PERCIVAL P. PENNINGTON
Real Name: Percival P. Pennington
Identity/Class: Human (World War II Era to Post-World War II Era)
Occupation: Military policeman;
former soldier
Group Membership: U.S. Army (2nd and 27th Infantry Divisions), Able Company, Baker Company, Dog Company, C Company, George Company
Affiliations: Lt. Baker, Corporal "Buggsie" Bartek, Battle Brady, Chee-Choo, Combat Casey, Colonel Corey, Betty Corey, Dudley Corey, "Flash/Torchy" Finnegan, Georgie, Corporal Higgins, Private Bobby Jackson, Captain Jack Jackson, Major Kent, Lt. Kim, Lola Lamour, the Manatelli Brothers (Angie Manatelli, Joe Manatelli, Pete Manatelli, Tony Manatelli), Pach-Hoo, Pee-Wee, Sgt. Pulaski, Sgt. Rocky Richardson, Roanhorse, Captain Rocke, Shorty, Sik Soo, Colonel Smith, Lucy Smith, Captain Stone
Enemies: Chung, Comrade China, Colonel Fu, Gertrude, Kaesong Katie, Major Ming, Mokuei, Major Mong, Colonel Mung, Nita, General Pak, Major Pak, Panther Lady, Colonel Pu-Tung, Red Poppy, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Snake Lady of Sinyong, Sum Kim, Commissar Susang, Tow-Yun, General Tungwa, General Volker, Colonel Pao Yung
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "Stinky," "Percy," "Penny"
Base of Operations: San Francisco, California, USA;
formerly mobile in Korea; mobile in the Pacific Theater; mobile in the European Theater
First Appearance: War Combat I#5 (November, 1952)
Powers/Abilities: "Penny" Pennington was, in
general, a very well-read man with a smattering of knowledge in a
variety of scientific fields. He had a surprising supply of cunning
which he employed to make use of these principles in the battlefield.
He demonstrated repeated skill at kit-bashing weapons and explosives
and had a particular fondness for taming animals and training them to
perform complex tasks. His particular specialty was knowledge of
flowers and related plant and insect life.
Being myopic, he wore magnifying
lenses in his glasses; frequently his glasses were useful in the field,
such as a means of creating fire by reflecting the sun's rays.
"Penny" was also a surprisingly capable combatant in hand-to-hand fighting. He usually carried a rifle, grenades and a knife. He had access to a large amount of other occasional military equipment, including a minesweeper and flamethrower. He also had considerable experience operating military vehicles, usually supply trucks.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'10")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 130 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
Blood Type: AB
History:
(Combat Casey I#16/3 (fb) - BTS) - In his
hometown, Percival "Penny" Pennington was friends with Betty Corey, whom he nicknamed
"Freckles" while she nicknamed Penny "Stinky." Her father was a colonel in
the U.S. Army and "Penny" once played a Halloween prank on the colonel where
he poured glue on his shoes.
(Combat Casey I#26/2) - February, 1943. In Libya, after a sandstorm saved Combat Casey's squad from Rommel's tanks, Casey and "Penny" used Nazi planes to kick up their own sandstorm and forced Rommel's men to surrender.
(Combat Casey I#21/4) - March 25, 1943 In Gabes, Tunisia, Casey and "Penny" helped drive out Nazi forces to help General Patton's tanks proceed.
(Combat Casey I#16/2) - April 23, 1943. In Bizerte, Tunisia, the Nazi spy Gertrude captured Casey and "Penny" to force them to broadcast radio message in support of the Nazis in Tunisia but Casey refused and broke out with "Penny." Gertrude died in the resulting firefight and Casey got on another radio to direct his side to sink a Nazi ship.
(Combat Casey I#33/2) - In North Africa, Dog Company found themselves under repeated heavy artillery fire from the Germans. "Penny" conceived of a plan to hide themselves under the sand and use a rubber hose to breathe. When the rest of Dog Company retreated, the Germans advanced, enabling Casey, "Penny" and the other concealed soldiers to rise up from the sand and flank them, capturing the Germans.
(Combat Casey I#19/2) - June 10, 1943. "Penny" landed with Combat Casey in Sicily via glider. Combat saw a line of tanks headed to meet Allied landing forces but the gliders that transported them into Sicily were repurposed into debris to gum up the tanks.
(Combat Casey I#29/2) - June 30, 1943. While serving aboard a cargo ship on guard duty, Casey and "Penny" went underwater to battle Japanese frogmen who were trying to sabotage the fleet. The duo helped destroy a Japanese submarine guarding Rendova Island.
(Combat Casey I#20/4) - November 1943. In Monte Camino, Italy, Casey and "Penny" were caught by General Volker but "Penny" befriended Volker's giant eagles. The eagles helped the duo escape and even captured Volker to return to Stone as their prisoner.
(Combat Casey I#23/4) - February 1-4, 1944. To flush out the Japanese on Kwajalein Atoll, "Penny" had their trucks loaded with explosives to frighten them into surrender.
(Combat Casey I#25/2) - June 6, 1944. Casey and "Penny" went behind enemy lines aboard a glider and stole Nazi papers from a headquarters in France. "Penny" built a giant slingshot so their glider could make its escape.
(Combat Casey I#22/4) - June 15, 1944. Fighting with the 27th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, Casey and "Penny" helped capture a hill on the island of Saipan and discovered Japanese cannons on the other side. "Penny" had them employ cables to disassemble their own guns and rebuild them atop the hill so they could blast apart the Japanese guns.
