History:(Combat Casey I#30/5) - During World War II, on the Pacific island Futsu, Captain Rocke led his soldiers (including "Combat" Casey and Percival "Penny" Pennington) in night fighting against the Japanese.
CAPTAIN ROCKE
Real Name: Rocke (first name unrevealed)
Identity/Class: Human (post-World War II era)
Occupation: Military officer
Group Membership: U.S. Army (Dog Company)
Affiliations: Buggsie Bartek, Battle Brady, Brown, Combat Casey, Specs Dugan, Grogan, Lt. Kim, Lt. Kowalski, Percival P. Pennington, Roanhorse, Lennie Smith, Sgt. "Socko" Swenski
Enemies: The Imperial Japanese Army, Manchuria Mary, Major Mong, Major Mung, the Pearl of Pyongyang, the People's Army of China, Colonel Fei Yang
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Mobile in Korea during the Korean War;
formerly mobile in the Pacific Theater of World War II
First Appearance: Battle Action I#5 (October, 1952)
Powers/Abilities: Captain Rocke was an experienced military leader. He usually carried a pistol on his left shoulder. Occasionally, he carried a rifle and grenades.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 140 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Combat Casey I#30/5) - During World War II, on the Pacific island
Futsu, Captain Rocke led his soldiers (including "Combat" Casey and
Percival "Penny" Pennington) in night fighting against the Japanese.
(Combat Casey I#31/2) - While based on a Pacific atoll, Captain Rocke's camp was overrun by Japanese soldiers, who took him as prisoner then demanded the U.S. Army surrender in six hours to save Rocke's life. Rocke's lieutenant led a rescue mission for him and "Combat" Casey and Percival "Penny" Pennington captured a Japanese colonel to exchange for Rocke but the Japanese major refused the bargain. When the Japanese colonel heard this, he was outraged and showed the Americans a tunnel that led into his people's camp so they could ambush the major and rescue Captain Rocke.
(Battle I#62/5) - While camped on an atoll battling the Japanese, Captain Rocke and the rest of Dog Company (including Brown and Grogan) ate bananas for food. After the Japanese destroyed their landing crafts and tried to make them waste the remainder of their supplies, Dog Company had to rely more and more upon the bananas. After one soldier remarked how slippery the peels were, Rocke ordered his men to throw the peels at the Japanese so that, when they attempted a banzai attack, they slipped on the peels, giving Dog Company the upper hand.
(Battle Action I#5/3) - During the Korean War, Captain Rocke led a company that included Battle Brady and Sgt. "Socko" Swenski. After Brady and Swenski captured an enemy soldier alive, Captain Rocke interrogated him and learned one of their patrols had been trapped on Hill 909. Brady and Swenski volunteered to help rescue the patrol by journeying to Hill 909 in a helicopter. When the helicopter pilot was wounded, Brady piloted the craft himself and used the propeller blades to kill a vast number of enemy troops. Captain Rocke congratulated Brady for rescuing the patrol.
(Battle Action I#7) - After Battle Brady and Sgt. Swenski captured a number of enemy prisoners Captain Rocke told them he was so pleased that he wouldn't send them on patrol for the next 48 hours. However, Brady had lost his pistols on the previous patrol and demanded another patrol so he could recover them.
(Battle Action I#7/3) - Captain Rocke sent Battle Brady and Sgt. Swenski to recon Communist territory and determine what the enemy's communication system was.
(Battle Action I#8) - After Battle Brady and Sgt. Swenski arrived in camp aboard a couple of logs with Brady clutching the Communist operative the Pearl of Pyongyang, Captain Rocke accused them of goofing off and, after arresting their prisoners, sent both men to the stockade.
(Battle Brady I#10) - Captain Rocke and his soldiers saw the message "attack--- pronto" written into the side of a large cliff by Battle Brady, who created it by firing his bullets into the cliff. Rocke at first wondered if it might be a trick created by the Communists but he quickly realized only Brady would have used the word "pronto." Captain Rocke led his men into combat and swiftly defeated the enemy forces Brady had indicated.
(Battle Brady I#11/4) - Captain Rocke gave orders for the capture of the beautiful Korean guerrilla Manchuria Mary. Brady and Swenski brought in a guerrilla whom they believed was the person in question but Rocke showed them that he'd already received at least five other prisoners who matched the description. Brady and Swenski eventually caught the real Manchuria Mary.
