History:
COMBAT KELLY
Real Name: Hank Kelly
Identity/Class: Human (World
War II Era through Post-World
War II Era)
Occupation: Military policeman; former soldier
Group Membership: US Army (D Company, Baker Company, Fox Company)
Affiliations: Agent K, Annette, Lt. Banner, Sgt. Carl Bonner, General Brown, General Carter, Chu Cha, Chan-Hi, Hu Chee, Chee-Choo, Chu-Chu, Major Chung, Colonel Collins, Kathy Collins, Eddie, Captain Flagg, Fritz, Private Gippy Gippone, Major Hale, Lu Hei, Chur Jin, Kam, Kil Ki, Kim, Kitty Klick, Koo, Mike Logan, Chu Lu, Mike, 1st Lt. Mary Marvin, Mousey Miller, Cookie Novak, Sgt. Pat O'Halligan, Sgt. O'Hooligan, Phil Ostrowski, General George S. Patton, Pete, the Rat Run (Fifi), Seoul City Sue, Un Shik, Soo-Lu, Major Thorn, Yamakayaka
Enemies: Ludwig Bonner, the Butcher of Kochung, Commander Chan, Colonel Chang, Captain Chu, Colonel Fajen, Colonel Feng, Foy-Yun, Fwong, Hak, Adolf Hitler, Kang, Korea Katie, Ling, Ludwig, Manchuria Mary, Muktong Mollie, Benito Mussolini, Nazis, General Olga, Panther Lady, General Ku Pong, Chung Pu, Red Mary, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, General Shang, Sonyachka, Colonel Sosura, Colonel Ti-Tong, Tiger of Tokchon, Colonel Tong, General Wu, Yalu River Rosie
Known Relatives: Corporal Kelly (father)
Aliases: "Mr. Combats" (nicknamed by Yamakayaka), 12044277 (serial number)
Base of Operations: West Berlin, Germany;
formerly mobile in Korea during the Korean War; mobile in the Pacific,
European and North African Theaters of World War II
First Appearance: Combat Kelly I#1 (November, 1951)
Powers/Abilities: As a military policeman, Kelly carried a pistol. Combat Kelly was an exceptional battlefield soldier and usually carried a rifle, bayonet knife and grenades. One some occasions he has carried an army flamethrower, bazooka, flare gun, rifle grenades and worn a plastic bullet-resistant vest. He was also a terrific brawler, capable of fending off multiple adversaries in a fistfight.
Height: Unrevealed
(approximately 6')
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 150 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
History:
(Combat Kelly I#25/4) - On February 14, 1943, Hank Kelly and Cookie Novak participated in Operation Torch, joining the U.S. Army against the Nazi forces in North Africa. They sparred against Field Marshal Erwin Rommel himself at the Battle of Kasserine Pass.
(Combat Kelly I#37/2) - On March 1, 1943, Kelly and Cookie helped save the Frenchwoman Annette from the Nazis and she guided Baker Company to water in gratitude. Annette's father supplied Baker Company with camels which they used to rout German forces led by Erwin Rommel, humiliating Rommel.
(Combat Kelly I#32/4) - On April 7, 1943, Kelly and Cookie fought against Rommel's forces in North Africa. They found a concealed tank garage being used by Rommel. Discovered by Rommel himself, the duo created a bull's-eye for their side's planes by marking a message visible from the air via their footprints while running from Rommel. The US planes skywrote a thank you message to Kelly and Cookie for what they had done.
(Combat Kelly I#27/4) - On July 10, 1943, Kelly and Cookie joined the forces fighting to Messina, Sicily, first scattering Nazis by siccing a mountain lion on them, then creating an avalanche of falling logs. The duo rode a set of logs into Messina to beat the Canadians and British there.
(Combat Kelly I#21/4) - In October 1943, Kelly and Cookie fought the Nazis at the Voltorno River, whose bridge the Germans destroyed to delay the Allies' advane. Captain Thorn called for assault boats which the men used to continue their push through German lines until pontoon bridge could be raised.
(Combat Kelly I#38) - Kelly and Cookie were caught in a wine cellar as Nazis occupied an Italian town. The duo permitted the Germans to drink all the wine, rendering them drunk as Captain Thorn captured the town. This was little comfort to Kelly and Cookie, who made the supreme sacrifice by giving up all the wine!
(Combat Kelly I#28/4) - On January 22, 1944, Kelly and Cookie helped stop the giant gun Anzio Aggie and prevented the Nazis from deploying miniature explosive tanks in Naples, Italy.
(Combat Kelly I#23/4) - During the battle of Mount Cassino (February 1-15, 1944) in Italy, Kelly and Cookie were sent to destroy a German cannon and along the way heard from a monk the story of St. Benedict. The monk directed Kelly and Cookie to the location of the cannon, which proved to be in the ruins of an abbey. Kelly and Cookie destroyed the cannon.
(Combat Kelly I#20) - On June 8, 1944, two days after D-Day, Kelly and Cookie destroyed a German supply truck that was on its way to Normandy. The truck had been carrying V-1 rockets and so created an immense explosion that Kelly and Cookie did not anticipate. Reinforcements soon took the two men captive and revealed the V-1s they destroyed had been intended for a bomb assault on London on June 12th. The commanding officer ordered a subordinate to kill them both but the soldier's gun jammed. Cookie twisted his ankle as he and Kelly ran for cover but Kelly helped get Cookie to safety in the woods. Over the next 5 nights while Cookie rested, Kelly set out to sabotage the other V-1s. On June 12 when the V-1s were launched only one of them continued to London, the other 9 having been fixed by Kelly so they would reverse course and strike Berlin instead.
(Combat Kelly I#35/2) - On June 12, 1944, Kelly and Cookie were caught by Nazis but escaped and were helped by the Rat Run, part of the French Resistance. After helping the resistance destroy a bridge, Kelly and Cookie were sent safely on their way back to their ranks.
(Combat Kelly I#20/2 (fb)) - While in France, Kelly searched for the burial place of Sgt. Duval, a French soldier whom he had heard of from his father's experiences in World War I. He found Duval's grave and beside it, a grave for Duval's pet dog Satan.
(Combat Kelly I#23/2) - During World War II, the French soldier Sgt. Avallon told Kelly about Verdun in 1916 and how Raoul Cholet became a soldier to honor his father and died eliminating explosives which would have destroyed a bridge in Verdun.
(Combat Kelly I#26/4) - In July 1944, Kelly and Cookie went to Leghorn (Livorno, Italy) to destroy an airfield. Escaping from a patrol in a commandeered car they were surprised to find Hitler himself cowering in the back seat. They took Hitler prisoner and forced him to order the destruction of secret weapon caches, then shaved his mustache off and dressed him in a US uniform so his own men wouldn't recognize him. Garbed in Nazi uniforms, Kelly and Cookie simply drove away.
(Combat Kelly I#22/4) - In August 1944, Kelly and Cookie captured a German tank from the Nazis in the Falaise Pocket while poor Sgt. O'Hooligan was tied to the tank's barrel, repeatedly begging to be cut free.
(Combat Kelly I#19/2) - In September 1944, Kelly and Cookie helped break through the Germans' Siegfried Line.
