Jack Power

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Mass Master

MassMaster, art by GuriHiru

Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Power Pack #1 (August 1984)
Created by	Louise Simonson June Brigman

Characteristics
Alter ego	Jack Power
Affiliations	Power Pack
Notable aliases	Mass Master, Counterweight, Destroyer
Abilities	Density control Sublimation Can shrink to much smaller sizes Solidify air into a protective shield. Previously, Energy; gravity.

Jack Power, currently known as Mass Master, formerly Counterweight and Destroyer, is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' universe. He first appeared in Power Pack vol. 1 #1 and was created by Louise Simonson and June Brigman.

1 Publication history
2 Fictional character biography
3 Powers and paraphernalia
4 Alternate versions
5 Bibliography
6 References

[edit] Publication history

Jack was a founding member of the superhero team Power Pack. The second youngest of the four Power siblings, he was 8 years old when he was given his powers by Alfrye Whitemane, a dying Kymellian noble. He continued to operate with Power Pack through their entire history.

Jack aged from 8 to 9 in the original series; in the 2000 mini-series, he was 12 and in the 2005 mini-series comics, he is currently 11. Considering Julie Power, his older sister of two years, is now about 16, Jack may now be considered 14.

[edit] Fictional character biography

Jack Power was born in Richmond, Virginia. Brash and ornery, Jack was the "wild child" of the Power siblings. He frequently insulted and argued with both his teammates and his adversaries. Queen Maraud, Power Pack's archenemy, feared him more than the other children because she thought he would be the most likely to take advantage of the lethal nature of his powers.^[1]

However, his bold nature also made him a key fighter for the team. He possessed a tremendous amount of loyalty and courage, and usually kept a cool head even during stressful situations. Jack jumped into the East River to help his sister Katie escape from an ocean liner^[2] he even taunted the Snark Jakal who was about to kill him with "Can't even kill someone until Mommy tells you to?!"^[3]

Jack was perhaps the most innovative member of the Pack in terms of developing new power variations. When he received new powers, he was able to figure them out quickly and invent new uses for them. He was significantly better at controlling his gravity powers than Alex.

Recently, Jack retained his bold personality, but also showed a kinder, gentler side; opting to leave the team to care for his mother.

[edit] Powers and paraphernalia

Jack's first power was control of density. Initially, he was only able to turn himself into a cloudy, gaseous form. After a few issues, though, he learned how to make himself small and dense. Jack's major defenses were his ability to "go cloudy" and escape from people who were physically attacking him, and the "Jack Hammer," in which he dropped onto his enemies in his super-dense form. Later, as revealed within the Power Pack Holiday Special and the 2000 mini-series, Jack can create the molecular density force field (first created by his sister Julie, during her time as Molecula).
After Power Pack #25, Jack gained his brother Alex's gravity powers. He could de-gravitize himself and anything he touched, float and increase gravitational force. Jack modified his power by developing the "Super-G" punch, in which he used a super-gravitized fist to hit his adversaries. With this tactic, Jack was able to knock out Arclight during the Mutant Massacre.
In Power Pack #52, Jack gained the energy powers previously held by Katie and Alex. This allowed him to disintegrate matter and convert it into stored energy, as well as absorb existing energy directed against him; he could then project this stored energy as explosive spheres (referred to as "power balls").

In both the 2000 and 2005 mini-series, he appeared as Mass Master, having regained his original powers in the events of the Holiday Special.

Along with his siblings, Jack possessed Kymellian healing powers. Usually, he was required to work with his siblings to generate and use this ability; however, he occasionally accessed it on his own.

With his siblings, Jack owned a Kymellian smartship, Friday. The ship acted as an unofficial team advisor and accompanied the Pack on several missions.

Jack wore a costume of unstable molecules created by Friday. The costume existed in an extradimensional space known as "Elsewhere" and could be summoned with voice commands. In the 2000 mini-series (and a back-up story in the Holiday Special), this outfit included a mask; in the original series, it did not.

[edit] Alternate versions

In issues #3 & #4 of Avengers and Power Pack Assembled miniseries, a 20-year-old Jack Power appeared in an alternate timeline. Having had his powers disrupted by Kang; Jack was stuck in his cloud form, and had to remain in a sealed, upgraded Iron Man-type armor to keep from dissipating.