KEN BARKLEY

Real Name: Ken Barkley

Identity/Class: Human (post-World War II era)

Occupation: Physician;
    former jockey

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Mr. Barkley, Steve Barkley">, Tod Barkley, Stacy Kenton, Susan Kenton, Dr. Stone

Enemies: Toad-Face

Known Relatives: Steve Barkley (brother), Tod Barkley (brother), Mr. Barkley (father), unidentified mother (deceased), Susan Kenton Barkley (wife), Stacy Kenton (father-in-law)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Houston, Texas, USA;
    formerly an unidentified ranch in Texas, USA

First Appearance: Man Comics I#1 (December, 1949)

Powers/Abilities: Ken was an excellent horse rider and jockey. He was skilled in medical research, human biology and virology and also showed an aptitude for veterinary medicine.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 150 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond

History:
(Man Comics I#1) - Ken's mother died giving birth to him. With his blond hair, Ken resembled his mother while his older brothers Steve and Tod took after their father. Brought up on their father's ranch, Ken lagged behind his brothers physically but proved to be much more intellectual than they. Steve and Tod would rely on Ken to explain their school homework for them. Steve believed that one day, he and Tod would run their father's ranch but that Ken would only be helpful by serving as their bookkeeper.

    One day while riding to school with his brothers, the 15-year old Ken was taunted by Toad-Face, a young peer of theirs, who called Ken a "sissy" and dubbed Steve and Tod his keepers. His older brothers encouraged Ken to stand up to Toad-Face and fight him but being considerably shorter and slighter than Toad-Face, Ken was unable to land a single punch as Toad-Face beat him up. When Toad-Face bragged the Barkleys "ain't so much," Tod picked a fight with him and reduced him to a bloody pulp. Toad-Face fled while Ken went to the nearby river and sobbed. Ken passed out next to the river and was awakened hours later by his brothers, who had come to the river to swim after school. Ken decided to return home while his brothers told a friend that Ken wouldn't join them because he couldn't swim very well. As Ken left, he overheard his brothers repeating something his father had said about him-- that in every litter of wolf cubs there's a no-account weakling who should be drowned.

    Over the years, Ken turned more and more to books as a refuge, as he proved inept at most of the physical activities on his father's ranch. One day, the family met Stacy Kenton, who was preparing to open a quarter-horse race track and invited the Barkleys to race their horses at the track. Ken's father introduced his sons to Stacy Kenton and his daughter Susan, including Ken as an afterthought. Ken's brothers both started boasting of their abilities to Susan, hoping to win her love. Ken found that he was attracted to Susan too and could hardly keep his mind on the books he was reading.

    One day, one of the ranch's mares collapsed, apparently due to poison. Having read books on the subject, Ken believed they should pump the horse and administer a counter-agent but Tod thought the answer was a home remedy another rancher had used. Ken proceeded to save the mare using the procedure but then Tod administered the home remedy and Ken realized Tod's medicine would receive all the credit for the mare's survival, rather than his own efforts. Ken began to see that, among the Barkleys, he was only a "pale shadow" and would have to create a life for himself. The incident with the mare convinced him to pursue a career in medicine and began planning to one day go to medical school.

    One day while studying medical history, Ken's father announced he and Tod were going to Cheyenne to pick up more horses, leaving Steve to run the ranch. After they were gone, a blizzard hit the ranch and a stallion broke out of the barn. Steve set out to find the stallion but after he had been gone for hours, Ken resolved that Steve was in trouble and set out to find his brother. Ken discovered Steve had caught the stallion but his horse slipped on the ice and pinned him to the ground, breaking his left leg. Ken rescued his brother and brought him and all the horses back to the ranch. Using what he'd learned about medicine, Ken treated Steve's leg. Steve begged Ken to keep the entire incident a secret and Ken noted that his "rough and tough" brother didn't want anyone to know "the runt" had saved his life. Ken agreed to keep the secret. By the time their father and Tod returned, Steve's leg had mostly healed and Ken recounted the story of the stallion's escape to them but claimed Steve had returned to the ranch on his own despite his broken leg.

