Hugh Jones (comics)

Hugh Jones is a fictional character in Marvel Comics.

Publication history

Hugh Jones first appeared in Captain America #180 (Dec 1974) and was created by Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema.

Fictional character biography

Hugh Jones was the son of a Texas oil millionaire and inherited his company which would become Roxxon Oil after his father’s death. Republic Oil later purchased Roxxon Oil.^[1][2]

With Jones's awareness and approval, Republic Oil's Simon Krieger arranged the murder of Tony Stark's parents Howard Stark and Maria Stark.^[3] Jones and executives Simon Krieger, John T. Gamelin, and Jonas Hale attempted the takeover of Stark Industries. They used surreptitious purchases of Stark stock and the use of superhuman agents Saboteur and the Dogs of War. Following Simon Krieger's arrest, Jonas Hale had him killed in jail. To help separate the company from Simon Krieger, the executives of Republic Oil oversaw the change of the company to the identity of the Roxxon Energy Corporation.^[4]

An ex-lover of Jones tried to shoot him, but either missed or wounded him. The same attempt on the Squadron Supreme's Earth-712 (AKA Earth-S) resulted in the death of their Hugh Jones.^[1]

Jones later attended the premiere of the Captain America movie at the Strand Theatre in New York. Jones was kidnapped by the Serpent Squad (consisting of Viper, Eel, Cobra, and Princess Python).^[5] The rebel Atlantean Warlord Krang had recovered the Serpent Crown and delivered it to Viper. Jones immediately fell under the mental control of Set as he instructs all Roxxon workers to cooperate with any demands. The Serpent Squad then took Jones to a central Pacific Ocean oil derrick where Jones followed Warlord Krang's instructions to pump water underneath the sunken city of Lemuria in an attempt to raise it. The police, along with Captain America (then known as “Nomad”) and Namor the Sub-Mariner, interrupted the Squad's plan, however and Krang reclaimed the Crown and fled. Jones then reversed the process that was to raise Lemuria.^[6]

Jones voluntarily maintained a link to Set in the absence of the Serpent Crown. Set informs Jones that Nomad is actually Captain America. Jones then sent men to recover the Serpent's Crown.^[1]

Jones later sent a message to Captain America about Red Skull's location telling him that this paid his debt of Nomad rescuing him from Warlord Krang and the Serpent Squad.^[7]

Once he recovered it, he began wearing it invisibly.^[8]

With the power of Set, he was able to make psychic contact with a group of businessmen called the Serpent Cartel, who were acolytes of Set from the alternate universe known as Earth-S. This Earth is where the superhero group the Squadron Supreme resides, and that universe's version of the Serpent Crown has managed to gain control of the minds of many of the leaders of America's largest corporations and even that alternate America's President, Nelson Rockefeller.^[1]

Following Roxxon's purchase of the Brand Corporation, Jones was at the Brand Corporation facility in Jamaica, Queens. When the Avengers broke into a Brand Corporation facility during their investigation, Jones used an interdimensional transporter to bring the Squadron Supreme to his Earth and they captured the Avengers.^[9] When the Avengers escaped, they and the Squadron Supreme were sent back to Earth-S with the interdimensional transporter when the police came to investigate.^[10] After deceiving and dismissing the police investigators, Jones used the Serpent's Crown to speak to Nelson Rockefeller.^[11] When the Avengers again invaded the Brand Corporation facility, Rockefeller informed Jones that the Avengers have overthrown him. Jones sent Orka against the Avengers where he defeated some of them until Orka was defeated by Thor and Moondragon. Jones ordered the execution of the other Avengers, but they escaped and Jones was captured.^[12]

Using Brand Corporation and Roxxon Energy Corporation's facilities, Jones fashioned his own superpowered serpent for a Serpent Squad to retrieve a second Serpent' Crown which the Avengers brought back from Earth-S and dropped into the Pacific Ocean. Jones was given the Serpent's Crown of Earth-S by Sidewinder (who retrieved it upon being hired by Jones). Upon wearing both Serpent Crowns, Jones gained a scaly appearance and used these powers to assume complete control over the residents of Washington DC for the purpose of putting them under Set's control. Jones allowed Thing, Stingray, and Scarlet Witch to enter unopposed so that he can control them and then created versions of the Serpent Crown's recent previous wearers to fight the threesome. While simultaneously fighting Scarlet Witch and Thing physically, Jones was surprised when Scarlet Witch capitulated and Thing took advantage of Jones' memory disorientation to wrench the Serpent Crown from Jones' head.^[8]

Following his traumatic separation from the Serpent Crown, Jones was driven insane and was hospitalized in a mental hospital. He was succeeded as Roxxon president by John T. Gamelin (who was previously working as the Vice President of Foreign Operations) who would eventually be succeeded by other men.^[13]

In other media

Television

• Hugh Jones appears in the Agent Carter episode "Bridge and Tunnel", portrayed by Ray Wise.^[14][15] He is depicted as the President of the Roxxon Oil Corporation and was once friends of Howard Stark until the woman that would become Hugh Jones' wife came between them. After the explosion at a refinery owned by Roxxon Oil Corporation, Deputy Director Roger Dooley and Agent Jack Thompson of the Strategic Scientific Reserve visited Hugh Jones. Hugh Jones told them that he had spies at Stark Industries that told him about the Nitramine bombs whose formula that Howard Stark invented. Hugh also told them that the Nitramene emitted Vita-Rays after which Dooley and Thompson decided to scan every employee at Roxxon where they called Peggy Carter as she brought them a Vita-Ray Detector to help them in the scanning of the Roxxon employees.

References

External links

• Hugh Jones at Marvel Wiki
• Hugh Jones at Comic Vine
• Hugh Jones at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe