Origin

Joseph Chapman was a studying at art school when he met Kenneth Crichton and discovered Crichton's great grandfather Montgomery Falsworth and his uncle Brian Falsworth had both been the war-time hero Union Jack. Also learning that Crichton's granduncle was the vampire Baron Blood who was returning to plague the United Kingdom, Chapman became the new Union Jack to aid Captain America in battling the vampire menace. Following the defeat of Baron Blood, Chapman continued to operate as Union Jack with the blessing of Captain America and the rightful successor to the mantle Kenneth.

Creation

Union Jack was created by Roger Stern and John Byrne and first appeared in Captain America #253.

Character Evolution

Union Jack has made sporadic appearances throughout the years since his debut, most often seen battling against Britain's vampires. During the heydey of Marvel's U.K. imprint, Union Jack appeared in Knights of Pendragon as a member of the eponymous team and also adopted several different costumes during this time. Following the dissolution of Marvel's U.K. line, Union Jack has twice received in his own solo series, the first in 1998 and a second in 2006.

Major Story Arcs

The Contest

Union Jack was one of the hundreds of superheroes who were abducted by the Grandmaster to take part in his contest with Death. Union Jack wasn't chosen as one of their champions however.

The Rise of The New Baron

After discovering he had a blood disorder which was weakening him, Kenneth began to resent Chapman for having stole the Union Jack legacy from him. Approached by the vampire Baroness Blood with the promise of eternal life and rejuvenation, Crichton accepted the offer and became a vampire and adopted his granduncle's Baron Blood identity.

Battling vampires frequently in London, Union Jack soon discovered they sought the Holy Grail which would allow them to endure sunlight. Despite his best efforts, Union Jack wasn't able to stop the vampires from attaining the Grail but in the end Baroness Blood betrayed her army of vampires, and even Crichton, by only allowing herself to drink from it. Crichton perished as the sun rose, as did the rest of Baroness Blood's army, as Union Jack swore to his twice dead friend that he would hunt down Baroness Blood and exact vengeance.

New Invaders

In a bid to replace The Avengers, Secretary of Defense, Dell Rusk (who was actually Red Skull in disguise), gave John Walker the greenlight to unite an Invaders team. With the help of the present day Union Jack and Spitfire, Walker went into the Middle East and saved Blazing Skull, a right wing advocate of American intervention who was being held prisoner. He also recruited Tara, a female counterpart to Jim Hammond, and Namor.

Calling in a favor from former Invader, Jim Hammond, the V-Battalion entered an alliance with the Invaders against a new threat called Axis Mundi. It was a splinter group from the Nazis that was using the same synthezoid tech that created Hammond to make replicas of world leaders. They would use these doubles to replace current leaders and control those countries.

One such double was the Invader Tara who was revealed to be a sleeper cell, programmed to power the Axis Mundi doomsday device. While Hammond attempts to convince Tara to go against her programming, Thin Man scuttles his warship into the device, destroying it before it could be used. Unfortunately, Tara could not control her energy levels. Hammond tried to spare her by absorbing her powers only to explode, killing himself. The Invaders broke up after his memorial.

Twenty First Century Blitz

After Captain America was reunited with his old pal, Bucky, who has been active as the assassin, Winter Soldier, he asked Union Jack for help keeping tabs on Bucky’s newest target, Aleksander Lukin, a Russian businessman in charge of The Kronas Corporation.While investigating Kronas ship logs on the London docks, Joe and Cap end up running into a newly formed group of the Master Men, Nazi supersoldiers. The ship was also rigged to explode. The resulting bad PR got Joe and Cap on the news, angering Joe’s MI-5 handler.

They were bailed out of trouble by Sharon Carter, who was taking over the investigation from MI-5 for SHIELD. Their continued investigation into Kronas was cut short when MI-5 received intel on the Master Men. Following up on the sighting, Joe and the others stumbled across a meeting between some of the Master Men with some super scientists, now all dead. Among the dead, they find plans for a terrorist attack. Unfortunately, Lukin, who is secretly possessed by Red Skull, activated the Sleeper, one of Red Skull’s old droids. While Cap dealt with the robot, Joe and his girlfriend, Spitfire, deal with the leader of the Master Men, Max Lohmer.

London Falling

The super scientists that were meeting with the Master Men were a splinter group of A.I.M.. They call themselves R.A.I.D. (Radically Advanced Ideas in Destruction), and they were looking to make a name for themselves. MI-5 had intel in eight separate attacks and wanted Joe to run point. He was given a task force of multinationals (Valerie de Fontaine from America, Sabra from Israel, and the Arabian Knight from Saudi Arabia). As their source of info is a RAID member made of electromagnetic energy, Farouk Al-Fasaud, that MI-5 trapped in a Faraday Cage. Unfortunately, he only knows that the attacks will happen in London at 4 pm by ten different superhuman mercenaries hired by RAID and that at least one WMD that he knows of has been smuggled into the city. This gives Joe’s team just four hours to track the superhumans.