    The following spring, Stacy Kenton's race track was completed and the Barkleys were gone to run their horse Buck Rondo but the jockey they hired was injured while riding another steed. In need of a replacement jockey, the Barkleys chose Ken for the task because he was so slender. Ken won the race but his family gave all the credit to the horse, claiming "a sack of flour" could have won the race. Ken continued to serve as a jockey for his family, earning himself a tidy sum of money which he saved for medical school.

    When Ken had earned enough money, he announced his intention to go to medical school in Houston to his family. His father was outraged, believing Ken should have invested his winnings back into the ranch rather than spend it on himself, but Ken insisted that he had to get out from the Barkleys' shadow "into a sunshine that's all my own!" Ken's father claimed he would disown Ken but Ken retorted "you can't disown something you've never owned or cherished." As Ken packed for medical school, his father and brothers refused to shake his hand. As he waited for the train to Houston, Ken was met at the train platform by Susan Kenton, who congratulated him for going to medical school and expressed her hope that he would return then kissed him farewell.

    Ken went into medical school and took a particular interest in the anthrax virus because his father had seen cases of anthrax on the ranch. Ken's splendid work attracted the attention of Dr. Stone, who invited Ken to come work for him after school. Now a physician, Ken toiled alongside Dr. Stone in developing an experimental medicine to treat anthrax.

    One day, 21-year old Ken received a letter from Susan telling him his father and brothers were both stricken with anthrax while trying to treat their horses. Although the medicine Ken and Dr. Stone had been working on wasn't entirely proven, Dr. Stone thought it might be their only hope and encouraged Ken to administer it to them. Ken returned to the ranch to find his bed-ridden father enraged at seeing him again but Ken insisted they were flesh and blood and he would do all he could to save him. Steve finally told his father how Ken had saved his life during the blizzard and Ken shared the medicine with them. While his family recovered, Ken also administered the medicine to his father's horses. Ken's efforts saved his family's lives and the lives of most of their horses. As they continued to mend, Ken's father made amends with his son and promised to share the ranch's money with him for his medical research. Steve and Tod still each believed they could win Susan's love but Susan revealed that Ken was the one she loved and encouraged Ken to ask her to marry him. As Ken and Susan embraced, Ken's father mused she had chosen "the best Barkley of us all!"

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and George Tuska.

    This profile was completed 08/18/2025 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Ken Barkley should not be confused with:

Mr. Barkley

Mr. Barkley was Ken's father. He was a rancher and was very proud of his elder sons Steve and Tod but looked down on Ken for failing to measure up in the areas he considered most important. Mr. Barkley once said that, in every litter of wolf cubs, there was one no-account weakling who should be drowned at birth-- and that was how he felt about his own son, Ken. Mr. Barkley continued to be dismissive to Ken throughout his life, even when Ken helped save one of his mares and when his jockeying won the ranch money. When Ken announced that he would use his winnings from jockeying to go to medical school in Houston, Mr. Barkley became enraged that Ken wouldn't invest the money in his ranch and declared that he was disowning Ken. Mr. Barkley later became poisoned by anthrax while trying to treat his poisoned horses. When Ken came to cure him, he was at first unwilling to let Ken treat him but his son Steve talked his father into accepting Ken's help. Mr. Barkley recovered thanks to Ken's medicine and he came to realize he had been wrong about Ken, offering to share his money towards Ken's medical research. When Susan Kenton revealed that Ken was the Barkley she loved, Mr. Barkley declared she had picked "the best Barkley of us all!"