(Combat Kelly I#24/4) - In December 1944, Kelly and Cookie went through the snowy Apennine Mountains leading pack mules with supplies and Lorenzo the mule even helped them escape capture by the Nazis. The soldiers who received the ammunition considered it their Christmas present.
(Combat Kelly I#18) - Kelly and Cookie participated in the Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944-January 25, 1945) in Bastogne, Belgium. When General George S. Patton's tanks arrived to support the Allies against the Nazis, Kelly mistook them for enemies and knocked a tread off a tank. Patton demoted Kelly from sergeant to private but also gave him the Silver Star.
(Combat Kelly I#30/4) - In February 1945, Kelly and Cookie participated in reaching the Rhine River alongside Sgt. Carl Bonner. Bonner was impersonated by his twin brother Ludwig, a Nazi collaborator. As Ludwig fled back to the Nazis he was shot, mistaken for a US soldier.
(Combat Kelly I#31/4) - In March 1945, Kelly, Cookie and Captain Thorn headed into Lubeck and received guidance from Agent K in pursuing the Nazis' Wolves Division to their base. Agent K sacrificed her life to destroy the Wolves' base with dynamite.
(Combat Kelly I#40/2) - In March 1945, the Nazis destroyed a bridge to try and stop Baker Company from advancing but Kelly had his fellow soldiers turn empty oil drums into makeshift boats to float across by night.
(Combat Kelly I#39/5) - In March 1945, Kelly's squad used gliders to land atop Kuna Atoll and defend it from the Japanese, repelling naval and aerial attacks.
(Combat Kelly I#29/4) - In April 1945, Kelly and Cookie found themselves in Verona and were responsible for preventing Mussolini's escape from Italy, leading to his death at the hands of an angry mob.
(Combat Kelly I#33 (fb)) - Baker Company fought on Onna Atoll. When all the Japanese were on a small part of the atoll connected by a bridge, Kelly destroyed the bridge with explosives causing the small portion to drift away from the atoll.
(Combat Kelly I#34) - On Kawawa Atoll, a band of Japanese soldiers had a perfect position atop a high stone cliff but Kelly planted dynamite to blast the stone apart so that the cliff toppled over. Captain Thorn renamed the atoll "Combat Kelly Atoll."
(Combat Kelly I#36/2) - At Kumo Atoll, when the Japanese called for reinforcements from a supply boat at night, Kelly and Cookie snuck aboard the boat and used it to sink its larger supply ship, then used the supply boat's munitions to bomb the Japanese on Kumo Atoll.
(Combat Kelly I#41/5) - Kelly joined Baker Company as they had the sailors of landing crafts bearing them to Hagura Atoll drive their vessels into the beach of Hagura Atoll as the Japanese were charging, kicking up a cloud of sand which blinded the Japanese while Baker Company defeated them.
(Combat Kelly I#42/2) - To keep the Japanese from landing their planes on Tsuki Atoll, Kelly and Cookie rolled oil drums down into the airfield, removing their ability to land.
(Combat Kelly I#43/2) - On a Pacific atoll, Kelly and Cookie captured Japanese miniature tanks. The Japanese had a remote control for the tanks' guns and planned to recapture them after making them not work. Kelly outwitted them by rigging the tanks to blow up when retaken and destroyed the Japanese camp.
(Combat Kelly I#44/2) - While on Kabu Atoll, the men of
Baker Company thought a lot of Thorn and wanted him to be promoted to
major. Although his heroics didn't earn him the promotion, the tireless
campaigns and testimonials from his men convinced the army to promote
Thorn. Kelly and Cookie pinned the gold leaves on Thorn's uniform.
(Combat Kelly I#1 (fb)) - When Master Sergeant Hank Kelly first arrived to fight in the Korean War he entered the field in Pusan under the command of Major Hale. When Sgt. Kelly ordered a special chow call Hale took umbrage at him breaking the chain of command and accused Kelly of treating the scenario as his own private little war. Kelly picked up some food from Cookie and complained to him about his situation, saying how eager he was to get into the fight. A few days later the squad went north of Pusan and found itself in battle, pinned down by a Chinese machine gun nest. The squad's inability to advance made Kelly madder and madder. When Phil Ostrowski stuck his head over their trench to look at the machine gun nest he was shot in the face and killed immediately. Thoroughly incensed, Kelly ignored his orders to remain in the trench and advanced on the machine gun nest. Although Kelly took bullets in his legs and left arm he continued to press forward. When he finally came within a meter of the nest he used up the last of his ammunition so fought the Chinese with his right fist, beating them literally single-handed. The rest of the squad advanced to the nest where all of the Chinese were taken as prisoners. Kelly boasted to Cookie, "Did I give those Reds Combat or didn't I?" Cookie returned, "From now on you're Sgt. Combat, himself!" Kelly passed out. Later in the hospital he was visited by Major Hale who granted him a medal for bravery but also reduced him in rank, making him a Private First Class for disobeying orders.
(Combat Kelly I#1) - As Kelly was reassigned to Cookie's squad, he arrived just as Cookie finished telling the squad how he earned his nickname. Kelly asserted that he wasn't hospitalized because of the wounds he took fighting the Chinese but due to the food Cookie served him.
(Combat Kelly I#1/2) - Now under the command of Major Thorn, Kelly was ordered to bring in a prisoner for questioning. Finding a patrol of 10 Chinese soldiers Kelly nearly killed all of them but when Cookie reminded him of the major's orders he kept one alive and dragged him back to base. Unfortunately Cookie happened to mention the 9 Kelly killed, which only served to make Kelly appear battle-crazy to Major Thorn and he put them both into the stockade. In the stockade Kelly listened to Seoul City Sue on the radio, enjoying her voice even though she was spouting pro-China propaganda. After a short period of time, Kelly and Cookie were released from the stockade and Major Thorn ordered them to infiltrate enemy line to locate Seoul City Sue and her radio transmitter. Kelly eagerly accepted. They happened upon a patrol of Chinese soldiers and Kelly killed two of them but other arriving soldiers took them prisoner. The Chinese revealed they had camouflaged their base and radio transmitter using haystacks. Seoul City Sue was also among their prisoners as she was being forced to read Chinese propaganda. Because of Kelly's reputation, the Chinese superior officer ordered him to deliver propaganda over the radio to save Cookie and Sue's lives. Kelly included a coded message to Major Thorn in the broadcast referring to "where you'd only look for a needle." This tipped Thorn to search nearby haystacks. Thorn led a squad to rescue Cookie and Kelly but found Kelly relaxing with Seoul City Sue on his lap.
(Combat Kelly I#2) - War photographer Kitty Klick helped Kelly and Cookie survive a fight by using her flash photography to disorient enemy troops. Donning stolen uniforms they collected photographs of enemy positions then returned to Major Thorn. Thorn was only convinced to withhold punishing Kelly when he saw the photos he took and wound up giving Kelly and Cookie medals instead. Kelly asked Kitty to take his picture wearing the medal. Kitty wanted a kiss instead and smashed her camera over his head.
