Jack Frost is a fictional superhero 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 ...

. The character first appeared in 1941 in '' U.S.A. Comics'' published by Marvel's 1940s forerunner

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

, during the period fans and historians call the

Golden Age of comic books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history 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 ma ...

Publication history

First appearing in '' U.S.A. Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated 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 author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

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

Carmine Infantino Carmine Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, 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 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 ...

. Jack Frost outwardly recalls the folklorish spirit of winter Jack Frost, 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'' in 1975, an intentionally nostalgic comic featuring star characters from the Golden Age —

Bucky Barnes James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a 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 and first appeared in '' ...

, the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner — in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

-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. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

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 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

, 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 ...

, 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 ''Marvel Two-in-One'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Fantastic Four member the Thing in a different team-up each issue. Publication history Original series The concept of teaming the Thing with a differen ...

''. 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). In a 2025 issue of the ''Scarlet Witch'' series, Jack Frost was finally rescued by the

Scarlet Witch The Scarlet Witch is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #4 in March 1964, in the Silver Age of Comic Boo ...

from within his ice worm prison.

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 (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and Jack — horrified by the crime — transports himself to America to confer with the police. They do not 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 An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

home-front infiltration. The Liberty Legion was initially assembled by Bucky to rescue the Invaders brainwashed by the Red Skull. With the Legion, Jack Frost battled Namor the Sub-Mariner and the original

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan Lowell Spencer "Johnny" Storm) is a fictional superhero character 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 ar ...

, 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 ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

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 as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

Frost giant. This was subsequently confirmed in ''Scarlet Witch'' vol.4 #8 (2025) wherein it is revealed he is the son of Buri & an ice 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, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

Jack Frost in ''

Tales of Suspense ''Tales of Suspense'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series, and two one-shot comics, all published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for s ...

'' #45 (Sept 1963). He was introduced as an

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.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 ...

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

, 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 Winter storm, 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 th ...

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