Spring-Heel Jack

According to the tale the first sighting of Spring-Heel Jack (or Springheeled Jack) occurred in September of 1837 in London, England.  A businessman was returning home from work late at night when a mysterious figure vaulted over the 10 foot tall railings of a nearby cemetery landing directly in front of him.

Described as a tall thin man of “gentlemanly” appearance  wearing a helmet, a formfitting white “oilskin” one-piece garment, and a black cloak, the figure then proceeded to blow blue and white flame from his mouth at the businessman before bounding away via prodigious leaps.

It was not long before others started to claim to have encountered the oddity that came to be called Spring-Heel Jack. After a time, along  with the initial description, were added such items as glowing eyes, metal claws, and pointed ears.

As is the case with such Fortean phenomena Jack soon faded from the scene, the idea of Spring-Heel Jack however hung on and soon turned up in a couple of Penny Dreadful novels where he was turned into one of the first superheroes being depicted as a wronged nobleman, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor.   

As with many myths and legends Spring-Heel Jack has also appeared in a number of comic books, from Gold Key’s depiction of the original tales of his appearance in their anthology comic Ripley’s Believe it or Not, to The Doctor unveiling him to be an alien in Doctor Who Magazine, to two independent comics where in one he is a demon linked to the Jack the Ripper murders, and in another is sort of a Victorian Ironman.