(Combat Kelly I#2/2) - Kelly helped Private Gippy Gippone escort female communist spies who had been taken prisoner but the women jumped the two soldiers and overpowered them as Kelly didn't want to hurt them. The women tried turning them over to communist forces but Kelly fended off the soldiers barehanded. One of the women then refused to shoot Kelly and kissed him instead. Kelly took them prisoner again.
(Combat Kelly I#3) - Kelly and Cookie found a hidden radio base in Kumsong manned by an all-female North Korean team. The women demanded Cookie and Kelly operate the radio for them but they ended up broadcasting swing music and dancing with the ladies instead of helping the North Korean army.
(Combat Kelly I#3/3) - A beautiful woman helped capture convoy vehicles by hitchhiking on the side of the road but Kelly and Cookie found out where the men she had captured were being held and got their trucks back. Kelly spent some time necking with the beautiful spy.
(Combat Kelly I#4) - Combat and Cookie participated in an action at Heartbreak Ridge where Cookie was wounded but Combat saved him.
(Combat Kelly I#4/3) - Major Thorn sent Kelly and Cookie to protect their convoys from enemy tanks. They fashioned Molotov cocktails to eliminate the tanks.
(Combat Kelly I#5) - Kelly and Cookie were ordered to assist a convoy and wound up driving a truck which was strafed by a MIG. With Chinese soldiers approaching the downed vehicle, the duo used the mines stored in the truck as ammunition in a makeshift catapult, hurling mines at them.
(Combat Kelly I#5/3) - While on patrol, Kelly was captured by the Chinese. He was saved from the enemy by a South Korean woman who helped him back to his lines, then he returned with a band of infantry helicopters to destroy his former captors.
(Combat Kelly I#6) - Combat was caught by the Chinese and dressed in one their uniforms then sent back blindfolded to his own lines, expecting him to be shot to death by his own men. However, Cookie recognized him and brought Combat back alive. Combat delivered valuable intelligence to attack the Chinese positions which were timed to begin when they sounded a bugle. Cookie blew on a bugle to spring their ambush on the Chinese but Cookie was trapped behind enemy lines during the attack. Kelly collapsed in tears when he realized Cookie was in enemy hands.
(Combat Kelly I#6/2) - Combat went behind enemy lines to rescue Cookie. Although Combat was shot, he was wearing a plastic vest which deflected the bullet and he brought Cookie back alive.
(Combat Kelly I#6/4) - Chinese soldiers dressed in U.S. garb snuck into a camp to kill soldiers in their sleep but Cookie and Combat got up in time to fend them off. Combat realized who the fake soldiers were because they claimed to be part of J Company and there was no such outfit.
(Combat Kelly I#7) - Cookie was struggling to keep awake through constant assignments but accidentally obtained sleeping medicine instead of stimulants. When he and Combat were caught by the communists they slipped the sleeping medication in place of opium which was being used to work soldiers into a killing frenzy. The entire enemy force was put to sleep, including Kelly and Cookie.
(Combat Kelly I#7/2) - Tricked into an ambush by the beautiful Yalu River Rosie, Kelly and Cookie were taken prisoner by the communists along with other soldiers and stripped out of their uniforms so communists could wear their garb on an infiltration mission while Kelly and the others, dressed in communist uniforms, would be used as cannon fodder. Kelly took advantage of the situation by yelling orders in Chinese which confused the differently-garbed enemy troops and tricked them into shooting each other. When all of the communists were dead, Kelly and the others removed their uniforms and returned to their own lines.
(Combat Kelly I#7/4) - Kelly and Cookie discovered an underground garage where the communists were hiding trucks and tanks, then raising them on an elevator. The duo forced an enemy truck down the shaft where it exploded, taking out the entire garage.
(Battlefront I#6) - Kelly and Cookie captured a film projector from a Chinese soldier who had been filming them in battle and delivered the footage to Major Thorn. Just as they were examining the footage a Chinese squad attacked their base. Kelly and Cookie thought they saw a pair of enemy soldiers and tried to sneak up on them but the soldiers were dummies and the duo walked into a booby-trapped, catching them in a pit. They were taken prisoner and brought to a nearby enemy camp but they quickly got out of their cell by making a lariat and catching the guard. Finding the communists' supply of similar film footage they used a film projector to make the enemy troops believe a projection of soldiers was actually reinforcements, convincing them to surrender.
(Battlefront I#7) - Kelly and Cookie were on guard duty when they caught a hay wagon full of enemy soldiers. Delivering them back to base, Major Thorn sent them on a patrol where they found more wagons being loaded for enemy activities so they destroyed all the wagons with fire.
(Combat Kelly I#8) - Kelly and Cookie again encountered Yalu River Rosie and prevented her from dynamiting one of their bridges, then took her prisoner.
(Combat Kelly I#8/2) - Cookie was knocked unconscious saving Kelly's life from an enemy soldier. Kelly had to carry Cookie and tried to escape in a commandeered car but the car caught on fire. Then Kelly took a horse and wagon but the wagon caught on fire. Finally the horse tripped and Kelly enjoyed a peaceful rest until Cookie awoke.
(Combat Kelly I#8/4) - Kelly and Cookie discovered communists were using captured U.S. tanks to lead their forces into an ambush but they recaptured a tank and overloaded it with ammunition. When the communists fired on the abandoned tank, the resulting explosion was so large it took out their tanks as well.
(Battlefront I#8) - Kelly and Cookie were caught on patrol and their captors demanded Kelly bring them all of his squad's ammunition cases or Cookie would die. Kelly complied but left a lit fuse inside the trucks of explosives, killing the communists as soon as Cookie was free. Cookie had thought Kelly had betrayed their platoon and was moved to realize that Kelly had been loyal to the platoon and to him.
(Combat Kelly I#9) - Combat and Cookie saved a family (including the little girl Chan-Hi) from being executed by Chinese soldiers. The duo received 24-hour passes for capturing valuable prisoners and brought a toy doll for Chan-Hi in Singye but were caught by enemy troops and subjected to torture. The family whom Kelly and Cookie had saved came to their rescue and agreed with Kelly and Cookie that their town would have be hit by an airstrike to rout the communists but promised they would rebuild. Kelly gave Chan-Hi the doll and she kissed him by way of thanks.
(Combat Kelly I#9/2) - As they started their graveyard shift at the stockade, Kelly and Cookie discovered Yalu River Rosie had just been broken out by Chinese soldiers. Combat and Cookie gave chase and in battle, Combat and Rosie fell over a waterfall. Combat was found by Sgt. O'Hooligan, who accused him of going swimming with Yalu River Rosie. Rosie was placed back in prison while Combat was put in the stockade as discipline, with Cookie joining him on suspicion over covering up for his friend.
(Combat Kelly I#9/4) - Combat and Cookie discovered a concealed underwater bridge used by the enemy to tranport tanks across a river. Kelly and Cookie sabotaged the bridge. Capturing an enemy tank this way, Cookie commandeered the vehicle and drove it into a gorge so that friendly tanks could drove overtop the crashed tank.
