Jester (Marvel Comics)
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Jester is the name of two Marvel Comics supervillains.
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[edit] Jester I
Jonathan Powers was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was a struggling actor of huge ego who finally got his lead break as the leading character in an off-Broadway revival of Cyrano de Bergerac. Panned by critics, jeered by the audience, and disdained by his fellow performers, Powers was fired after one performance. Obsessively, he continued to study the various arts and crafts that he thought would make him a great actor, things like gymnastics and body building. He took everything—except acting classes. Still, Powers was able to find employment as a stooge in a children's television show taped in New York.
Finally getting fed up with having pies thrown in his face, Powers decided that if the audience wanted laughter, he would give it to them. Contracting the criminal weapons-maker known as the Tinkerer to make him a number of gimmicks, Powers fashioned himself a goofy harlequin-like disguise and called himself the Jester. Committing several crimes, the Jester was eventually opposed by Daredevil who put the Jester behind bars.
Since then, the Jester escaped jail various times and continued to fight Daredevil, only to lose at every turn. For a time, the Jester tried to improve his life and restart his life as an actor, but this once again failed miserably. Late in Brian Bendis' run on Daredevil (Decalogue story-arc), Powers is revealed to have conjured a demon using Ninja black arts and when the demon turns on him, Powers commits suicide.
More recently, during the super-hero Civil War, a new Jester, Jody Putt appeared in Powers' original Jester costume (Civil War #4) and joins the newly reformed Thunderbolts to hunt down rebel heroes. Putt appears thrilled with the opportunity to beat-up heroes like Spider-Man, but nothing is revealed about his background or origin.
This version of the Jester was short lived, being killed by the Punisher in Civil War #5.[1]
[edit] Jester II
A second Jester appeared during the Acts of Vengeance crossover event which took place during the original's failed retirement from super-villainy. This Jester was given his weaponry by Doctor Doom. Among the arsenal granted to him by Doom, the "long-lived" Hulk Robot created years prior by a pair of college students and the Eternal Uni-Mind. Jester recruited a team of villains made up of himself, the Hulk robot, The Fenris twins, Hydro-Man, and Rock of The Hulkbusters to form the Assembly of Evil. The team was defeated by Cloak and Dagger and several intervening Avengers.
This Jester's personality and appearance bore similarities to those of Pee-Wee Herman and Ed Grimley (both popular media figures at the time of the character's introduction).
[edit] Powers and abilities
The first Jester (Jonathan Powers) had no super-human abilities. He was a well-trained hand-to-hand combatant, acrobat and fencer. His main weapons were a set of various joke gimmicks converted into deadly weapons: explosive balls, extendable scissor-hands capable of delivering electric shocks or bombs, weighted yo-yos which could be used as clubbing weapons etc.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Mark Millar (w), Steve McNiven (p), Dexter Vines (i). "War" Civil War #5 November 2006 Marvel Comics.
