Jack Frost is a fictional superhero appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

. The character first appeared in 1941 in ''

U.S.A. Comics ''U.S.A. Comics'' was an American comic-book series published by Marvel Comics' 1930–1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. A superhero anthology running 17 issues cover-da ...

'' published by Marvel's 1940s forerunner

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

, during the period fans and historians call the

Golden Age of comic books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known chara ...

Publication history

First appearing in ''

'' #1 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

d August 1941) from Marvel predecessor

, Jack Frost was one of the first creations of future Marvel editor-in-chief and publisher

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

, who collaborated with penciler Charles Wojtkoski. Another of the Jack Frost stories was written by

Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creations are ...

and drawn by Frank Giacoia. Attribution for the other stories has been debated. The character appeared in four issues (''U.S.A. Comics'' #1-4), before he was swept aside by a more popular headliner,

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

. Jack Frost outwardly recalls the folklorish spirit of winter

Jack Frost Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, ...

, with icy blue skin and blue shorts. His powers and appearance resemble Iceman, another Stan Lee creation who appeared twenty years later, in 1963's '' The X-Men''. Jack Frost's four stories were originally untitled, but comics historians refer to them as "The Origin of Jack Frost", "The Mechanical Octopus Pirates", "The Ambulance Racketeers" and "The Adventure of the Frozen Corpses". In addition to the four comics stories in ''U.S.A. Comics'', Jack also appeared in a two-page text feature written by Lee in issue #2, "When U.S.A. Heroes Meet!" In this story, there's a gathering at the home of Dan Kane (also known as the superhero Captain Terror) of that issue's heroes: Jack Frost, Rockman, the Whizzer, the Defender and the Vagabond. Jack makes friends with the other heroes, although at one point he does call them "a bunch of sissies". The group agrees to meet next issue and present the tale that they've decided is the best story of the month. The conceit was dropped, and the group did not reassemble in the next issue. More than three decades after Jack Frost's final appearance, Marvel launched ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invas ...

'' in 1975, an intentionally nostalgic comic featuring star characters from the Golden Age —

Bucky Barnes James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a Character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally introduced as a sidekick to Captain America, the character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby a ...

the Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of ...

and the Sub-Mariner — in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

-era adventures. Writer and editor

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly ...

wanted to expand the franchise, so he created a second superteam — the Liberty Legion — with a group of second-string Golden Age heroes including Jack Frost, along with

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

, the Whizzer, the Patriot,

the Thin Man ''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of ''Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main cha ...

, Red Raven and the Blue Diamond. Thomas said that he chose Jack Frost for the team because the character fit an archetype that Thomas was looking for: "I felt I should have a Sub-Mariner type and, in a way, Jack Frost kind of fit that bill", he said. He chose not to explore Jack's backstory, although there are indications that he may be an alien: "His background was vague in the original stories, so I wanted to keep it vague", said Thomas. Jack fought with the Legion in five stories in 1976. The team was introduced in '' Marvel Premiere'' #29 and 30 (April and May 1976), as well as an issue of ''The Invaders'' and two issues of '' Marvel Two-in-One''. The Liberty Legion returned for another four issues of ''The Invaders'' in 1978-1979, and then the team disappeared from the canvas. Thomas said that there were plans for a ''Liberty Legion'' series, but by that point, the sales figures on the ''Invaders'' comic were dropping, and Marvel decided against launching a spin-off. Frost came back for one issue in April 1991 — ''Captain America'' #384, "Lair of the Ice Worm" — and then went back into hibernation. He made another two appearances in 2009, in the Golden Age nostalgia series '' Avengers/Invaders'' #10 and 12 (June & Aug 2009).

Fictional character biography

Jack Frost resembles a young man made of ice, and can create and withstand extremely cold temperatures and generate large amounts of ice. The introduction in his first story implies that he is a mythical creature, a lonely figure existing in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

landscape: "The far north! Challenging! Mysterious! Foreboding! The land that no man really knows... in this great, frozen waste, surrounded by an eternal, deathly quiet, lives a person we have all heard of but few men have seen — the King of the Cold — Jack Frost!" This spirit was awoken by the cries of a dying prospector, who's been shot by a claim-jumper. In his final moments, the man pleads with Jack to protect his daughter in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and Jack — horrified by the crime — transports himself to America to confer with the police. They don't believe his story, so he determines to fight evil wherever he can find it. During

, he joined with other superheroes to form the team Liberty Legion and protect the United States from Axis home-front infiltration. The Liberty Legion was initially assembled by Bucky to rescue the

Invaders ''InVader'' is the fourth album by Finnish glam metal band Reckless Love, released on 4 March 2016 through Spinefarm Records. Track listing All songs written by Olli Herman, Pepe Reckless, and Ikka Wirtanen, unless otherwise noted. Reception Wr ...

brainwashed by the

Red Skull The Red Skull is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and its predecessor Timely Comics. The first version, George Maxon, appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 and #4. The main ...

. With the Legion, Jack Frost battled

Namor the Sub-Mariner Namor (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in early 1939, the character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc ...

and the original

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of a si ...

, and protected bystanders from shrapnel with an ice umbrella. Jack Frost was seen again in a 1991 issue of ''Captain America'', in which it was explained that he had sacrificed himself by melding with a powerful Arctic "ice-worm" monster, in order to neutralize it and keep it from savaging innocent people. Jack Frost was briefly freed during an encounter with Captain America, before willingly being swallowed by and joining with the ice-worm once more.

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...

speculates that Jack Frost may be the diminutive child of a

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern per ...

Frost giant.

Powers and abilities

Jack Frost has the ability to generate sub-freezing temperatures. Combined with ambient water vapor, he can create snow, sleet, and ice for various effects such as propelling snow flurries at hurricane wind-speeds or fashioning ice into various simple constructs such as spheres, bridges, or walls. He also has superhuman stamina and durability. Jack Frost has bluish-white skin that glistens from the glaze of frost that covers it. His skin temperature is .

Related characters

* In modern Marvel continuity, an unrelated, human scientist, Professor Gregor Shapanka, using technological means to generate incapacitating ice which he first planned to use to prolong life, became the

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are of ...

Jack Frost in '' Tales of Suspense'' #45 (Sept 1963). He was introduced as an

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, ri ...

of the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The cha ...

, as he was a former Stark employee who was fired for attempted robbery. He later took on the name

Blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling ...

References

External links

Jack Frost
at Marvel Wiki

{{Avengers characters Characters created by Charles Nicholas Characters created by Stan Lee Comics characters introduced in 1941 Fictional characters with ice or cold abilities Fictional World War II veterans Golden Age superheroes Jack Frost Marvel Comics male superheroes Marvel Comics superheroes Timely Comics characters