BILL HERSHEY

Real Name: William Hershey

Identity/Class: Human (Start of 20th century through World War I era to 1980s)

Occupation: Former U.S. Army Sergeant

Group Membership: Formerly U.S. Army

Affiliations: Night Raven

Enemies: German army (World War I)

Known Relatives: Unidentified father and mother (both deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Sisters of Mercy Hospital;
   formerly Western Front, Belgium;
   formerly Fort Worth, Texas;
   formerly New England

First Appearance: Mighty World of Marvel II#13/3 (June 1984)

Powers/Abilities: Bill Hershey was a trained soldier with experience at trench warfare. Blind for the last forty years of his life, he was used to navigating without sight. Though strong in his youth, towards the end of his life he was infirm. 

Height: 6'3" (by estimation - see comments)
Weight: (in prime) 160 lbs. (by estimation); (as elderly man) unrevealed, but significantly lower
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed; it appears to be a lighter color.

History:
(Mighty World of Marvel II#13/3 (fb) - BTS) - William "Bill" Hershey was born in February 1899. Growing up in New England, his best friend was a pale, black-haired lanky boy who lived with his uncle nearby. The pair used to hang out at the fishing pond, which Bill liked as a place to get away from his father's nagging. When he was sixteen he fell hard for local girl Elizabeth Brecker, but she rejected him, saying he was a kid and she wanted a man, so to try and impress her he signed up. That summer, the night before he was due to ship out to Fort Worth he ignored his parents' wishes for him to stay home with them and instead went down to the fishing pond, since Elizabeth had promised to meet him to say goodbye. She never did, and Bill's last night before the army was spent with his friend instead.

   Bill considered the two years he spent in boot camp at Forth Worth to be akin to hell, spent marching, sweating and polishing in a desert. During this time both of Bill's parents died and he learned that Elizabeth had married a farmer. As a result he never bothered going home, instead spending furloughs learning how to drink and fight from Texans. His friend from home also enlisted, and both of them, as well as (allegedly) most of his fellow soldiers, wished the U.S. would get involved in the war in Europe just so they could get some action. In 1917 they got their wish.

   Though they didn't know it at the time, by the time Bill and his fellow soldiers arrived on the Western Front the war was nearing its end. They arrived fresh and full of fight, resulting in the French and British veterans who had spent several years there already looking at them like they were from outer space. Bill thought they were jealous that the Americans were coming to steal their victory, only later realizing they were just glad someone else had come to feed the poisonous mud with their blood and guts instead of them. Illusions of glory and honor were swiftly shattered amid the mud, rats and corpses.

   Bill and his friend took part in the Third Battle of Ypres (a.k.a. Passchendaele) that ran from July through November 1917, during which Bill saved his friend from drowning in the sucking mud after an explosion knocked him into a crater. The near-death gave his friend severe shell-shock, and he was shipped home. Bill would not see nor hear from him for over sixty years. By the time the war ended and Bill Hershey left the Army, he had risen to the rank of sergeant. He never learned that his friend went on to become the vigilante and later immortal known as Night Raven.

   Bill's life during subsequent decades remains unrevealed, other than that he was able to "manage" most of the difficulties life threw at him, such as going blind during the 1940s. He was always a fighter.

(Mighty World of Marvel II#13/3) - By February 1985 an aged and ailing Bill Hershey was in Sister of Mercy Hospital, too old and feeble to get out of bed unaided. He had sworn to himself he would not become a "human vegetable" but as he became more infirm he now feared that might happen. He slept a lot, experiencing a mixture of dreams and memories, and on the occasions that solid images of faces and places drifted before him he tried to grasp and treasure them. When he turned 85 the Catholic Herald newspaper carried a story on him, noting that he was one of the last surviving veterans of the First World War. He was photographed surrounded by nurses and nuns drinking sherry to celebrate his birthday. Interviewed, Bill stated "I am at peace with God. I have had a good run for my money. To be truthful, I will be glad to rest."

   A short time thereafter Bill woke during the night to the sense that someone was in his room. He was disquieted to realize it was neither doctor nor nurse, but instead someone foul smelling with rasping breathing. Momentarily overcome with terror, Bill was momentarily filled with the belief that it was the angel of death and realized he didn't want to die yet, and was even prepared to fight to stay alive. He tried to gather his thoughts enough to speak, but the visitor got there first, sitting down calmly by the bedside and in a brittle hissing whisper informing Bill that he knew him, although it had been many years ago when Bill was close to birth. Now that Bill was close to death, he had a lifetime of things to tell the visitor, and perhaps know him again. Unaware to Bill, the visitor was his childhood friend, now Night Raven, who had chanced to see the Catholic Herald article. Though it had been more than sixty years since he had even thought of Bill, the now-immortal vigilante felt the urge to see his old friend before Bill passed away. Night Raven coaxed Bill to recall enlisting, and Bill did so, which prompted remembrance also of his old friend. Bill was disappointed that though he could picture his friend clearly, he could not recall his name, but Bill vividly recounted the time his life. Finishing his story, Bill informed his visitor that he was tired. His last words were "I think I'll sleep now. I wish I could remember his name." A few minutes later Bill Hershey passed away peacefully in his sleep.

Comments: Created by Jamie Delano and Alan Davis.

   It's not confirmed which of the two youths pictured in the top left of the main image is Bill and which is (presumably) the young Night Raven. However, since Night Raven had black hair and was described as lanky it's likely he is the one furthest left, and Bill is the other one, as that one seems to have lighter colored hair (though even that's uncertain in the monochrome sketch) and be slightlier chubby around the cheeks and mouth.

   We've literally got a single image and no text descriptions to work with, so how did I estimate his height? Because if it is Bill on the right of those two blue-toned headshots, then he appears to be taller than Night Raven, and we know Night Raven is 6'1".

   We're not told what city Sisters of Mercy Hospital was in, nor how widely distributed the Catholic Herald newspaper was. If it was a local paper then Bill was likely in New York City, since that was Night Raven's most frequent haunt, but it's far from guaranteed.

   This profile was completed on 08/08/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event to represent Night Raven.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Bill Hershey has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Mighty World of Marvel II#13, p20-21, pan1 (main image and headshots)

Appearances:
Mighty World of Marvel II#13/3 (June 1984) - Jamie Delano (writer), Alan Davis (art), Chris Gill (editor)

First Posted: 09/29/2026
Last updated: 08/08/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters