To me, most of times the beauty of a fictional universe lies on the little details, on the less famous characters, on the second stringers... This is the story of such a character of the Marvel universe, the JackofHearts.

The origins and the early years

The story of Jack Hart begins in 1977, with a sequence of black and white stories starting in DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU #23. The first story is written by Bill Mantlo and pencilled by Gil Kane and Rico Rival.

Dr. Philip Hart is a wealthy inventor, famous for his energy research. In the mid 1950's Philip meets Marie at Connecticut College. Marie is working on her doctorate in biophysics. They get soon married and have a son, Jack. Philip and Marie Hart keep on working on an alternative energy form. Philip grows more and more famous over the years. Fifteen years later the two scientists reach an incredible breakthrough and discover a limitless source of energy... when tragedy strucks. Marie Hart dies in a car accident. Philip then shuts his laboratories and retires, keeping energy discoveries to himself.
In the meantime, Jack has become a poetry major at Connecticut College, where he meets science student Marcy Kane. They become romantically involved.
Philip Hart finally decides to give his energy discoveries to humanity, and summons his son Jack. Then Jack suddenly disappears from school and from Marcy's life to reach his father and hear of his zero-fluid discovery. A criminal corporation, interested in keeping oil as the main energy source among other things, has Jack's father killed. To avoid death by the same assassins, Jack escapes into his father's lab. Dodging death, Jack is forced to throw himslef into the zero-fluid vat. The zero-fluid bath permeates Jack's cells. Instead of perishing, Jack gains incredible powers: possibility to use this fluid as a sort of destructive energy, flight by means of energy bursts from his hands, and a computerized brain with increased awareness, his brain cells being accelerated by the zero-fluid immersion.
The Jack of Hearts is born. Jack immediately deals with his father assassins and avenges him. However, his newfound energy can go wild and cause immense destruction, so that Jack is given an armour to contain and control it. Jack officially adopts the name of "Jack of Hearts" and starts to try and use his powers for good. Jack battles first the White Tiger (Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, more precise References?) and then the Hulk (Incredible Hulk #213-214, august 1977).  Then Jack appears in Iron Man's series, first helping Iron Man against Midas, then participating in a galactic fight involving Rigel and Wundagore.  In this sequence Jack learns a lot from the experienced Iron Man (Iron Man #102-113, 1978). Now that Jack is well trained, the Jack of Hearts can deal with the Criminal Corporation that had his father killed, and succeeds in destroying it (References?).
In the meantime, Jack's old love Marcy Kane has moved to the Empire State University in NY, where she is studying for a doctorate in biophysics. Peter Parker (Spider-Man) is part of the same students group. Part of the life of Marcy in this period is chronicled in the series "Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spiderman".
 

Physical deterioration and depression

The Jack of Hearts has now succeeded in destroying the criminal corporation but is sinking into depression. The energy exploding in his cells is slowly killing Jack. Worried about the consequences that an uncontrolled death by explosion can cause, the national security agency SHIELD is now taking care of Jack. But Jack feels that SHIELD is simply acting as a watchdog, and tries to escape their surveillance. Thus the Jack of Hearts escapes SHIELD and looks for his old love Marcy Kane, ending up in battle against Spider-Man at the Empire State University campus, where Marcy is still completing her doctorate (Marvel Team-Up #134, 1983).
Jack is then confined for study in the old Hart estate, again under SHIELD's surveillance. SHIELD is still looking for a cure in order to avoid Jack's final explosion and the related planetary damage. The Hart estate is part of what Jack inherited from his late father.

We have now reached one of the defining moments of the Jack of Hearts' story.

