Patriot

Origin

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Jeffrey Mace found employment as a reporter at the Daily Bugle. During the Second World War he was inspired by the heroics of Captain America, and decided to become a costumed adventurer as well. To this end he created the identity of the Patriot.

Creation

The Patriot was created by Ray Gill and Bill Everett and first appeared in The Human Torch #4 (1941). His first modern-day appearance was in Marvel Premiere Issue 29 (1976).

Character Evolution

Modern Age

Following the revival of Captain America in the Modern Age, Patriot was retconned to have been one of the men who took up the mantle of Captain America following the original’s disappearance and presumed dead during the war.

Major Story Arcs

The Patriot

Jeffery Mace begins his career as a news reporter for the Daily Bugle during the 1940s. Mace runs into trouble with his editor quite a few times for directly interfering with crime a few times as a two fisted reporter. On one such occasion, he helps out Captain America during a dockside scheme by German fifth columnists. It’s following this brawl Cap gives Mace a moniker he’ll use for a while- he calls Mace a “Patriot”. Following this conflict and the resulting fight with his editor, Mace is inspired to become a costumed vigilante of the sort that was increasingly common.

Patriot founds and leads the stateside superhero group known as the Liberty Legion during World War II. With the encouragement of Bucky Barnes, Patriot sends out a call over the radio airwaves for other superheroes to join the fight against Nazi infiltrators. Quite a few respond: Miss America, the Whizzer, Red Raven, Blue Diamond, the Thin Man, and Jack Frost all answer the call and become the Liberty Legion. Throughout the war, the group fights saboteurs, spies, and other enemies within America, serving as the domestic equivalent to the Invaders. After the war, Patriot helps to save John F Kennedy from a 1946 assassination attempt. During this attempt, Mace rescues the second man to call himself Captain America, William Naslund. Naslund dies in front of Mace, who, at the behest of two FBI agents,becomes the new Captain America,

Captain America

Following the death of the second Captain America, Patriot takes over the identity to continue the Captain’s legacy. He spends three years as the third publicly known Captain America, battling domestic enemies alongisde the second Bucky as well as what the Invaders become post-war, the All Winners Squad. Eventually, Davis is shot in an incident involving a perfume smuggler called Lavender. Golden Girl comes to his rescue, reavling herself as his FBI Liason Betsy Ross. Though Davis survives the incident, his leg is injured and he is forced to retire. Golden Girl formerly takes over as his sidekick for the remainder of his career.

Around 1950, Mace is reduced to doing public service announcements around New York state. He stumbles across what seems to be an alien invasion in Valhalla, New York and rescues a young boy, only to find out the whole thing was orchestrated by his then current FBI liaison, Skinner, in an attempt to foil it himself and worm his way into the fledgling Vanguard organization. Instead, Mace uses the knowledge of Skinner’s conspiracy as leverage to find out where Golden Girl had been reassigned and voluntarily retires from the role of Captain America under threat of being investigated for treason for alleged leftist ties. He proposes to Ross shortly after this.

The two retire to Glendale, where they lived next door to a young Franklin Storm. Mace wrote for the Glendale Gazette, returning to his roots as a journalist.

The Death of Jeffery Mace

Suffering from cancer and confined to his hospital bed in New York, an elderly Mace holds onto life until his old friend Steve Rogers can be by his bedside. He dies with Rogers by his side, confident that his friend will carry on the fight.

Powers and Abilities

Patriot has no superhuman powers or abilities. He is skilled at hand-to hand combat. He is a gifted and intelligent leader, although by his own admission he wasn’t as smart as Steve Rogers.

Other Media

Jeffrey Mace appears in the fourth season of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. His history and backstory are extremely different from his original comics continuity, but he is still heroic. He is played by Jason O’Mara.