Jacob Mullin

Creation

Jacob Mullin was created by writer Jeff Lemire and penciller Timothy Green II.

Major Story Arcs

Endless Rot

Jacob was originally a simple farmer from Stone Lake, Manitoba during the late 19th century. In 1894, a plague epidemic swept the land, killing the animals and crops that the local villagers kept. The village called a town meeting to determine what to do next. With the help of a pair of Mountie rangers, a group of volunteers ventured into the nearby Boreal Forests to investigate.

Whilst camping for the night, Jacob wakes up after having strange nightmares and starts bleeding heavily from his eyes. This heralds the incoming attack of the Rotlings, including one of the rangers, Frears, that had been killed and assimilated in their rotten horde.

Jacob was about to be killed by the rangers (now both dead and tainted by the Rot) but is saved by the sudden appearance of that era's Swamp Thing.

Jacob is taken to a safehouse and the Swamp Thing reveals that he was once Old Jack Crow, a local hunter, as well as his past and their connections to the Green and to the Red. During this dream-state, Jacob meets the present-day Animal Man and sees a vision of the Justice League, long-dead and impaled.

After coming back to his senses, Jacob, reminded by Buddy, panics for his family's safety and rushes back to the village. Jacob finds most of the inhabitants have been killed and assimilated by the Rot, including his wife Margaret and daughter Catherine. His son Henry, however, has survived and has helped rescue the rest of the village. Jacob and Old Jack Crow come under attack from the Rotlings and the Hunters Two, the remains of the mountie rangers brutally murdered earlier on.

The heroes eventually triumph, father and son burying their family whilst Swamp Thing wonders back to his realm.

Powers and Abilities

Being an avatar of the Red, Jacob is able to emulate abilities of any animal living on Earth. Among those he displayed are the speed of a wolf, the flight of a bird, the strength of a moose and the claws of a wolverine.