| Jeffrey Mace | |
|---|---|
 Detail from cover ofMarvel Premiere #30 (June1976) featuring Jeffrey Mace as thePatriot. Art byJack Kirby &Frank Giacoia. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Human Torch Comics #4 (March 1941) |
| Created by | Ray Gill George Mandel |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jeffrey Solomon Mace |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Daily Bugle Liberty Legion All-Winners Squad |
| Partnerships | Miss Patriot |
| Notable aliases | Patriot,Captain America |
| Abilities | Exceptional athlete Superb hand to hand combatant Licensed pilot As Captain America: Carries a titanium shield |
Jeffrey Solomon Mace,[1] also known as thePatriot andCaptain America, is asuperhero appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character was created during the 1940s, a period fans and historians call theGolden Age of Comic Books. As the Patriot, hefirst appeared inHuman Torch Comics #4 (March 1941; mis-numbered #3 on cover), published by Marvel's 1940s precursor,Timely Comics.
In 1976, Marvel revealed viaretroactive continuity that Mace had become thethird Captain America some time after his World War II era adventures. He is also the uncle-by-marriage ofThunderbolt Ross.
The character was adapted into theMarvel Cinematic Universe TV seriesAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D., portrayed byJason O'Mara.
The superhero the Patriot debuted inThe Human Torch #4 (March 1941; mis-numbered #3 on cover),[2] with both a two-page text story by writerRay Gill, with a spot illustration by artistBill Everett, and a 10-page comics story by writer Gill and artistGeorge Mandel. The character went on to appear in the first of twoHuman Torch issues both inadvertently numbered #5, and known to collectors as #5[a] (Summer 1941),[3] in a story by Gill and artistSid Greene. Concurrently, the Patriot began as regular feature in the superhero anthologyMarvel Mystery Comics, appearing in issues #21–44 (July 1941 – June 1943) and #49 -74 (Nov. 1943 – July 1946), making him one of Timely's most popular characters in the second tier beneath starsCaptain America, the Human Torch, and theSub-Mariner. The Patriot story "Death Stalks the Shipyard", fromMarvel Mystery Comics #29, was reprinted during theSilver Age of Comic Books inMarvel Super-Heroes #16 (Sept. 1968).
InThe Avengers #97 (March 1972),Rick Jones summons Jeffrey Mace, among other Golden Age heroes, to assist theAvengers during theKree-Skrull War.[4]
The Patriot appeared in a four-partflashback story running throughThe Invaders #5–6 (March & May 1976) andMarvel Premiere #29–30 (April & June 1976), set duringWorld War II whichretconned him as a member of a newly created superhero team, theLiberty Legion. That team later appeared alongsideFantastic Four member theThing in a two-parttime travel story, set during World War II, inMarvel Two-in-One #20 (Oct. 1976) andMarvel Two-in-One Annual (1976).
When Marvel Comics had revived the character Captain America in 1964, the story explained that he had beenmissing in action and insuspended animation since 1945. This discrepancy with his postwar comic-book appearances was later explained as the result of replacement heroes taking on the mantle. As the third Captain America, Jeffrey Mace would have been behind the mask inCaptain America Comics #59–75 (Nov. 1946 – Feb. 1950) and other comics during that period. Mace succeeded the second Captain America, William Naslund (formerly theSpirit of '76), who was shown inWhat If? vol. 1, #4 (Aug. 1977) as having been killed in 1946.
Mace appeared briefly in aflashback inCaptain America #215 (Nov. 1977), then as a guest-star inCaptain America Annual #6 (1982) with his death depicted in #285 (Sept. 1983). In a flashback, the Patriot co-starred in a World War II adventure with Captain America inCaptain America Annual #13 (1994) and in a post-war adventure with the All Winners Squad inAll Winners Squad 70th Anniversary Special (2009).
A retelling of Jeffrey Mace's origin and time as Captain America is told in the 2010 mini-seriesCaptain America: Patriot. This was collected with theAll Winners Squad 70th Anniversary Special andWhat If? #4 in 2011.What If? #4 was also collected that same year in aCaptain America Legacy volume collecting the debuts of the Captain America replacements.
Jeffrey Mace was born inBrooklyn, New York. He was a reporter at theDaily Bugle, who was inspired to become a superhero after seeingCaptain America in action.[5] As the Patriot, Mace becomes one of several superheroes who fightNazi saboteurs and supervillains duringWorld War II, sometimes alongside his sidekick Mary Morgan, a.k.a.Miss Patriot. He helps found the superhero team known as theLiberty Legion, billed as "America's home front heroes" who fight saboteurs,fifth columnists and other wartime threats within the United States.[6]
After the war, the Patriot continues to fight crime on a regular basis, eventually helping theAll-Winners Squad prevent the assassination of a youngJohn F. Kennedy in 1946. The skirmish costs the life of the second Captain America, William Naslund (formerly theSpirit of '76). Mace is recruited to be the third Captain America,[7] retiring in 1949. He marries Betsy Ross who, as the superheroGolden Girl, had briefly been the post-war sidekick of his Captain America, and eventually succumbs to cancer at an old age.[8]
Jeffrey Mace had no superpowers but he was an exceptional athlete, a superb hand-to-hand combatant and a licensed pilot. As Captain America, he carried a shield, similar to that used by his predecessors, that was made of enhanced titanium.
InAmerican Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944, Kurt Mitchell andRoy Thomas call the Patriot "a bargain-basementCaptain America with an uncanny knack for stumbling intoAxis conspiracies. Though Arthur "Art" Gates andSidney "Sid" Greene did their best to replicateJack Kirby's frenetic fight scenes, the feature had none of the charisma of its inspiration."[9]