The alien heritage, an old love and the stars

At this point, in 1984, a 4-issues mini-series of Bill Mantlo and George Freeman appears. In this series a short recap of Jack's story up to this point is made and some key aspects of his life are told for the first time. Marcy Kane is shown here in her true nature for the first time, and her relationship with Jack is explained and exploited further. In short, it is now revealed that Jack's mother, Marie Hart, was a woman from the planet Contraxia, whose sun is dying. Contraxians have sent explorers in several planets to search for possible remedies. On Earth, Jack's mother met Philip Hart and married him. Marie was hoping to use their scientific results on the zero-fluid energy to find a cure for Contraxia's sun. But Marie died in an accident some time before Philip Hart was killed by the criminal corporation, as we have seen above. Marcy Kane is now revealed to be Contraxian herself, her true name being "Kaina", and she is still looking for a cure for Contraxia's sun. Kaina considers Jack's zero-fluid powers as a possible solution. Kaina reveals the truth to the Jack of Hearts, explaining her alien origins, and as the 4-issues mini proceeds, we have the Jack of Hearts saving Contraxia. In the process, however, Jack Hart becomes too powerful to live among humans, his increased wild energies representing a constant peril to all life forms. The Jack of Hearts then flies into space, leaving her new found love Kaina on Contraxia and starting a life among the stars, the only place where his powers and raw energies do not pose peril to living beings.
These events have been narrated in the four issues "Jack of Hearts" mini series, January to April 1984 (Italian version in Play Book  #5, settembre 1990, "Fante di Cuori", edizioni Play Press.)

Favorite quotes of the mini-series:

1)[Martins Agent of SHIELD and Jack, after the Jack of Hearts, in a depression swing,
has tried to kill himself by exploding all his energies in the high atmosphere during the night,
causing instead a storm. The Italian translation for Play Press by Federico Zanettin is also given.]

Have yourself a good time last night, son? <Ti sei divertito ieri notte?>

Yeah, Martins, it was a real... blast. <Sì Martins. Un'esplosione di gioia!>

("Un'esplosione di gioia" has since then become a classic quote I use with my friend Fabrizio in ironic situations)

2)[Kaina and Jack, after Jack has saved Contraxia notwithstanding Contraxians' recent evil actions]

Forgive them, my love, for they knew not what they did. <Perdonali, amore, perché non sapevano cosa facevano.>

Seems I've heard that before... <Mi sembra di averlo già sentito>

At this point a first era ideally closes for the Jack of Hearts.

Back on Earth: The Quasar issues

At this point there is a pause and Jack reappears after a few years in Quasar's series.
Jack is held prisoner by the Stranger and is being studied and experimented over together with several other aliens, in connection with a plague afflicting the Watchers. Subsequent actions of Quasar contribute to free the Jack of Hearts and other aliens (Quasar #15, 1990). After being freed, Jack leads some of the ex-prisoners to Earth. However, The Presence is planning something on the background, when Jack is engaged in battle by Quasar upon arriving on Earth. The Presence attacks Quasar and then Jack, causing the Jack of Hearts' armour to shatter (Quasar #19-20, 1991). Jack is then helped by Moondragon, and she pushes Jack in an insane romantic development involving herself, Quasar, and "Her" (also known as "Kismet", Adam Warlock's female version) (Quasar #27-29, 1991). Then Moondragon vanishes (to enter Adam Warlock's Infinity Watch, after the Infinity Gauntlet series), and Jack is left once more to himself. Jack then goes back to the Hart estate, where he had been secluded by SHIELD in the earlier years, as we have seen above. Jack is falling to pieces, as his body has started to deteriorate once again. Notwithstanding his almost cosmic power, he cannot help himself. Jack looks for help on Earth but for some reason neither the Fantastic Four nor the Avengers can be found for help.

Physical deterioration again and a new Armour: Silver Surfer.

Then the Jack of Hearts flies into space again and finally finds the Silver Surfer, asking him for help.

Surfer involves an old acquaintance of his, a crooked alien engineer named Torval, the greates armours expert of the galaxy. Torval is being kept in the Annoval 14 prison for his past business with criminals interested in armours. Finally Surfer convinces Torval and the new armour is created. Jack now feels fine a can start living again (Silver Surfer #70, 1992, and  #76-78, 1993).

Silver Surfer, the Tyrant saga and a warrior nun named Ganymede.

