YANKEE COMMANDO

Real Name: Lee Powell

Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-89325) human mutate (World War II era)

Occupation: Soldier

Group Membership:

Affiliations: Green Hornet (Britt Elijah Reid), Ikano Kato, Alpha One (Steve), Major Leland Case, unidentified doctor

Enemies: Baroness Gretchen Wagemüten, her SK (Schatten Kriegers/Shadow Warriors: Bruno Sprecht, Eric, Hanse, Lieutenant Doffel, others)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Alpha Two, Yank

Base of Operations: Formely Project Gladiator labs, beneath Kurtzberg Antiques, unidentified East Coast U.S. city

First Appearance: (as Powell) Sting of the Green Hornet#2 (July 1992);
   (as Yankee Commando) Sting of the Green Hornet#3 (August 1992)

Powers/Abilities: Yankee Commando is somewhere between ten and twenty times as strong as a normal man, with enhanced reflexes and endurance to match. He is bulletproof, taking several shots from a machine gun to the chest at point blank range without injury.

Height: 6'10" (by estimation - see comments)
Weight: 320 lbs. (by estimation)
Eyes: Gray
Hair: Black

History:
(Sting of the Green Hornet#2 (fb) - BTS) - A few years prior to World War II breaking out a genius doctor shook up the medical community with work on some adrenaline compounds he claimed might be able to unlock the body's true potential. The doctor believed his drug, Adrenaline Alpha, could augment a person's strength to twenty times its normal capacity.

(Sting of the Green Hornet#2 (fb)) - The United States Army decided they wanted in on Alpha right from the start, and formed Project Gladiator, with the doctor working on creating them powerful soldiers from a hidden lab underneath Kurtzberg's Antiques. Only two candidates were able to pass muster - Lee Powell, designated Alpha Two, and the blond haired candidate codenamed Alpha One. In 1942 they began undergoing treatment, beginning with a course of injections. Within weeks both men grew both in height and muscle mass, transforming from physical weaklings to powerhouses. The doctor had just given Alpha One his final treatment when Nazi spies working for spymaster Baroness Gretchen Wagemüten attacked Project Gladiator's hidden lab. The doctor was killed in a hail of bullets, but Alpha One swiftly avenged him, cutting through the assassins like a wild man. By the time Powell and the MPs arrived it was all over. Though the final injection meant that Alpha One was twice as powerful as Powell, the second candidate was still superhuman now. However, since the doctor had kept the formula in his head, his demise meant the project was finished. Less than an hour after the assassination headquarters had decided to reassign both men to different outfits and use them as special operatives. Alpha One was shipped out almost immediately, heading for Fort Dix, while Powell remained temporarily at the lab.

(Sting of the Green Hornet#2) - In the lab Powell was introduced to newsman Britt Reid (secretly also the Green Hornet) by Major Leland Case of Military Intelligence, who was employing Reid as a special investigator to hunt down Nazi spies. Since Reid had high level clearance, Case had Powell fill him in on the Project and recent events. 

(Sting of the Green Hornet#2 - BTS) - By the very next night Powell was given a costume and codenamed Yankee Commando, and assigned to protect a secret naval base hidden in Duncan's Cove, a few miles outside the city.

(Sting of the Green Hornet#3) - More of the Baroness' Nazi agents planned a surprise attack on the base, but thanks to the intervention of the Green Hornet and his partner Kato the alarm was sounded. Hearing the alert Yankee Commando sprang into action, confronting the Nazis on the cliffside above the base and throwing a smashed spotlight at them,, before punching his way through those who avoided his impromptu missile. The leader of the attack, Bruno Sprecht, shot Yankee Commando with a machine gun at point blank range, but merely annoyed him by putting holes in his newly issued uniform. Punching the Nazi agent, Yankee Commando accidentally killed him. Though Yankee Commando hadn't noticed them, the Green Hornet and his partner Kato slipped away quietly.

(Sting of the Green Hornet#4) - When the Baroness kidnapped President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Green Hornet tracked them to Seagull Island off the coast of New Hampshire, where they were waiting to be collected by a U-Boat. The Hornet and Kato alerted Major Case then infiltrated the island covertly by commandeering one of the boats the Nazis had been using. Case had Yankee Commando and a squad of soldiers immediately flown to Seagull Island. When their plane was spotted by her men the Baroness decided to shoot the President, but the two vigilantes stepped in. The Baroness ordered an immense Nazi, Hanse, to kill them both, and he swiftly got the upper hand against Kato despite the latter's martial arts expertise. Just before Hanse could kill Kato the Yankee Commando parachuted down nearby, and Hanse eagerly switched his focus to a foe more his liking. Hanse packed enough of a punch to stagger Yankee Commando, put proved less capable of taking the American's blows in return, and was swiftly knocked out. With the President rescued, Yankee Commando watched alongside the Hornet and Kato as a U.S submarine took out the just-arrived U-Boat. With the President safely on his way, Yankee Commando watched the captured Baroness being taken away; she vowed they'd soon meet again, but he told her "only on visiting days." As she was driven off Lee realized that the Hornet and Kato had also slipped away, leaving only him and Major Case to make their way home. 

Comments: Created by Ron Fortier and Jeff Butler.

