Combat Kelly (2nd Series)

(Marvel, 1972-1973)
™ and ©1972 Marvel Entertainment Group

Combat Kelly was a brief-lived war series that ran between 1972 and 1973. Its premise is similar to the movie “The Dirty Dozen.” Here, a hard-fighting Irishman corporal named Kelly turns a group of military prisoners into an elite fighting force. Among their number were the suave Dino Manelli and the all-too-refined Englishman, Percy Pinkerton, two who were more famous as members of Sgt. Fury’s Howling Commandos.

Another of the Deadly Dozen was Jay Little Bear, a Mohawk Indian. Although his inclusion may have been seen as a progressive move on Marvel’s part at the time, it now seems hopelessly clichéd. For instance, his preferred weapon was a bow and arrow—even when fighting men armed with machine guns and grenades. On the bright side, his character did give Marvel a chance to voice concerns about the treatment of native Americans.

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