The new Jack of Hearts is shortly after involved in a galactic fight against the demigod named Tyrant. Tyrant's drones are looking across the galaxy for cosmic powered beings that can be used as living batteries for Tyrant purposes. Tyrant's drones have imprisoned Silver Surfer without difficulty and other energy-powered beings (Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill, Terrax, Morg and Ganymede). A new prisoner is brought forth, the Jack of Hearts. Rather than submitting himself to being slowly drained of all his energies, when in front of Tyrant the Jack of Hearts releases all his energy in one single blast. This explosion frees Surfer and the others, who immediately attack Tyrant, with Ganymede also looking after Jack, who is still alive. The cosmic allies however cannot even engage Tyrant into a real battle, since Tyrant's power level rivals Galactus'. Eventually Galactus himself appears and puts an end to the battle, bargaining with Tyrant for peace. Both contenders know that a battle between them would destroy the galaxy, and Tyrant accepts to withdraw temporarily in exchange for Galactus' new herald, the evil Morg. As the allies depart, Ganymede offers her cares to the still wounded Jack  (Silver Surfer #82, 1993).

The two take a short break in a pleasant and relaxing planet where Ganymede tells Jack she is not ready for love, since she still has to accomplish the historical mission of her Spinsterhood. Ganymede is in fact the last warrior nun of a sisterhood (called the Spinsterhood) devoted to posing an end to the cosmic menace of Tyrant.  Ganymede concludes that for the time being Jack can travel the galaxy with her as a friend (Silver Surfer Annual #6, 1993).
Some time later Ganymede and Jack arrive at a moon of Jupiter where an old base of the Spinsterhood is concealed. Ganymede hopes to find others of her race, but she discovers she is indeed the last one.

Thanos of Titan versus Tyrant.

After the events of the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos of Titan is looking for a worth challenge and learns of Tyrant. Thanos and Terrax track Jack and Ganymede and engage them in order to kidnap Ganymede. Thanos needs Ganymede's information on Tyrant. Thanos beats Jack almost unconscious easily and kidnaps Ganymede (Cosmic Powers #3, 1994). After Thanos has left with Terrax and Ganymede, Jack regains strength and flies into space to rescue Ganymede. He lands on Titan, where he meets Mentor, Eros and later on Legacy, the late Captain Marvel's son. Jack and Legacy resolve to look for Thanos and to rescue Ganymede, and they leave Titan with the best wishes of Mentor (Cosmic Powers #4, 1994).

In the meantime, Ganymede allies herself with Thanos after hearing that the Titan wishes to challenge her enemy Tyrant. She informs Thanos that Tyrant  has no weaknesses and provides some information on a possible way to penetrate Tyrant's realm. Tyrant sends a mind-controlled Morg to stop them. Morg focuses on fighting Terrax, who incidentally frees Morg from Tyrant's control. Jack of Hearts and Legacy arrive and Jack of Hearts immediately attempts to attack Thanos. Thanos stops Jack easily and suggests an alliance against Tyrant. Ganymede invites Jack to accept, with a pragmatism that leaves Jack amazed. Jack notices some disturbing traits of Ganymede for the first time.
Morg leaves to return to his master Galactus, keeping his vengeance for another time. Tyrant arrives on the scene and promises that none will survive. Thanos slips away, leaving the others to fight, and learns the truth of the origins of Tyrant by accessing Tyrant’s computer. Thanos discovers that Tyrant is Galactus' creation, a sort of son of Galactus. Tyrant had revolted against his creator at the dawn of time and a terrible war had devastated the initial universe.
Jack is wounded by Tyrant during the battle and asks for help to Ganymede, who says the Spinsterhood purpose of battling Tyrant comes first, and keeps on fighting. Jack is left bleeding to wonder. Tyrant defeats easily the allies. Thanos then comes back to the battle with one of Tyrant's power spheres containing Morg’s stolen energy.

