Jack of Hearts (Marvel Comics)

Jack of Hearts (Jack Hart) is a

Jack of Hearts is the son of scientist Philip Hart (creator of "Zero Fluid") and an alien woman from the Contraxian race. As a young man, Jack was doused in Zero Fluid and gained super powers which he could not control. In an attempt to control his powers, Jack of Hearts built a containment suit that resembled the Jack of Hearts playing card. The lack of control became a recurring theme with Jack of Hearts, including his stint in the Avengers where he had to spend 14 hours a day in a containment room to prevent self-destruction. When his powers became uncontrollable he chose to leave Earth, exploding in space without harming any innocent bystanders.

The return of Jack of Hearts and the explosion that killed Scott Lang was the launching point of the 2004-05 "Avengers Disassembled". The character was resurrected as part of one of the Marvel Zombies mini-series where Zero Energy reforms into Jack of Hearts, bringing the character back to life. The Zombies were later defeated with the help of Jack of Hearts.

Jack of Hearts first appeared in the black and white magazine The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #22 (March 1976), and was created by writer Bill Mantlo and illustrator Keith Giffen. He was presented as an antagonist for the superhero White Tiger but his origin story in the following issue established him as a hero. His debut appearance in a color comic book was in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #214 (Aug. 1977)^[2] where he fights the Hulk. He later serves a brief stint as an ally and apprentice of Iron Man, becoming a regular cast member of the series during Mantlo's tenure as writer.

Jack has made various guest appearances in several books over the years, including

He was later made a regular in The Avengers by writer Kurt Busiek, who explained, "I first ran into Jack in The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu in an issue drawn by Gil Kane and Rico Rival. That great overcomplicated costume and the energy that Gil put into the storytelling hooked me, and I’ve been a fan ever since".^[2]

Jack Hart was born in

Later, Jack mistakenly fought Iron Man. Being new to super-heroics, he asked Iron Man to take him on as an apprentice, which he did, to show him the ropes. Jack teamed with Iron Man, Nick Fury, Guardsman, Jasper Sitwell, Jean DeWolff, and the Wraith, and battled Midas.^[6]

Later, Jack moved past his mission of vengeance and became a true hero, working with various other superheroes such as the

Jack's return to Earth happened during the period known as the Kang War, and Jack of Hearts was accepted as a member of the Avengers, becoming the fifty-second superhero to join the team, though the traditional welcoming ceremony for new Avengers were deferred given the nature of the crisis they faced.^[17]

When his power levels began to increase beyond the capacity for his containment suit, Jack of Hearts chose to commit suicide rather than continue living in an isolated containment room for 14 hours a day. Jack took a child murderer who had abducted

Jack Hart's superhuman powers are as a result of the mutagenic effect of his father's "Zero Fluid", combined with the alien genes from his Contraxian mother. He has superhuman stamina and durability. Jack of Hearts also has the ability to generate "zero energy" within his body and project it as concussive force or intense heat or as a propellant to fly. Jack is sometimes unable to exert complete control over his energies, however. For a short time after restarting Contraxia's sun, he uncontrollably radiated enough heat to melt one of Contraxia's polar ice caps.[9] He can survive unprotected in space. Jack of Hearts's brain has incorporated the artificial intelligence of a computerized device called the Scanalyzer, enabling him to think with the speed of a computer and store and retrieve information with a computer-like capacity and efficiency.

Jack originally wore a suit of armor crafted in medieval Europe.^[4] His second suit of armor was designed by Torval, and made from alien materials designed to contain the zero energy his body generates.^[13] His original suit of armor was later restored and upgraded by Moondragon after Jack was rescued from space by the Avengers and thus leading to his connection with the team.^[14]

Jack is a fair hand-to-hand combatant, has had some S.H.I.E.L.D. combat training, and is a talented poet.

Jack of Hearts makes non-speaking cameo appearances in Silver Surfer as a member of Nebula's crew.^{[episode needed]}