(Combat Casey I#18) - July, 1944. Casey and "Penny" discovered Nazis were getting into the seaport of Leghorn, Italy by wearing cork jackets. Investigating the harbor, they spotted a German ship but two sentries caught them and ferried them aboard the boat to La Spezia. However, they overcame the crew on the German ship and enabled a PT boat to torpedo it, abandoning ship in time to get aboard the PT boat.
(Combat Casey I#17/4) - August 1944. Casey and "Penny" were ordered by Sgt. Pulaski to help defend the Red Ball Express, a convoy bringing supplies to Patton's tanks.
(Combat Casey I#24) - 1945. Battling the Japanese on the volcanic island Kuroi Riku, "Penny" found underground passages. By lighting fires below, they tricked the Japanese into thinking the volcano was becoming active, tricking them into surrendering.
(Combat Casey I#25) - The Japanese had a stronghold in Aru Atoll but "Penny" noticed in an almanac that the tide was about to rise so Able Company pulled out. The rising tide swallowed almost the entire atoll.
(Combat Casey I#26/5) - On the island Kubasuki, "Penny" trained monkeys to steal weapons and food from the Japanese until the enemy was forced to surrender.
(Combat Casey I#27/3) - On the island Akai, with ammunition running low, "Penny" taught George Company how to make bolas to ensnare their Japanese foes.
(Combat Casey I#28/1) - On the island of Kagua, the Japanese tried to force Casey and "Penny" to help them trick their arriving forces into an ambush but instead Casey and "Penny" got free and held the entire Japanese squad at bay with heavy machine guns. Thanks to their efforts, the US infantry captured Kagua.
(Combat Casey I#30/5) - Fighting Japanese tanks at night on the island Futsu, Casey and "Penny" commandeered the lead vehicle then guided the rest of the tanks over a cliff.
(Combat Casey I#31/2) - Captain Rocke was kidnapped by the Japanese on a Pacific atoll. Casey kidnapped a Japanese colonel to exchange him for Captain Rocke but the Japanese major refused the trade. Outraged, the colonel helped Casey and "Penny" save Rocke and Casey watched with admiration as the colonel and major fought each other.
(Combat Casey I#32/2) - Heavy rainfall on Yoku Atoll rendered Dog Company's weapons useless. Realizing this meant the Japanese weapons were useless as well, Casey, "Penny" and the others charged the Japanese and bested them in hand-to-hand.
(War Combat I#5) - "Penny" re-enlisted with the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Looking for examples of portulaca and hibiscus flowers, "Penny" was ambushed by Chinese soldiers and taken prisoner. The Chinese left "Penny" and Combat Casey tied together to a tree, hoping the heat would induce them to give up information about their squad's location. However, "Penny" used his glasses to focus the sun's rays through their ropes, burning them enough to weaken the bonds and set Casey free. Fleeing, the duo discovered a series of camouflaged artillery cannons and "Penny" suggested they clog the cannons with shovelfuls of dirt. When the Chinese later attempted to fire them, the cannons exploded. Casey and "Penny" returned to their lines.
(War Combat I#5/3) - Casey and "Penny" fought off a squad of Chinese soldiers as "Penny" pulled the pins on grenades and threw them to Casey, who both threw them and batted them with his rifle at the enemy. When the enemy was beaten, "Penny" noted Casey had promised to go with him in search of wild flowers. Casey grudgingly agreed and during the excursion, Casey noticed two Chinese soldiers also investigating flowers. Before he could shoot them, "Penny" noted that the soldiers were collecting insects and that they should investigate further. Trailing the enemy, they followed them to a camp where the Chinese were raising insects in incubators to use in spreading germ warfare. Casey and "Penny" destroyed the building housing the insects.
(Combat I#7) - Casey and "Penny" helped repulse an assault by Chinese soldiers who were brandishing molotov cocktails. Their superior officer, Captain Stone, asked the two of them to find the missing combat photographer "Flash" Finnegan. Casey and "Penny" followed discarded flash bulbs until they discovered "Flash," who proved to be a woman, encircled by Chinese soldiers. Aware that Casey and "Penny" were nearby, "Flash" invited to give the Chinese a group photograph and once her flash went off, blinding them, Casey and "Penny" fired at the enemy. Casey and "Penny" both wrecked their rifles during the fight but offered to help escort "Flash" back to their lines. When she mentioned drinking from a well that tasted like gasoline, they decided to investigate and found this was the well where the Chinese had been making molotov cocktails. With no weapons left, "Penny" suggested they improvise, using "Flash"'s camera to heat up a flash bulb, which Casey then threw from above into the well of gasoline. The hot bulb caused the well to explode. The duo brought "Flash" back to their lines and she kissed Casey in gratitude. When "Flash" tried to convince Casey to shave off his beard, "Penny" opined that Casey was "okay" the way he was.
(Combat I#7/3) - Tired of being shelled by enemy forces, Casey learned he was temporarily in command due to an injury Captain Stone suffered in the bombardment and he ordered himself and "Penny" to a nearby cliff, assuming they would be free from the barrage up there. However, they discovered enemy forces operating in the snow and had to fend them off. They were aided by Casey's radio, which "Penny" had set up to broadcast a radio drama about Battle Brady; dialogue from the program confused the enemy long enough for Casey and "Penny" to overcome them. Discovering where the enemy was based in the mountains, Casey sent their coordinates to artillery to blast their camp. "Penny" found more enemy soldiers scaling the side of the mountain but he and Casey defeated them by rolling immense snowballs downhill that rolled the soldiers to the foot of the mountain.
