Jasper Sitwell
Encyclopedia
Jasper Sitwell is a fictional
, comic book
espionage
agent in the Marvel Comics
universe
. Created by writer
-editor
Stan Lee
and artist
and co-plotter Jack Kirby
, he first appeared in Strange Tales
#144 (May 1966).
, beginning in the feature "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
" in Marvel Comics' Strange Tales
in 1966, and continuing into the subsequent series Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1968. He became the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to defense industry
contractor Tony Stark (Iron Man
) beginning in the "Iron Man" feature in Tales of Suspense
#93 (Sept. 1967), and continuing into that subsequent series as well. He was seldom featured from the early 1970s until the 1988 miniseries
Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D., and then again in the 1996-1997 series Iron Man Vol. 2. Sitwell afterward appeared in a three-issue arc of the superhero
-team series The Avengers
in 2000, and in Punisher War Journal #1 (January 2007).
Young, crew cut, clean-cut Jasper Sitwell graduated at the top of his class at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, with particularly high marks in airborne jump school and underwater maneuvers. When first introduced to S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Director Nick Fury
, the new agent's eager-beaver attitude meets initially with mock (and occasionally real) frustration from Fury and second-in-command Dum Dum Dugan
, but Sitwell soon proves himself and earned his fellow agents' respect — albeit tinged with occasional humor aimed at his youthfulness and idealistic naïveté. Mentored by Fury himself and occasionally appointed interim director when Fury is on solo missions in the field, Sitwell later is assigned to Stark Industries as liaison between S.H.I.E.L.D. and that defense-industry contractor, which designs and manufactures much of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ordnance and equipment. There he confronts costumed assassins
and terrorists such as Spymaster
(who shoots him and puts Sitwell in a coma
for a time) and A.I.M.
, directly saves CEO Tony Stark's life at one point, and romances Whitney Frost (Madame Masque
), a one-time Stark paramour. When Obadiah Stane
takes over what was by then named Stark International, Fury sends Sitwell on an ultimately failed attempt to retrieve Stark's Iron Man
armors.
Sitwell, like most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. leadership at the time, is seemingly killed by a self-aware, renegade "Deltan" variety of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s artificial-human "Life Model Decoy
s", and replaced by one such LMD, which was then installed as Executive Director. The real Sitwell later turns up alive after having been brainwashed by a faction of the terrorist organization HYDRA, placed in suspended animation
, released as part of a plot against Fury, and eventually deprogrammed. He has since become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top interrogator, often paired with fellow agent Jimmy Woo
. He has also worked closely with G. W. Bridge
, mainly in an attempt to neutralize the threat of the Punisher
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
agent in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. Created by writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
-editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and co-plotter Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, he first appeared in Strange Tales
Strange Tales
Strange Tales is the name of several comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics. It introduced the features "Doctor Strange" and "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and was a showcase for the science fiction/suspense stories of artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and for the...
#144 (May 1966).
Publication history
Jasper Sitwell appears as an agent of the fictional espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D.S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
, beginning in the feature "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Fury
Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional World War II army hero and present-day super-spy in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 , a World War II combat series that portrayed the...
" in Marvel Comics' Strange Tales
Strange Tales
Strange Tales is the name of several comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics. It introduced the features "Doctor Strange" and "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and was a showcase for the science fiction/suspense stories of artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and for the...
in 1966, and continuing into the subsequent series Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1968. He became the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to defense industry
Defense industry
The defense industry, also called the military industry, comprises government and commercial industry involved in research, development, production, and service of military materiel, equipment and facilities...
contractor Tony Stark (Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
) beginning in the "Iron Man" feature in Tales of Suspense
Tales of Suspense
Tales of Suspense is the name of an American comic book series and two one-shot comics published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for such artists as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Don Heck, then featured...
#93 (Sept. 1967), and continuing into that subsequent series as well. He was seldom featured from the early 1970s until the 1988 miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D., and then again in the 1996-1997 series Iron Man Vol. 2. Sitwell afterward appeared in a three-issue arc of the superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
-team series The Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
in 2000, and in Punisher War Journal #1 (January 2007).
Fictional character biography
Nick Fury
Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional World War II army hero and present-day super-spy in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 , a World War II combat series that portrayed the...