(Battlefront I#9) - After Cookie was caught by the communists Kelly tried to rescue him but he was caught as well. The communists decided to kil him by being rolled down a hill while tied to a boulder but Yalu River Rosie intereceded with her own plan. Rosie forced Kelly to drive a truck full of ammunitions set to explode when he reached his own lines. However, Kelly doubled around and surprised the communists from behind. The exploding truck took out the communists and he freed Cookie, then captured Rosie.
(Combat Kelly I#10) - After a communist colonel witnessed Kelly's hand-to-hand prowess in battle he had Kelly captured and forced to fight the sumo wrestler Yamakayaka, who had been a POW in China since 1945. Kelly defeated Yamakayaka but when the colonel announced he would kill Yamakayaka and make Kelly his personal exhibition fighter, Kelly saved Yamakayaka's life and the sumo wrestler helped Kelly and Cookie defeat their guards. Yamakayaka declared himself Kelly's servant but Kelly insisted he was now a free man. Regardless, Yamakayaka returned to the U.S. lines with Kelly and Cookie.
(Combat Kelly I#10/2) - Kelly and Cookie fought their way through communist forces in the tow of Hwangtu using a flamethrower. After clearing the town, Major Thorn led them after the Chinese forces into the mountains and Kelly attempted to clear a bunker using the flamethrower but the device needed a new ignition cylinder and only sprayed the Chinese with gasoline. Kelly surrendered to the Chinese and offered to show them how to operate his flamethrower, then tricked the man he was training into lighting his fellow soldiers on fire.
(Combat Kelly I#10/4) - Major Thorn released Yalu River Rosie and ordered Kelly and Cookie to exchange her for General Carter but once the duo had General Carter, Rosie turned on them. Cookie and Kelly took Rosie prisoner again and got back to their lines with her and Carter.
(Battlefront I#10) - Kelly rescued Cookie from the Chinese and recovered a jeep that had been stolen from them but when they searched the jeep they couldn't find the missing plans. The jeep kept breaking down on the way back to their lines. It turned out the jeep's gas tank was where the plans were hidden.
(Combat Kelly I#11) - Kelly and Cookie discovered the communists had built a giant rocket to destroy Pusan. Kelly sabotaged the rocket to target Moscow instead.
(Combat Kelly I#11/2) - Yamakayaka insisted on joining Kelly and Cookie on their patrol. Although Yamakayaka failed at the tests Kelly gave him he followed the duo anyway and his tremendous strength paid off as he stopped a jeep with his stomach and threw howitzers at an enemy squad. Kelly had to admit Yamakayaka was now a G.I.
(Combat Kelly I#11/4) - From inside the guardhouse, Yalu River Rosie built a catapult and hurled flaming debris at the soldiers. Kelly and Cookie entered the camp to disarm Rosie but failed and just narrowly escaped the camp. In the end Major Thorn needed tear gas and a tank to stop Rosie.
(Battlefront I#11) - Kelly and Cookie walked in on Yalu River Rosie while she was bathing in the Imjin River. She ducked below into a miniature submarine with which she planned to bomb U.S. positions when the rest of her fleet arrived. Kelly and Cookie were taken prisoner aboard but escaped through the torpedo launcher and warned their allies on the shore. Kelly poured oil into the river and when the submarine fleet arrived he lit it on fire. Yalu River Rosie escaped the fire only to be captured by Kelly and Cookie.
(Combat Kelly I#12) - Major Thorn sent Kelly and Cookie to transfer Yalu River Rosie to the rear of their lines but her people sprung a rescue and Kelly and Cookie narrowly escaped becoming prisoners themselves.
(Combat Kelly I#12/2) - Kelly found a letter written by a young soldier where he admitted his cowardice to his mother. Kelly forged a letter of his own admitting to being a coward and let the young soldier find it so that he'd imitate Kelly's courage. Kelly was actually an orphan.
(Combat Kelly I#12/4) - The Tiger of Tokchon captured Kelly and Cookie and buried them up to their necks to be devoured by ants but the female guerrrilla Hu Chee rescued the men and led them against the Tiger's forces. Hu Chee killed the Tiger herself and dynamited his army, then admitted the Tiger was her father.
(Combat Kelly I#13) - Yamakayaka saved Kelly and Cookie from being thrown over a cliff while tied to a boulder. Yamakayaka again inquired about becoming a G.I. but Kelly informed him that Major Thorn stated the regulations were against it. When they discovered Major Thorn in the hands of Chinese soldiers who were about to execute him, Yamakayaka went into the fray and almost single-handedly saved Major Thorn and recovered the maps the Chinese had stolen from him. Major Thorn decided he'd make Yamakayaka a G.I. regardless of regulations.
(Combat Kelly I#13/2) - Kelly and Cookie were nearly caught by Korea Katie but another beautiful Korean woman came to their rescue and she took Korea Katie prisoner.
(Combat Kelly I#13/4) - After destroying a bridge, Kelly and Cookie were caught by Yalu River Rosie. Kelly pretended to switch sides and helped build a pontoon bridge for the enemy forces but the bridge was cut free and floated down the Imjin River and over a waterfall, taking all the enemy troops with it.
(Combat Kelly I#14) - Kelly and Cookie helped fight enemy forces who had claimed Yongwa and set up camp inside the town's ancient Buddhist temple. Major Thorn debated attacking the town, knowing they would have to destroy the temple. The people of Yongwa solved the matter by blowing up their own temple, allowing Thorn to lead a quick invasion and capture the town.
(Combat Kelly I#14/2) - While Cookie had been listening to a radio message about a baseball game he and Kelly were ambushed and knocked unconscious by the Chinese. Colonel Sosura listened to the radio message and thought he was getting information on U.S. troop movements. Using them to plot an attack, he destroyed his own side's people and committed suicide in disgrace. Kelly and Cookie awoke, surprised to find themselves surrounded by dead enemy soldiers.
(Combat Kelly I#14/4) - Kelly and Cookie volunteered to help capture a well-fortified hill. Kelly captured a truck of enemy ammunition and used it to destroy an enemy stockpile encamped at the top of a hill. On his way back downhill, Kelly fell out of a speeding wagon and broke his arm. Major Thorn named the hill after him-- "Kelly Hill."
(Combat Kelly I#15) - Communist troops broke into the camp where Yalu River Rosie was held and set her free. Kelly and Cookie pursued them into North Korea to recapture Rosie and wound up finding a convoy of enemy trucks, which they destroyed with grenades. Just as Rosie confronted the duo to capture them, a tire from one of the exploding trucks hit Rosie in the head and knocked her out. Kelly and Cookie carried her back to base.
(Combat Kelly I#15/2) - While Yamakayaka was showing off his immense strength on the obstacle course to Kelly and Cookie he found a squad of enemy soldiers and defeated them by tearing down fences and hurling bricks at them.
(Combat Kelly I#15/4) - The Korean woman Chu-Chu was used to bait Kelly and Cookie into a trap for Manchuria Mary. Mary attempted to use Kelly and Cookie as drivers in a hijacked U.S. Army truck so she could transfer stolen ammunition to her mountain stronghold. Mary held Kelly prisoner while Cookie was forced to drive the truck. However, Kelly secretly wrote a note on Cookie's shirt telling him to crash the truck into the stronghold. Cookie obeyed, jumping out of the truck before hitting the stronghold and destroying it. Mary was about to kill Kelly in retaliation when Chu-Chu returned. Having only aided Mary because her father had been her prisoner, she had since learned her father was dead and she stabbed Mary to death with a knife then helped Kelly and Cookie get back to their lines.
