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Lady Jacqueline Falsworth Crichton
is the Vampiric speedster Spitfire from Marvel Comics.
Jaqueline Falsworth was the daughter of the original Union Jack. She gained powerful abilities after an attack from her uncle Baron Blood required her to take a blood transfusion from the first Human Torch, the android named Jim Hammond. His artificial blood kickstarted her own powers, and she became a powerful speedster known as Spitfire who worked with the Invaders.
She eventually realized that her encounter with Baron Blood had also given her some vampiric gifts like immortality. Jaqueline was thankfully able to control her bloodlust, though it made her one of Marvel's fastest speedsters. She continued to operate as Spitfire in the modern age alongside teams like the New Invaders and
MI-13.
Spitfire (Lady Jacqueline Falsworth Crichton) is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roy Thomas and Frank Robbins, the character first appeared in the Invaders comic book series as an intended replacement for the Union Jack character, but the costume design did not fit the female torso. Instead, the character of Spitfire, named after the Supermarine Spitfire fighter plane, was created.
Jacqueline "Jackie" Falsworth was born in Maidstone, England, and is the daughter of the original Union Jack (and the sister of Union Jack II).
As a teenager during World War
II, she met the superhuman team the Invaders. Baron Blood attacked her, and the original Human Torch rescued her. She was revealed to have been bitten by Baron Blood, who abducted her again; this time she was rescued by Captain America. She received a transfusion of artificial blood from the Human Torch, which endowed her with superhuman speed. She used these new powers to save the Torch from the Blue Bullet. She became an adventurer and took the name Spitfire and joined the Invaders, and went on her first mission with the Invaders. She operated as a special agent for the United Kingdom and Allied Forces during
World War
II, as well as the United Kingdom's Home Guard.
With the Invaders, she parachuted into Nazi
Germany. She was captured by the
Nazis, and was about to be executed when she was rescued by Union Jack. She battled Warrior Woman, and escaped from Germany with the Invaders. With the Invaders, she fought the Teutonic Knight, and helped prevent the assassination of
Winston Churchill by Baron Von Strucker. Alongside the Invaders, she clashed with Master Man, and freed the Mighty Destroyer from captivity. After some time off, she returned to active duty with the Invaders. At the war's end, Jacqueline retired from costumed activity.
SEMI RETIREMENT
After the war Lady Falsworth, her brother and her father assisted a secret organization called V-Battalion up until her brother's death in a car accident in 1953. Around this time she married a British nobleman, Lord Crichton, and together they had a son, Kenneth Crichton. She also became the Chief-Executive-Officer of Falsworth Industries. During this period, her super-speed faded as she grew older
She was present during Captain America's final battle with the original Baron Blood at Falsworth Manor, during this battle her son's friend Joey Chapman took over the role as Union Jack. Following the death of her father in the aftermath of the incident, she reluctantly agreed to allow Chapman to continue in the role of Union, formerly held by her father and brother. Although she had dismissed the idea of putting on her costume to assist Captain America defeat Baron Blood, she was able to summon her super-speed for the first time in a decade to save a nurse at the hospital where she was receiving treatment from a mutant ex-boyfriend.
Jacqueline later aided Namorita and Union Jack in a mission to rescue Namor from the original Master Man and Warrior Woman, during which she was shot. She received another life-saving blood transfusion from the Human Torch which not only restored her youth and powers, but also established a psychic link between her and the Torch. After going public to explain her rejuvenation in the media, her son Kenneth was kidnapped by Selene, who wished to vivisect her to learn the secret of eternal youth; but as Spitfire she was able to rescue Kenneth just as the bomb he had been strapped to was triggered.
While planning a Christmas party at Falsworth Manor, Jacqueline called for a doctor to care for her ailing son, Kenneth, but ignored warnings from Union Jack, Joey Chapman, that he was being led down a dark path. The Christmas party was disrupted by a vampire cult led by Baroness Blood, and when the cult set off a bomb, Jacqueline used her powers to rescue Chapman from the explosion. Jacqueline spent the next eight months mourning the death of her son who had been seduced, turned into the new Baron Blood and ultimately left to die by the Baroness.
POWERS AND ABILITIES
Jacqueline received superhuman powers as a result of a mutagenic reaction to a vampiric bite by the original Baron Blood, and a subsequent transfusion of artificial blood from the original
Human Torch. As Spitfire, she possesses the ability to run at lightning-fast speeds, with reflexes, reactions, coordination, agility, and endurance to match. When she runs, a trail of non-damaging fire appears behind her. She can create cyclones by running in circles, and can run up walls and across water. Her skin is also hardened to withstand the rigors of such speed, providing a type of body armor, and her costume is synthetic stretch fabric chemically treated for protection from friction and other hazards of superhuman speed.
In the years after World War
II, as Spitfire aged she ceased the use of her superhuman speed. Due to a second transfusion of artificial blood from the original Human Torch, Spitfire today has the body of a teenage girl, although she is chronologically many decades older. Her hair was originally still white from age, but it began turning blonde again.
It is said by the mutant sorceress, Selene, that Spitfire seems to possess a mutant regenerative power triggered by her transfusion of synthetic blood. With intensive study of her metabolism, blood stream, and glandular system, Selene hoped to one day duplicate the process.