, the new agent's eager-beaver attitude meets initially with mock (and occasionally real) frustration from Fury and second-in-command Dum Dum Dugan
Dum Dum Dugan
Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader "Dum Dum" Dugan is a fictional character in the . He is an officer of S.H.I.E.L.D. and is one of the most experienced members of Nick Fury's team, known for his marksmanship with rifles and for his impressive physique...
, but Sitwell soon proves himself and earned his fellow agents' respect — albeit tinged with occasional humor aimed at his youthfulness and idealistic naïveté. Mentored by Fury himself and occasionally appointed interim director when Fury is on solo missions in the field, Sitwell later is assigned to Stark Industries as liaison between S.H.I.E.L.D. and that defense-industry contractor, which designs and manufactures much of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ordnance and equipment. There he confronts costumed assassins
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
and terrorists such as Spymaster
Spymaster (comics)
Spymaster is a supervillain from Marvel Comics. The first appearance of the character is in Iron Man #33.-Publication history:Spymaster is a Marvel Comics supervillain, whose primary antagonist is Iron Man. He is a master of industrial espionage...
(who shoots him and puts Sitwell in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
for a time) and A.I.M.
Advanced Idea Mechanics
A.I.M. is a fictional terrorist organization in the . The organization first appeared in Strange Tales #146 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.-Publication history:...
, directly saves CEO Tony Stark's life at one point, and romances Whitney Frost (Madame Masque
Madame Masque
Madame Masque is a fictional character that has appeared in various comic book series published by Marvel Comics. She is an occasional love interest, and sometimes enemy of Iron Man within the Marvel Universe...
), a one-time Stark paramour. When Obadiah Stane
Obadiah Stane
Obadiah Stane is a fictional supervillain from comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in Iron Man #163 , and was created by Dennis O'Neil and Luke McDonnell....
takes over what was by then named Stark International, Fury sends Sitwell on an ultimately failed attempt to retrieve Stark's Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
armors.
Sitwell, like most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. leadership at the time, is seemingly killed by a self-aware, renegade "Deltan" variety of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s artificial-human "Life Model Decoy
Life Model Decoy
A Life Model Decoy is fictional android appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is designed to function as an exact body double for VIPs...
s", and replaced by one such LMD, which was then installed as Executive Director. The real Sitwell later turns up alive after having been brainwashed by a faction of the terrorist organization HYDRA, placed in suspended animation
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
, released as part of a plot against Fury, and eventually deprogrammed. He has since become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top interrogator, often paired with fellow agent Jimmy Woo
Jimmy Woo
Jimmy Woo is a fictional, Chinese-American secret agent in the Marvel Comics comic-book universe. Created by EC Comics great Al Feldstein and artist Joe Maneely, the character first appeared in Yellow Claw #1 Jimmy Woo is a fictional, Chinese-American secret agent in the Marvel Comics comic-book...
. He has also worked closely with G. W. Bridge
G. W. Bridge
George Washington "G. W." Bridge is a fictional character in the , created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld. He is a former mercenary and high-ranking agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Currently, he is the leader of the Six Pack. He first appeared as an antagonist in X-Force #1.-Fictional character...
, mainly in an attempt to neutralize the threat of the Punisher
Punisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
.
Television
- Jasper Sitwell appeared in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest HeroesThe Avengers: Earth's Mightiest HeroesThe Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is an American animated television series by Marvel Animation in cooperation with Film Roman based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. The show debuted on Disney XD in Fall 2010 starting with a 20 part micro-series. A second season has been...
episode "Come the Conqueror", voiced by Tom KaneTom KaneTom Kane is a prominent American voice actor with over 25 years of experience. He is most widely known for his animation work...
.
Film
- Sitwell appears in the Marvel StudiosMarvel StudiosMarvel Studios, originally Marvel Films, is an American television and motion picture studio based in Manhattan Beach, California. Marvel Studios is a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, a self-contained part of the The Walt Disney Company conglomerate....
film ThorThor (film)Thor is a 2011 American superhero film based on the comic book character of the same name published by Marvel Comics. It is the fourth film released as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
, portrayed by Maximiliano "Max" Hernández; and in the Marvel One Shot short film "The Consultant", again portrayed by Hernández.