(Combat Kelly I#16) - Yalu River Rosie escaped from the stockade. Ordered to capture her alive, Kelly pursued her helicopter and crashed it by firing a flare gun at it. Seeing Rosie fall into a river, Kelly pursued and dragged her out of the river but at the river's edge he was captured by Colonel Ti-Tong, who had brought a second helicopter for Rosie to use in leading an infantry attack on Kelly's base. Held prisoner aboard the helicopter, Kelly tricked Rosie into setting off one of his flares, causing the helicopter to crashland back in the stockade. Kelly alerted Cookie and Major Thorn to the approach of Colonel Ti-Gon's infantry and Thorn captured the entire enemy force.
(Combat Kelly I#16/2) - Major Thorn wanted Kelly to take Yamakayaka into combat and test him out. While repelling an assault on their camp, Kelly saw Yamakayaka use two .50 caliber machine guns at one time, lift a truck out of the mud, carry thousands of rounds of ammunition and tear a muzzle off a tank turret then beat a tank to pieces with it. Kelly suggested to Major Thorn that Yamakayaka become a one-man division.
(Combat Kelly I#16/4 (fb)) - Kelly and Cookie found Yalu River Rosie had escaped the stockade again, this time using a tunnel. They followed her and spied on her as she gave directions to the military to begin an artillery bombardment on their camp. Before returning to camp, Kelly and Cookie decided to recapture Rosie.
(Combat Kelly I#16/4) - As Rosie was driving in a jeep Kelly and Cookie dropped boulders from cliffs above her, crashing the jeep. Rosie called out for help and the Chinese army responded. Kelly drove the jeep toward their lines. An enemy roadblock shot out their tires but Kelly drove the jeep along a traintrack. Having little time left to warn the camp of the coming bombardment, Cookie wrote "follow me" on Rosie's blouse with lipstick as Kelly drove through the camp. Their fellow soldiers followed them as Kelly drove inside the tunnel Rosie had used to escape. With the entire company sheltered in the tunnel they were uninjured by the artillery attack and when enemy infantry moved in, expecting to find the soldiers dead, they were instead overwhelmed and forced to surrender.
(Combat Kelly I#17) - Yalu River Rosie escaped the stockade again, this time thanks to her fellow prisoners building a giant slingshot. Kidnapping Major Thorn, Rosie fled north but Kelly and Cookie gave chase, finding her at an enemy tank base. Hijacking a tank, Kelly parked it near a dam knowing a friendly air patrol would spot and bomb it. The dam was destroyed and Rosie had to flee the water to save her life while Major Thorn escaped with Kelly and Cookie.
(Combat Kelly I#17/4) - Cookie and Kelly found the Chinese under the command of the Butcher of Kochung were using a mechanical dragon to inspire terror. Kelly and Cookie commandeered it and used it to launch an attack on the communist forces. When the Butcher of Kochung surrendered, the dragon's mouth closed on him, decapitating him according to the punishment decreed by Buddha.
(Combat Kelly I#18/2) - Kelly described how to perform a night patrol.
(Combat Kelly I#18/4) - Kelly and Cookie discovered a communist operation to bomb a bridge with mortars. Using a captured truck they used its supplies to pack dynamite inside rubber tires then rolled them downhill at the enemy mortars, blowing them up.
(Combat Kelly I#19) - Muktong Mollie and her guerrillas captured Kelly and Cookie and turned them over to the communists but the communists tried to put the men to death by feeding them to an octopus. Mollie killed the octopus because she wanted to be able to collect the bounties on Kelly and Cookie again. Kelly and Cookie conquered the communists and looted their offices, then paid off Mollie so she'd let them live.
(Combat Kelly I#19/4) - Yamakayaka rescued Kelly and Cookie from communist clutches then helped them capture a vehicle so they could get back to their lines.
(Combat Kelly I#20/2) - Kelly recounted a story of his father's adventures in World War I.
(Combat Kelly I#20/3) - When Novak earned a medal for supposedly defeating an entire Chinese squad single-handed, Yamakayaka confided to Kelly that he was the one who saved Cookie from the enemy.
(Combat Kelly I#21) - Combat and Cookie saved Red Mary from being executed only to learn she was a communist agent trying to stop Major Chung from defecting aboard a MIG which was to have been loaded with dynamite. Red Mary captured Combat and Cookie and her superior General Wu jailed them with Major Chung but Combat had hidden a piece of dynamite in his jacket and used to blast them out of their cell; Major Chung commandeered a new jet plane which they brought back to their lines.
(Combat Kelly I#21/2) - Combat Kelly described the battle of Belleau Wood during World War I.
(Combat Kelly I#22) - Kelly and Cookie were captured by the communists. They were given a chance at freedom if Kelly could defeat the communist captain in a sword duel. Kelly won but the Captain reneged on the deal. The captain's niece, valuing honor, released the two prisoners in the night. She was caught and her uncle lined her up for the firing squad. Kelly and Cookie rescued her and brought her back to their lines.
(Combat Kelly I#22/2) - Kelly narrated a story about air ace Terry Wood's exploits over France in World War I and how he saved Captain Fuller's life.
(Combat Kelly I#23) - Kelly and Cookie encountered Chinese officer Colonel Fajen, who claimed a tattoo on his chest contained military secrets. Kelly and Cookie captured him but the tattoo was simply a poem. Fighting the Panther Lady, Kelly and Cookie killed her panthers and found capsules inside with copious information about Chinese agents in South Korea. They took the Panther Lady prisoner.
(Combat Kelly I#24) - Kelly narrated a story of a zeppelin attack on England in World War I that provoked mass panic but the British soon developed incendiary bullets to easily strike down zeppelins.
(Combat Kelly I#24/2) - The Panther Lady broke out of the stockade and dragged Kelly and Cookie behind the lines to kill them but she was prevented by Yalu River Rosie, who demanded the pleasure of killing them for herself. Before Rosie could kill them, Korea Katie intruded and demanded the right to kill them. Muktong Mollie then tried to claim the duo so she could collect the bounty on their heads. Finally General Olga tried to kill them. In the end all five women wound up fighting each other, ignoring Kelly and Cookie, who sat back, pistols in hand, enjoying seeing them fight.
(Combat Kelly I#20/4) - Kelly and Cookie were kidnapped by Korea Katie and interrogated to learn the whereabouts of arriving American VIPs. Kelly was tied to a wooden wheel while Katie threw knives at him but the wheel rolled off its base and Kelly escaped. The resistance fighter Koo untied him then supplied him with weapons so he could rescue Cookie from the cavern where Katie was torturing him. Once Kelly and Cookie got out of the cavern, Koo threw dynamite in to collapse it and kill Katie. Koo then revealed she was Katie's sister.
