JACK O'LANTERN

Real Name: Steven Mark Levins

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: Professional criminal, mercenary

Group Membership: Former member of Pluto's Jury (Abomination, Armless Tiger Man, Artume, Baron Zemo, Commander Kraken, Iron Monger, Kyknos, Nessus, Orka, Scourge of the Underworld, Veranke), the Skeleton Crew and the Commission on Superhuman Affair's Thunderbolts

Affiliations: Armadillo, Beetle, Blackwing ("Joe Silvermane"), Boomerang, Chess Set, Constrictor, Fasaud, Jackhammer, Madame Rapier, R.A.I.D., Scorpia, the Shocker (Herman Schultz), Shockwave;
    former agent of the Golem (Dennis Golembuski), Red Skull (Johann Shmidt);
    corpse formerly possessed by the demon Lucifer;
   former pawn of Pluto

Enemies: Alpha Flight, Captain America, Diamondback (Rachel Leighton), Falcon, Cameron Fillardi, Ghost Rider (John Blaze/Zarathos), Hercules, The Hood, Harry O'Connor, Pluto, Punisher (Frank Castle), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spider-Man (Ben Reilly), Union Jack (Chapman)

Known Relatives: Martin Levins (father), Phyllis Levins (mother), unidentified brother (Jack O'Lantern)

Aliases: Jacko

Place of Birth: Sleepy Hollows, Illinois

Base of Operations: Hades;
    formerly Sleepy Hollows, Illinois;
    formerly Manhattan, New York;

formerly the Red Skull's lodge in the Rocky Mountains

First Appearance: Captain America I#396 (January, 1992)

Powers/Abilities: Jack O'Lantern wears Kevlar body armor able to resist a 7 pound bazooka anti-tank warhead. He has a padded, bulletproof helmet with an internal 3 hour oxygen supply. His helmet is also equipped with telescopic infra-red image-intensifiers for seeing in the dark, as well as a 360 degree scanning device. The base of the helmet is equipped with a low-temperature, low density flame that rings the helmet at all times, and his internal air supply cools the helmet's interior.

He uses wrist blasters able to fire an electrical shock up to 35' away. He uses a variety of grenades including gas (anesthetic, tear, hallucinogenic, and regurgitant), smoke, and concussion. These grenades come in the form of spheres or pumpkins, and he can even fire small versions from his wrists. He can also release "ghost-grabbers," which are thick, semi-transparent films which adhere to a victim, suffocating them if they adhere to the face.

He rides atop a one man hovercraft with an electric motor powered by a high density lithium rechargeable battery.

His costume and equipment were modeled after those created by Jason Macendale (formerly both Jack O'Lantern and Hobgoblin).

Height: 6'
Weight: 200 lbs.
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed

History: Nothing of his past has been revealed.

(Captain America I#396) - Working with Blackwing, Jack scoped out the former Silvermane mansion which had since become Skull House. There they fought Captain America, with little success until Jack nailed Cap with a hallucination gas grenade.

(Captain America I#397) - Figuring the delusional Cap was now an easy score, Jack and Blackwing attacked him again, though his battle instincts still enabled him to fight them off. Watching from his Rocky Mountain lodge via camera, the Skull was impressed with the viciousness with which they attacked a downed foe, and sent Mother Night to recruit them to join his Skeleton Crew.

After failing to overcome Cap, Jack and Blackwing took off before the gas grenade could wear off, but he tracked them down and beat them both into submission anyway. Mother Night created an illusion that she was the Scourge of the Underworld and had then executed the two criminals, but Cap threw one of Jack's grenades at the fleeing Scourge. The hallucinogen gas disrupted her illusion, and Cap captured her.

(Captain America I#398/2 (fb) - BTS) - While Cap was distracted with Mother Night's illusion, her partner, Cutthroat, took off with Jack and Blackwing.

(Captain America I#397) - Cap returned for the two criminals but they were nowhere to be found.

(Captain America I#398/2) - With Cutthroat and Blackwing, Jack prepared to break Mother Night out of prison, but her illusion powers enabled her to escape on her own. She brought them all back to the Skull's Rocky Mountain headquarters.