(Combat I#10) - Captain Rocke ordered "Combat" Casey and "Penny" to defend their line against enemy troops but the Chinese used miniature tank drones to sneak past the night sentries and blow up their ammunition. Captain Rocke sent Casey and" Penny" to investigate the tanks and "Penny" threw them off their programming by exposing them to a magnetic pull from a lodestone.
(Battle Brady I#13) - Captain Rocke gave orders for Brady and Swenski to get trained on skis, unaware they had just come from an adventure where they captured skis from enemy soldiers and used them in combat.
(Battle Brady I#14/4) - As Captain Rocke prepared to pull out of an entrenched position, he asked for volunteers to remain behind in a delaying action. Battle Brady and Socko Swenski volunteered and provided the time they needed.
(Battlefront I#14/2) - Captain Rocke observed as Brady and Socko were captured and strapped to the wings of a MIG so U.S. forces wouldn't shoot it down but the duo soon took over the jet and used it to escape back to their lines. For bringing back the MIG, Captain Rocke awarded them both with 30-day passes.
(Battlefront I#14/4) - Chinese soldiers raided Captain Rocke's tent and stole his safe. Rocke ordered Brady and Socko to retrieve the safe, which they succeeded at.
(Battlefront I#16/2) - Brady and Swenski brought two dead soldiers to Captain Rocke, hoping to earn a pass to Tokyo. Examining the corpses, Rocke discovered one of them had a piece of a map in his mouth, indicating he had a secret contact in Samchok. Rocke sent Brady and Swenski undercover in Samchok to find the contact. They discovered a plot by Chinese agents to ambush U.S. soldiers on leave but they rallied the local soldiers to rout the spies.
(Combat Casey I#14/2) - "Penny" captured a Chinese soldier and brought him back to Captain Rocke for interrogation but the prisoner refused to speak. "Penny" eventually located a Chinese convoy and put luminous paint on them so that US bombers could destroy them but didn't explain to Rocke what he had done.
(Combat Casey I#29/5) - After Buggsie Bartek of Dog Company proved himself behind the controls of a tank alongside "Combat" Casey and "Penny," Captain Rocke promoted Buggsie to corporal as Dog Company declared him their "one-man tank corps."
(Combat Casey I#30) - A colonel assigned Captain Rocke to have Dog Company deal with Communist artillery guns that had been shelling their supply trucks. Rocke ordered Casey and "Penny" to eliminate the shells being used by the guns. Casey and "Penny" captured an enemy convoy, sabotaged all of the munitions aboard the trucks, then let the enemy recapture them. The sabotaged munitions exploded inside the guns' barrels, eliminating them. Rocke congratulated Casey and "Penny."
(Combat Casey I#30/2) - Chinese forces tried to punish Puchong by burning their rice fields but Captain Rocke and the rest of Dog Company saved the rice by forming a bucket brigade and helped the farmers drive the enemy away.
(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#32/5) - Captain Rocke had Casey and "Penny" scout ahead for Dog
Company. They discovered enemy troops had 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) - After "Combat" Casey and "Penny" captured a Korean town, Captain Rocke learned from the villagers
how the Chinese had plundered most of their livestock, leaving just
their flocks of sheep. After a Chinese attack on their ammunition,
Rocke ordered Casey and "Penny" to defend against further incursions,
which they accomplished by donning sheepskins, hiding amongst a
captured flock of sheep so they could track the Chinese back to their
base.
(Combat Casey I#33/5) - Captain Rocke sent "Combat" Casey and "Penny" out on a patrol, wanting a small team to prevent their being noticed by the Chinese. After discovering enemy movements, Casey and "Penny" used Apache smoke signals they learned from their comrade Roanhorse to warn their company about the impending attack. Roanhorse informed Captain Rocke and he led a successful ambush on the Chinese forces.
(Combat Casey I#34) - Casey escaped capture from the Chinese forces in Kumchang, who hoped Casey would bring in reinforcements to wander into the booby traps they'd set. However, Casey was aware of the booby traps and gave Captain Rocke instructions on how to avoid them and instead ambush the Chinese army.
(Combat Casey I#34/2) - Captain Rocke gave instructions over the radio to several platoons led by Lt. Kowalski and "Combat" Casey as they took Hill 888 from the Chinese. When Casey was captured by the Chinese and ordered to fly the U.S. flag to trick the other platoons into thinking Hill 888 was captured, Casey flew the flag upside-down, tipping off Kowalski and Rocke that the hill remained in enemy hands. Kowalski and Rocke flanked the Chinese, took Hill 888 and freed Casey.