(Combat Kelly I#25) - Kelly and Cookie were caught by General Shang and jailed with Kathy Collins, daughter of Colonel Collins. Kathy helped them escape their cell using a hairpin and they sabotaged Shang's rockets, then escaped in a rickshaw back to friendly lines. Kathy gave both soldiers a kiss.
(Combat Kelly I#25/2) - Kelly narrated an adventure of sailor Ricky Pattini in World War I. Ricky's father Antonio Pattini was captain of a cargo vessel that was sunk by U-Boat K-29. Ricky enlisted in the Navy to fight the Germans but was caught by K-29. While the submarine was refueling, Ricky sabotaged the fuel line and destroyed the submarine and refueling ship while he escaped.
(Combat Kelly I#26) - Kelly and Cookie discovered a building housing various communist films. When they lit the building on fire an officer tried to save one film. Realizing it must be valuable they took the film from the officer and brought it back to Major Thorn; it turned out to be a Buck Duck cartoon reel!
(Combat Kelly I#26/2) - Kelly told the story of Mike Logan's adventures in World War I, which Logan had originally told to Combat.
(Combat Kelly I#27) - Kelly and Cookie tried to steal a map the enemy had showing locations of South Korean guerrillas. The enemy accidentally got their hands on a map showing the positions of their own forces instead and bombed their own agents.
(Combat Kelly I#27/2) - Kelly told the story of the German World War I air aces the Skull and Crossbones Circus, who performed suicidal attacks on Allied targets. Lt. Frank Lowen refused to fly against the Circus' Black Falcon until Captain Link Thorn was killed in the air. Frank shot down the Black Falcon, then revealed he had been hesitant because the Black Falcon was his brother.
(Combat Kelly I#28) - Kelly and Cookie saved Hak and Ling from being executed by Colonel Tong and the couple claimed to be South Korean spies trying to obtain secret plans which were tattooed on Tong's chest. Kelly and Cookie nabbed Tong but Ling killed Hak, claiming he was a traitor, then revealed she was working for North Korea and both she and Hak had the remainder of the tattooed plans on their bodies. Kelly and Cookie took Ling prisoner.
(Combat Kelly I#28/2) - Kelly narrated how in World War I after British and French cavalry rescued some US soldiers they returned the favor by using motorcycles as a contemporary cavalry charge.
(Combat Kelly I#29) - Kelly and Cookie were taken prisoner by the crew of a massive land-destroyer enemy tank but Kelly found the vehicle's weak spot and by removing a single bolt the entire tank fell apart.
(Combat Kelly I#29/2) - Kelly told the story of Sailor Smith and Tubby Allen's adventure battling a U-Boat during World War II.
(Combat Kelly I#30) - After Kelly and Cookie captured Hatong the villagers there assumed the U.S. forces would pillage them but over time saw they were different from the communists. The villagers ultimately offered to donate blood to help the U.S. forces.
(Combat Kelly I#30/2) - Kelly related how the two U.S. Black soldier divisions fought the Germans near the end of the first World War.
(Combat Kelly I#31) - Communist troops kidnapped Major Thorn but Kelly and Cookie rescued him and other soldiers from a prison camp then captured a train to get back to their lines.
(Combat Kelly I#31/2) - Kelly narrated how in World War I, Captain Jacques Petain died during a cavalry charge and asked Horgan to look after his daughter Paulette. Horgan was eventually given orders by a Captain Wallard who had the cavalry impersonate German riders to get behind the lines and release gas from the Germans' own stockpile. Wallard turned out to be Paulette, a grown-up and beautiful woman who was attracted to Horgan.
(Combat Kelly I#32) - Kelly and Cookie found Captain Chu had stolen the town of Mukyong's idol of Buddha in order to force the villagers to supply his soldiers with food and drink. Disguised as peasants, Kelly and Cookie fed Chu's men knock-out drugs then carried the Buddha back to Mukyong. The people of Mukyong made statues of Kelly and Cookie to honor them.
(Combat Kelly I#32/2) - Kelly recounted the story of Captain Benson leading Rainbow Division against the Germans in World War I.
(Combat Kelly I#33/2) - Kelly narrated how in World War I,
tank crews occupied bridges to prevent a German advance and one tank
ended up in combat against a German submarine.
(Combat Kelly I#33/4) - Fox Company was bedeviled by Foy-Yun's guerrilla tactics but the South Korean civilian Soo-Lu gave Kelly and Cookie aid in return for rescuing her mother and sister from Foy-Yun's camp. After liberating the camp, the South Korean took up arms and helped Kelly and Cookie defeat Foy-Yun.
(Combat Kelly I#34/3) - Kelly narrated how in World War I, German pilots began mounting machine guns on their planes, so French pilot Lt. Rene Boyau brought grenades with him to drop on German crafts.
(Combat Kelly I#34/5) - Kelly and Cookie were wounded in battle and tended by Lt. Mary Marvin. Kelly fell in love with Mary and when she accompanied them to the front lines, destroying a supply of Chinese ammunition en route, Kelly learned Mary was engaged to another soldier. Kelly was heartbroken.
(Combat Kelly I#35) - The communists unleashed a new missile weapon which could melt tanks. The missiles were kept at a base surrounded by a POW camp to prevent airstrikes. General Brown requested two men to rescue the POWs and asked all outfits for their best men; Combat Kelly and Cookie Novak were the two who were volunteered. Kelly and Cookie tunneled into the camp and rescued the POWs so the U.S. Air Force could safely bomb the facility.
(Combat Kelly I#35/3) - Kelly narrated the World War I adventures of Sgt. Pierre Latrec and Corporal Mike Bolan. Pierre and Mike saw the U-Boat Raider surface near the shore and snuck aboard it, sabotaging the submarine's torpedoes to leave them defenseless against Allied destroyers.
(Combat Kelly I#36) - Kelly and Cookie went behind enemy lines and destroyed the Chanchu Bridge. Pursued by enemy troops, Kelly and Cookie climbed up a lighthouse and hurled bricks at their enemies until most of the lighthouse was demolished and the enemies were unconscious.
(Combat Kelly I#36/3) - Kelly narrated how in World War I, pilot Brian O'Brian was about to engage in combat with a zeppelin when one of the passengers scrawled a note on the exterior of the craft revealing it was commandeered by POWs. O'Brian defended the zepplin and escorted the POWs home.
(Combat Kelly I#37) - Enemy troops captured Captain Flagg of Fox Company to use him as a hostage in order to pass safely through enemy lines. Kelly and Cookie captured three soldiers to force them to reveal where Flagg was held but the men refused to speak. Finally Fox Company's lieutenant agreed to let the communists pass through their line but he had Fox Company conceal themselves and ambush the kidnappers as soon as they came by with Captain Flagg, saving the officer.
(Combat Kelly I#37/3) - Kelly told the story of how "Sleepy" stole German gas cannisters during World War I and distributed them to German lines via an observation balloon.
(Combat Kelly I#37/5) - After capturing a mountaintop locale, Kelly and Cookie saw enemy tanks approaching. Capturing one of the tanks they used it to assault the other tanks then set off an explosion that collapsed the walls of the valley and buried the tanks.