Using intel from their former partner, Batroc, Zaran and Machete were stopped at the House of Parliament from assassinating anyone. In doing so, Joe saw the politicians and the wealthy heading for safety despite his handler saying no evacuation order would be given so as not to tip off the terrorists. Joe decided to warn the common people over the news regardless. Unfortunately, Heathrow Airport, Tower Bridge, and the Thames Tunnel were the next targets as people were escaping. Joe had the team split up with so many targets. He managed to stop the super mercs from flooding the tunnel before joining Sabra on the bridge. Meanwhile, Val and Knight went to protect Heathrow. They got nearly every superhuman locked up, one of which eventually slipped in interrogation. The WMD that was smuggled in was a Dreadnought.

Battered and bruised, the team rallies as an upgraded Dreadnought is released in Trafalgar Square. The team did their best, but the robot had many defenses. Luckily, nearby construction workers, thankful of Joe’s earlier warning, used their wrecking ball on the Dreadnought. The smash revealed its liquid nitrogen coolant, which Joe stabbed with a Union Jack flag pole. The resulting leak froze the robot, ending the final attack.

After a hero’s return and a good night's sleep, Joe realized Gavin, his handler, was involved. He didn’t plan it, but he withheld intel and put key British operatives on nothing missions so they wouldn’t be available. He would be left with a flag-wearing martyr and a team of expendable foreigners. Having just earned the trust of the people, Joe paraded him in front of the news media to expose him.

Vampire State

As a member of MI-5, Joe was given access to mission briefings from MI-13 regarding Dracula’s attack on England. Among Dracula’s crimes, he had kidnapped Spitfire, who was just starting to deal with vampiric abilities. He would often come to blows with MI-13’s resident vampire expert, Blade, who was also romantically involved with Joe’s ex, Spitfire.

Ultimately, he puts that aside so that he and Blade can go on an espionage mission against Dracula’s Vampire State. With intel Spitfire collected while under Dracula’s thrall, Joe and Blade teleported into the dungeon where Dracula kept his and his generals’ coffins. They contaminated the coffins with various vampire weaknesses, like holy water and garlic, to weaken the vampires fighting in the field.

There, they were approached by Spitfire’s son, Ken, the new Baron Blood. He apologized for working with Dracula, claiming he just wanted to be reunited with his mother. He now wanted to give up and become a prisoner of war, but Blade killed him under Spitfire’s orders, shocking Joe.

The Union

Steve Darwin of Darwintech funded The Britannia Project, a nationwide search for superhumans co-sponsored by the government to build an official UK superhero team. Britannia, Britain's Beacon of Hope, would lead a team consisting of Kelpie, Snakes, and The Choir. The unveiling of the team was interrupted by the invasion of Knull and his symbiote army. The team's press event was attacked by a symbiote dragon. Britannia was able to slay the beast but was killed in the process. Symbiotes from the dragon infected the British soldiers, who were called in for a training exercise. Union Jack, who was working with the soldiers, took leadership of the team against the Knullified soldiers.

Without Britannia, the team wanted to go their separate ways, however, they all signed contracts, including Union Jack, who is forced to be acting leader until they can find a suitable replacement for Britannia.The team is begrudgingly brought back together when Choir is attacked and kidnapped by Doc Croc, Britannia's nemesis and Choir's former boss. They are joined by the Bulldog, a Britannia Project alternate, and Selwyn James, their government liaison who is secretly a former member of Doc Croc's crew known as The Sponge

Croc puts The Choir back on his team as Skreem as he searches for the Empire Stone, a dark magic artifact that gives the holder absolute power. However, Darwin beats him to it. With the stone, Darwin is determined to be the new Emperor. The Choir defects from Croc's team just in time to protect an unconscious Union Jack from Doc Croc. Union Jack was being controlled by the spirit of Britannia, who jumped into his body after her death. She psychically links to her team and inspires them to action.

Together, they are able to knock the stone out of Darwin's hand. With the team back together for good, Britannia was able to move on although she promised she'd always be there in their "darkest hours.”

Blood Hunt

After the vampire cult, The Structure, fills the sky with darkforce energy as part of their plot for world domination, Union Jack raids museums for some ancient weapons and takes to the streets of Manchester. Despite many survivors, Joe focused on interrogating vampires, following their lineage so that he could kill the original and potentially cure the sired vampires, including his Union teammate, Bulldog.

Powers and Abilities

Union Jack is an exceptional hand-to-hand combatant and a skilled athlete. He wields a Webley .455 pistol, a steel dagger and his costume is bullet-proof.

As one of the Knights of Pendragon, Union Jack's strength was mystically heightened to superhuman levels (roughly 5 ton carrying capacity). His endurance and durability were also significantly heightened, and he now has an accelerated healing factor.

Variants

Days of Future Past

On Earth-811, Joe was a member of the Resistance Coordination Executive, a defense organization protecting the United Kingdom from Sentinels. While defending Camelot, this variant of Joe was killed.

In Other Media

Merchandise

• A 10-inch Union Jack figure was featured in ToyBiz's Marvel Universe line.
• Union Jack appeared in Hasbro's Marvel Legends line as part of the Walmart-exclusive Red Hulk Build-a-Figure wave.
• Bowen Designs released a Union Jack bust.
• Eaglemoss Collectibles included Union Jack in their Classic Marvel Figurine Collection.
• Union Jack was featured in the HeroClix figure game.
• Union Jack was featured in Diamond Collectibles' Minimates line as part of a two-pack with Wonder Man.
• Union Jack also appeared in Hasbro's Marvel Universe line.