(Combat Casey I#34/5) - Captain Rocke sent Casey and "Penny" to scout North Korean forces nearby. Casey and "Penny" learned that forces commanded by Major Mung had built a fire-breathing dragon model to terrify the populace but Lt. Kim of the ROK built an even bigger dragon to destroy the enemy prop.
(Marines in Battle I#25/5) - Serving with Dog Company of the U.S. Marines, Captain Rocke sent his subordinates Lennie Smith and "Specs" Dugan on patrol. Lennie and "Specs" discovered a bridge ahead with a large convoy of Chinese forces moving towards the opposite bank. Rather than destroy the bridge outright, Captain Rocke led his forces to the bridge to draw the enemy forces across the bridge. Once half of the convoy was on the bridge, Lennie and "Specs" destroyed half of the bridge at the opposite bank. The half of the army who were now caught on the bridge surrendered to Captain Rocke. Checking the trucks they had captured, Rocke's men found inflatable rafts which they used to cross the river then capture the second half of the army.
(Battle I#61/5) - "Combat" Casey and "Penny" used a K-9 dog to deliver secret documents to Captain Rocke and send reinforcements to help them against Major Mong's forces. Rocke and his men arrived and forced Major Mong to surrender to them.
Comments: Created by Hank Chapman and Joe Maneely.
Although Captain Rocke had appeared twice before as "Combat" Casey and Penny P. Pennington's superior (Combat I#10 and Combat Casey I#14), it was with Combat Casey I#29 that he assumed the role of their superior officer on a regular basis - a role which normally belonged to Captain Stone. Because continuity was pretty loose in these stories, they also retroactively made Captain Rocke Casey's superior during World War II, which had previously been Captain Stone's role.
The story in Marines in Battle I#25 was originally intended as a "Combat" Casey adventure but was published after the "Atlas implosion" when Marvel temporarily stopped publishing. The story was treated as a piece of backlog and was evidently altered to change Casey and "Penny" into different characters but Captain Rocke was unchanged. The story in Battle I#62 might also be an altered "Combat" Casey story but if so, it's better-disguised.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Captain Rocke should not be confused with:
Brown was one of the soldiers who served in Dog Company under Captain Rocke's command in World War II. While trying to capture an atoll from the Japanese, Dog Company's resources were placed under pressure as the Japanese tried to make them exhaust their ammunition but they outsmarted the Japanese by throwing banana peels at them during a banzai charge.
--Battle I#62/5
He might be a slightly-altered "Penny" Pennington.
Grogan was one of the soldiers who served in Dog Company under Captain Rocke's command in World War II. While trying to capture an atoll from the Japanese, Dog Company's resources were placed under pressure as the Japanese tried to make them exhaust their ammunition but they outsmarted the Japanese by throwing banana peels at them during a banzai charge.
--Battle I#62/5
He might be a slightly-altered "Combat" Casey.
images: (without ads)
Battle Action I#5/3, page 3, panel 5 (Rocke, main)
Combat Casey#33/5, page 2, panel 4 (Rocke, head)
Battle I#62/5, page 4, panel 5 (Brown)
Battle I#62/5, page 2, panel 1 (Grogan)
Appearances:
Battle Action I#5/3 (October, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Joe Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle Action I#7 (December, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Syd Shores (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle Action I#8 (January, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Norman Steinberg (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle Brady I#10 (January, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Syd Shores (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle Brady I#11/4 (February, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Syd Shores (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat I#10 (March, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle Brady I#13 (April, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Syd Shores (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle Brady I#14/4 (June, 1953) - unidentified writer, Syd Shores (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battlefront I#14/2 (November, 1953) - unidentified writer, Mort Lawrence (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battlefront I#14/4 (November, 1953) - unidentified writer, Syd Shores (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battlefront I#16/2 (February, 1954) - unidentified writer, Mort Lawrence (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#14/2 (February, 1954) - Hank Chapman (writer), Robert Q. Sale (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#29-31 (August, 1956-January, 1957) - unidentified writer, Bob Powell (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#32/5 (March, 1957) - unidentified writer, Jay Scott Pike (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#33 (May, 1957) - unidentified writer, Jay Scott Pike (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#34 (July, 1957) - unidentified writer, Jay Scott Pike (penciler), John Severin (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Casey I#34/5 (July, 1957) - unidentified writer, Jay Scott Pike (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Marines in Battle I#25/5 (September, 1958) - unidentified writer, Jay Scott Pike (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle I#61/5 (December, 1958) - unidentified writer, Jay Scott Pike (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle I#62/5 (February, 1959) - unidentified writer, Jay Scott Pike (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 09/09/2025
Last updated:
09/09/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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