She has some vampire abilities including fangs that appear when she is angry. However, she feels no blood lust and has no need to drink blood. She has shown superhuman strength sufficient enough to break a sword made out of titanium and also displayed a healing factor, as she was able to heal a broken back and ribs in a few panels.
Spitfire is a trained airplane pilot and exceptional athlete and hand-to-hand combatant, utilizing her ability to move at superhuman speeds, due to training by the original Union Jack and Captain America.
COMIC
BRITISH SUPER HEROES - A TO Z
Black
Knight, Dane Whitman (British, American, Ebony Blade Cursed Sword
Strong, Marvel)
Blade, Eric Brooks (Vampire Hunter Born Soho, London MI-13* [Wesley Snipes] British SuperHero,
Marvel)
Captain Avalon, Brian Braddock (Protects mystical Omniverse, Britain Corps,
Excalibur, Marvel)
Captain Midlands,
'Rambling' Sid Ridley (British Army Super Soldier Program MI-13*)
Dark
Angel, Shevaun Haldane (Psylocke, British Superhero Darkmoor, England,
Marvel Comics)
Dr Druid, Anthony Ludgate (Raised England, studied magic Harvard Medical Degree,
British Superhero)
Dr. Faiza Hussain (England, London - Sword Of Arthur
Excalibur Stone [Marvel Disney])
Elsa
Bloodstone, Monster Hunter (Marvel Comics)
Elizabeth 'Betsy' Braddock (Super heroine Captain Britain, mutant Psylocke Amulet of Right
Excalibur Knights)
John
Storm - Storm Force, ex army captain, soldier turned mercenary with
cybernetic arm 1987 Eagle comics
Ka-Zar,
Lord Kevin Plunder (British Royal Heritage England [Tarzan] Raised By Mutant Sabretooth Tiger
Zabu)
Motormouth and Killpower Harley Davis & Julius Mullarkey, Marvel UK Stories British Super Heroes
Mys-Tech Organization
Pete Wisdom (British Secret Agent Mutant Mi-13*
Excalibur X-Force S.T.R.I.K.E.)
Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew (London, England - Avengers Hydra
S.H.I.E.LD British
Superhero, Marvel)
Spitfire, Lady Jacqueline Falsworth Crichton (Vampiric Speedster Marvel Comics,
Immortal MI-13*)
Union Jack, Joseph 'Joey' Chapman (Patriotic Legacy Hero World War One [Liverpool, England] Marvel)
MARVEL
COMICS US SUPERHEROES - A TO Z
Ant
Man,
Captain
America,
Doctor
Strange,
Hulk,
Iron
Man,
Spider-Man,
Thor, and
Wolverine,
*
Military
Intelligence, Section 13 (MI-13), is the United Kingdom's (fictional) agency set up to deal with paranormal occurrences and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside MI5,
MI6, GCHQ, and DI. MI13 is directed by the JIC (Joint Intelligence Committee). The service is directed to protect Britain from mystical, extra-terrestrial and superhuman threats.
HISTORICAL LEGENDS
Saint George is based on a soldier in the Roman army who was martyred in 303 CE (Patron saint of knights)
Sir Galahad - Knight of the Round Table 12-15th century CE literature (King
Arthur legend)
Siegfried - Brunhilde & King Gunter (Kriemhild, Burgundian [Nibelung] princess) c. 1200 CE
RECORDED HISTORICAL KNIGHTS
Robert
Guiscard - 'The Crafty' (c. 1015-1085 CE) [Norman]
Rodrigo
Díaz de Vivar - 'El Cid' (1043-1099 CE)
Godfrey
of Bouillon (circa 1060-1100)
Sir William Marshal - 'The Greatest Knight that Ever Lived' (c. 1146-1219
CE)
Richard I - 'The Lionhearted' (1157-1199 CE) King of England from 1189 to
1199 CE
Sir William Wallace (c. 1270-1305 CE)
Sir James Douglas - 'The Black Douglas' (c. 1286-1330 CE)
Bertrand du Guesclin - 'The Eagle of Brittany' (c. 1320-1380 CE)
Edward
of Woodstock - 'The Black Prince [of Wales]' (1330-1376 CE)
Sir
Henry Percy - 'Hotspur' (1364-1403 CE)
John
Storm is a hybrid character. A new breed of modern Knight, fighting to protect the
natural world and the archaeology that defines man's development, from
Tanzania, to the Moon and beyond. Storm's ace in the hole is the Elizabeth
Swann, the onboard
AI, Hal, and his enhanced performance via a brain implant and genetic
modification. Thus, just about keeping pace with what the market expects in
a modern world: A technological super secret agent. In this case, for Blue
Shield & UNESCO.
John
Storm is a new breed of British super hero, a modern Knight. Seen here with Dan Hawk, at the helm of the Elizabeth
Swann. The formidable high tech duo discover they have
no way to make it in the book or film world, but discover that they make
excellent comic characters, ideal for publication as graphic novels. George
Franks, mentor, is held to be a descendant of King Arthur, a knight of the
fabled Round Table. The Swann's onboard weapons early warning and targeting system
is called: Merlin. The laser cannon: Excalibur. And the tazer anti-piracy
boarding system: Pendragon.
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