(Combat I#8) - While Casey and "Penny" were in battle together, Casey was badly injured. Checking his dogtags, "Penny" learned they were both type AB and so gave Casey a transfusion of his own blood to save his life. "Penny" prayed over his friend and, soon enough, Casey recovered. The duo were sent back into the field but were almost immediately captured by the forces of Colonel Pao Yung. The Chinese demanded that Casey and "Penny" perform a blood transfusion. Casey refused but "Penny" finally agreed to, gambling that, as only 4% of people had type AB, the colonel wouldn't be of the same type. The colonel seemed to recover and released Casey and "Penny" from custody to execute them himself but he then collapsed and died, his blood type being something other than type AB. Casey apologized to "Penny" for assuming he had given blood as a collaborator.
(Combat I#9) - "Penny" was caught by the Communists but Casey escaped by leaping into a river and found an underwater entrance into the Communist base. Casey set "Penny" free but they were intercepted by a Chinese officer before they could escape. The officer ordered them to engage in combat against each other using swords. Casey pretended to try and kill "Penny," instead maneuvering them both towards a cannon, which he commandeered to fire upon the Chinese. After thinning out the numbers of the soldiers in the enemy base, they jumped back into the water and swam to safety.
(Combat I#10) - The Communists used miniature tank drones to attack U.S. bases but "Penny" threw the tanks off their programming by exposing them to a magnetic pull from lodestone.
(Combat Casey I#6) - After a successful patrol,
Casey and "Penny" were reassigned to Major Kent's engineers as punishment
by Captain Stone. Casey and "Penny" were assigned to assist in clearing
out a road for the army in the Kasui Forest. When enemy forces moved in
on their position, "Penny"
used his knowledge of bees to extract a
beehive. The duo then hurled a beehive at the Chinese and the bees chased the
soldiers away.
(Combat Casey I#6/4) - Combat and "Penny" were caught by the Chinese, tied to wooden stakes and interrogated but "Penny" correctly predicted an eclipse of the sun and uses it to terrify the Chinese into thinking he had magical powers, allowing he and Casey to get free.
(Combat Casey I#7) - While assigned to a heavy machine gun post, Combat and "Penny" fought Chinese soldiers. "Penny" overheated the heavy machine gun while firing it at the enemy. When he and Casey were caught, "Penny" claimed he could order the gun to fire; a shell in the overheated chamber went off and killed one of the Chinese soldiers, convincing them of "Penny's powers," so they surrendered en masse.
(Combat Casey I#7/2) - While on a "look-see" patrol, Casey and Pennington were surrounded by Communist soldiers at the base of a hill. "Penny" used fireflies to create a makeshift signal light and alerted the air force using semaphore signals. The air force disposed of the encamped Chinese.
(Combat Casey I#7/3) - While out smelling flowers, "Penny" was captured by the Chinese and tortured with an open flame but refused to submit. Casey went in search of "Penny" but was himself captured and held in a separate hut. Freeing himself, "Penny" used the fire to create flaming arrows and fight his way to safety. The fires "Penny" started brought more soldiers to investigate and they released both "Penny" and Casey.
(Combat Casey I#7/4) - Combat and "Penny" brought down a Chinese tank together, which "Torchy" Finnegan captured using her camera. When "Torchy" kept getting in his way, Casey spanked her and sent her away but, after he and "Penny" were caught by the enemy, she rescued them by throwing flashbulbs to simulate gunfire, tricking the Communists into surrendering.
(Combat Casey I#8) - Casey and "Penny" held off Communist soldiers from a wintery mountainside cave. When they were sealed inside the cave, the Communists tried to kill them by pumping carbon monoxide into the cave but "Penny" lit a handkerchief inside the tube, causing an explosion. They were finally reunited with the rest of their forces but Captain Stone ordered them to guard the company's rear - from inside another cave!
(Combat Casey I#8/2) - Casey and "Penny" came across a black panther caught in a trap. Casey wanted to shoot it but "Penny" set the animal free, winning the creature's affection. "Penny" dubbed the panther "Blackie." Two weeks later while on patrol, Casey and "Penny" were captured by Chinese soldiers under the command of the Panther Lady, a femme fatale who kept pet panthers. The Panther Lady sealed the two men inside a cave with her pet Mao but Mao proved to be the same panther whom "Penny" had earlier saved from a trap and remained grateful to "Penny." The two men feigned being killed by Mao and when the Panther Lady opened the cavern, Mao attacked her men and even threatened her until she surrendered. "Penny" set Mao free into the wilderness while Casey tied up the Panther Lady as their prisoner.
(Combat Casey I#8/3) - On the day beautiful showgirls were supposed to be visiting their camp, "Penny" was ordered by Captain Stone to pick them up from a nearby town in a two-and-a-half ton truck but "Penny"'s troublesome superior Sgt. Pulaski falsely claimed "Penny" had been assigned to patrol that evening so that Pulaski could get the plum assignment of picking up the women. "Penny" was forced to go on patrol but wound up discovering the showgirls had been intercepted outside of town by Chinese soldiers. Finding a lipstick tube, "Penny" used it to create red marks on his face to simulate the bubonic plague. Rushing up to the soldiers claiming to be sick, "Penny" frightened the soldiers into retreating. "Penny" then escorted the showgirls back to his camp and was among those who got to enjoy dancing with them that evening.
(Combat Casey I#8/4) - Casey and "Penny" were sent to capture prisoners but, although prisoners eluded their grasp, one soldier they roughed up proved to be carrying a valuable map of Communist bases in North Korea and Manchuria. The duo evaded enemy fire by climbing inside steel drums and rolling down a hill but were left extremely dizzy. When they brought the maps back to Captain Stone, Stone assuming their staggering behavior was due to drinking and put them in the stockade as punishment.
