Billy Kessler

Marvel Comics

Billy first appears as a boy held captive by Doctor Venom in Springfield. He refuses to leave with the Joes, wanting to stay and fight. Later, caught by Baroness and Major Bludd trying to obtain information on the Arbco Circus, they train him to assassinate Cobra Commander at a rally. Dressed in a Cobra Youth uniform and given a bouquet hiding a gun, he approaches Cobra Commander but is stopped by Storm Shadow and Destro.

Cobra Commander wants him killed, but Destro forces recognition of Billy as his son. Billy is put on trial and subjected to the Brainwave Scanner but does not reveal his co-conspirators. Storm Shadow defects, freeing Billy, and they flee to New York, living and training in a dojo hidden in a water tower. Billy later rides in a car with an intoxicated driver and Candy Appel.

The car becomes trapped in a battle between Cobra operatives and the Soft Master. Scrap-Iron destroys the car with a missile; Billy is the sole survivor but loses part of his left leg and his right eye, falling into a coma.

Devil's Due

After the first war with Cobra wound down, Billy managed to break free of his brainwashing, though the experience left him mentally unstable. He went into hiding in Scotland, but Spirit and Kamakura, Snake Eyes’ apprentice, found him and convinced him to help rescue Snake Eyes and Scarlett. Following that mission, Billy joined the G.I. Joe team and trained under Beach-Head. When Storm Shadow began to fight his own brainwashing, he reached out to Billy, who then alerted Snake Eyes and Kamakura.

The three went to Los Angeles, only to find Cobra Commander already there, working to re-brainwash Storm Shadow. During the fight, Cobra Commander shot and wounded Billy, and Storm Shadow appeared to fall back under Cobra Commander’s control. Later, Billy helped Storm Shadow battle the Red Ninjas in the second Master and Apprentice series, and Storm Shadow put him in charge of watching over them. During the World War III conflict, Billy let himself be captured and was brought before his father at Fort Meade.

Cobra Commander offered him a place, but Billy refused, overpowered the guards, and tried to kill him. Cobra Commander tricked him with an impostor and shot Billy in the neck with a poison dart. He had Billy’s body raised on a flagpole with a warning that no one was untouchable. When the Joes retook the base, Spirit told General Colton they needed to take Billy down because he was one of them.

IDW

In IDW's continuation of the Marvel Comics series, Billy remains loyal to Cobra through repeated Brainwave Scanner sessions, which he willingly endures, growing more unstable each time. Doctor Venom's memories and personality had been secretly loaded into Billy's mind via the scanner, letting the dead villain act through him. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, the latter now free of his own brainwashing, remove Dr. Venom from Billy.

Billy then aids them against a threat to the Arashikage Clan. He dies fighting the cyborg Blue Ninjas, who hate the Arashikage. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow bring his body to Cobra Commander for burial.