History:
(Battle I#4/2 (fb) - BTS) - After the Korean War broke out, Irishman
Timothy O'Toole enlisted as buck private. He was sent to the frontlines
of the conflict, serving alongside Ham Johnson and Dave Greenberg.
PRIVATE TIMOTHY O'TOOLE
Real Name: Timothy O'Toole
Identity/Class: Human (Post-World War II Era) (Irish-American)
Occupation: US Army Soldier
Group Membership: US Army
Affiliations: Captain Bissel, Jean Cooley, Lana Gardner, Dave Greenberg, Ham Johnson
Enemies: Chinese army
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Korea (during the Korean War)
First Appearance: Battle I#4 (September, 1951)
Powers/Abilities: Timothy O'Toole was a courageous soldier usually armed with a rifle, pistol, knife and grenades. He was an excellent shot with a rifle and adept as a hand-to-hand combatant. He also had a strong sense of leadership, particularly in convincing his friends Ham and Dave to follow his ideas.
Height: 6'0" (by approximation)
Weight: 180 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brownish-red
History:
(Battle I#4/2 (fb) - BTS) - After the Korean War broke out, Irishman
Timothy O'Toole enlisted as buck private. He was sent to the frontlines
of the conflict, serving alongside Ham Johnson and Dave Greenberg.
(Battle I#4/2) - O'Toole was just complaining that the only problem with the war was that there were no "dames" when war correspondent Jean Cooley arrived in a jeep to see Captain Bissel. Instantly struck by her beauty, O'Toole approached her and offered to escort her to Captain Bissel, although he claimed that he could tell her anything she wanted to know. Just as they reached Captain Bissel's tent, the communist forces attacked. While Captain Bissel ferried Jean to the trees, Tim and his comrades fought off a wave of enemy soldiers. Returning to Bissel and Jean, O'Toole opined that they should head north to their camp. Bissel ignored him then gave the same order.
Dave, Ham and O'Toole scouted the area around the camp and found it full of enemy troops. O'Toole's scouting skills were somewhat hampered by his constant leering at Jean. Ham and Dave asked O'Toole what they should do next and he suggested they travel south and scout for where their line was thinnest so they could break through and rejoin their lines. Again, Bissel gave the same order. O'Toole, Ham and Dave shot down a troop of enemy soldiers then O'Toole insisted on escorting Jean but Bissel was shot while O'Toole did this. Dave pointed out Bissel was pinned down by three enemy soldiers so O'Toole went back and brought them down with a grenade and some quick marksmanship.
As Jean found herself exhausted from the journey, Bissel offered to carry her but O'Toole insisted he assume that honor, even when Bissel ordered him otherwise. They finally reached the camp and O'Toole went to his quarters to shave and don a clean uniform. Bearing flowers, he went to see Jean but found her embracing Bissel in a kiss. Bissel then put O'Toole on K.P. duty. O'Toole angrily threw the flowers he was holding at Ham and Dave and demanded no one talk to him about dames again.
(Battle I#5/3) - O'Toole, Ham and Dave were assigned to lay a communications line from their headquarters to the village of Chung-Pin. When they reached Chung-Pin, they decided to look around as the communists had only been driven from the town during the previous week. Discovering a lot of abandoned food and drink, O'Toole proposed they enjoy the spoils of war, taking personal delight in discovering a cache of ketchup. However, Dave noticed the line they had set wasn't receiving from headquarters so Ham left the others to go back over the line and learn what the problem was.
While O'Toole and Dave feasted on the left over food, communist forces rolled back into Chung-Pin to recapture the town. O'Toole noticed with some interest that the communists had a captured an US female nurse in their custody. Searching for equipment they could use to rescue the nurse, O'Toole and Dave found boxes of dynamite and women's clothing. O'Toole hatched a plan: he and Dave wold dress up as women then set the dynamite with a 10-minute fuse. By pretending to be women, they lulled two of the communist soldiers into following them out of sight of the other soldiers then punched them out, stole their uniforms and put them on. The two of them grabbed the nurse and stole off with her in an enemy jeep. The dynamite exploded to help cover their escape. As Dave drove, O'Toole seemed to have collapsed from a mortal wound so the nurse kissed him to make him comfortable. However, when they arrived back at headquarters, O'Toole revealed he had been carrying a bottle of ketchup which was struck by a bullet, soaking his uniform red. O'Toole and Dave were put in the guardhouse for being out of uniform. O'Toole simply relaxed and read an issue of War Comics.
(Battle I#6/2) - O'Toole was asleep in his foxhole and dreaming of Lana Gardner when an enemy troop entered the foxhole to to knife him to death. When O'Toole grabbed the soldier as though he were Lana, he suddenly woke up and sounded the alarm. After fighting off the attack, O'Toole's squad were told by their colonel that a group of U.S.O. entertainers led by Lana Gardner were coming to their base. The colonel then took O'Toole aside and told him he had only one clean uniform left and wanted to wear it to greet Lana when she arrived and he escorted her to the base. Thus, O'Toole was assigned to protect the colonel's clean uniform.
