Nick Peron

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War Combat #5

Combat Casey

Alone against the enemy, Combat Casey does not go down without a fight, going up against the enemy with guns blazing. When he runs out of ammunition Casey fights off his enemies using his rifles like clubs. However as he fights off Chinese soldiers, one gets up behind him and strikes him over the head with the butt of a pistol, knocking the American G.I. unconscious. When Casey comes around, he finds himself tied to a tree with another captured soldier: the bespectacled soldier named Penny P. Pennington.

Soon the commanding officers of the Chinese army confront the two soldiers to ask them for information about their troop movements. When they refuse to talk, the enemy decides to leave the two soldiers to bake under the sun. As the afternoon drags on, suddenly Penny gets an idea of how to free themselves: using the lenses of his glasses, Penny focuses the suns rays on the rope that binds them, eventually burning through them and freeing themselves.

They get the drop on the commanding officers and steal their car. As they drive back to American lines, they come across some camouflaged artillery cannons. The pair begin stuffing dirt into the barrels of the cannons and then run for cover. When the Chinese soldiers go to fire them, the jammed cannons backfire that destroys them in a massive explosion. Combat and Penny then ride the enemy car back to base.

Recurring Characters

  • Combat Casey

  • Penny Pennington

Continuity Notes

  • This story suggests that this is the first time Combat Casey and Penny Pennington have met. However, this is not the case as seen in Combat Casey #16 and onward which depict the pair fighting together during World War II.

Combat Casey

Combat Casey and Penny Pennington are in the middle of a battle with the enemy after being assigned guard duty to watch for communist night raiders. They lob grenades at their opponents. However, when the enemies are out of tossing range, Combat uses his rifle as a baseball bat to lob the grenades farther. When the enemies are decimated Casey agrees to come through with his promise to Penny to go looking for wild flowers.

While they are out looking for flowers, Penny tries to educate the uninterested Casey when they stumble upon some Chinese soldiers collecting insects from the forest. Casey tries to shoot them, but Penny stops him pointing out that they are collecting insects for germ warfare. The two silently follow the enemy soldier's back trail and finds their jeep with a keg of gunpowder in the back. Combat pokes a hole in it so when the Chinese soldiers leave they leave a trail of gunpowder being for them to travel.

They follow the trail to the laboratory where the Chinese are working on their germ warfare experiments. They knock out the sentries and go inside. They find a large number of aquariums filled with insects for experimentation. Before they can do anything they are discovered and have to fight their ways out. Fighting their way up a ridge and are pinned down by enemy fire. Unsure of what to do, the gunpowder on the ground suddenly makes Casey sneeze. Remembering the keg in the jeep, they light the pile of gunpowder. Soon there is an explosion from the lab that destroys it and kills all the enemy troops.

Recurring Characters

  • Combat Casey

  • Penny Pennington