his subordinates transported Kelly and Cookie to a medic.

(Combat Kelly I#43/4) - When Major Thorn was captured by the Chinese, Sgt. O'Hooligan, Cookie and the Bacardi Brothers rescued him, utilizing the Bacardi Brothers' acrobatic abilities.

Comments: Created by Hank Chapman and Joe Maneely.

    I wonder if Sgt. Pat O'Halligan (Combat Kelly I#2) was supposed to be the same person as O'Hooligan?

    In his first appearance, he had a bit of an Irish accent (and wore a beard) but afterward had no accent (or beard).

    O'Hooligan existed primarily as a foil to Cookie Novak but sometimes he popped up in the Combat Kelly stories too- and occasionally, he was even useful!

    There are a number of other Combat Kelly and Cookie stories where a sergeant appears but it's not clear to me whether it's supposed to be Sgt. O'Hooligan or not.

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Sgt. O'Hooligan should not be confused with:

images: (without ads)
Combat Kelly I#9, page 4, panel 1 (main)
Combat Kelly I#22/4, page 2, panel 8 (face)

Appearances:
Combat Kelly I#7 (November, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Joe Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#8/3 (December, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Dave Berg (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#9/1,2 (January, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Joe Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#10/2,3 (February, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Al Hartley (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#11/3 (March, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Joe Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#12-13 (April-May, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Dave Berg (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#14/3 (June, 1953) - unidentified writer, Dave Berg (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#22/4 (June, 1954) - unidentified writer, Dave Berg (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#23/3 (August, 1954) - unidentified writer, Mort Lawrence (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#28/4 (January, 1955) - unidentified writer, Dave Berg (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#34/5 (December, 1955) - unidentified writer, Dave Berg (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#43/4 (June, 1957) - unidentified writer, Chuck Miller (artist), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 07/08/2025
Last updated: 07/08/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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