(Captain America I#405/2, 406/2) - As part of the Skeleton Crew, Jack O'Lantern attacked Crossbones and Diamondback when they approached the Skull's lodge. Crossbones managed to wrap a grappling hook and line around Jack's hoverdisc, and Diamondback leapt atop it, forcing his surrender by holding a poison diamond underneath his mask. Once back on land and surrounded by the Skull's guards, Jack elbowed her in the gut.

(Captain America I#407/2) - Jack helped escort Crossbones and Diamondback to the Red Skull and then to their cells. When he forcibly tossed Diamondback into her cell, Cutthroat, who had just recognized Diamondback as his long lost sister, slammed him up against the wall and told him not to touch her again.

(Captain America I#408/2) - Hearing the commotion, Jack came running to see that Crossbones had just killed Cutthroat, who had tried to kill Crossbones in his sleep.

(Captain America I#409) - Jack was present as the Red Skull agreed to allow Crossbones back in to the Skeleton Crew if he agreed to sacrifice Diamondback. Rachel managed to take Blackwing's craft and fly away, but Jack was right on her tail, peppering her with bombs. It was Crossbones who recaptured her, though, by pretending to offer help and them stabbing her in the back, literally.

Soon after, Jack and Crossbones saw Captain America and the Falcon swooping down at their base.

(Captain America I#410) - Jack fought the Falcon, leading him in pursuit and then suffocating him with a "ghost grabber." However, the Falcon suddenly deployed his wings, which went sailing into Jack's chest, knocking him off his hovercraft. He was apparently knocked out from the fall, and the Falcon's own wings returned to him. The Falcon covered Jack, bound him, and brought him back up to the mountain peak. Jack and the others were sent to the Vault.

(Captain America I#411-414 - BTS) - Captain America, the Falcon, and Diamondback infiltrated the AIM Weapons Expo, posing as Crossbones, Jack O'Lantern, and Mother Night, respectively, since they knew these three were in the Vault and would not be in attendance.

(Alpha Flight I#121) - Jack O'Lantern was one of those present at Chess Set's auctioning of the Sphinx power-filled corpses of Silver and Auric. The auction was interrupted by Alpha Flight and Spider-Man, and the corpses merged into a single entity and left for space.

(Spider-Man Unlimited#12) - Alongside the Beetle, Boomerang, Scorpia, the Shocker, Jack O'Lantern sought the Clone Saga skeleton from the smokestack, for which J. Jonah Jameson had offered $100,000 for its recovery. This struggle brought him into conflict with the Ben Reilly Spider-Man, who defeated the whole group.

(The Hood#2) - Alongside the Constrictor and the Shocker, Jack was hired to guard the diamond shipment of Dennis "The Golem" Golembuski, and to act as back-up to Madame Rapier.

(The Hood#3) - Jack and the other two played poker until Rapier alerted them of the presence of an invisible thief. Jack exposed the Hood with a wide spray of concussion grenades, and they briefly caught him, but he got away and set off Jack's entire Bag O' Tricks. The three were blown into water by Pier 34 and swam back to shore, and the Hood escaped with $1.5 million dollars worth of diamonds.

(The Hood#4) - Golembuski chastised all four of his agents for their failure.

(The Hood#6) - Jack and the other two again acted as back-up to Madame Rapier, whom the Hood once again got the better of. Not appreciating her condescending treatment, the three allowed her to remain at his mercy, and he dressed her in a similar hood and cloak and sent her in front of the cops, who killed her.

The Hood then confronted Jack and the others, returning Golembuski's diamonds and calling a truce.

(She-Hulk III#9 (fb)) - Alongside the Armadillo and Constrictor, Jack robbed an armored car, but was subdued by Hercules, who badly beat the Constrictor.

(Gravity#3) - Jack O'Lantern fought Spider-Man in front of Lauren Sing's window from where it was shortly watched by Greg Willis (Gravity). Willis stayed with Lauren instead of coming to Spider-Man's aid. The fight continued and the outcome is unknown (wether Jack got away or imprisoned again).

