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Justice

Justice

Vance Astrovik is a mutant with the power of Telekinesis. He first called himself Marvel Boy but later changed his name to Justice. His is a founding member of the New Warriors, fulfilled his dream of becoming an Avengers and helped train young heroes at the Avengers Academy.

Name:
Justice
Publisher:
Real name:
Vance Astrovik
Aliases:
  • Marvel Boy
  • Manglin' John Mahoney
  • The Astounding Astrovik
  • Super Tights
  • Vance Astrovik
Birth date:
None
Gender:
Male
Powers:
  • Blast Power
  • Flight
  • Force Field
  • Intellect
  • Leadership
  • Psionic
  • Telekinesis
  • Unarmed Combat
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Creation

Vance Astrovik first appeared in the 616 universe in Giant-Size Defenders #5. A counterpart of him had however already appeared as Major Victory in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (1969) as part of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Origin

Young Vance meets Thing
Young Vance meets Thing

Vance Astrovik was born in Saugerties, New York. When he was a young teenager he was visited by his future self, Major Vance Astro of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The future Vance had followed his dream to become an astronaut and was placed in cryo-statis for a very long space flight. Unfortunately advances in space flight had occurred during his trip and in a cruel twist of fate he was greeted by humans awaiting his arrival. Hoping to spare his younger self this face, he travelled to the past intent on keeping this from happening. A side effect of this meeting activated young Vance's latent mutant abilities, something the future Vance didn't developed until much later in life.

Another change to the time was that while future Vance's father was very proud of his son, young Vance's father was an anti-mutant biggot and would verbaly and physically abuse his son.

Young Vance ran away from home becoming a professional wrestler. There he met the Thing who convinced him to go home and give his parents another try, so he did. When he got home his parents told him it would never happen again. Vance started calling himself Marvel Boy. He applied to be a member in the Avengers but was rejected by his idol Captain America because of his age and inexperience.

Major Story Arcs

The New Warriors

After being rejected by Captain America, Vance was approached by Night Thrasher who asked him to join his team of teen superhero. The team first battled a resurrected Terrax and in the process were joined by Namorita and Speedball. The team took up the name, New Warriors which was overheard by Speedball who liked the name. With the New Warriors they fought various threats including the White Queen and her Hellions who came looking for the people that had hacked their computer. During his tenure on the team, Vance started a relationship with Angelica Jones aka Firestar. During his time on the team Vance noted that his powers increased in strength as did his precison in using them.

Father Issues

Firestar and Justice
Firestar and Justice

Vance's father started abusing him again and started abusing his mother. One night Arnold, upset that his son was out flaunting his powers (his perception), became enrages and began brutally assaulting his son. Vance was already recovering from a battle with the mutant Gideon and no longer able to hold back, Vance lashed out with an incredible burst of power and accidentally killed his father.

Vance was arrested and put on trial for the crime. He was found innocent of murder, but was convicted of aggravated assault. Vance was incarcerated in the superhuman penitenary known as the Vault. Firestar, Namorita, and Nova showed up to free him but Vance protested, declaring he wished to serve his time. Later Vance was released early for good behavior and helping put down a prison riot. Upon his release he rejoined his friends and took up the name Justice.

When the Sphinx regained his full power he displaced the New Warriors throughout time. Vance was sent to the past and met his teenaged father. Vance would discover the real reason for his father's disdain for him. Arnold was a homosexual with a father that disapproved of his lifestyle and was abusing Arnold, much as his father had him. Vance tried to scare his grandfather into accepting his son for who he was but failed to change the man's attitude.

Eventually Night Thrasher and Rage were voted off the team for following their own agendas and Vance became leader of the team until they disbanded.

With the Avengers

At the Avengers meeting
At the Avengers meeting

A magical incident happened when everyone who was an Avenger was attacked by monsters and creatures, Vance and Firestar accompanied Rage, who was an Avenger, to a meeting to the Avengers mansion. Then Morgan LeFay attacked altering reality. Vance and Firestar were turned into Morgan's super-powered enforcers. He broke free thinking about the team. After defeating LeFay they became reserve Avengers which lead to full time membership.

Part of the Avengers
Part of the Avengers

Continually trying to prove himself, Justice eventually won over his insecurities during the Avengers' battle with the robot Ultron. He had researched the Avengers files, discovering a new means of defeating Ultron and using it to help the Avengers destroy him. After seeing the emotional turmoil Hank Pym and the Wasp went through in the battle, Vance finally began to regard the Avengers as people rather than icons and became more relaxed about working with the team.

Soon afterward, Vance announced his engagement with Firestar, and the two left active duty, presumably to explore their relationship. In reality, they were asked to secretly infiltrate the headquarters of the Triune Understanding, whose leader, Jonathan Tremont, was surreptitiously attacking the Avengers' public image for his own benefit. Vance and Firestar discovered the true cause of the Understanding-- using the beliefs of its members to sympathetically power a spaceship to battle a cosmic menace. They helped a contingent of Avengers join the battle against the menace, and directly afterwards helped the heroes keep the time-traveling Kang from conquering the world. After the crises were averted, they again parted company with the Avengers.