(Combat Casey I#9) - Casey had left "Penny" to unload a truck full of c-rations but when he returned, "Penny" and the truck were gone. Casey captured a Chinese soldier and forced him to reveal where his friend was being confined. After saving "Penny," they learned the commandeered truck was being used to transport enemy ammunition. Using the c-ration cans, "Penny" designed makeshift grenades and they blew up the enemy ammunition dump. When they returned to Captain Stone and explained what they'd done, Stone considered the story unbelievable and threw them in the stockade.
(Combat Casey I#9/2) - "Penny" and Casey were caught by Communists while out catching butterflies. When the Communists didn't believe "Penny"'s story about hunting butterflies, he claimed they were after a plant to create "Formula X." The Communists collected the plant "Penny" identified, only to find it was poison ivy and they were left so swollen up that they couldn't use their guns. "Penny" and Casey delivered the enemy troops to Captain Stone.
(Combat Casey I#9/3) - "Penny" wished he could be more like Sgt. Pulaski, who bragged about the many beautiful women he'd met. Stepping outside on a pass, "Penny" kept meeting beautiful women and helping them, earning kisses as a reward. "Penny" still had to hurry back to camp and, despite his exploits, still thought Pulaski was a better ladies' man than him as he listened again to Pulaski's boastful stories.
(Combat Casey I#9/4) - Captain Stone sent Casey and "Penny" to discover why the Chinese were fighting unusually hard to defend White Horse Mountain. Caught by the Communists, they were made to work in a mine but "Penny" recognized firedamp, which becomes an explosive gas, and used it to engineer their escape, setting off an explosion as a distraction then capturing the Chinese officer.
(Combat I#11) - Casey and "Penny" destroyed a Chinese bridge across the Han River but the Chinese started building another during the night. Casey and "Penny" lit oil drums and hurled them at the new bridge, destroying it.
(Combat Casey I#10) - Casey and "Penny" were captured and tied to a tank so their allies wouldn't fire on the vehicle but the visiting Battle Brady fired a sharpshooter's shot which set the two men free and they dropped grenades inside the tank, killing the crew.
(Combat Casey I#10/2) - Kaesong Katie's saboteurs went about raiding US supplies and seemed unstoppable until "Penny" collected women's clothing from nurses and USO performers and used it to bribe the women into giving up on Communism. As a temporary measure, it worked. Captain Stone offered "Penny" whatever he wanted in return but he simply asked to see Sgt. Pulaski smile. Pulaski complied with a slight grin.
(Combat Casey I#10/4) - Sent by Captain Stone to clear out enemy-held farms, Casey and "Penny" used flamethrowers to take out enemy tanks and pillboxes but when they ran out of fuel, they took onions from one of the farms and used onion juice in their flamethrower to render their enemies helpless.
(Combat Casey I#11) - Captain Stone sent Casey and "Penny" to capture Kaesong Katie and they found her about to be executed by her superiors for her failures. They rescued her but she took them prisoner to regain her standing. When they escaped her again, Katie was sentenced to death by firing squad.
(Combat Casey I#11/2) - On October 3, 1952, Communists tied grenades to the tails of dogs and sent them after US soldiers as walking bombs. "Penny"'s platoon was forced to kill the dogs, much to their regret. When "Penny" befriended a cat, the cat diverted the dogs by making them chase her toward the soldiers who sent them. The dogs exploded, killing the Communists. "Penny" eulogized his cat.
(Combat Casey I#11/4) - Casey and "Penny" were caught and put in a POW camp but "Penny" obtained a grenade and released its gunpowder into a trail, which he then lit and destroyed the camp's officers, enabling a camp breakout.
(Combat Casey I#12) - Casey and "Penny" went undercover in stolen uniforms and discovered the Communists had a massive tank. Stealing inside the vehicle, "Penny" sabotaged it so it would run over the enemy's own lines.
(Combat Casey I#12/2) - Sgt. Pulaski sent "Penny" on supply runs and he kept encountering guerrillas. He finally took the guerrillas prisoner and one of them turned out to be Colonel Pu-Tang, a major leader. Captain Stone rewarded "Penny" with a week's pass and gave "Penny"'s latrine digging detail to Sgt. Pulaski.
(Combat Casey I#13) - Casey and "Penny" were sent to rescue captured U.S. soldiers but were caught themselves. In a POW camp, they discovered the four Manatelli brothers among the prisoners and the brothers used their acrobatics to spring a prison break. The escaped soldiers captured a truck full of explosives and used the dynamite to destroy their pursuers and an enemy tank then returned to their lines.
(Combat Casey I#13/2) - "Penny" and Sgt. Pulaski captured a pair of prisoners for Captain Stone, who said he would recommend them both for the silver star. Captain Stone offered to send the soldier with the most medals on a stateside trip with the most beautiful actresses of Broadway and Hollywood. Sgt. Pulaski appeared to have the most medals as "Penny"'s only decoration was the good conduct medal. Pulaski received the silver star and Captain Stone regretfully told "Penny" he had been passed over. While on a supply run, "Penny" had to ditch a truck to evade a Communist blockade and his heroism was noted by an entire delegation of visiting UN representatives (including England, New Zealand, Canada, India, Australia, Turkey, the Netherlands, Korea, France and Belgium) and they each gave him a medal, giving him considerably more medals than Pulaski.
(Combat Casey I#13/4) - Casey and "Penny" defended farmers' livestock from Communist raiding parties by building a minefield just outside the farm.