(Union Jack II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Jack was hired by R.A.I.D. and helped into London by Fasaud.

(Union Jack II#2) - Jack O'Lantern participated in an attack on civilians in the slowly flooding Thames Tunnel. He was nearly knocked out by one of his bombs which was thrown back to him by Union Jack. He tried to escape after his partners Shockwave and Jackhammer were defeated by Union Jack, but the hero followed him in a flying car and they both crashed into a wall. Jack O'Lantern was then carried to the outside by Union Jack.

(Civil War#4 (fb) - BTS) - Jack was handed over to the U.S. authorities.

(Civil War#4) - Controlled by nanobots Jack O'Lantern became a member of the government's Thunderbolts. Stark and Richards wanted to use these new Thunderbolts to capture Captain America and his unregistered heroes.

(Civil War#5/Punisher War Journal II#1) - Jack was one of the Thunderbolts activated by Maria Hill to hunt down Spider-Man. Together with Jester he attacked Spider-Man in the sewers and had his fun with the hero. Jack's gas caused some cruel hallucinations and Spider-Man was helpless. Jack and Jester were asked to stop their attacks and wait for S.H.I.E.L.D. support. They were threatened with an electrical charge if they didn't stop. A moment later Jack O'Lantern and Jester were both shot in the head by the Punisher.

(Ghost Rider VI#10 (fb) - BTS) - Marty and Phyllis Levins had their son's body shipped back to Sleepy Hollows for burial.

(Ghost Rider VI#8 (fb) - BTS) - A fragment of the demon Lucifer possessed Levins' body, reanimating it in Jack O'Lantern form.

(Ghost Rider VI#8) - The Lucifer-possessed Jack O'Lantern decapitated Cameron Fillardi in front of his date, Emily Stouffer,

(Ghost Rider VI#8 - BTS) - The Lucifer-possessed Jack O'Lantern decapitated a pair of teenagers, and witnessed described him as having a flaming head (leading to sheriff Harry O'Connor mistaking the Ghost Rider for the culprit).

(Ghost Rider VI#8) - The Lucifer-possessed Jack O'Lantern returned to the Levins' house where he held Marty & Phyllis hostage while watching the news.

(Ghost Rider VI#9) - The Lucifer-possessed Jack O'Lantern decapitated the teenage Donnie then offered to spare his friend Marcus in exchange for his soul, but Ghost Rider (John Blaze/Zarathos) attacked him, and he escaped on his hovercraft. He later raised an army of zombies from the cemetery.

(Ghost Rider VI#10 (fb)) - The Lucifer-possessed Jack O'Lantern directed the zombies to kill the cemetery worker Ned, then led them to the home/workplace of preacher Darryl.

(Ghost Rider VI#10) - The Lucifer-possessed Jack O'Lantern attempted to surprise Darryl, intending to slaughter him and his family, but, having anticipated his actions, Sheriff O'Connor and Ghost Rider arrived to stop him.

(Ghost Rider VI#11) - Ghost Rider destroyed the zombies, then he and O'Connor used explosives to shatter Jack O'Lantern's armor, after which Ghost Rider tore out his heart, set it on fire, and replaced it in his chest; it blew up, and then Ghost Rider shattered his pumpkin/head.

(Incredible Hercules#129) - Residing in Hades Jack O'Lantern served in Pluto's Jury for Zeus' trial.

(Incredible Hercules#130) - Hercules attacked the Jury, but Jack stayed away from the fight keeping Pluto at a safe distance in the air.

(Incredible Hercules#131) - Jack O'Lantern attacked Pluto when he refused to honor his promise to release everyone from Hades.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald and Rik Levins.

    This Jack O'Lantern had a profile in the OHotMU Master Edition, but this profile was done to differentiate him from the Mad Jack (s) seen more frequently over in Spider-Man, as featured in the Spider-Man Encyclopedia.

