Jump to content

Citizen V

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 69.123.55.110 (talk) at 04:08, 23 January 2017. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Citizen V
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearance
  • John Watkins:
    Daring Mystery Comics vol. 1 #8 (January 1942)
  • Paulette Brazee:
    Captain America & Citizen V Annual (January 1999)
  • John Watkins Jr.:
    Citizen V and the V-Battalion Everlasting vol. 1 #1 (March 2002)
  • Helmut Zemo:
    Thunderbolts Annual #1997
  • Dallas Riordan:
    Thunderbolts vol. 1 #16 (July 1998)
  • John Watkins III:
    Thunderbolts #45
  • Roberto da Costa:
    U.S.Avengers #1 (January 2017)
Created by
In-story information
Team affiliations
Notable aliases
  • Paulette Brazee:
    She-Wolf
  • John Watkins Jr.:
    J.J.

Citizen V is the codename of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original incarnation was an obscure hero from the Golden Age of Comic Books, but the character's identity was revived in the modern day in Thunderbolts. The various incarnations have usually been affiliated with the V-Battalion organization. The "V" in the character's and group's name is the letter "V" - as opposed to the Roman numeral 5 - and is derived from the World War II-era slogan "V for Victory".

Fictional character biography

John Watkins

The original version of Citizen V was John Watkins, an Englishman who assisted the resistance in Nazi-occupied France.[1] He led the V-Battalion, a group of freedom fighters. He was killed in action by Baron Zemo,[2] and various others took up the Citizen V identity.[3]

Paulette Brazee

The second version of Citizen V was Paulette Brazee, the French lover of John Watkins and mother of JJ Watkins. During the war, she was She-Wolf, a spy sent to romance Baron Zemo. Paulette betrayed Zemo and eventually discovered she was pregnant. When John and the majority of the V-Battalion were slaughtered by Zemo, the remaining survivors had Paulette smuggled to England. There Paulette met a red-headed soldier who she married. After the V-Battalion was reconstituted in 1951, Paulette was given the Citizen V role. The V-Battalion began hunting down Nazi war criminals and was allowed to place their secret headquarters Castle Masada in Symkaria. In 1953, Paulette was sent on a mission to Argentina to find Nazi scientist Johann Weimer and bring the scientist to the V-Battalion so the group could use the Nazi's skills. Weimer was murdered by one of the Everlasting, a group of gods who had frequent run-ins with the V-Battalion.[4]

John Watkins Jr.

The third version of Citizen V is John "JJ" Watkins Jr., the alleged son of John Watkins Sr and Paulette Brazee;[5] an affair between the latter and Baron Zemo had been implied. In 1953, he was nine years old so he was presumably born in 1944. Since his father died before he was born and his mother was often away on missions as Citizen V during his childhood, JJ was primarily raised by nannies employed by the V-Battalion. In 1971, JJ asked the Shadow King for help in researching the Everlasting. JJ died when his own son John Watkins III was two years old.[6]

Helmut Zemo

Main article: Helmut Zemo
Helmut Zemo as Citizen V. Art by Mark Bagley.

The supervillain Helmut Zemo took the Citizen V name for his imposture as a superhero during different occasions.[7]

Dallas Riordan

Main article: Dallas Riordan

Dallas Riordan takes the Citizen V mantle due to her paternal grandfather being a member of the V-Battalion and stayed in Europe after WWII and died on a mission for the V-Battalion.[8]

John Watkins III

John Watkins III was raised to be a version of Citizen V. He presumably served as a field agent for the V Battalion before he actually took the Citizen V title and was left comatose for five years. When Helmut Zemo's mind was placed in his body, John was remarkably healthy for someone who had been in a bed for five years. When Helmut was no longer in his body, John decided to change costumes and stayed on as Citizen V. He soon found himself fighting the Everlasting. He installed ULTIMATUM as the leader of the country Rumekistan but that was a decision which later came back to haunt him. Later under the holographic guise of Nenad Petrovic, Watkins orchestrated events to make Cable leader of Rumekistan. There is a mention in Citizen V (vol. 2) that John Watkins, III is the seventh version of Citizen V.

Roberto da Costa

Main article: Sunspot (comics)

When Avengers Idea Mechanics merged with the U.S. government to form the American Intelligence Mechanics, Roberto da Costa began to lead the U.S.Avengers under the Citizen V alias.[9]

Other versions

Ultimate Marvel

An Ultimate Marvel counterpart of Citizen V is depicted. In Ultimate Origins, an American super-soldier (a normal GI dressed in a special uniform) rallies his men in the face of a Japanese onslaught at Battle of the Tenaru in 1942. However, the soldier is shot and killed; his blood staining the American flag. A photograph of this image is released around the world to which President Franklin Roosevelt demands a true super-soldier from advisors rather than a normal soldier wearing a special uniform. The character's real name is never mentioned but he's confirmed to be John Watkins.[10]

References

  1. ^ Daring Mystery Comics #8
  2. ^ Thunderbolts -1 Distant Rumblings
  3. ^ Citizen V and the V-Battalion - The Everlasting #1
  4. ^ Citizen V and the V-Battalion Everlasting #1
  5. ^ Captain America/Citizen V 1998 Annual
  6. ^ Citizen V and the V-Battalion Everlasting #1
  7. ^ Thunderbolts #1
  8. ^ Thunderbolts Vol 1 #42
  9. ^ U.S.Avengers #1
  10. ^ Ultimate Origins #1 (June 2008)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Citizen_V&oldid=761470326"