 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) |
Jester is the name of three supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2014) |
The original Jester first appeared in Daredevil #42 (July 1968) and was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan. [1]
The second Jester first appeared in Cloak and Dagger vol. 3 #8 and was created by Terry Austin, Mike Vosburg, and Don Cameron. The Civil War: Battle Damage Report one-shot established this Jester's real name as Jody Putt. He also received an entry in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z vol. 6 hardcover.
| Jester | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Daredevil #42 (July 1968) |
| Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Gene Colan (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jonathan Powers |
| Abilities | Well-trained acrobat, hand to hand combatant and fencer Trained gymnast Minimally talented actor Possesses an arsenal of joke-themed weapons Use of armed miniature robots and a one-man submarine |
Jonathan Powers was the first of several costumed criminals to use the identity of the Jester. He was primarily an enemy of Daredevil. [2]
Jonathan Powers was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was a struggling actor with a huge ego who finally got his big break as the leading character in an off-Broadway revival of Cyrano de Bergerac . Panned by critics, jeered by the audience, and disdained by his fellow performers, Powers was fired after one performance. Obsessively, he continued to study the various arts and crafts that he thought would earn him roles, things like gymnastics and body building. He turned down suggestions that he should take actual acting classes, insisting that he already had more raw acting talent than anyone who had ever lived. Still, Powers was only able to find employment as a stooge in a children's television show taped in New York. [3]
Finally getting fed up with having pies thrown in his face, Powers vents his anger with society by turning his extensive training in gymnastics and fencing to a life of crime. Contracting the criminal weapons-maker the Tinkerer to make him a number of gimmicks, Powers fashions himself a harlequin-like disguise and calls himself the Jester. [4] After gaining some notoriety as a professional thief, the Jester is hired by Richard Raleigh to get Foggy Nelson to resign his campaign for district attorney. This brings the Jester into conflict with Daredevil, who continues trying to apprehend him, even after they find Raleigh dead. Angered by Daredevil's persistence, he vows revenge. [3]
In his civilian guise as Jonathan Powers, he stages his own murder at the hands of Daredevil. [5] However, Daredevil clears his name by defeating and then unmasking the Jester on live television, demonstrating that his "victim" was still alive. [6] He later escapes prison and teams up with two fellow enemies of Daredevil, the Cobra and Mister Hyde, for revenge. They lure Daredevil to an amusement park, but he defeats and apprehends them there. [7]
The Jester later kidnaps an inventor of computer-generated video and uses his invention to broadcast false news reports smearing Foggy Nelson's re-election campaign and undermining public trust in the government and the media. Though he succeeds in making Nelson lose his post as district attorney, his plan to take over the city and execute Daredevil for murder are foiled by Daredevil and new district attorney Blake Tower. [8] While in prison, the Jester falls under the mental control of the Purple Man, along with the Cobra, Mister Hyde and the Gladiator. The Purple Man forces them all to attack Daredevil and Paladin. [9] He later battles the Moon Knight and Daredevil as well. [10]
After escaping prison, the Jester kidnaps an actor portraying Cyrano de Bergerac on live television and takes his place. His performance is a success with the audience. When he afterwards learns that Daredevil was diverting the police's attention so that he could finish his performance, he voluntarily surrenders. [11] Later, Powers allows himself to be the host of a demon, gaining great strength in the process. When the demon leaves him, Powers is apparently left comatose. [12]
The Jester later collaborated with Screwball when they started a web show called "Jested". Their first episode had them doing a prank on Mayor J. Jonah Jameson. After that happened, both of them are tracked down by the Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus' mind in Spider-Man's body) and (after performing a series of pranks on the Superior Spider-Man himself) are brutally defeated by him. [13]
During the Civil War II storyline, Powers apparently retires from his former role until he is arrested as part of an entrapment operation set up by undercover police officers and an informant, despite the fact that all he was doing was talking about his old days rather than actually planning a crime. Despite the She-Hulk making a passionate argument about the need to believe in redemption and not condemn someone for their thoughts, Powers is sentenced to prison, where he is shot by a prison guard during a riot a couple of days later. [14]
During the Spider-Men II miniseries, the Jester turns up alive. During his recent criminal activities, the Jester was defeated by Jessica Jones and the She-Hulk. [15]
| Jester | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Cloak and Dagger vol. 3 #8 (November 1989) |
| Created by | Terry Austin Mike Vosburg Don Cameron |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jody Putt |
| Team affiliations | the Assembly of Evil the Thunderbolts |
| Abilities | Possesses an arsenal of weaponry |
Jody Putt is a fan of supervillains who obtained the costume of the original Jester after he retired to become an actor. He was given his weaponry by Doctor Doom. Among the arsenal granted to him by Doom was the "long-lived" Hulk Robot created years prior by a pair of college students and the Eternal Uni-Mind. The Jester recruited a team of villains made up of himself, the Hulk Robot, the Fenris twins, Hydro-Man, and Rock of the Hulkbusters to form the Assembly of Evil. The team was defeated by Cloak and Dagger and several intervening Avengers. [16]
The Jester appeared during the superhero Civil War as a member of the Thunderbolts Army. As part of the Thunderbolts Army, the Jester was among the supervillains who helped capture unregistered heroes. The Jester did this due to nanobots in his system, which would electrocute him if he did not do as he was told. [17] The Jester and Jack O'Lantern are sent to bring in Spider-Man. They pursue the hero through the sewers. Spider-Man ends up badly injured and subdued as the two move in for the kill. Both Jack O' Lantern and the Jester are then shot dead by the Punisher. [18] This fight and these deaths are also detailed in the Punisher: War Journal title. [19]