(Combat Kelly I#17/3) - Casey and "Penny" befriended a bevy of beautiful South Korean women who were fleeing a Communist prison camp. Casey and "Penny" shared their water, food and extra clothing with the women and tended to their wounds. The women returned the favor by saving Casey and "Penny" from a Communist squad by beating the soldiers with rocks and clubs but afterward still maintained they didn't know anything about violence.
(Combat Casey I#14) - While in a town to enjoy a weekend pass, Casey and "Penny" were captured by Comrade China and her soldiers so they could strip the duo of their uniforms and wear them to steal US Army ammunition supplies. "Penny" seemed to assist Comrade China by giving advice to two colonels bound for North Korea but he actually tore their pants so that Military Police would intervene. When Comrade China asked "Penny" to identify a gas cannister, he claimed it was food so that she would open it. In the resulting confusion caused by the gas, Comrade China ordered her men to fire at Casey and "Penny" but they only hit each other. Casey and "Penny" got to safety and retrieved their lost uniforms but were then reported by MPs for wearing torn trousers.
(Combat Casey I#14/2) - "Penny" discovered an enemy convoy and, with luminous paint on his feet, walked across the vehicles, marking them for aerial bombardment.
(Combat Casey I#14/4) - Casey and "Penny" leaped on what they thought were two enemy troops but found they had attacked dummies planted by Kaesong Katie. Katie sent her soldiers to attack the duo and capture them alive. Katie wanted to restore her reputation by bringing them to Commissar Susang and sent "Penny" to deliver a note to the commissar but "Penny" added insults to her message and Susang's reply, tricking the two into fighting each other and decimating their forces. Casey and "Penny" used the opportunity to escape.
(Combat Casey I#12/4) - Kaesong Katie returned and took what she thought were "secret papers" from "Penny" to decipher the code but Pach-Hoo saved Casey and "Penny" with her pet lion Kwang and Kwang summoned a pack of lions to decimate Kaesong Katie's forces. The "secret papers" were a crossword puzzle "Penny" had been working on.
(Combat Casey I#15/3) - Pulaski offered to help train "Penny" to gain muscles so he could impress the women but instead, "Penny"won women over by styling their hair.
(Combat Casey I#15/4) - Casey and "Penny" were caught by enemy troops. The South Korean woman Nita seemed to save them but was a double agent trying to lure them into a trap. Another double agent killed her then Casey and "Penny" lit blankets on fire to target the enemy base for aerial bombardment.
(Combat Casey I#16) - Casey and "Penny" were caught and placed in a concentration camp in North Korea. Placed in a pit, they dug out by expanding rat holes until they reached the river. Finding enemy sampans stocked with weapons, Casey and "Penny" made fiery bamboo spears and set the boats ablaze before returning home.
(Combat Casey I#16/3) - Betty Corey came to visit her father in Korea and was reunited with "Penny" but her father wanted Sgt. Pulaski to keep all male soldiers away from her. However, "Penny" saved Betty and Pulaski from two Communist guerrillas and earned himself a romantic moment with her.
(Combat Casey I#17) - Red Poppy and her all-female army captured Casey and "Penny" and forced them to labor in her poppy fields to harvest opium for North Korea. When Poppy took the two men with her on a delivery to Communist guerrillas, Casey and "Penny" commandeered Poppy's wagon and set fire to guerrilla bases then took Poppy prisoner.
(Combat Casey I#17/3) - Sgt. Pulaski continued to try and keep "Penny" away from Betty Corey by assigning him to a variety of details including K.P. However, after being tormented by Betty's little brother Dudley, Pulaski resolved that "Penny" should be Dudley's babysitter. After suffering from one of Dudley's pranks, "Penny" tried to spank him but was ordered by Colonel Corey not to lay a hand on him. "Penny" continued to suffer from Dudley's presence until one day while out in his jeep, "Penny" was beset by guerrillas and Dudley helped defeat them using his pranks. Dudley let "Penny" take all the credit for capturing the guerrillas. Colonel Corey rewarded "Penny" by letting him escort Betty to a dance while Pulaski was again ordered to babysit Dudley.
(Combat Casey I#18/2) - September 1952. Casey and "Penny" were investigating how messages were being smuggled into North Korea and discovered the Snake Lady of Sinyong was behind it, enwrapping her snakes with fake skins containing messages. "Penny" helped himself and Casey out of the clutches of the Snake Lady's snakes by whistling to briefly hypnotize the serpents. The North Koreans prepared to hurl Casey and "Penny" into their snake pit but their jeep's emergency brake gave out and knocked them into their own snake pit, where the snakes killed the Snake Lady and her comrade.
(Combat Casey I#19) - Casey and "Penny" followed the Snake Lady's snakes from the snake pit as they went to South Korea. The snakes led them to the lair of Mokuei, who demanded they drive a truck full of explosives over a bridge to Seoul. Instead, Casey drove the truck full of lit explosives into the cave where Mokuei's men were based. Mokuei tried to snuff the fuse but, distracted by Casey and "Penny," he failed and was killed in the explosion.
(Combat Casey I#18/3) - "Penny"'s collection of pin-ups of women such as Lola Lamour impressed his fellow soldiers, including Pee-Wee, but Sgt. Pulaski was irritated by the attention "Penny" had received and ordered "Penny" and Pee-Wee to go on garbage detail. On their way back from delivering the garbage, the two men decided to stop in Pyongtang for a drink and discovered Lola Lamour and her dancing troupe were in town but were caught by North Korean spies. The duo were likewise caught but left a trail of ladies' lingerie from Lola's luggage to bring rescuers before the guerrilla leader Tow-Yun could have them killed.
