Origin

Jonathan Powers was your typical struggling actor. One day it seemed things were going to turn in his career. He received a role in an off-Broadway play and it looked to be his "big break." The critics did not think so and the audience actually "booed" his performance.

Bitter and upset, Powers began to study different techniques such as fencing and gymnastics so that he could earn different roles. He even started body building to spruce up his appearance. After putting in a lot of work and energy, he was only able to get a job as a comic relief on a kids' television show.

Powers decided to give up his acting career and turned to a life of crime. Not settling for simple armed robbery, Powers approached the Tinkerer to set himself up with some gadgets to aid his new career. He called himself the Jester and started a crime wave using his new toys and gadgets.

Creation

Jester was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan in 1968 and first appeared in Daredevil # 42.

Character Evolution

Jester wasn't the brilliant mastermind he had thought. He had several run-ins with costumed vigilantes such as Daredevil and Moon Knight which always ended with him going to jail.

For a time, the Jester tried to improve his life and restart his life as an actor. As Jonathan Powers, he portrayed Cyrano de Bergerac on television, presumably abandoning the Jester identity However, his attempt to reform failed miserably. Late in Brian Bendis' run on Daredevil (Decalogue story-arc), Powers is revealed to have allowed himself to act as host to a demon (one conjured up by a would-be Ninja), gaining great strength in the process. When the demon leaves him, Powers is apparently left comatose.

Story Arcs

Acts of Vengeance

The original Jester would retire to pursue his career in acting so a man named Jody Putt would steal the Jester costume and his arsenal of weapons. During the Acts of Vengeance, Jester is given an opportunity to prove his worth and mettle to Dr. Doom by assembling a cadre of villains to attack the Avengers. Jester would modify a robotic Hulk provided by Dr. Doom and began to recruit other villains that consisted of Andrea Strucker and Andreas Strucker aka Fenris, Rock to represent the Leader, Hydro-Man and the duo of Cloak and Dagger. The Assembly of Evil would attack the Avengers during a public forum where a number of reporters and innocent civilians are in danger. Jester would be disguised in a trench coat and hat while he operated the robotic Hulk via remote control as it engaged with She-Hulk. Cloak and Dagger turned on Jester as they saved several civilians from the fight and told the Wasp that Jester attempted to recruit them. Wasp discovered Jester in his disguise and she was eventually taken down by a sonic yo-yo. Jester's cadre of villains began to fall to the Avengers so he threatened to shoot the Wasp until Dagger took him down with a light dagger from behind.

Daughters of the Dragon

Jester would run into Colleen Wing and Misty Knight when the two ladies shakedown the Rascal Tavern where numerous costume criminals hang out. The two ladies beat down on Jester and some other bad guys when they try to get answers on 8-Ball and Freezer Burn after they were killed for stealing a microchip from Ricadonna.

Civil War

Jody Putt appeared as Jester during the super-hero Civil War as a member of the Thunderbolts Army. He was among the supervillains that would capture unregistered heroes

The Jester and Jack O' Lantern were sent to bring Spider-Man in. They tracked him to the sewers and badly injured Spider-Man. That is untill the Punisher showed-up and shoots both the Jester ( Putt), and Jack O' Lantern dead.

Mr Hyde later exhumed the body to find a way around the nanotechnlogy.

Marvel Adventures

Jester would be involved in several stories taking place in the Marvel Adventures comics which are standalone stories and does not take place in the current Marvel Universe continuity.

Abilities & Gadgets

Jester has no superhuman powers but is in great physical shape due to his years studying and practicing gymnastics. Jester is pretty agile due to his gymnastics background and is an accomplished swordsman, having been trained in fencing and swordsmanship. Jester is formidable in hand-to-hand combat. Jester uses a number of modified toys and gadgets during his crime campaign including his tiny jester robots that have jets in their boots, carry miniaturized guns and a built in scanner used to break into safes. Some of his favorite toys and gadgets are marbles, exploding popcorn filled with gas, a rubberized ball that grows with every bounce and his trademark weapon, the yo-yo.