   Now Comics' Green Hornet series executed one particular idea very well - their Hornet was the third generation of the character, active in the then present-day 1990s, but his two predecessors were the versions of the Hornet from the 1940s radio, comics and movie serials, and the 1960s one was the TV series version, complete with the right costumes for both versions. Thus every prior fictional incarnation of the Hornet were all fitted into a single timeline. Additionally, they acknowledged that the first Hornet's uncle was the Lone Ranger, and even provided an explanation for Kato's shifting nationality - for those who don't know, he began as Japanese but in World War II that naturally wasn't going to play well with the public, so they changed it and said he was Filipino; Now Comics explained this as Britt Reid pulling strings to get Kato fake documents so he wouldn't be interned.

   The success of their main series led to miniseries featuring the earlier Hornets. Thus Sting of the Green Hornet went back to the original during World War II. Of course, this isn't in any ways a Marvel title, but this profile should make clear why it is still getting some Appendix coverage, as Sting not only covered Hornet lore, but folded in a major Captain America-related subplot, and, as the subprofiles below show, a number of other nods, mostly to 1940s Marvel, but also to other pulps and DC.

   When Powell meets Britt Reid he's easily a full head taller. While we don't get told Reid's height officially, he's based on the 1940s version of the Green Hornet from radio, comics and movie serials of that era, and the actors who played Reid in the 1940s were 6'2" (Al Hodge on the radio) and 6' (Gordon Jones in the first cinematic serial) respectively.

   This profile was completed on 09/26/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event to represent

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Yankee Commando has no known connections to:

Alpha One

Alpha One, a.k.a. Steve, was the first candidate of Project Gladiator, and the only one to receive the full treatment before the doctor was murdered. After dealing with the assassins he was shipped out almost immediately to Fort Dix. While waiting for transportation down by the Bus Station, he spotted a group of men ganging up against a single opponent, Ikano Kato, so he decided to intervene. With his enhanced strength he threw one man into the others, knocking them all out, but then the Nazi spy (disguised as a U.S. general) that Kato had been following prior to the assault opened fire on both of them. Grabbing a nearby garbage can lid, Alpha One threw it at him, striking his legs and making him drop his weapon. Before they could pursue, he quickly fled. Kato and Steve introduced themselves to each other, and Kato thanked his new friend for his help.

Comments: Do I really need to spell out who this is?

--Sting of the Green Hornet#2

Shadow

The Shadow helped the Green Hornet investigate the Nazi saboteurs, saving them from being killed on Bruno Sprecht's orders and informing them of the Baroness' presence in the city, but because he had another urgent mission to attend to in Europe he had to leave them to handle things themselves thereafter.

Comments: One of a number of unofficial cameos in the story, he's not identified by name, but his methods, profile (with that large nose) and network of operatives don't leave any doubt as to who it is.

--Sting of the Green Hornet#1-2

Project Gladiator

Based beneath Kurtzberg Antiques, a very familiar looking lab.

--Sting of the Green Hornet#2

Unidentified doctor behind Project Gladiator

The doctor who developed Adrenaline Alpha and turned Alpha One and Two into super soldiers, before being slain by Nazi spies.

Comments: Clearly intended to be Professor Reinstein.

--Sting of the Green Hornet#2

Pierside brawlers

A group of sailors and pier workers were tricked into attacking Kato by a Nazi spy disguised as a U.S. Army general, before Alpha One intervened. Two looked somewhat familiar.

Comments: Thought the resemblance isn't as solid as in the other instances, possibly because unlike the other cameos this wasn't supposed to be the actual characters, just a nod to them, these two resemble Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan.

--Sting of the Green Hornet#2

Mention of a guy with winged feet

Two of the sailors at the Duncan's Cove base discussed a wing-footed man who could swim around and locate U-Boats.

Comments: Obviously a reference to Namor the Sub-Mariner.

--(mentioned) Sting of the Green Hornet#3

Unidentified reporters

Two unidentified reporters got an interview with the President when he was taking a train ride to Boston, just prior to the Green Hornet turning up, though unknown to them they actually spoke to a German imposter working for the Baroness.

Comments: Clearly Lois Lane and Clark Kent, with the "chief" mentioned being Perry White.

--Sting of the Green Hornet#3

images: (without ads)
Sting of the Green Hornet#3, p10, pan3 (main image)
Sting of the Green Hornet#2, p12, pan6 (headshot)
Sting of the Green Hornet#2, p13, pan3 (pre-transformation)
Sting of the Green Hornet#2, p18, pan1 (Alpha One)
Sting of the Green Hornet#2, p13, pan3 (Alpha One, pre-transformation)
Sting of the Green Hornet#2, p19, pan6 (throwing garbage can lid)
Sting of the Green Hornet#2, p2, pan1 (Shadow)
 Sting of the Green Hornet#2, p11, pan1 (Project Gladiator lab)
Sting of the Green Hornet#2, p13, pan5 (doctor)
Sting of the Green Hornet#2, p16, pan1 (Fury and Dugan)
Sting of the Green Hornet#3, p2, pan1 (mention of Namor)
Sting of the Green Hornet#3, p19, pan4 (reporters)

Appearances:
Sting of the Green Hornet#2-4 (July-September 1992) - Ron Fortier (story), Jeff Butler (plot, art), Joan M. Weis (editor)

First Posted: 09/28/2026
Last updated: 09/26/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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