Break-Up

Vance settled into civilian life with relative ease, as much as a public trial, a Dateline special, and four books written about him could allow, although Firestar had a rough transition settling into college studies at Empire State University. Vance was eagerly awaiting the next stage in his life, their upcoming marriage, but Firestar was reluctant. After a heart-to-heart, the couple agreed to call off the wedding, and then seemed to break-up altogether. Justice was one of the few remaining mutants who kept their powers after M-Day.

Civil War

Vance was not present during the New warrior attack on Nitro and his allies which led to the Civil War. Justice and former teammate Rage learned that people were hunting down former New Warriors members because of perceived blame for the deaths caused by Nitro in Stamford, Connecticut while fighting an incarnation of the team. They both sought out the legal services of Jennifer Walters in protecting the allies of the New Warriors, as their identities were already publicly exposed. They eventually discovered that former New Warriors member Carlton LaFroyge, was responsible for the persecution and exposure of their teammates, operating a website that was slowly outing the identities of the twenty or so remaining Warriors. Him and Rage opposed the Super-Human Registration Act and they joined Captain America's Secret Avengers.

The Initiative

Member of the Initiative
Member of the Initiative

Vance would become a counselor for the Initiative at Camp Hammond. He would help the young recruits with guidance. Justice and Rage learned that someone was hunting down former New Warriors because they blamed them for the explosion in Connecticut. They find out it was hindsight who put up a hate site. Vance joined Captain America fighting Iron Man. But later on he joined the Initiative. He lead a youth outreach group of the Initiative. It later showed that he was seeing Ultra Girl secretly and when it came down to it he quit the Initiative and Iron Man could not arrest him because he done nothing illegal. Justice leaves the Initiative with Rage, Debrii and Slapstick to form Counter Force, but Ultra Girl stays at the Initiative and her and Vance break-up.

After leaving the Initiative, he was enraged and confused that a New Warriors team had been re-invented without extending an invitation to the living members of the old roster. Vance and some of the old New Warriors ( Silhouette, Rage and Debrii), and some Initiative recruits (Slapstick, The Scarlet Spiders) went after the new team. Vance confronted their leader Night Thrasher (an original member), assuming he was a Skrull for not extending the invitation to join the team and the fact that Night Thrasher appeared to have died at the Stamford Incident. However Night Thrasher revealed his true identity as his brother to his team and the former New Warriors.

After this incident and the new New Warriors disband, Justice re-named his team The New Warriors, in honor of the team her helped found.

Avengers Resistance

The Resistance
The Resistance

After Norman Osborn takes over the Initiative, he places villains on the Initiative teams. Justice and the New Warriors arrive and save Tigra and Gauntlet from the Hood's Gang. With new members they again decide to re-name themselves, this time the Avengers Resistance. When Osborn invades Asgard, Justice decides it's time to fight and take back the Initiative. During the battle, Penance joins the team in their fight and later reveals his identity as Vance's former team-mate, Robbie 'Speedball' Balldwin, to Justice and Rage, who are deeply shocked at his new transformation. After the Initiative has been saved, a party is held where all Avengers attend, Justice included, there he is surprised to see Tigra's has had a child, saying he heard a rumor, but she had never showed, she explains a Cat's pregnancy only lasts two months. During the teams formation, they joined with the Mighty Avengers and the New Avengers to help defeat the menace known as the Unspoken. Justice and the team participated during the battle, and during it some members were mind controlled and forced to fight against the others. However in the end the Unspoken was defeated, releasing Justice's teammates.

Avengers Academy

Faculty Member
Faculty Member

Justice was one of the Avengers that Steve Rodgers called in order to create the new different Avengers teams. He was chosen by Hank Pym to become a teacher at the Avengers Academy. Where he will teach new students in how to become a skilled hero. He is joined by former New Warrior team-mate, Speedball, who is back to his old self, former Avengers Resistance team-mate Tigra and former Avenger's team-mate Quicksilver. Him and Speedball were chosen by Hank because they founded their own super-hero team when they were the students age. They'll help them into replicating their successes and in avoiding their mistakes. Vance helps Robbie calm down, after he shouts at Hazmat. Robbie is clearly not over what happened in Stamford.

Later when the Academy takes a visit to the Raft, there is a riot and the teachers are separated from their students. Justice, the other teachers and the Thunderbolts, help take down rogue criminals trying to escape.

After this Veil is revealed to have a crush on Vance when she catches him making out with old flame Ultra-Girl, Vance explains to a jealous Veil that they're just 'friends'.

Vance recently shared a reunion with Firestar where the two were attacked by their past selves during their tenure on the Avengers due to Loki (also from the past) who was trying to change history so the Avengers would disband. However, the plan failed and all the time lost Avengers were returned to their original times and Vance and Angelica were finally able to move on from past relationship and move on with their lives as friends once more.

