Jack Flag (Jack Harrison) is a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. He has occasionally appeared alongside

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

and has been a member of the

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Comic book teams 1969 team The 1969 version of the Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), Guardians of the Galaxy were the origi ...

Publication history

He first appeared in ''

'' #434 (Dec. 1994), and was created by

Mark Gruenwald Mark Eugene Gruenwald ( ; June 18, 1953 – August 12, 1996) was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler known for his long association with Marvel Comics. Career Early career Gruenwald got his start in comics f ...

and

Dave Hoover David Harold Hoover (May 14, 1955 – September 4, 2011) was an American comics artist and animator. He was most known for his art on DC Comics' '' The Wanderers'' and '' Starman'', and Marvel Comics' ''Captain America''. Biography Early lif ...

Fictional character biography

Jack and his brother, Drake, were members of

's computer hotline network. Together, they created a citizen's patrol group in their hometown Sandhaven,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. Several criminals attacked Drake; the attack left him unable to use his legs. After the attack, Jack and Drake discovered that the

Serpent Society The Serpent Society is an organization of snake-themed supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The society is a continuation of the original group the Serpent Squad and was later changed into Serpent Solutions. ...

had infiltrated their hometown and they had attempted to contact the local authorities. They found that law enforcement had been bribed by the Serpent Society. Jack, unhappy with this information, began training in martial arts and weight lifting so that he could fight the Serpent Society on his own. He took on a disguise becoming Jack Flag, an identity which he thought would make Captain America proud. During a bank robbery, Jack intervened and stepped on

Rock Python Rock Python (M'Gula) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as a member of the Serpent Society. He first appeared in ''Captain America (comic book), Captain America'' #34 ...

and Fer-de-Lance, members of the Serpent Society. Shortly after this, Jack attempted to infiltrate the Society, but

King Cobra The king cobra (''Ophiophagus hannah'') is a species complex of snakes Endemism, endemic to Asia. With an average of and a record length of , it is the world's longest venomous snake and among the heaviest. Under the genus ''Ophiophagus'', i ...

did not fully trust Jack. King Cobra sent Jack to steal a painting from

Mister Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is an 1886 Gothic horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between ...

, who severely beat Jack. During the battle, Hyde's chemicals drenched Jack and he developed superhuman physical abilities. After receiving his new powers, Jack easily defeated Hyde and retrieved the painting. Before returning the painting to King Cobra, Jack contacted Captain America's hotline and informed them that the Serpent Society was in Sandhaven. Impressed that he was able to defeat Hyde, Cobra tried out Jack as a new King Cobra. While Jack was undercover with the Serpent Society, Captain America, and his

protégé Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

Free Spirit Free Spirit or Free Spirits may refer to: Media * ''Free Spirit'' (TV series), a 1989–90 American fantasy sitcom * ''Free Spirit'' (film), a 1951 Argentine drama film * ”Free Spirit” (''The Outer Limits''), a 2001 episode in the 1995 ser ...

, showed up to aid Jack and defeat the Society. Jack followed Captain America and Free Spirit east, aiding them against

ULTIMATUM An ; ; : ultimata or ultimatums) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a coercion, threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the ...

AIM AIM or Aim may refer to: Computing * AIM alliance, an Apple-IBM-Motorola alliance * AIM (software), AOL Instant Messenger * Fortyfive, a Japanese software development company previously known as AIM Military * Abrams Integrated Management, an ...

, and Madcap. When Captain America believed he was dying, he charged Jac, Free Spirit,

Fabian Stankowicz Fabian Stankowicz is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been depicted as comic relief, a former supervillain foe of and then support crewmember of the Avengers. He first appeared i ...

, and Zach Moonhunter with maintaining his hotline.

Civil War

During the ''

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

'' storyline, Jack Flag is shown to be living a civilian life with his girlfriend Lucy in Cleveland, Ohio, but refuses to either register or throw out his suit and weapons on the basis of the

Superhuman Registration Act Superhero fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction examining the adventures, personalities and ethics of costumed crime fighters known as superheroes, who often possess superhuman powers and battle similarly powered criminals known as super ...

being "un-American". Growing frustrated with the police's slow response and lack of action about crime in his area, Flag intervenes when a woman is attacked outside his apartment building. Because of this, he is targeted by the Thunderbolts for violating the Superhuman Registration Act. Flag subdues the Thunderbolts, but is stabbed in the spine by

Bullseye Bullseye or Bull's Eye may refer to: Symbols * ◎ (Unicode U+25CE BULLSEYE), in the Geometric Shapes Unicode block * (Unicode U+0298 LATIN LETTER BILABIAL CLICK), the phonetic symbol for bilabial click Animals and plants * Bull's Eye, '' Eury ...

and paralyzed before being taken into custody.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Jack Flag is later shown leading the prisoners of the

Negative Zone The Negative Zone is a fictional setting, an antimatter universe appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The location is depicted in various publications from Marvel, most frequently in ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Captain M ...

prison against

Blastaar Blastaar (, ) (also known as the Living Bomb-Burst and Blasstaar) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #62 (May 1967). ...