Mister Hyde later exhumed the Jester's body to find a way around the nanotechnology. [20]
| Jester | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | (Earth-238): Marvel Superheroes #377 (September 1981) (Earth-616): The Mighty World of Marvel #10 (March, 1984) |
| Created by | (Earth-238): David Thorpe Paul Neary Alan Davis (Earth-616): Alan Moore Alan Davis |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | the Crazy Gang |
| Notable aliases | the Clown |
| Abilities | Highly skilled acrobat, fencer and kickboxer Carries a fencing foil |
Captain Britain was sent to an alternate Earth, known as Earth-238, by Merlyn. Together with Saturnyne, he hoped to save this world from the corruption that threatened it. Instead they encountered Earth-238's Mad Jim Jaspers, a lunatic with the ability to warp reality. Serving Jaspers was the Crazy Gang, which included the Jester.[ volume & issue needed ]
The Jester, also known as the Clown, is a very agile fighter and sometimes the self-proclaimed leader of the Crazy Gang. His Earth-238 counterpart was known as Coco. This group of superhumans were based on characters from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass . Captain Britain and Saturnyne individually managed to escape this Earth. Jaspers and the Crazy Gang, including the Jester, were killed when Earth-238 was destroyed by Saturnyne's successor, Mandragon.[ volume & issue needed ]
Jonathan Powers is an athletic man with no superhuman abilities. His main weapons are a set of various joke gimmicks converted into deadly weapons, designed by the Tinkerer. He used a variety of modified toys and gimmicks, including a yo-yo with a weighted knob and steel cable which emits earsplitting sounds when whirled at high speed; ball bearing marbles; exploding gas-filled "popcorn"; plastic flying discs which squirt an anesthetic drug; rubber balls containing plastic explosives; an extendable artificial hand equipped with an electrical charge; an artificial hand that can be fired from a small air-cannon; and other devices. Powers also employed 2-foot-tall (0.61 m) miniature robots, equipped with items such as laser weaponry and diamond drill-bits, which were remotely controlled by a radio-linked microprocessor. He also employed a specially designed one-man submarine. Powers is a well-trained acrobat, hand-to-hand combatant and fencer. He is trained in gymnastics and is also a minimally talented actor.
Jody Putt has no superpowers, but possesses an arsenal of weaponry given to him by Doctor Doom.
The Crazy Gang's Jester has no superhuman powers, but he is a highly skilled acrobat, fencer and kickboxer, and carries a fencing foil.
The Jonathan Powers incarnation of Jester appears in the Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur episode "Make It, Don't Break It" voiced by Kalen Aris Whitfield. [21]
Robert "Robbie" Baldwin is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist Steve Ditko and writer Tom DeFalco, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22 originally known as Speedball, as well as in Civil War: Front Line #10 as Penance.
The Thunderbolts are an antihero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team consists mostly of reformed supervillains. Created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, the team first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #449.
Armadillo is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
The Fixer is the name of two characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics: Roscoe Sweeney and Paul Norbert Ebersol.
The Cobra is the name of a number of different fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Abner Ronald Jenkins, also known as the Beetle, MACH-1, MACH-2, MACH-3, MACH-IV, MACH-V, MACH-VII and MACH-X, is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Carl Burgos, he debuted in Strange Tales #123 as the original Beetle, a supervillain wearing an armor plated, mechanical suit he had designed himself after growing frustrated with his ordinary job as an aircraft mechanic and deciding to turn to crime. Although in his first appearance he fought the Human Torch and the Thing of the Fantastic Four, later storylines established Jenkins as a recurring foe of Spider-Man, usually working as a henchman for various criminal organizations opposing the hero. Jenkins later formed his own criminal organization known as the Sinister Syndicate.
Mister Hyde is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck, the character first appeared in Journey into Mystery #99. Calvin Zabo is a supervillain known under the codename of Mister Hyde. He is the father of the superhero Daisy Johnson. The character has also been a member of the Masters of Evil.
The Executioner is the name of different fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Blizzard is the name of different fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, who are primarily enemies of Iron Man.
The Wrecking Crew is a team of four supervillains—the Wrecker, Bulldozer, Piledriver and Thunderball—appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. While not featured on the cover, the Wrecking Crew's first appearance is in The Defenders #17.
Doc Samson is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as a superhero and psychiatrist in the Marvel Universe, known as a supporting character in stories featuring the Hulk.
Jaspers' Warp, sometimes referred to as Crooked World, is a superhero comic book storyline from the British Captain Britain strip printed across several Marvel UK titles between 1981 and 1984.
The Wrecker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Radioactive Man is the name of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation of Radioactive Man, Chen Lu, first appeared in Journey into Mystery #93. The second incarnation, Igor Stancheck, debuted in Black Panther vol. 4 #3.
The U-Foes is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as enemies of the Hulk. The group consists of four members: Vector, the group's leader, who can repel matter telekinetically; Vapor, who can transform into any form of gaseous matter; X-Ray, who can generate and project radiation and fly; and Ironclad, who has a metallic body and can control his density.
Mandrill is a fictional mutant supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
The Man-Bull is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Stan Lee and Bill Everett | |||||||
| Supporting characters |
| ||||||
| Antagonists |
| ||||||
| Other versions | |||||||
| Publications | |||||||
| Storylines | |||||||
| Other media |
| ||||||
| Early British works | |
|---|---|
| DC Comics | |
| Image Comics / Awesome Comics | |
| America's Best Comics | |
| Avatar Press |
|
| Miscellaneous | |
| Comics based on Moore's prose | |
| Books | |
| Spoken word CDs | |
| Other | |
| Related people | |
