All-New Venom took the internet by storm in the last few days. The book’s central mystery was who was the new Venom running around New York City, and four potential characters were named — Luke Cage, Robbie Robertson, Madame Masque, and Rick Jones. Each of these characters have a long history in Marvel Comics, but the most important is Rick Jones. Rick Jones was eliminated as a candidate in the last issue, but while he didn’t turn out to be Venom, it was revealed that Jones was the host of a different symbiote — Sleeper. Rick Jones gaining superpowers of some kind is nothing new in Marvel. In fact, Jones has been in the thick of superheroes for so long he’s had multiple heroic identities, some iconic and some less so.
Beyond all the superpowers, Rick Jones is also one of the most important characters in Marvel history. His contributions to the Silver Age Marvel Universe can’t be underplayed, as Jones played a key role in the origins of both Hulk and the Avengers. Rick Jones doesn’t get the respect he deserves, but there was a time when all of that was different.
Rick Jones was first introduced way back in The Incredible Hulk (Vol. 1) #1. Rick was a harmonica playing teenager out for a joy ride on a bomb range — the Silver Age was a different time, folks — and saving him what was caused Bruce Banner to become the Hulk. This started Rick’s tenure in a kid sidekick role, writ large. Jones brought the Avengers together for the first time to fight against Loki, becoming the kid sidekick for the whole team. Upon the return of Captain America, Rick even became the new Bucky. However, Rick Jones’s most important deed in the Silver Age came at its end, when he manifested the Destiny Force and stemmed the tide of the Kree and the Skrull in the classic Avengers tale, “The Kree-Skrull War”. This was the first time Rick gained powers but it wouldn’t be the last.
After the war, Rick ended up bonded to Mar-Vell’s Nega-Bands. Whenever the first Captain Marvel banged his Nega-Bands together, it would transport him to the Negative Zone and Rick Jones would go to the real world, and vice versa. While the other was in the Negative Zone, the two of them would be in telepathic contact with each other. Rick would also become Captain Marvel again down the road, when Genis-Vell, the son of Mar-Vell and the third Captain Marvel, bonded Rick to the Nega-Bands again. In between these two stints as Captain Marvel, Rick Jones would go back to being the Hulk’s sidekick basically, with the character becoming an important player in the Hulk’s supporting cast in Peter David’s landmark run on the Jade Giant.
Being Hulk adjacent also meant that Rick’s been gamma powered before; Rick has been the Hulk, transformed into A-Bomb, and after being killed in Secret Empire was brought back to life in The Immortal Hulk, first in an Abomination form then that of a gamma powered dynamo (he was possessed by the Leader at the time). He’s also got involved with the Vell family since then, but didn’t regain his powers.
All-New Venom setting up Rick Jones as one of the Venom candidates was surprising, but more because he rarely spent any time around the symbiote/Spider-Man side of the Marvel Universe. His relationship with the Hulk and the Avengers, as well as his later relationship with the Vell family, meant that he stayed around those characters. However, Jones potentially being Venom was not an out there idea. Marvel goes through phases of using Jones again and again, and him potentially being Venom was a cool way to bring him back. His current identity as Sleeper is very interesting as well, since Sleeper is quite different from the other symbiotes.
All-New Venom #5 revealed that when Sleeper took over, Rick was put to sleep and then mindwiped of the time that Sleeper was in control. This is a pretty chilling thought, and one that changes whether or not you’d actually consider Rick to be Sleeper, since he has no control over it whatsoever. However, it yet to be been seen that Sleeper can’t control Rick secretly. Sleeper’s mission is seeming more and more suspicious, and if it can control Rick, then it changes just how much damage Sleeper can do.
What do you think about Rick Jones’ latest round of superpowers? Let us know in the comment section!
All-New Venom took the internet by storm in the last few days. The book’s central mystery was who was the new Venom running around New York City, and four potential characters were named — Luke Cage, Robbie Robertson, Madame Masque, and Rick Jones. Each of these characters have a long history in Marvel Comics, but Read More