Jack of Hearts is back and its time he’s treated more seriously as a character, not just a joke or a punching bag.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for She-Hulk #1, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Jack of Hearts re-entry into the Marvel Universe in the back pages of She-Hulk #1 (by Rainbow Rowell, Roge Antonio, Roco Renzi, and VC’s Joe Caramagna) was surprising—the character has been seen as a joke primarily because of his Wonderland-esque costume. Putting the costume aside (although hard to do), Jack of Hearts, real name Jonathan “Jack” Hart, deserves to be taken seriously.
Created in 1976 by Bill Mantlo and Keith Griffen, Jack of Hearts acquired his powers when his mother’s alien DNA encountered a substance his father had devised called Zero Fluid. Jack of Hearts’ powers were uncontrollable, thus the reason for his costume: the Jack of Hearts design is a containment suit allowing him to control his abilities. Over and over, Jack would struggle to rein in his powers, sometimes fleeing into space to avoid mass casualties.
As a true hero, Jack’s powers come with struggle and pain. Along with the seemingly standard superpowers of stamina, durability, and flight, Jack’s ability to manifest zero energy allows him to generate intense heat. He once restarted an entire sun. Yet, this much power is outrageously volatile. Soon after restarting the Contraxia’s sun, he melted Contraxia’s ice caps. After this, unable to find a solution for his powers, he traveled space in exile. Ultimately, aided by the Silver Surfer, Jack was gifted a new containment suit. In a manner befitting his name, he has added to his abilities making him a jack-of-all-trades of superpowers. His brain has merged with an AI allowing him computer-level efficiency in knowledge recollection and processing.
Jack’s time as a hero was done alongside the best of the best. His initial foray into heroics came under the tutelage of Iron Man as an apprentice. Years later, the Avengers discovered him in the wreckage of a planet—his suit compromised, the zero energy in his body destroyed the planet and his attackers. Jack ultimately led those Avengers—a team composed of Starfox, Thor, Quasar, Moondragon, and Photon—into battle against the Infinites. Jack’s time during the 70s and 80s saw him alongside nearly every big name in the Marvel universe from Spider-Man to Hulk to Iron Man and more and even fought alongside the Justice League of America.
Yet, excluding the costume (which is comical from nearly any angle), Jack’s story and the hero he became wrestling with his own powers has earned him due respect. Jack is the epitome of Marvel’s banner: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Iron Man’s first encounter with him (the classic trope of hero vs hero on first meeting) had him conclude that Jack of Hearts wears armor to protect others from himself. Jack’s nature is protective of others primarily. Ultimately, as his powers continued to grow out of control, he’d flee one final time into space to explode his a burst of zero energy. Jack was ultimately reincarnated and used by the Scarlet Witch to kill Scott Lang and destroy the Avengers in Avengers Disassembled (by Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch, and Danny Miki). During Avengers: The Children’s Crusade (by Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, and Mark Morales), a time-traveling Jack would be essential in attempting to reverse the Avengers Disassembled tragedy by convincing Wanda to not destroy Scott Lang and the Avengers.
Jack’s role has been integral in the many events that have shaped the Marvel universe. As Iron Lad said in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade: “We need to start at the beginning . . . The day the Scarlet Witch brought Jack of Hearts back from the dead.” His role in events has been integral–Jack’s resurrection started Avengers Disassembled which led directly to House of M and the tragedy No More Mutants, along with a host of other significant events spilling out from them.
Now, he’s back in the pages of She-Hulk, having sought her out in her new apartment. Why She-Hulk? Jack and Jennifer were both with the Avengers at the same time. Jack saved her once and was critical in stopping her during a mindless rampage—one of his last efforts as an Avenger before his heroic self-sacrifice (excluding the Wanda-fueled time-traveling and reincarnation). As the caption says, Jack had been dead. Where he’s been is unknown although by appearances, he’s struggling to maintain his powers once again.
Yet, his appearance is not to be taken lightly. His return was glimpsed in Timeless #1 when Kang the Conqueror saw multiple futures and Jack of Hearts was seen alongside the description: “And a heart once thought lost beats anew.” Marvel is promoting his return to the pages of Fantastic Four as well. As a major figure in critical moments of the past, Jack’s role in the future needs to be watched carefully and he deserves respect as a truly serious character in the Marvel universe.
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