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Jack of Hearts #3

Mar 1984
Bill Mantlo, George Freeman

Story Name:

Heartbreak


Synopsis

Jack of Hearts #3 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

On the freezing planet Contraxia, the people are amazed and filled with hope when they see a light as bright as the sun in the sky. The world awaits while the Sun Priestesses prepare to meet the new arrivals. The mother ship lands and out of it emerges Jack of Hearts; he flies around and then bows before the Priestesses. Commander Varga calls him a half-breed alien whom they have captured to force to revive their sun. Marcy Kane a/k/a Kaina introduces him as half-Contraxian and a volunteer to rescue the sun. But no one knows exactly how to do that. The Survivalists, led by Varga, demand that Jack be sacrificed to save their world but the Priestesses say that is incompatible with their code of ethics. They call for a vote by the people who overwhelming reject sacrificing Jack. Smythe, a Contraxian spy from Earth, assures Varga that one day they will seize power….

Jack undergoes a battery of tests to try to learn how his energy can save their sun. When he and Kaina go for a walk, she shows him his Contraxian mother’s house and its crystal pillar that contains his family’s history. He touches it and is filled in seconds with a knowledge of his identity. The Sun Priestesses then come with some bad news: Jack’s power cannot be extracted from him, only he can wield the power to save the sun and it may cost him his life. Jack agrees to do so and Kaina loves him for it. A gang of Survivalists, assuming that no one would willingly sacrifice his life for another, try to capture Jack and he fights them off while trying to tell them he has agreed to the mission but they don’t believe him. He defeats them all and finds Varga and Smythe holding Kaina prisoner. The armored Varga fights Jack under the same misapprehension. Smythe comes to believe in Jack’s nobility so he switches plans: if Jack sacrifices himself, he will be a martyr but if the Survivalists overpower him and appear to force him onto the suicide mission, they would be seen as the saviors of their world. Smythe then sprays Jack with Neutro-Mist, which suppresses his powers so that he is easily knocked out. Smythe then shocks Varga by murdering the Sun Priestesses. Jack is put on trial and convicted by the populace of the Priestesses’ murder and sentenced to be flown into the sun. Varga confesses to Jack that he is filled with shame for his people’s crimes against Jack and then he hits the button launching the ship containing Jack of Hearts toward the dying sun….


 

Review / Commentaries


Jack of Hearts #3 Review by (September 17, 2024)

Review: So Jack lands on another world and is asked to sacrifice himself to save the planet. And he agrees. But the baddies can’t understand why anyone would do that and so this issue must set the record for longest fight scene between two parties who agree on everything. The clash between two cultures has led to this strange turn of events, Earth has a glowing example of a Savior who chose to sacrifice himself and Contraxia does not.

Comments: According to Marvel Database, Smythe’s Contraxian name is Oltnam, which is “Mantlo” spelled backwards. Juanita Ferriter also contributed to the colors.



> Jack of Hearts comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

George Freeman
George Freeman
Nick Burns
George Freeman (Cover Penciler)
George Freeman (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Jack Morelli.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Jack of Hearts
Jack of Hearts

(Jonathan Hart)

Plus: Marcy Kane (Kaina).