Origin
After an army stint served in Germany, James Bourne joined eleven other recruits in Omega Strike, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) anti-terrorist unit whose operatives received surgically implanted microchips which allowed them to teleport.
Bourne became romantically involved with a fellow operative, Rowena MacLean. On the team’s first mission, however, Rowena and another operative, Gabriel Gant, betrayed Bourne while they deserted Omega Strike to eventually form the terrorist cell A.R.E.S. Bourne escaped and became a one-man counter-terrorist unit as Solo, sworn to the credo, “While I live, terror dies!”
Active across the world, Solo hunted down and decimated every terrorist organization he could find, occasionally clashing with Spider-Man whose non-lethal convictions Solo admired but regarded as antiquated. Eventually, after inadvertently killing an innocent bystander, Solo allowed himself to be imprisoned.
Creation
The character Solo was created for use in Marvel Comics by David Michelinie and Marc Silvestri. He first appeared (shadowed) in Web of Spider-Man issue19, which was released in October, 1986. His first full appearance was in Amazing Spider-Man issue 323 by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane in November 1989. Why it took more then 3 years between his first shadowed appearance and his first full appearance is unknown.
Major Story Arcs
Civil War
After serving in G.W. Bridge’s Six Pack, Solo rebelled against the passage of the SHRA, which he felt needlessly penalized super-humans who dedicated their lives to helping others. Along with Battlestar, Skybolt, and the Green Guardswoman, he was one of the first few recruits for Typeface’s underground movement, as well as one of the most paranoid, deeply mistrusting journalist Sally Floyd despite her willingness to report the underground’s viewpoint.
When Iron Man led a S.H.I.E.L.D. Superhuman Restraint Unit to apprehend the rebels in their secret gathering place, Solo was among the underground members arrested and he was incarcerated in Negative Zone Prison Alpha. He was among the prisoners who escaped when Captain America’s resistance movement orchestrated a mass break-out and battled against the government-backed super-humans during the final major surrender, G.W. Bridge used his influence within S.H.I.E.L.D. to arrange Solo’s release from custody and have him reassigned to the Six Pack in its latest effort to capture Cable.
Dark Reign
Solo was hired by the mysterious Kingmaker to drive the Avenger Hawkeye (secretly Bullseye masquerading as the hero) mad. Dressing up in his old Bullseye costume and taunting him, Hawkeye refused to believe that he was losing his mind and confronted Solo, taking his eye during the course of the fight. It was later revealed that the Kingmaker was ironically the head of the very organization Solo had vowed to destroy (the P.T.S.F). Moreover, it was further revealed that Kingmaker was in fact Hawkeye’s father, who had ordered his son’s capture so that he could transfer his mind into Hawkeye’s healthy body.
Though Kingmaker promised Solo answers, he fled before Bourne could question him, leaving the vigilante to face Hawkeye alone amongst the ruins of the P.T.S.F military base. Solo appeared to have Hawkeye on the ropes, using his teleportation ability and martial arts skills in order to take the fight to the madman. Despite this, Hawkeye eventually emerged the victor, shooting Solo in the back multiple times, though Solo teleported away before his opponent could execute him.
Deadpool and the Mercs for Money
More recently, Solo came into the employment of Deadpool. As a mercenary for good (and for money) he now fights criminals that are picked out by Deadpool himself alongside a number of other anti-heroes.
Power & Abilities
Solo can teleport himself and anything within his immediate vicinity from one site to another. The parameters for this ability are unrevealed, but he has traveled dozens if not hundreds of miles in a single trip. Depending on the distance and frequency of his teleportations, it becomes increasingly difficult for him to sustain teleportations. He is an adept soldier, a superb hand-to-hand combatant, and a master of virtually all forms of modern weaponry. Solo is also an incredibly accurate marksman.
Solo is customarily armed with any number of weapons, including sub-machine guns, automatic rifles, hand grenades, combat knives, and steel mesh nets. His costume is lined with bulletproof Kevlar.