(Combat Casey I#19/3) - Pennington talked about atomic war and compared people's fear of it to the fear people had of gunpowder, cannons, tanks, V-1s and V-2s when they each came on the scene. "Penny" offered advice on how to survive an atomic blast.
(Combat Casey I#20) - Casey and "Penny" helped helicopter pilot Lt. Baker deliver medical supplies to a MASH unit. When North Korean soldiers lit a fire to burn down the MASH, "Penny" used dry ice from the medical supplies to start a cloudburst, resulting in rain to squelch the fire.
(Combat Casey I#21) - Casey's outfit (the 2nd Infantry Division) was sent to clear out Communist forces from a Korean town. Villagers warned Casey that the Communists were holding their children hostage in the schoolhouse, bound and gagged. Under cover of night, Casey and "Penny" slipped into the school and smeared the children with beet juice. In the morning, the Communists feared the children had come down with a plague and fled the building, right into the arms of the U.S. forces.
(Combat Casey I#22) - Arriving in Nanyang, Baker Company was aided by the townspeople, who sounded their sacred bell to warn them that Chinese forces had occupied the town. As punishment, the Chinese captured the bell and spirited it away as they withdrew, threatening to destroy it unless the people of Nanyang drove Baker Company from the town. Casey and "Penny" recaptured the bell and rang it to warn their forces of an enemy advance.
(Combat Casey I#23) - Behind enemy lines in North Korea, Casey and "Penny" liberated Korean civilians from a factory. The laborers sabotaged the weapons they were making before they left.
(Combat Casey I#24/4) - Casey and "Penny" were about to be captured so they released a carrier pigeon. The Communists shot the pigeon down and gloated over outsmarting them but the pigeon was a decoy. "Penny" floated a distress message downriver in his canteen and reinforcements came to their rescue.
(Combat Casey I#25/5) - While on sentry duty, Casey and "Penny" caught a soldier trying to steal their food supplies. A South Korean civilian confirmed local farmers were losing their crops to enemy soldiers. Casey and "Penny" had the farmer lead them to his farm and lay in wait to observe the enemy's tactics. When Colonel Mung sent his men out to collect wagons full of crops, Casey, "Penny," Captain Stone and the rest of their company snuck inside the wagons. Once the wagons reached Colonel Mung, they leaped out and captured the Chinese.
(Combat Casey I#26) - With enemy tanks advancing towards them, "Penny" ran an electrical current through barbed wire fences so that when the tanks drove over them they would heat up the tanks until the crews surrendered.
(Combat Casey I#27) - When confronted by a large enemy cannon, "Penny" befriended an eagle and sent it to drop dynamite on the enemy, wrecking the cannon and enabling Dog Company to advance and capture the position.
(Combat Casey I#28/2) - After an unsuccessful attempt at stealing enemy plans, Casey and "Penny" destroyed an enemy railroad bridge with grenades. The two men were able to hold their position at the end of the bridge, fighting off enemy soldiers and even an enemy tank, but they were left suspended above the water on a single piece of bridge. They finally dove off the last piece and returned to base, where Captain Stone told them the Chinese had been planning to use that bridge for their next attack.
(Combat Casey I#28/5) - Casey, "Penny" and Dog Company prevented Chinese officer Major Mong from establishing a machine gun nest atop a hill. Dog Company received a new member, Private Bobby Jackson, the younger brother of their officer Captain Jack Jackson. Bobby proved himself to Dog Company by capturing Major Mong single-handed, impressing "Combat" and Captain Jackson.
(Combat Casey I#29) - Casey promised "Penny" he'd try to use his brains instead of brawn to solve problems. When "Penny" was captured by the enemy, Casey tried to save him using his brains by tracking him but instead discovered the Chinese had dressed a chauffeur in "Penny"'s uniform to trick him. Casey went back to using brawn and fought his way through all the men guarding "Penny," saving his friend.
(Combat Casey I#29/5) - Casey and "Penny" went into the field with "Buggsie" Bartek, a fellow member of Dog Company who had always wanted to be in the tank corps but failed the test at tank school because he froze up behind the controls. "Buggsie" helped Casey and "Penny" capture an enemy tank and used it to blast their way through enemy forces. Although "Buggsie" froze up again, they got back to their lines and Captain Rocke gave "Buggsie" a promotion.
(Combat Casey I#30) - Casey and "Penny" captured an enemy convoy, sabotaged all of the munitions aboard the trucks, then let the enemy recapture them. The sabotaged munitions destroyed the guns when they were fired, eliminating the artillery.
(Combat Casey I#30/2) - Chinese forces tried to punish Puchong by burning their rice fields but "Penny" and the rest of Dog Company saved the rice and helped the farmers drive the enemy away.
(Combat Casey I#31) - Casey blasted a Chinese tank with a bazooka, leaving it inoperable. After the crew abandoned the vehicle, Casey and "Penny" searched inside for intelligence but wound up being forced to hole up inside as more enemy infantry arrived. The Communists tried to get rid of them by using a truck to shove the tank into the river but the tank rolled into their own supply bridge and destroyed it. Casey and "Penny" escaped the tank before it sank. The officer who ordered the truck to push the tank was executed for incompetence.
(Combat Casey I#31/4) - "Penny"'s comrade Georgie was writing his Christmas wish list in the midst of winter combat. He got the soldiers everything they asked for, including a Communist soldier who surrendered. It was enough to make Georgie's sergeant believe in Santa Claus.
(Combat Casey I#31/5) - Dog Company was crossing a river and Captain Rocke ordered Casey and "Penny" to destroy the bridge but they discovered Communist troops had already been there and left explosive charges. Casey let the Communist explosives detonate then, when the Communists tried to cross over a dry riverbed, they blew up a dam, flooding the enemy with water.
