Jack of Hearts (Marvel Comics)
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Jack of Hearts (Jack Hart) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #22 (March 1976), and was created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Keith Giffen.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He starred in his own four-issue mini series and has been a regular character in the Iron Man comics as well as at one point being a member of the Avengers.
Jack of Hearts is the son of scientist Philip Hart (creator of "Zero Fluid") and an alien woman from the Contraxian race. As a young man, Jack was doused in Zero Fluid and gained super powers which he could not control. In an attempt to control his powers, Jack of Hearts built a containment suit that resembled the Jack of Hearts playing card. The lack of control became a recurring theme with Jack of Hearts, including his stint in the Avengers where he had to spend 14 hours a day in a containment room to prevent self-destruction. When his powers became uncontrollable he chose to leave Earth, exploding in space without harming any innocent bystanders.
The return of Jack of Hearts and the explosion that killed Scott Lang was the launching point of the 2004-05 "Avengers Disassembled". The character was resurrected as part of one of the Marvel Zombies mini-series where Zero Energy reforms into Jack of Hearts, bringing the character back to life. The Zombies were later defeated with the help of Jack of Hearts.
Publication historyEdit
Jack of Hearts first appeared in the black and white magazine The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #22 (March 1976), and was created by writer Bill Mantlo and illustrator Keith Giffen. He was presented as an antagonist for the superhero White Tiger but his origin story in the following issue established him as a hero. His debut appearance in a color comic book was in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #214 (Aug. 1977)<ref name="Back70">Template:Cite journal</ref> where he fights the Hulk. He later serves a brief stint as an ally and apprentice of Iron Man, becoming a regular cast member of the series during Mantlo's tenure as writer.
Jack has made various guest appearances in several books over the years, including Marvel Two-in-One, The Defenders, Marvel Premiere, (in a solo story meant to launch the character in his own series) ROM, and Marvel Team-Up, (which served as an intro to his 1984 mini-series) among others. He starred in his own self-titled, four issue limited series from January to April 1984.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
He was later made a regular in The Avengers by writer Kurt Busiek, who explained, "I first ran into Jack in The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu in an issue drawn by Gil Kane and Rico Rival. That great overcomplicated costume and the energy that Gil put into the storytelling hooked me, and I’ve been a fan ever since".<ref name="Back70"/>
Fictional character biographyEdit
Early lifeEdit
Jack Hart was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He is the son of Philip Hart, a scientist who created an energy source called "zero fluid", and Marie, a Contraxian alien. After being exposed to a vat of zero fluid, Jack underwent a mutagenic change and gained the ability to project concussive energy from his body. After gaining these powers, Jack began his mission of vengeance against the Corporation that killed his father. This led to Jack fighting other superheroes such as the Sons of the Tiger and the Hulk. He also fought the White Tiger.<ref name="Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #23">The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #23 (April 1976)</ref> Eventually, he killed Stryke, his father's killer.<ref>The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #31 (December 1976)</ref>
Later, Jack mistakenly fought Iron Man. Being new to super-heroics, he asked Iron Man to take him on as an apprentice, which he did, to show him the ropes. Jack teamed with Iron Man, Nick Fury, Guardsman, Jasper Sitwell, Jean DeWolff, and the Wraith, and battled Midas.<ref>Iron Man #103-108 (October 1977 - March 1978)</ref>
Being a heroEdit
Later, Jack moved past his mission of vengeance and became a true hero, working with various other superheroes such as the Defenders. Jack fought the Thing, who was under mental control of the Machinesmith.<ref>Marvel Two-in-One #48 (February 1979)</ref> Jack was then reunited with a college girlfriend named Marcy Kane (who was also a fellow graduate student of Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man). Marcy, a scientist, and S.H.I.E.L.D. offered to help find a cure for Jack's dangerous super powers. Jack fought some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and his powers were temporarily dampened by Spider-Man.<ref>Marvel Team-Up #134 (October 1983)</ref> Marcy turned out to be a Contraxian agent sent to Earth to find Jack. It was at this time Jack learned of his Contraxian heritage. Marcy took Jack to Contraxia, where he discovered that his powers had become much stronger, and saved Contraxia by energizing its dying sun. The Contraxians could not find a solution for Jack's unstable powers, and he left Contraxia to wander outer space in exile.<ref name="JoHLS">Jack of Hearts #1-4 (January - April 1984)</ref>
While wandering space he was captured by the Stranger. He later escaped captivity on the Stranger's planet.<ref>Quasar #15 (October 1990)</ref> Jack fought Quasar during his return to Earth; however, Jack exploded when his containment suit was breached in battle with the Presence.<ref>Quasar #19-20 (February - March 1991)</ref> Jack was retrieved from space, revived and mentally controlled by Moondragon, and he attacked Kismet.<ref>Quasar #28 (November 1991)</ref> The damage to his armor led Jack to seek aid from the Silver Surfer, who found an alien armorer on Anvil who designed a new containment suit for Jack. Jack then battled Nebula and Geatar.<ref name="Silver Surfer vol. 3 #76-78">Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #76-78 (January - March 1993)</ref> Shortly after this adventure, Jack fell in love with the alien warrior Ganymede, though she did not return his feelings.