(Combat Kelly I#38/2) - Major Thorn led Baker Company to destroy an enemy bridge but the defenses around the bridge were too heavy to break through. The company tried sending a raft of explosives to destroy the bridge but the guards shot it down before it could detonate in the right place. Finally, Kelly and Cookie suggested they pour gasoline into the river then light it on fire. This caused a blaze that completely consumed the bridge.
(Combat Kelly I#38/3) - Kelly told the story of World War I aviator "Flip" Foster and how he overcame his fear of crashing.
(Combat Kelly I#38/5) - While on patrol, Cookie was captured and brought to a hidden base behind a waterfall. Kelly rescued him by commandeering an amphibious tank from the enemy and driving it through the waterfall then jamming the entrance so pursuing vehicles would ram it.
(Combat Kelly I#39) - Kelly and Cookie used a rocket launcher to destroy several tanks, then derailed a train carrying several more tanks.
(Combat Kelly I#39/2) - Kelly and Cookie were captured and put into a POW camp. Kelly and Cookie assumed their fellow prisoner "Mousey" Miller was passing information about their escape plan to the camp's boss, Commander Chan, but he was actually collecting information which helped their escape. Miller stayed behind in the camp so he could continue to help others get out.
(Combat Kelly I#39/3) - Kelly narrated how in World War I the Germans stole horses from the U.S. lines to prevent them from bringing their caissons but the soldiers themselves drew the wagons to keep the caissons rolling.
(Combat Kelly I#40) - Mid-mission to destroy a train track, Kelly and Cookie were both injured and both lost their memories. Happening upon an enemy train track they destroyed it, then were injured again and regained their memories. When they saw the destroyed train tracks they wondered who was sent to do the job in their place.
(Combat Kelly I#40/3) - Kelly narrated how in World War I, British pilots Stan and Joe saw zeppelins headed to London so they used their plane's tail to slice the dirigibles apart.
(Combat Kelly I#40/5) - The village of Hasung was surrounded by Devil Posts, traditional wooden posts of devilish faces. The people of Hasung happily welcomed Kelly, Cookie and the rest of Baker Company in their village. When the communists attacked Hasung at night they mistook the posts for U.S. forces and shot them by mistake.
(Combat Kelly I#41) - While trying to hold the town of Karyoju against incoming enemy tanks, Cookie discovered a deposit of alkali so he and Kelly used it to mark enemy tanks with U.S. markings, tricking them into destroying their own tanks.
(Combat Kelly I#41/2) - Kelly and Cookie found a hidden communist base where aircrafts were being assembled. They destroyed the base, eliminating 20 MIGs. For this, the U.S. Air Force decorated them as though they were Air Force officers.
(Combat Kelly I#41/3) - Kelly narrated how in World War I, Private Harry Horgan was caught by the Germans but rescued by French woman Gigi, who used her beauty to lure Germans into her home, then tied them up in her cellar. Together, Harry and Gigi captured 40 Germans. They decide to get married.
(Combat Kelly I#42) - Kelly and Cookie liberated a farmhouse from the communists which contained plans for a mass attack. When the communists returned they found the plans and assumed Kelly overlooked them but Kelly actually made a copy and soon combined U.N. forces overwhelmed the communists in a huge confrontation.
(Combat Kelly I#42/3) - Kelly narrated the adventures of U.S. pilots Flip Foster and Dizzy Desmond in World War I. Unable to drop bombs inside a German-held tunnel, Flip and Dizzy fitted skis onto their plane so that it could skid across the snow and turned the plane into a giant explosive-delivery system.
(Combat Kelly I#42/5) - Cookie was captured by a Chinese patrol and placed inside a circular-shaped stockade. Kelly used a nearby stream to float weapons down to Cooke and the other prisoners to arrange a mass breakout.
(Combat Kelly I#43) - Under Lt. Banner's command, Kelly had to take Hill 313 from the communists. After avoiding boulders being rolled down the hill, Kelly and Lt. Banner and the men took Hill 313. Communist reinforcements come to retake the hill but Cookie had found a spring when digging his foxhole and Kelly used the water to make the hill a mudslide, preventing the communists from taking it back.
(Combat Kelly I#43/3) - Kelly narrated how in World War I, an amnesiac soldier in a U.S. uniform was wandering the battlefield. He encountered a German artillery outfit and was shot at, then began shooting back. He singlehandedly destroyed the German's big gun, allowing the US to advance. When approached by a US Sergeant he was knocked unconscious by him. When questioned by his Captain, the Sergeant replied that when he asked for his name, rank and serial number, the hero responded in German. He was a German spy sent to destroy the Americans' gun but had amnesia due to an exploding shell.
(Combat Kelly I#43/5) - Combat Kelly and Major Thorn were approached by Chu Lu who asked that they not destroy the village's temple. Major Thorn agreed. The Red Chinese had set up their artillery O.P. in the temple and Baker Company's efforts to take it failed. Since Thorn made a promise not to destroy the sacred shrine, the Americans retreated. Seeing the Americans retreat the communists came out yelling and celebrating. Unknown to them, not all of Baker Company left and enough remained hidden in the trenches to capture them and the temple.
(Combat Kelly I#44) - Kelly found a new enemy tank was completely invulnerable but Cookie got at the crew by inserting angry bees inside the tank. The crew exited the tank covered in bee stings.
(Combat Kelly I#44/4) - Kelly narrated how in World War I, Private Ted Wallach didn't see a reason to fight for France but after finding the orphaned French boy Felix and seeing how Felix's home town was destroyed he returned to the fighting and planned to adopt Felix.
(Combat Kelly I#44/5) - Kelly and Cookie were caught by the communists but two of them, Kim and Kam, were secretly spies for U.N. forces and helped Kelly and Cookie escape.
(Battle I#61/4) - Combat Kelly related a story about the men in World War I's trenches being menaced by a German plane but Captain Kellner downed the plane by getting everyone to throw their helmets at the craft.
(Battle I#62) - Kelly and Cookie escaped from 200 enemy
soldiers and found a cave filled with ammunition intended for an ambush
on a U.S. patrol. They turned the ammunition against the enemy to
destroy their tanks and pursuit party, then made their escape back to
their lines.
(Combat Kelly I#34/2) - Following the Korean War, Combat Kelly and Cookie Novak were assigned by the U.S. Army to serve as Military Police in the occupational forces of Berlin, Germany. One night the duo patrolled a railroad yard and discovered two spies robbing a train. The spies uncoupled a boxcar so it rolled at Kelly and Cookie's jeep, destroying it, then the spies escaped on a streetcar bound for Berlin's Russian zone. Kelly and Cookie reported on this caset to the Provost Marshall and when he asked if they wanted to continue working on the case they agreed. For several nights, Kelly and Cookie patrolled the railroad yards but didn't find anyone robbing the trains. Kelly decided they should change tactics and went one night to a warehouse, where they found the spies in the midst of a robbery. Once again the spies escaped aboard a streetcar but this time Kelly jumped aboard. Kelly caught the spies then held the driver at gunpoint, forcing him to reverse the streetcar into the U.S. zone. They delivered the spies to the Provost Marshall who was so pleased he promoted Kelly and Novak to the ranks of sergeant.