Tyrant immediately understands Thanos is different from the easy enemies he has just faced, detecting a sort of twisted grandeur and a relevant amount of power and genius. A great battle engages, with Thanos resisting thanks to the power sphere he had stolen earlier. Terrax and the Jack of Hearts regain consciousness and carry Legacy and Ganymede to a starship, in an attempt to escape Thanos and Tyrant battlefield before it is too late. Just as they are leaving, a huge explosion occurs. On the remains of the battlefield Thanos faces Tyrant and declares that his purpose was resisting him and stealing one of his energy orbs for his studies. Now that he has done that, Thanos considers himself as the winner and leaves via a teleporting device (Cosmic Powers #5 and #6, 1994).
Some time later Tyrant perishes in an adventure involving Silver Sufer, Galactus and Morg, where also Galactus seems to perish (Silver Surfer #109, 1995).
In the meantime Jack of Hearts and Ganymede, while travelling further across the galaxy, find Persefone, one last sister of the Spinsterhood that, unknown to Ganymede, was still alive. They team up under the command of Jakar, a cosmic class character trying to steal Tyrant's technology, who uses them and the Jack of Hearts for his purposes and then abandons them. At this point, since Ganymede and Persefone decide to reform the Spinsterhood and leave Jack of Hearts for good. Jack decides to ask the Silver Surfer for help in finding Tyrant, thinking that there he will find also Ganymede, but Surfer tells him that Tyrant has perished. Then Jack leaves looking for Ganymede to tell her her mission is pointless since Tyrand is dead. Probably Jack never finds her. (Cosmic Powers Unlimited #3, 1995, and Cosmic Powers Unlimited #5, 1996).

Further appearances

In the past Jack made appearances also in Rom Spaceknight and other series. I have some of these appearances and I will post some details as soon as I dig them up from my comics collection.
Recently Jack returned in "Avengers: Infinity" with Quasar, Thor, and other characters, playing a key role in a cosmic adventure much reminding the late Mark Gruenwald's stories of Quasar (Avengers: Infinity #1-4, 2000). In this story Jack has his second armour broken. Moondragon builds a new armour for Jack, following his first original armour design. This third armour features jet-powered boots, allowing the Jack of Hearts to fly while keeping his hands free instead of using energy bursts from his hands to propel himself.
 
 

From that point on Jack starts to act with the Avengers, first helping them in some missions (Avengers vol. 3, #35-38,  2000) and then becoming officially accepted in the prestigious team  in a story involving again the Presence (from Avengers vol. 3 #43 (2001) on) and a war against Kang. .
Being accepted in the most important team of the Marvel Universe is for once a deserved recognition and a happy development for a character that has endured so much over the years...

On Bill Mantlo, Jack of Hearts creator, and subsequent Jack of Hearts writers.

The story of Jack up to the 4-issues series of 1984 included had been written by Bill Mantlo. Bill Mantlo then left comics to practice law. Unfortunately, in the early nineties, Bill suffered a traumatic brain injury after being struck by a car. These sad facts were posted over the Internet and included news from Michael Mantlo (Bill's brother) concerning Bill. The message also invited people who had been fond of Bill's work and who were willing to communicate with him to send card/letters to the address:

The Mantlo Family - 1995 Miller Place - Merrick, NY 11566

I mention this here with the hope that other people who had liked Bill's stories (Hulk, Iron Man, Spider Man, and many others, but especially the minor ones: Rom spaceknight, Micronauts, Jack of Hearts...) may send a postcard or a letter.

Jack's appearances in Quasar were written by the late Mark Gruenwald.

Jack's appearances in Silver Surfer and Cosmic Powers have been written by Ron Marz.

The recent return in "Avengers: Infinity" has been written by Roger Stern.

The subsequent Avengers adventures of Jack are authored by Kurt Busiek, who declared on the internet that he likes the character and, answering a post of mine in the JLA/Avengers DC Board, declared that he would like to make a new mini on Jack sooner or later, although there is no project on that at the moment. After Busiek, Johns kept Jack in the avengers and Olivier Coipel gave Jack a new interesting look in the "Red Zone" Avengers arc.
 

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