Jerome "Jerry" Jaxon is a fictional character appearing in
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
.
Publication history
Jerome Jaxon first appeared in ''
Alpha Flight
Alpha Flight is a fictional team of Canadian superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters premiered in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #120 (April 1979), and were created to serve as part of the X-Men member Wo ...
'' #2-3 (September–October 1983), and was created by
John Byrne.
The character subsequently appears in ''Alpha Flight'' #6-7 (January–February 1984), and #10-13 (May–August 1984), in which he died. The character appeared posthumously in ''Alpha Flight: In the Beginning'' #-1 (July 1997).
Jerome Jaxon appeared as part of the "Omega Flight" entry in the ''
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition'' #9.
Fictional character biography
Jerome Jaxon was born in
Red Deer, Alberta
Red Deer is a city in Alberta, Canada, located midway on the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. Red Deer serves central Alberta, and key industries include health care, retail trade, construction, oil and gas, hospitality, manufacturing and education. ...
, Canada. He was an executive vice president in charge of research and development at Am-Can Petroleum Company.
One of his subordinates at Am-Can,
James Hudson, had developed a powered exoskeleton designed for excavation, which Jaxon sought to weaponize for military purposes. Hudson refused, and with the support of Jaxon's secretary
Heather MacNeil
Heather MacNeil is a professor at the Faculty of Information of the University of Toronto, Canada. She
teaches archives and record keeping related topics. She is a former General Editor of ''Archivaria'' (2014-2015) and helped develop the concept ...
, Hudson destroyed the plans, stole and abandoned the prototype, and kept the cybernetic control helmet. At Heather's urging, Hudson sought protection from the Canadian government; with the assistance of the Prime Minister, Hudson was exonerated of any wrongdoing, and inspired by the emergence of American superheroes such as the
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
, Hudson was given authority to create a Canadian superhero team under the direction of
Department H
The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features.
Places
Certain places fe ...
. Hudson revamped his exosuit into a form-fitting battlesuit which he eventually donned as leader of Alpha Flight, under the codenames Weapon Alpha, Vindicator, and, finally,
Guardian
Guardian usually refers to:
* Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another
* ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper
(The) Guardian(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
.
The failure to deliver a weapons system based on Hudson's designs proved devastating to Jaxon's career. After being dismissed from Am-Can, his wife took their two children and left him. Destitute, and with no prospects for the future, Jaxon attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself, only to be discovered by his landlady. Although Jaxon lived, the brain damage suffered from asphyxiation left him permanently unable to walk.
After learning about Alpha Flight, and realizing that Guardian had to be James Hudson, Jaxon sought out
Roxxon Oil
The Roxxon Energy Corporation (otherwise known as the Roxxon Oil Company, Roxxon Oil Corporation, Roxxon Corporation or simply Roxxon) is the name of a fictional massive petroleum industrial conglomerate in the Marvel Universe appearing in Americ ...
, the parent company of the now-dissolved Am-Can. Roxxon executives proved receptive to Jaxon's ideas, and granted him a position as executive vice president. Paired with
Delphine Courtney
Tatiana Caban
Bethany Cabe
Caber
Caber is one of the Celtic gods of Avalon, a warrior god. Caber is a good friend to Leir and usually accompanies him in battle.
Cable
Danielle Cage
Danielle "Dani" Cage is a fictional character in Marvel ...
, a servitor robot disguised as a human woman, Jaxon set about plotting his revenge against Hudson by having Courtney recruit several superhuman castoffs from the discontinued Department H program:
Diamond Lil
Diamond Tooth Lil was an American cultural figure popular in the early 20th century as an icon of wealth and libertine burlesque. Several individuals called themselves "Diamond Lil" or "Diamond Tooth", creating an amalgamated legacy clouded b ...
,
Wild Child,
Flashback,
Smart Alec, and Roger Bochs, creator of the
Box robot. Diamond Lil, Smart Alec, and Wild Child had been part of
Gamma Flight
Gamma Flight is the name of two fictional Canadian teams of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
The first version of Gamma Flight debuted in ''Alpha Flight'' #1 and was created by John B ...
, and Flashback and Box part of
Beta Flight
Beta Flight is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Along with Gamma Flight, Beta Flight is one of the "minor leagues" of the Canadian team Alpha Flight. Originally, Beta Flight was the interm ...
. While the others were willing to go along with Jaxon's revenge plan, Bochs had no ill will toward Hudson, and chose to infiltrate the group, which Jaxon dubbed
Omega Flight
Omega Flight is the name used by four teams of fictional characters with superpowers appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Omega Flight is one of the few Canadian teams published by an American comic book company. Omega Fl ...
.
As Alpha Flight had been disbanded, James Hudson had been looking for steady work, and Jaxon sent Courtney to offer him a job at Roxxon's
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
office. With support from his wife Heather, Hudson accepted, and they moved in. However, Courtney lured Heather into a trap, where Jaxon revealed to her his plan for revenge; due to Heather's role in Jaxon's downfall, she was to be killed, but only after Guardian had been destroyed.
When Guardian learned of the nature of Heather's kidnapping, he flew into Jaxon's trap at the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
, and faced off against Omega Flight. Alpha Flight soon arrived on the scene, having been teleported to New York by
Shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
. During the battle between the two Flights, Box removed Guardian from the main fight into another part of the building. It was there that Jaxon revealed that he had taken control of the Box robot from Roger Bochs, as he wanted to kill Guardian personally. Although he brutally beat Guardian, badly damaging his battlesuit, Hudson was able to use his own suit to overload the Box robot; the feedback to the control helmet killed Jaxon.
Although relieved that Bochs had not betrayed him, Hudson had little time to celebrate his victory, as his suit was about to explode. Heather, who'd gotten away from Courtney after discovering the robot's true nature, entered the room just as the suit was overloading, and as it exploded, Hudson appeared to be burned to ashes in front of Heather's eyes. Jaxon had seemingly achieved a
pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory ( ) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Such a victory negates any true sense of achievement or damages long-term progress.
The phrase originates from a quote from P ...
, although it was later revealed that Guardian had managed to channel the overload into an extension of the gravity-cancelling ability of his suit that sent him on a trip through time and space; Heather would go on to lead Alpha Flight as
Vindicator), and eventually be reunited with her husband.
[''Alpha Flight'' #90]
References
External links
AlphaFlight.Net Alphanex Entry on - Jerome Jaxon*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaxon, Jerry
Characters created by John Byrne (comics)
Comics characters introduced in 1983
Fictional characters from Alberta
Marvel Comics supervillains