(Combat Casey I#32) - After escaping a POW camp, Casey and "Penny" found Communist tanks being floated downriver on flatboats. "Penny" diverted the river, causing the boats to go over a waterfall.
(Combat Casey I#32/5) - Enemy troops planted mines to slow Dog Company's advance towards Chowju but "Penny" had the men put weather balloons on their feet, enabling them to walk across the minefields without setting them off.
(Combat Casey I#33) - Casey and "Penny" helped capture a Korean town but learned the Chinese had taken all of the town's livestock except for their sheep. When the Chinese returned to capture a flock of sheep, Combat and "Penny" wore sheepskins to hide amongst the flock and follow them to the Chinese camp, where they ambushed the Chinese.
(Combat Casey I#33/5) - Casey and "Penny" were caught by the Chinese but escaped and warned their comrade Roanhorse using Apache smoke signals which he had taught them, allowing them to form an ambush on the enemy forces.
(Combat Casey I#34) - After Casey escaped the Chinese forces in Kumchang, "Penny" accompanied Dog Company in an attack on Kumchang, circumventing the booby traps the Chinese had hoped Casey would lead his allies into.
(Combat Casey I#34/2) - Chinese soldiers captured
Casey and "Penny" and forced Casey to raise a US flag over Hill 888,
thinking it would bring Lt. Kowalski's forces into a trap, but Casey
hung the flag upside-down, warning the squad, who defeated the Communist forces.
(Combat Casey I#34/5) - Casey and "Penny" discovered the North Koreans, under the command of Major Mung, had built a fire-breathing dragon model to terrify the populace. Lt. Kim of the ROK built an even bigger dragon to destroy the enemy prop. Casey and" Penny" laid down covering fire as the dragon prop broke the middle of the enemy ranks, allowing them to defeat Major Mung's forces.
(Battle I#61/5) - Casey and "Penny" stole some
important papers from the Chinese. Escaping, they gave the papers to a
K-9 delivery dog that brought back reinforcements to save Casey and
"Penny."
(Combat Casey I#20/3) - "Penny" saw in an issue of Stars and Stripes that the U.S. Army was preparing to leave Korea. Sgt. Pulaski ordered "Penny" to stay behind and perform an inventory on all the equipment the army would be leaving in Korea - a task which was projected to take months. While on garbage detail, "Penny" discovered Sgt. Pulaski and Lucy Smith had been abducted from their jeep by guerrillas under the command of General Pak. Soon, "Penny" found Lucy had left a trail to their locations and he drove the garbage truck to the spot, dumping the garbage on the guerrillas and setting Lucy and Pulaski free. For saving his daughter's life, Colonel Smith offered to let "Penny" return to the United States as his guard of honor and permitted him to make any request he liked. "Penny"'s one request was that Sgt. Pulaski be allowed accompany him. Soon after, "Penny," Pulaski and Lucy were all together aboard the boat transporting Colonel Smith. Looking back at Pusan, they shouted "Good-bye, Korea!"
(Combat Casey I#21/3) - On the boat back to San Francisco, California, a fire broke out on the ship. The crew quickly got the blaze under control but Colonel Smith feared it was the work of sabotage. "Penny," Pulaski and Lucy conferred about the situation and "Penny" concluded that a Communist saboteur must be on the ship with them. The three friends set up an evening watch with Pulaski hidden on the deck while "Penny" and Lucy scanned the vessel from atop a smokestack, "Penny" wielding binoculars Lucy had taken from her father. "Penny" spotted a Communist saboteur plant dynamite in the lifeboats and alerted Pulaski. Pulaski captured the saboteur and retrieved the explosives but, just after the saboteur was arrested, another explosion went off, indicating there was another stowaway. Lucy found the other saboteur hiding in a smokestack and was taken hostage. To save her, "Penny" had the engineers generate extra smoke through the stack. With the saboteur blinded, "Penny" knocked him from the top of the stack into the ocean, still holding a lit stick of dynamite - which exploded when the saboteur hit the water. Soon, the boat safely entered San Francisco's harbor.
(Combat Casey I#22/3) - Back from Korea, "Penny" was stationed at an army reception center to serve as an instructor, using the benefit of his years of experience in Korea. Addressing new recruits, "Penny" described what it was like to join the US Army and go through basic training.
(Combat Casey I#23/3) - "Penny" described what soldiers learn in their basic training.
(Combat Casey I#24/3) - After ambushing a group of trainees during war games, "Penny" taught them how to bivouac.
(Combat Casey I#25/3) - "Penny" explained to recruits how, after basic training, they would enter combat college at Fort Benning.
(Combat Casey I#26/4) - "Penny" explained how Rocky
Richardson's training at Fort Benning's combat college prepared him for
tactics in the field.
(Combat Casey I#27/4) - "Penny" explained the different kinds of artillery used by infantry.
(Combat Casey I#28/4) - "Penny" explained how tanks are used in infantry combat situations.
(Combat Casey I#29/4) - "Penny" described the work combat engineers do in building bridges and other structures.
(Combat Casey I#30/3) - "Penny" described how K-9 dogs are trained to attack enemy troops.
(Combat Casey I#32/3) - "Penny" described Hannon's training as a US Army helicopter pilot.