Newest Warriors

No Caption Provided

On his road trip with Speedball, Justice came across the new Nova, Sam Alexander. He and Speedball reached out to the new Nova with an offer to join the New Warriors, which they were trying to get back together. He was reluctant at first but eventually signed a contract that Speedball and Nova’s mom, Eva, wrote up for Nova to safely be a reserve member of the New Warriors, if they ever needed him.

That need came when a group of superhumans found themselves targeted by the High Evolutionary and Evolutionary for poisoning the human gene pool. Justice’s great sin was being born a mutant. The targets of Evolutionaries pooled their resources and uncovered a plot for the Eternals to use the Evolutionaries to prepare Earth for the return of the Celestials. However, when faced with Justice’s new New Warriors, they lost faith in the Evolutionaries' judgement.

Kamala’s Law

After the Champions got in over their heads stopping a terrorist attack at a school, Ms. Marvel was injured as her civilian identity, inspiring the short-lived Kamala’s Law. This law outlawed superhero activity for anyone under the age of 21 without an approved mentor. Justice with his buddy Speedball got jobs working for the resulting law enforcement agency, CRADLE, hoping none of these would-be heroes would make the same mistake he made in Stamford, CT.

Fall of X

Locked up by Orchis
Locked up by Orchis

The Orchis organization successfully attacked Krakoa, sending most mutants underground and kept them there with a widespread propaganda campaign. Justice has never associated with Krakoa or the X-Men, but he was still targeted for being a mutant. Firestar, his ex-girlfriend, was specifically assigned to bring him in. She and Jean Grey had secretly conspired at the last second to psychically convince members of Orchis that Firestar was their inside person on Krakoa.

She was forced to bring Justice in without blowing her cover. Justice was chosen by Judas Traveller to be the subject of his presentation of his x-gene neutralizing serum at a press conference. While he was being wheeled in, strapped to a standing table and with a power dampening collar on, Firestar pretended to ask for forgiveness but was actually using her powers to fry his collar. This gave him the chance to break out just as Judas tries to inject him.

Powers

Justice is a mutant with the power of Telekinesis. As such he has exhibited the following abilities:

Telekinetic Shields: Can create shields of psionic energy over large areas.

Psychokinetic Blasts: Capable of generating bolts of incredible concussive force on a target.

Levitation: Capable of moving objects of varying weight with his mind.

Flight: Vance is able to levitate himself or others at incredible speed.

Statistics

  • Height--5' 10"
  • Weight--180 lbs (82 kg)
  • Eyes--Hazel
  • Hair--Brown

Alternate Realities

Major Victory
Major Victory

Earth-398

Squire Justice was Justice altered by Morgan Le Fay's reality distortion wave. The wave caused the time period to be altered to a medieval setting altering the Avengers clothing, speech patterns and thought processes. All of the Avengers involved believed themselves to be a part of the Queen’s elite guard known as the Queen’s Vengeance. The Scarlet Witch, with the combined willpower of all the awakened Avengers, pumped power into Wonder Man, shifting reality back to normal, and defeated Morgan in the process.

Justice was still a member of the Avengers when Jessica Jones joined.

Earth-985

Justice fought the Carnage Cosmic along with Spider-Man and the Avengers, but was defeated

Earth-691

On Earth-691 Vance Astro - Major Victory is a member of Guardians of the Galaxy. He's recently been brought into the 616 Universe, by it's own version of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Earth-9997

When Vance Astro traveled back in time to activate Justice's latent telekinetic power (just like in the 616 timeline) he actually pushed a portion of his own psionic abilities into Justice. When the Skull was born it overloaded Justice's psionic powers, shutting down his mind and killing him. The android X-51 informed Vance he was the cause of Justice's death as the Skull's birth didn't affect non-psionics, X-51 went as far as saying that Vance had committed "suicide" by giving his past self psionic powers.

Other Media

Television Appearance

Justice and Darkhawk
Justice and Darkhawk

Justice appeared in the Fantastic Four Cartoon. He had a cameo appearance along with New Warrior team-mate Darkhawk.

Marvel : Ultimate Alliance 2

Justice appears as a NPC. He ends up under the control of the nanites and assists A-Bomb in fighting the heroes in Wakanda on the path to the Black Panther's palace. You can talk to him at Stark Tower in Act 1. In the game he is still in a relationship with Firestar.

Issues

July 1975

August 1975

April 1978

July 1978

November 1980

May 1982

August 1985

September 1985

October 1985

November 1985

December 1985

January 1986

February 1986

December 1989

March 1990

June 1990

July 1990

August 1990

September 1990

October 1990

November 1990

December 1990

January 1991

February 1991

March 1991

April 1991

Volumes

1963

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1979

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1988

1989

1990

1991

Died in issues

Authors

Friends

Enemies

Teams

Friendly teams

Enemy teams