's army, which he does from a wheelchair. After escaping with the

, Flag's spine is repaired by

Knowhere Knowhere (pronounced "nowhere") is a fictional location appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and in related media. It is depicted as the enormous severed head of an ancient celestial being and serves as an interdimensional ...

's medical staff. He opts to remain on the station rather than return to Earth, where he would be considered a fugitive. He later joins the Guardians as part of 'The Kree Team' during the crossover event "

War of Kings "War of Kings" is a comic book crossover storyline written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, published by Marvel Comics, and set in Marvel's main shared universe. The six-issue limited series was published between March

". He is part of a diplomatic team sent to the

Inhumans The Inhumans are a superhuman race of super beings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The comic book series has usually focused more specifically on the adventures of the Inhuman Royal Family, and many people associat ...

as the Guardians believe the Inhumans are naively endangering the galaxy with their war. Flag is still an active member of the team in "

The Thanos Imperative ''The Thanos Imperative'' is a six-issue comic book limited series published in 2010 by Marvel Comics. It was written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and was bookended by two one-shot comics, ''Ignition'' and ''Devastation''. The story focuses o ...

". During the ''War of Kings'' storyline,

Starhawk Starhawk (born Miriam Simos on June 17, 1951) is an American feminist and writer. She is known as a theorist of feminist neopaganism and ecofeminism. In 2013, she was listed in Watkins' ''Mind Body Spirit'' magazine as one of the 100 Most Spir ...

kidnaps Flag,

Star-Lord Star-Lord (Peter Jason Quill) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, the character first appeared in '' Marvel Preview'' #4 (January 1976). The son of human Mered ...

, Bug,

Mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate a ...

, and

Cosmo Cosmo may refer to: Business and media * ''Cosmopolitan'' (magazine), a magazine for women, sometimes referred to as "Cosmo" * ''Cosmo'' (book), 2012 short story collection * Cosmo On-Line, a Brazilian generic Internet portal * Cosmo Radio, ...

. They discover that the future is in a perilous flux due to the Fault, a massive tear in the fabric of space-time that was created by

Black Bolt Black Bolt (Blackagar Boltagon) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #45 (December 1965). Black Bolt is the ruler of A ...

detonating a bomb that ruptured the

dark matter In astronomy, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is implied by gravity, gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relat ...

holding the universe together. The Guardians stop the Fault from growing, but it remains open.

Captain America: Steve Rogers

Jack Flag later returns to Earth and is recruited by

Steve Rogers Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely Comics ...

to join

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism government agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, this agency first appeared in ''Strange Tal ...

and combat Hydra. He and Free Spirit travel to

Bagalia The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...

to deal with

Baron Zemo Baron Zemo () is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Heinrich Zemo and his son Helmut Zemo have both been depicted as a major adversary of Captain America and the Avengers, as well as the l ...

and his "New Masters". Flag ignores Rogers' orders to stay with Free Spirit and goes after Zemo himself. Rogers confronts Flag and throws him off the plane, seriously injuring him and rendering him comatose. Later, Rogers attempts to kill Flag by injecting him with poison until Free Spirit arrives and tells him that his family decided to disconnect him from

life support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform bas ...

Powers and abilities

After being drenched with Mr. Hyde's chemicals, Jack Flag gained superhuman strength, stamina, and durability. He is also a skilled martial artist and athlete.

In other media

Jack Flag makes a cameo appearance in ''

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ''Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy'' is a 2021 action-adventure game developed by Eidos-Montréal and originally published by Square Enix. Set in an original universe based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name, the game's plot ...

'' as an inmate of the Rock, a

Nova Corps The Nova Corps is a fictional intergalactic military and police force appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman, the Corps first appeared in ''Fantastic Four'' #205 (April 1979). They have since ...

prison which was overtaken by the

Universal Church of Truth The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...

References

External links

Marvel.com - Marvel Universe: Jack Flag
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flag, Jack Characters created by Mark Gruenwald Comics characters introduced in 1994 Fictional characters from Arizona Guardians of the Galaxy characters Marvel Comics American superheroes Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics male superheroes Marvel Comics martial artists Marvel Comics mutates Marvel Comics sidekicks United States-themed superheroes