(Combat Casey I#27/5) - Following the end of the Korean War, "Combat" Casey and "Penny" joined the Military Police and returned to Korea to help combat Communist spies and saboteurs. While on patrol in their jeep, they saw two men boarding a Seoul-bound train to steal its goods. Casey pursued the thieves aboard the train and defeated them with his bare hands while "Penny" followed alongside in the jeep. In Seoul, Casey and "Penny" delivered the two thieves to the provost marshal, who was impressed at their work and asked them to provide police protection to Sum Kim, a merchant whose supplies were coming from Kaesong. The provost marshal gave them a jeep with a .50 caliber machine gun to assist them. The convoy of supplies encountered a roadblock placed by Communist agents but the machine gun helped drive them off and the supplies were successfully delivered. Sum Kim asked for their help repeatedly over the following weeks and each time the supplies were safely delivered. The detail came to an end when the provost marshal revealed there were a lot of rifles and ammunition being smuggled into Seoul. On their final trip with Sum Kim's goods, Casey and "Penny" discovered he had been smuggling guns and ammunition for the Communists within his crates the entire time. Casey and "Penny" arrested Sum Kim and brought him back to Seoul to be imprisoned.
(Combat Casey I#33/4) - "Penny" narrated about how the Chinese sent gunboats to Quemoy but they were captured and sent back to attack the same officers who sent them off.
(Combat Casey I#34/4) - "Penny" narrated about how Captain Ching's men used hit-and-run tactics in China as they moved between borders to and from Formosa (Taiwan). Colonel Fu tried to catch them with a submarine but Ching's PT boats carried depth charges which sunk the submarine.
Comments: Created by Hank Chapman and Robert Q. Sale.
In War Combat I#5, "Penny" and Casey were supposed to be meeting for the first time but later stories would establish them as World War II allies. In several of the stories where Casey and "Penny" are supposed to be fighting the Japanese, you can clearly see the "Japanese" were wearing Chinese uniforms - suggesting many of the World War II stories were originally supposed to be Korean War stories.
"Penny" Pennington and "Pinky" Pinkerton were very
clearly cut from the same cloth - they have similar affections, not only
in their names and slight physical appearance (with glasses!) but also in
the way they show up others who assume they're not very tough.
Not to mention that both of their first names are Percival! --Proto-Man
"Specs" in Marines in Battle I#25/5 was very clearly "Penny," slightly redrawn. The unidentified "war correspondent" who hosted a story in Battle I#60 was also a redrawn "Penny."
"Penny" started appearing in his own solo adventures as of Combat Casey I#7 in which "Combat" Casey seldom appeared. Interestingly, issues #20-21's "Penny" stories covered "Penny"'s return to the US at the end of the Korean War but Casey wasn't present for those stories - and, of course, they both continued to appear in Korean War adventures in issues following this. "Penny"'s solo stories from #22-up are mostly set in the US after the war, so for his chronology, I've placed all of these tales at the end of his history. Then, of course, he and Casey returned to Korea as military policeman but the only story in which they appeared as MPs was Combat Casey I#27/5.
The name of Casey and "Penny"'s company was constantly changing but usually it was Dog Company.
"Penny"'s eyes were colored inconsistently through the series; sometimes they were clearly brown but, in his earliest appearances, they were blue.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Percival P. Pennington should not be confused with:
images: (without ads)
Combat Casey I#26/5, page 1, panel 1 (Pennington, main)
Combat Casey I#28/3, page 4, panel 5 (Pennington, face)
Combat Casey I#27/5, page 1, panel 2 (Pennington in MP uniform)
Appearances:
War Combat I#5/1,3 (November, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat I#7/1,3 (December, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat I#8-11 (January-April, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#6/1,4 (January, 1953) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#7-9 (March-April, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#10/1 (June, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#10/2 (June, 1953) - unidentified writer, Bill Benulis (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#10/4 (June, 1953) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#11/1,4 (August, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#11/2 (August, 1953) - unidentified writer, Bill Benulis (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#12/1,4 (October, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#12/2 (October, 1953) - unidentified writer, Bill Benulis (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#13/1 (December, 1953) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#13/2 (December, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#13/4 (December, 1953) - unidentified writer, Bill Benulis (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly I#17/3 (December, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#14/1,4 (February, 1954) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#14/2 (February, 1954) - unidentified writer, Bill Benulis (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#15/3,4 (April, 1954) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#16/1,2 (June, 1954) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#16/3 (June, 1954) - unidentified writer, Mort Lawrence (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#17/1,4 (August, 1954) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#17/3 (August, 1954) - unidentified writer, Bill Savage (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#18/1,2 (October, 1954) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#18/3 (October, 1954) - unidentified writer, Dick Ayers (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#19/1-3 (December, 1954) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#20/1,3,4 (February, 1955) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#21/1,3,4 (April, 1955) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#22/1,3,4 (June, 1955) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#23/1,3,4 (August, 1955) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#24/1,3,4 (October, 1955) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#25/1-3,5 (December, 1955) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#26/1,2,4,5 (February, 1956) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#27/1,3,4,5 (April, 1956) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#28/1,2,4,5 (June, 1956) - unidentified writer, Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#29/1,2,4,5 (August, 1956) - unidentified writer, Bob Powell (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#30/1,2,3,5 (October, 1956) - unidentified writer, Bob Powell (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#31/1,2,4,5 (January, 1957) - unidentified writer, Bob Powell (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#32/1,2,3,5 (March, 1957) - unidentified writer, Jay Scott Pike (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#33/1,2,4,5 (May, 1957) - unidentified writer, Jay Scott Pike (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#34/1,2,4,5 (July, 1957) - unidentified writer, Jay Scott Pike (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle I#61/5 (December, 1958) - unidentified writer, Jay Scott Pike (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 07/31/2025
Last updated:
07/31/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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