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The lighter side of Atlas war comics

Writer Hank Chapman was the same man who did many of Atlas' grimmest, grittier war stories. Artist Joe Maneely was Atlas' ace penciller and reportedly Stan Lee's best friend in the bullpen. Combat Kelly (did any soldier in a real war ever nickname himself, or get nicknamed, 'Combat?') is a vestige of the old wild Irishman stereotype, a relic of an era when a penchant for fighting made many a man lovable, at least in fiction. Despite the realistic violence and death above, Kelly's is often a slapstick war of superheroic stunts, the man himself is a bit of a meathead, and the book's tone, to be fair to Chapman, is tongue-in-cheek. This is most obvious (or most cheeky) when you consider Kelly's prime antagonists.

Above and below from COMBAT KELLY Issue 2.

No wonder the war dragged on, if North Korea, notorious for its autarchic austerity, secretly harbored an army of dragon ladies to ensnare the naively horny Americans. The lady in red above lures Yank yokels into captivity by pretending to protect other GIs. Kelly avoids the same trap only because he and sidekick Cookie had a ringside seat for the previous performance. Yet how can a he-man like Combat Kelly overcome these concentrated, weaponized female wiles. Were this a typical Atlas war comic, he'd probably kill them. But because he stars in what aspires to be an actual comic book, he relies on a strange, almost hidden charm.

Similarly, when Kelly's unit arrives to rescue him from the "North Korean WACS," they find him and Cookie jitterbugging with the Juche Amazons, having introduced them to swing music. I've only browsed through other issues, but they seem to show Kelly consistently engaged with Communist cuties of this sort. If that was Kelly's war, perhaps one can understand why he calls himself "Combat."

#1950s #comic books #atlas comics #war comics #joe maneely #hank chapman #combat kelly #korean war