Jack Flag

Origin

Jack and his brother Drake were a part of Captain America's computer hotline, which inspired them to create a local patrol group. Drake was attacked by a couple of criminals and, in the aftermath, was left a paraplegic. After the attack, a group called the Serpent Society infiltrated his hometown. Jack attempted to call the police about what was going on, but the Serpent Society had bribed them to keep quiet. Jack was upset and frustrated about the whole thing and so began training in martial arts and weight lifting so that he could take on the Serpent Society himself. He created a disguise and became known as Jack Flag.

Jack tried to infiltrate the Serpent's Society by getting on King Cobra's good side, but King Cobra did not fully trust him. To see if Jack Flag's intentions were true, King Cobra sent Jack on a mission to steal a painting from Mr. Hyde. A fight ensued between Mr. Hyde and Jack with the end result being that Jack absorbed Mr. Hyde's powers, granting him super strength. With his new powers, Jack defeated Mr. Hyde and took the painting. Before giving the stolen painting to the Serpent Society, he contacted Captain America and informed them that the Serpent Society was in Sandhaven, Arizona. Captain America and Free Spirit arrived and aided Jack Flag in defeating the Serpent Society.

Creation

Jack Flag was created by Mark Gruenwald and Dave Hoover in 1994 and first appeared in Captain America # 434.

Major Story Arcs

Superhuman Registration Act

By the time of the SHRA's passing, Jack had put the old costume in storage and was trying to live a normal life with his girlfriend, Lucy. They lived in fear of Jack being caught, because he refused to go along with registration, declaring that it was unamerican. Unfortunately, he couldn't leave his old life completely behind him and would still don the mask when there was trouble he couldn't ignore. His activities were enough to put him on the Thunderbolts' radar, and they were dispatched to Cleveland to bring him in. Jack chose to stand and fight while Lucy fled town. The plan was that he would slip away during the fight and catch up with her. Unfortunately, he was ambushed by Bullseye as he tried to duck out of the fight and paralyzed. He was then brutally beaten by Swordsman while in custody.

Now wheelchair bound, Jack was sent to the 42 prison in the Negative Zone . During his stay, the prison was somehow inexplicably discovered by Blastaar and attacked. Jack was abandoned along with the rest of the prisoners as the warden and guards bugged out back to Earth. He led his fellow prisoners in defending the prison from Blastaar's hordes until Star-Lord of the Guardians of the Galaxy, who had been exiled to the Negative Zone by the Kree , showed up. Jack was able to get him access to a telepath so he could get a signal to his team for help.They escape back to Knowhere and the medical personal fixed his injured back. Peter tells him that they can teleport him anywhere, but he asks if he can stay because back on Earth he would be considered a fugitive. He is later seen in a Guardians uniform but it still resembles his costume except for a new mask.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Having no where to go and impressed by the fact that in two minutes they were able to fix his broken spine, he stayed on as a member of the team, despite claiming to hate 'cosmic stuff.' He soon found that even an easy day with the Guardians was very complex and demanding.

After some botched negotiations with the Inhumans and the Shi'ar to stop the War of Kings, they both attacked Knowhere simultaneously. During the battle, the Guardian's captive Starhawk escaped. She transported Jack and some others to her own timeline. Starhawk had finally learned the truth behind the massive rip in space-time that consumed her reality, only she had to show them for having been wrong so many times. The Fault, as it was known, is caused by Black Bolt during the War of Kings. Unable to travel back to their own time, they send a message to the past.

As they prepare for their end when the Fault consumes them, they somehow become adrift in time. This causes Jack to slowly be fading out of existence. With the future Guardians, they use this to their advantage to try to gain access to the lower levels of Avenger's Mansion in order for them to combat the Martians who rule this timeline. It is successful, but before they can use the time machine they slip through time once again. After slipping through several realities, they are saved by time traveler Kang the Conqueror, who restores Jack to his normal self. He sends them back to their own time to stop Adam Warlock from becoming the Magus. Unfortunately, this is not possible and the Magus kills many members of the team. Starlord is forced to kill his friend Adam and the remainder of the team returns to Knowhere, having paid a high price for victory.