Jackpot (comics)
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| Jackpot | |
|---|---|
 Jackpot in Spider-Man: Swing Shift Art by Phil Jimenez |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Free Comic Book Day Spider-Man: Swing Shift (May 2007) |
| Created by | Dan Slott[1] Phil Jimenez |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Sarah Ehret (Jackpot I) Alana Jobson (Jackpot II) |
| Team affiliations | The Initiative |
| Notable aliases | "Spider-Man's Girlfriend" |
| Abilities |
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Jackpot is the name of several fictionals comic book characters owned by Marvel Comics and primarily appearing in Spider-Man's stories. Jackpot's first appearance was in the Free Comic Book Day Spider-Man: Swing Shift issue released on May 5, 2007 and set in the "Brand New Day" storyline.
Contents |
[edit] Fictional character biography
Jackpot is an officially sanctioned Initiative superhero for New York City.[2] She shares many characteristics with the Spider-Man supporting character Mary Jane Watson; long red hair, and a tendency to use the pet term "Tiger", a nickname used by Watson for Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and others on many occasions. Jackpot used money from a modeling shoot (Watson was a model) to pay for a police scanner to use in her heroic persona.[2] The name "Jackpot" itself echoes Mary Jane Watson's classic line, spoken in her first full appearance: "Face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot." Parker himself suspects Jackpot may be Mary Jane,[3] though she strictly denies it, telling him her real name is "Sara Ehret".[4] Incidentally, this was the name of a character (played by Polly Cusumano) on the television show Jack & Bobby for which Amazing Spider-Man writer Marc Guggenheim was a writer and supervising producer.
Jackpot teams up with Spider-Man on a search for the villain Menace. They eventually find him after he attacks a council meeting and kidnaps a councilwoman. Jackpot interferes with the fight between Spider-Man and Menace, pulling Menace from his glider. As a result of this action, the glider slams into the rescued councilwoman, killing her. Menace blames Spider-Man for the woman's death and escapes. Jackpot blames herself, as does Spider-Man, as seen in his internal monologue. Still, he attempts to comfort her but Jackpot, who is distraught and angry by the experience, takes it all out on Spider-Man by pushing him away and storming off.
Later Spider-Man goes to Jackpot's apparent house only to find a girl who confirms that her name is Sara Ehret, but says she is not the superheroine Jackpot. Frightened, she sends Spider-Man away saying he "really should keep out of this." This leaves Spider-Man astonished and confused.
While returning to Los Angeles after a brief visit to New York, Mary Jane is approached at the airport for an autograph by Sara Ehret. Sara claims to be "a huge fan" of Mary Jane and mentions her famous "jackpot" line, which Mary Jane has since made famous by saying it in a soap opera. The two women are shown side by side and despite different hair styles, have very similar faces.[5]
[edit] Secret Invasion: Spider-Man
During the Secret Invasion, Jackpot is slandered by Dexter Bennett, current owner of the Daily Bugle and endorser of a series of scandalous and libelous articles about her activity as a superhero after she accidentally attacks a legitimate meeting to trade goods for a drug sales group; the group however, was one connected to Walter Declun.
Jackpot is furious when she discovers the articles and goes to the Daily Bugle, along with a PR supplied by the Initiative. While there, the newspaper is attacked by a Super-Skrull in Spider-Man's form searching for the wall-crawler. After her refusal, the Skrull changes from Spider-Man form to a composite form with the powers and abilities of Lizard, Rhino, Electro, Hydro-Man, Sandman, and Venom.[6]
Jackpot battles it long enough for Betty Brant, Dexter Bennett, Robbie Robertson and Vin Gonzales to escape the building. While Robbie drives, Jackpot battles the Super-Skrull on the roof of the car until she is attacked by Menace who kills one of the invading Skrulls.[7] The Sinister Six-Skrull, thinking Betty Brant is Spider-Man, is crashed into by Menace and Jackpot on Menace's glider, injuring all three of them. Menace escapes while Jackpot has to battle an even angrier Sinister Six-Skrull. Jackpot defeats him by freezing him to death inside a freezer.[8]
[edit] Secret Identities
In Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2008, Jackpot's identity is revealed to be Alana Jobson, an associate of Sara Ehret, a superpowered woman enrolled in the Initiative who changed her mind about being a super-hero[9]. Amazing Spider-Man Family #6 later presents Sarah Erhet as having effectively been the Jackpot for some time, before exchanging this identity with Alana, making her the second Jackpot[10]. Alana had a crush on Spider-Man in the sense of wanting to be like him; she later realized she was a lesbian and was attracted to Sara but never told her.
Alana, in a way reminiscent of the movie Gattaca, buys Sara's identity, and while the latter goes in hiding, the former starts using a cocktail of enhancement drugs, including the infamous Mutant Growth Hormone to grant herself the powers of super-strength, stamina, and invulnerability associated with the Jackpot identity.
While fighting Commanda and Blindside, Alana is pumped with the blindness serum used by Blindside to trump his enemies: Spider-Man comes to the rescue with an antidote, which clears Alana's vision but the blindness serum reacts fatally with the combination of drugs that gave her the powers. Spider-Man, having already discovered the whole truth about Alana and Sarah, goes to notify Alana's death to Sarah, blaming her for evading her responsibilities and allowing the otherwise powerless and untrained Alana to go to her death. Sarah is left clutching Jackpot's costume, while Spider-Man walks away after telling her that people with powers do not have a choice of giving up their responsibilities.[9]
[edit] Powers and abilities
While the first Jackpot had superhuman powers, the second and more prominent Jackpot's powers are derived from drugs that she took for physical enhancement. She has demonstrated dramatic gymnastic ability. In Amazing Spider-Man #549, she says she has some invulnerability. She is shown to have some limited fighting ability. The abilities shown are consistent with the abilities produced by Mutant Growth Hormone users, and she requires continued use of the substance to maintain them.
Jackpot also exhibited superhuman strength, as in Secret Invasion Spider-Man #2 she was able to rip the trunk off of a car and throw it into a Super Skrull. In the same issue she withstood some serious punches at the hands of super powered Skrull warrior without developing bruises, which confirms her previous claims about possessing some sort of invulnerability.
[edit] Costume
Sporting a disco-era costume, Jackpot wears a green jumpsuit with bell bottoms, gold cuffs, a silver stripe running down the front, and a gold mask that covers her eyes, side of her face, and apparently wraps behind her head. She also wears a belt with the numbers 777 (suggesting a winning jackpot) on it. Though not initially considered as a part of her costume, Jackpot's long red hair is revealed to be a wig[10].
[edit] Biography
- Spider-Man:Swing Shift
- Amazing Spider-Man #546-551, 561, Annual #35
- Secret Invasion:The Amazing Spider-Man #1-3
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ [1] Fan Expo: Guggenheim hits the 'Jackpot', 30 August 2009
- ^ a b Amazing Spider-Man #546 (January 2008)
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #549 (February 2008)
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #550 (February 2008)
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #561 (June 2008)
- ^ Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man #1
- ^ Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man #2
- ^ Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man #3
- ^ a b Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (2008)
- ^ a b Amazing Spider-Man Family #6 : Exit Interview