(Combat Kelly I#35/5) - While pursuing Fritz, a homeless boy who had stolen groceries from a general's car, Kelly and Cookie stumbled into one of Herman Goering's hiding places for stolen loot. A band of communist spies had also found the cache and wanted the loot for themselves. Overpwering Kelly and Cookie they tied them up but Fritz and other homeless children came to their rescue and reclaimed all of the Nazi loot. Presenting their findings to the general's office, Kelly and Cookie asked the reward for finding the loot be given to Fritz and the other chldren. The children excitedly declared that this made Kelly and Cookie their "father and mother."
(Combat Kelly I#36/5) - Kelly and Novak were on patrol one night when a German woman ran up to them with a briefcase containing a bomb that had just been left next to the army warehouse by men in a limousine. Kelly threw the briefcase at the limousine, wrecking the car but the men inside escaped. Kelly and Cookie brought the woman to the Provost Marshall to share her story and the Provost Marshall assigned Kelly and Cookie to continue the investigation. For three days they stood on guard at the warehouse but the saboteurs did not appear. To trick the saboteurs, Kelly and Cookie donned workers' clothes and posed as laborers repairing the street. When one of the saboteurs exited a car to plant a bomb at the warehouse, Kelly and Cookie pursued him. The saboteur ran back to the car and the two men fled but Kelly and Cookie commandeered a motorist and gave chase. Kelly fired his pistol at the saboteurs' car but seemed to have no effect. The car entered Berlin's Russian zone but one of Kelly's bullets had hit the bomb the saboteurs were carrying and set off the time mechanism, detonating the explosive which killed both saboteurs. Kelly and Cookie congratulated each other for their good work.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer (almost certainly Hank Chapman) and an unidentified artist.
Kelly's rank was mistakenly given as 'private' in Combat Kelly I#2/2.
As per his background in Combat Kelly I#1, Kelly received his nickname "Combat" in the Korean War; he and Cookie were later shown having adventures in World War II, but any references to him as "Combat" should be taken as an error-- although since Combat Kelly I#34 asserts the location there would be named "Combat Kelly Atoll," that's difficult to square. Continuity was not foremost on the creators' minds.
Stories narrated by Combat Kelly usually featured a paste-up of Kelly's head on the first page but otherwise the narration was very generic. Combat Kelly I#20/2, 23/2 and 26/2 are rare exceptions where Kelly has a personal connection to the events he's narrating (the first features his father, the latter two were stories he heard from one of the participants).
The majority of covers on Combat Kelly featured three-panel sequences where Kelly and Cookie would dispatch some enemies.
Following the cancellation of Combat Kelly due to the "Atlas implosion" when Marvel's distrubtor went out-of-business, a few Combat Kelly stories appeared in the series Battle. Strangely, some of these stories were altered to eliminate Kelly and Cookie's names and alter their distinctive features. Reskinned versions of Combat Kelly include "Nickie" in Battle I#60 and "Joe Morgan" in Battle I#61/2.
This profile was completed on 01/21/2026 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Hank Kelly alias Combat Kelly should not be confused with:
During World War II, the Japanese held Kawawa Atoll and built a stronghold atop a large stone mountain. After Combat Kelly came up with a novel means of sticking dynamite to the sides of the mountain so it would fall over, the atoll as captured by the U.S. Army. Captain Thorn then renamed Kawawa Atoll "Combat Kelly Atoll."
--Combat Kelly I#34
Corporal Kelly was Combat Kelly's father and served in France during World War I. After his arrival in France he heard the story of Sgt. Duval, a French soldier whose dog Satan had brought a message to Duval's squad through no man's land. Duval was fatally wounded helping Satan to safety. Corporal Kelly shared this story with his son Hank.
--[Combat Kelly I#20/2]
Not sure how this squares with the claim in Combat Kelly I#12/2 that Kelly was an orphan. Since that was in reference to Kelly's mother, perhaps his mother died in childbirth and he was raised by his father or other relatives?
The hill dubbed "Kelly Hill" was at first held by communist forces during the Korean War. The communists fortified their position with a large amount of ammunition supplies. When the U.S. Army under the command of Major Thorn came to capture the hill, the communists rolled anti-tank mines down the hill to U.S. lines. Impersonating a Chinese soldier, Combat Kelly commandeered one of the Chinese supply trucks and drove it to the top of the hill, then set off the explosives in the truck, decimating the forces atop the hill. As he rolled down the hill in a wagon to escape the explosion, Kelly broke his left arm. In honor of him, Major Thorn dubbed the hill "Kelly Hill."
--Combat Kelly I#14/4
images: (without ads)
Battlefront I#9, cover (main)
Combat Kelly I#5/3, page 3, panel 6 (face)
Combat Kelly I#2, cover (in action)
Combat Kelly I#37, cover (rifle grenades)
Combat Kelly I#34/2, page 1, panel 2 (MP uniform)
Combat Kelly I#34, page 1, panel 1 (Combat Kelly Atoll)
Combat Kelly I#14/4, page 6, panel 3 (Kelly Hill)
Appearances:
Combat Kelly#1 (November, 1951) - unidentified writer, unidentified
artist, Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#1/2 (November, 1951) - Hank Chapman (writer), unidentified
artist, Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#2/1,2 (January, 1952) - unidentified writer, Al Hartley
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#3-4 (March-May, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Joe Maneely
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#5 (July, 1952) - unidentified writer, Joe Maneely (artist),
Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#5/2 (July, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Joe Maneely
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#6-7 (September-November, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Joe
Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battlefront I#6 (November, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Al Hartley
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battlefront I#7 (December, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Al Hartley
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#8/1-2 (December, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Joe Maneely
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#8/3 (December, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Dave Berg
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#8/4 (December, 1952) - Hank Chapman (writer), Al Hartley
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battlefront I#8 (January, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Al Hartley
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#9/1,2 (January, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Joe Maneely
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#9/4 (January, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Al Hartley
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battlefront I#9 (February, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Al Hartley
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#10/1,4 (February, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Joe
Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#10/2 (February, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Al Hartley
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battlefront I#10 (March, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Al Hartley
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#11/1-2 (March, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Joe Maneely
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#11/4 (March, 1953) - unidentified writer, Al Hartley
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battlefront I#11 (April, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Dave Berg
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#12-13 (April-May, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Dave Berg
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#14/1 (June, 1953) - Hank Chapman (writer), Dave Berg
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#14/2,4 (June, 1953) - unidentified writer, Dave Berg
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#15-17 (August-December, 1953) - unidentified writer, Dave
Berg (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#18 (January, 1954) - Hank Chapman (writer), Syd Shores
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#18/2 (January, 1954) - unidentified writer, Mort Lawrence
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#18/4 (January, 1954) - Hank Chapman (writer), Russ Heath
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Combat Kelly#19-44 (February, 1954-August, 1957) - unidentified writer,
Dave Berg (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle I#61/4 (December, 1958) - unidentified writer, Dave Berg
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle I#62 (February, 1959) - unidentified writer, Dave Berg (artist),
Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 09/20/2026
Last updated:
01/21/2026
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!
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