In an effort to save R-76, an outpost manned by the Rigellians, Jack of Hearts was injured in battle with the Servitors. Jack was rescued by a team of Avengers, and succeeded in convincing the Infinites to restore R-76.<ref name="Avengers Infinity #1-4">Avengers Infinity #1-4 (September - December 2000)</ref> Subsequently, Jack and these Avengers were captured, first by the Shi'ar, and then by the Ruul acting under the orders of the Supreme Intelligence.<ref>Avengers #450 (December 2000)</ref> Jack and the Avengers eventually escaped to Earth and helped reverse a plan to have Earth consumed by Ego the Living Planet.<ref>Maximum Security #1-3 (November 2000 - January 2001)</ref>
Jack's return to Earth happened during the period known as the Kang War, and Jack of Hearts was accepted as a member of the Avengers, becoming the fifty-second superhero to join the team, though the traditional welcoming ceremony for new Avengers were deferred given the nature of the crisis they faced.<ref>Avengers #453 (March 2001)</ref>
Death and returnEdit
When his power levels began to increase beyond the capacity for his containment suit, Jack of Hearts chose to commit suicide rather than continue living in an isolated containment room for 14 hours a day. Jack took a child murderer who had abducted Cassie Lang, the daughter of Scott Lang (the second Ant-Man), along with him when he exploded in space.<ref>Avengers #491 (February 2004)</ref> Jack appears as a spirit and as a zombie before being revived by Jill Harper, who discovers a source of zero-point energy that assumes the form of Jack.<ref>Avengers #500 (September 2004)</ref><ref>Avengers #503 (December 2004)</ref><ref>The Incredible Hercules #129 (July 2009)</ref><ref>Avengers: The Children's Crusade #5 (June 2011)</ref><ref>Marvel Zombies Supreme #2-5 (May - August 2011)</ref>
Powers and abilitiesEdit
Jack Hart's superhuman powers are as a result of the mutagenic effect of his father's "Zero Fluid", combined with the alien genes from his Contraxian mother. He has superhuman stamina and durability. Jack of Hearts also has the ability to generate "zero energy" within his body and project it as concussive force or intense heat or as a propellant to fly. Jack is sometimes unable to exert complete control over his energies, however. For a short time after restarting Contraxia's sun, he uncontrollably radiated enough heat to melt one of Contraxia's polar ice caps.<ref name="JoHLS" /> He can survive unprotected in space. Jack of Hearts's brain has incorporated the artificial intelligence of a computerized device called the Scanalyzer, enabling him to think with the speed of a computer and store and retrieve information with a computer-like capacity and efficiency.
Jack originally wore a suit of armor crafted in medieval Europe.<ref name="Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #23"/> His second suit of armor was designed by Torval, and made from alien materials designed to contain the zero energy his body generates.<ref name="Silver Surfer vol. 3 #76-78"/> His original suit of armor was later restored and upgraded by Moondragon after Jack was rescued from space by the Avengers and thus leading to his connection with the team.<ref name="Avengers Infinity #1-4"/>
Jack is a fair hand-to-hand combatant, has had some S.H.I.E.L.D. combat training, and is a talented poet.
In other mediaEdit
Jack of Hearts makes non-speaking cameo appearances in Silver Surfer as a member of Nebula's crew.Template:Episode needed