--Man Comics I#1

Steve Barkley

Steve was one of Ken's older brothers and boasted that he was the quickest of the Barkleys. Steve once fought Toad-Face after he bested Ken in a fight and insulted the Barkley family, and Steve easily beat Toad-Face into a bloody pulp. Steve excelled in all the activities that his father valued and became a champion bronco rider. When Steve was caught in a blizzard with a broken leg, Ken saved his life. Ashamed for anyone to know that his brother had saved him, Steve had Ken promise to keep the incident a secret. When Ken chose to use his jockeying winnings to go to medical school in Houston, their father disowned him and Steve shunned Ken as he left for Houston. Later, Steve was poisoned by anthrax while tending to poisoned horses. When Ken came to save his family's lives, their father refused his help at first but then Steve admitted to his father how Ken had saved his life before during the blizzard. Steve recovered from the anthrax and witnessed Susan and Ken announce they were in love and to be married.





--Man Comics I#1

Tod Barkley

Tod was Ken's eldest brother and boasted that he was the strongest of the Barkleys. Tod was adept at all the activities his father valued and became a champion calf-roper. When Ken chose to use his jockeying winnings to go to medical school in Houston, their father disowned him and Tod shunned Ken as he left for Houston. Later, Tod was poisoned by anthrax while tending to poisoned horses. Ken shared his experimental medicine with Tod and the rest of his family. Tod recovered from the anthrax and witnessed Susan and Ken announce they were in love and to be married.





--Man Comics I#1

Stacy Kenton

Stacy Kenton was the father of Susan Kenton and came to Texas from South Dakota. He was the owner of a quarter-horse racing track and invited the Barkleys to race their horses at his track. Jockeying at Stacy Kenton's race track won Ken the money he needed to put himself through medical school.






--Man Comics I#1

Susan Kenton

Susan was Stacy Kenton's daughter. When her father introduced her to the Barkley family, Steve and Tod Barkley were both immediately taken by her beauty and started to boast about their abilities to her. Both imagined they might have the chance to marry Susan but Susan was attracted to the quieter, intellectual Ken. When Ken left his family for medical school, Susan was the only person who was sad to see him go and gave Ken a farewell kiss. While he studied in Houston, Susan wrote letters to Ken, telling him how his family was faring. When Ken's father and brothers were poisoned with anthrax, Susan wrote to Ken. Ken returned to the ranch and Susan set up a laboratory for him to use as he tended to his family and their horses. Susan also confronted Ken's father and told him the medicine Ken gave them was his own invention. When the family and horses had recovered, Steve and Tod both again expressed their interest in marrying Susan but she indicated that the only Barkley she wanted to marry was Ken and encouraged him to propose to her, which he did.





--Man Comics I#1

Dr. Stone

Dr. Stone was a physician in Houston, Texas who took an interest in Ken Barkley's work on anthrax while he was in medical school then invited him to come work for him in developing a medicine against anthrax. When Dr. Stone heard Ken's father and brothers had been stricken with anthrax, he encouraged Ken to use the medicine they had been testing in an attempt to save their lives, which proved successful.






--Man Comics I#1

Toad-Face

Toad-Face was one of young Ken Barkley's peers. Toad-Face looked down on Ken, calling him a "sissy" who needed his brothers Steve and Tod to act as his keepers. Ken was once encouraged by his brothers to stand up to Toad-Face and fight him but Toad-Face easily defeated Ken without Ken managing to land a blow. When Toad-Face bragged that the Barkleys "ain't so much," Tod picked a fight with him and swiftly clobbered Toad-Face, beating him to a bloody pulp. Toad-Face ran away in disgrace.






--Man Comics I#1

images: (without ads)
Man Comics I#1, page 15, panel 3 (Ken, main)
Man Comics I#1, page 7, panel 6 (Ken, face)
Man Comics I#1, page 6, panel 4 (Mr. Barkley)
Man Comics I#1, page 8, panel 8 (Steve)
Man Comics I#1, page 6, panel 8 (Tod)
Man Comics I#1, page 4, panel 7 (Mr. Kenton)
Man Comics I#1, page 18, panel 5 (Susan)
Man Comics I#1, page 16, panel 4 (Dr. Stone)
Man Comics I#1, page 2, panel 1 (Toad-Face)

Appearances:
Man Comics I#1 (December, 1949) - unidentified writer, George Tuska (artist), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 09/05/2026
Last updated: 08/18/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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