As O'Toole journeyed to the airfield in the colonel's jeep, word came in that enemy forces were near the airfield. Pulling up a distance from the airfield, the colonel commanded A Company to drive out the enemy forces. O'Toole intended to join them but the colonel reminded him that his only duty was to guard his uniform. O'Toole remained with the jeep but as the battle continued, additional enemy forces began advancing on the jeep. O'Toole went into battle and successfully drove off all the enemy forces without allowing any harm to befall the colonel's uniform. The colonel was so impressed by O'Toole's actions that he promised he would introduce O'Toole to Lana. Lana's plane finally came in for a landing as O'Toole drove the jeep down to the airfield but when O'Toole saw Lana stepping off the plane, he stopped paying attention to the road and hit a tree; the colonel fell from the jeep and muddied his uniform. The colonel had O'Toole locked up in the guardhouse during Lana's visit as punishment.
Comments: Created by an unknown writer and Joe Maneely.
A war comic book series with a whimsical tone; the leads often emerge from battles with their shirts torn but no physical wounds; the cast includes a handsome man who is always lusting after women, a black man and a Jewish man. Yeah, Tim O'Toole was ahead of his time! By about 12 years.
This profile was completed 7/15/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Tim O'Toole should not be confused with:
Captain Bissel was a recent graduate of West Point who was assigned to lead the squad which included Timothy O'Toole, Ham Johnson and Dave Greenberg. Despite his superior military tactical training, O'Toole repeatedly came up with the same plans as Bissel independently. When Jean Cooley came to interview Bissel, the squad was attacked by communist forces. Bissel kept trying to shield Jean from danger but O'Toole repeatedly put himself between them. Bissel received an injury in his arm but still insisted he carry Jean when she became exhausted. Despite all the attention, O'Toole lavished on Jean; she ultimately fell in love with Bissel and ended up in his arms. Bissel vindictively sentenced O'Toole to K.P. duty.
--Battle I#4/3
Jean Cooley was a war correspondent for the Post-Telegram who was sent to see Captain Bissel on the front lines. When O'Toole beheld Jean, he quickly offered to escort her. As a firefight broke out, O'Toole took time again and again to defend Jean and carry her through the wild as they retreated south. However, Jean wasn't attracted to O'Toole; she was romantically interested in Captain Bissel and started dating him when they reached their camp.
--Battle I#4/3
Lana Gardner was a famous movie star who came to Korea for a U.S.O. show. O'Toole's colonel was looking forward to meeting her and O'Toole took extreme care to ensure his best suit would remain clean but the moment O'Toole saw Lana step off a plane, he stopped paying attention to where he was driving and ran his jeep into a tree, spoiling the colonel's uniform.
--Battle I#6/2
Her name is an obvious combination of actresses Lana Turner and Ava Gardner.
Outside of a dream sequence, she appeared only in silhouette.
Private Dave Greenberg was a Jewish soldier who served alongside Timothy O'Toole during the Korean War. When Dave accompanied O'Toole and Ham in setting up a communications line from headquarters to Chung-Pin, he wound up staying in Chung-Pin with O'Toole to enjoy a dinner. When enemy forces entered the town, Dave had to follow O'Toole's plan to masquerade as a woman, then as an enemy soldier in order to rescue a nurse. Dave was punished for being out of uniform and put in the guardhouse with O'Toole. When Lana Gardner came to the base, Dave was amused to see O'Toole went to the guardhouse for dirtying their colonel's uniform.
--Battle I#4/3 (#5/3, 6/2
Private Ham Johnson was a black soldier who served alongside Timothy O'Toole during the Korean War. Ham was rather more level-headed than O'Toole and tended to comment dryly on O'Toole's wild ideas. During their mission to lay a communications line from headquarters to Chung-Pin, Ham left Dave and O'Toole to find out why the line wasn't working, thus avoiding the encounter with communist forces which O'Toole and Dave had to deal with. When Lana Gardner came to the base, Ham was amused to see O'Toole went to the guardhouse for dirtying their colonel's uniform.
--Battle I#4/3 (#5/3, 6/2
images: (without ads)
Battle I#4/2, page 1, panel 1 (O'Toole, main)
Battle I#4/2, page 1, panel 2 (O'Toole, headshot)
Battle I#4/2, page 2, panel 3 (Bissel)
Battle I#4/2, page 2, panel 4 (Jean)
Battle I#6/2, page 1, panel 1 (Lana)
Battle I#5/3, page 2, panel 5 (Dave)
Battle I#4/2, page 3, panel 4 (Ham)
Appearances:
Battle I#4/2 (September, 1951) - unknown writer, Joe Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle I#5/3 (November, 1951) - unknown writer, Joe Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Battle I#6/2 (January, 1952) - unknown writer, Joe Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 09/30/2021
Last updated:
09/29/2021
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!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to http://www.g-mart.com/ for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!