    The Jack O'Lantern has appeared both with a full pumpkin helmet (as seen at the above left, in Captain America I#396-398, Alpha Flight I#121, and Spider-Man Unlimited#12), and one with the bottom portion flattened (as shown at the top right, in Cap 405-410 and the Hood#2-4, 6). The best way to differentiate him from either of the Mad Jacks, who were his contemporaries, is by motive and speech. This Jack O'Lantern speaks with a "Brooklyn" type of accent, and lacks the sophistication of the Jacks. He also is always working for profit, where as the Mad Jacks' goals were just to mess with people's minds.

    A Jack O'Lantern appears in JLA/Avengers#4, but since he is wearing the more traditional outfit, and the characters are pulled from various points in time, it could be this Jack, but is probably Macendale (or for that matter, could very well be one of the Mad Jacks).

    This Jack's real name was revealed in New Avengers: Most Wanted. He has entries in the OHotMU Master Edition and OHotMU 2006#5.

    Jack O'Lantern's appearance in Union Jack Volume 2 was before he joined the Thunderbolts in Civil War. Proof for this is a conversation between Captain America and Union Jack in Union Jack II#3 wherein Captain America told Union Jack that Iron Man and Spider-Man were currently in Washington (their visit just before Civil War seen in Amazing Spider-Man II#530-531).

Steve's brother, the new Jack O'Lantern, first appeared in Dark Reign: Made Men#1/3.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Not to be confused with:

The Hood, Parker Robbins, @ Hood#1, has no known connection to

images: (without ads)
OHotMU Master Edition (main image)
Captain America I#397, p7, pan3 (Jack's illusions)
(Jack is back in the Hood)

Other appearances:
Captain America I#397-398 (February-March, 1992) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Rik Levins (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Captain America I#405-406 (August-September, 1992) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Larry Alexander (pencils), Ariane (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Captain America I#407 (September, 1992) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Kevin Kobasic (pencils), Rodney Ramos (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Captain America I#408 (October, 1992) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Larry Alexander (pencils), Don Hudson (inks), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
Captain America I#409-410 (August-December, 1992) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Rik Levins (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
Alpha Flight I#121 (June, 1993) - Simon Furman (writer), Craig Brasfield (pencils), Frank Turner (inks), Rob Tokar (editor)
Spider-Man Unlimited I#12 (May, 1996) - Evan Skolnick (writer), Paris Karounos, Steven Butler & Steve Geiger (pencils), Randy Emberlin, Derek Fisher, Paris Karounos, Scott Hanna, Al Milgrom & Steven Butler (inks), Eric Fein & Ralph Macchio (editor)
The Hood#2-4 (August-October, 2002) - Brian K. Vaughn (writer), Kyle Hotz (pencils), Eric Powell (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
The Hood#6 (December, 2002) - Brian K. Vaughn (writer), Kyle Hotz (pencils), Eric Powell (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
She-Hulk III#9 (January, 2005) - Dan Slott (writer), Paul Pelletier (pencils), Rick Magyar (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Gravity#3 (October, 2005) - Sean McKeever (writer), Mike Norton (pencils), Jonathan Glapion (inks), Mackenzie Cadenhead (editor)
Civil War#4-5 (October-November, 2006) - Mark Millar (writer), Steve McNiven (pencils), Dexter Vines (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Union Jack II#1-2 (November-December, 2006) - Christos N. Gage (writer), Mike Perkins (pencils), Andrew Hennessy (inks), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Punisher War Journal II#1 (January, 2007) - Matt Fraction (writer), Ariel Olivetti (artist), Axel Alonso (editor)
Ghost Rider VI#8-11 (April-July 2007) - Daniel Way (writer), Javier Saltares (breakdowns), Mark Texeira (finishes), Michael O'Connor (editor), Axel Alonso (supervising editor)
Incredible Hercules#129 (July, 2009) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Ryan Stegman (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Incredible Hercules#130 (August, 2009) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Ryan Stegman & Rodney Buchemi (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Incredible Hercules#131 (September, 2009) - Fred Van Lente & Greg Pak (writers), Ryan Stegman (pencils), Terry Pallot (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)

First Posted: 05/12/2003
Last updated: 10/14/2013

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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