Mister America (Jeffrey Graves)
Encyclopedia
Mister America is a fictional superhero
in the DC Comics
Universe
, the official third and current character to take up the Mr. America mantle and a member of the superhero team the Justice Society of America
. Mr. America made his first full appearance as Jeffrey Graves in Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #4 (May 2007) and was created by Geoff Johns
and Dale Eaglesham
.
Jeffrey bears no relation to the previous heroes, Tex
and Trey Thompson, who took the Mr. America mantle. However, Jeffrey was connected to Trey, as he had formerly worked with him in the FBI. While serving as the second Mr. America, Trey had been murdered. His murderer was later revealed to be Vandal Savage
. Jeffrey decided to continue the legacy by becoming the new Mr. America.
In 2009, Mr. America began to make more significant appearances in the series, starting with issue #29. Later in the year, Mr. America appeared in Justice Society of America 80-Page Giant
#1 and in the six-issue mini-series JSA vs. Kobra.
Later, in 2010, he appeared in Justice Society of America Annual
#2 and Blackest Night: JSA #1. He later appeared in issues #45 through #48 in the second volume of the Justice League of America series, due to the Brightest Day
tie-in JLA/JSA crossover story.
In 2011, Mr. America appeared in issue #36 of the fourth volume of Outsiders. Currently, Mr. America is continuing to appear in the Justice Society of America series.
who worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
. His former partner, Trey Thompson was currently working as the superhero Mr. America, who Jeffrey supplied information to about the crimes that went on so Trey could investigate them alongside the FBI. Jeffrey was the only one who knew about Trey's secret identity and he had to pretend to not know Mr. America. However, when Trey's family was murdered, he revealed his identity to the FBI. After discovering and brutally interrogating his family's murderer, a villain named Catalyst, on who had hired him to kill his family, Trey was later murdered. Trey's murderer was revealed to be Vandal Savage, who was killing all of the descendants of early superheroes who had their legacies carried on. Savage was eventually defeated by the Justice Society of America. Jeffrey then lost his job when the FBI discovered he supplied information to Trey, as Trey used to be with the FBI until he took vengeance on a murderer. Jeffrey, while cleaning out his office, took out Mr. America's costume and put his mask on.
Mr. America later recruited his new sidekick, All-American Kid
. On the day that Mr. America brought All-American Kid to the Brownstone, most of the team left for battle, leaving All-American Kid, Mr. Terrific
and King Chimera
as the only ones left at the Brownstone. All-American Kid then went to Mr. Terrific and stabbed him in the back. When the JSA came back and found Mr. Terrific injured, they interrogated All-American Kid. After watching the security tape of All-American Kid resisting, it was concluded that he was mind controlled. However, when the villains that the JSA previously fought attacked the Brownstone, Mr. America was knocked out by his sidekick. Throughout the rest of the arc, it was revealed that All-American Kid was actually a sociopath named Jeremy Karne. He stabbed Mr. Terrific so he wouldn't figure out who he was and he wanted to infiltrate the Justice Society to kidnap Obsidian
.
After Jeremy's infiltration, the Justice Society decided to split into two teams. Mr. America stayed on the regular JSA team. Mr. Terrific, who was alive and was recovering from his injuries, gave Mr. America his whip, saying he made some improvements on it. When Mr. America, along with Lightning
at his side, tried his whip out by striking it on some cinder blocks, they exploded, with the impact knocking both of them a few feet back. At the same time, Mr. America soon helped his team defeat Mordru
and then later The Fourth Reich, a Nazi team associated with Jeremy.
. He expressed willpower as he fought against a Black Lantern. Mr. America growled to it, "Come on, you monster." He was later seen defeated and being held by Flash, who sped him to safety at S.T.A.R. Labs
.
had been taken over by the Starheart. The JSA then teamed up with the Justice League
and the newly resurrected Jade
to stop Alan and other metahumans who had also been corrupted by the Starheart. After a series of events, Batman
figured out that Jade was able to drain the Starheart's power by using her powers against Alan enough where he could take back control of the Starheart. This attempt led to success, which gave Alan control back over his powers and setting every other metahuman back to normal.
Mr. America is close friends with his teammate Lightning, as the two often talk and pair up together during battles. When Lightning once called him Mr. Graves, he told her to call him Jeff, as he did not want to feel elderly and reminded her that he was closer in age with her than he is to the veterans of the team. Mr. America is also distasteful against the idea of the military using children
, saying it's "ridiculous to let children go into battle."
, white
and blue
, which symbolizes the American flag. He wears a blue mask, a white shirt with blue cuffs, a red cape with a blue stripe at the bottom of it with white stars running across it, a blue collar with one gold star on each side, blue pants, blue boot shin guards and a brown belt. His costume is almost identical to the one Tex and Trey wore, except with a few minor changes. The original Mr. America costume consisted of a red belt, white collar, one blue star on each side of the collar, blue gloves, no cuffs on the shirt, and white shin guards. Jeffrey's costume has a brown belt, blue collar, one gold star on each side of the collar, no gloves, blue cuffs on his shirt, and blue shin guards.
Mr. Terrific also never clearly stated why he made the improvements to the whips. However, it can be assumed that he did it to simply make the whips more effective during battles and help Mr. America become more of a threat to super powered enemies, as he is a non-powered human and his two regular whips had proved to be ineffective many times, thus causing him many injuries. At the time when he was beaten by Gog and still using his regular whips, Mr. America said, "I tried to stop him. Guess what? Power staff beats whip."
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 —...
in the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
, the official third and current character to take up the Mr. America mantle and a member of the superhero team the Justice Society of America
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
. Mr. America made his first full appearance as Jeffrey Graves in Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #4 (May 2007) and was created by Geoff Johns
Geoff Johns
Geoff Johns is an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics, where he has been Chief Creative Officer since February 2010, in particular for characters such as Green Lantern, The Flash and Superman...
and Dale Eaglesham
Dale Eaglesham
Dale Eaglesham is a comic book illustrator who has been working in the industry since 1986. He is best known for his work on titles like Conan, Punisher, Green Lantern, Villains United, Justice Society of America and Fantastic Four...
.
Jeffrey bears no relation to the previous heroes, Tex
Tex Thompson
Tex Thompson is a superhero owned by DC Comics who has used the costumed identities Mr. America and The Americommando. Created by Ken Fitch and Bernard Baily, his first appearance was in Action Comics #1 , the same comic that introduced Superman.-Fictional character biography:Thomson is originally...
and Trey Thompson, who took the Mr. America mantle. However, Jeffrey was connected to Trey, as he had formerly worked with him in the FBI. While serving as the second Mr. America, Trey had been murdered. His murderer was later revealed to be Vandal Savage
Vandal Savage
Vandal Savage is a fictional character, a supervillain published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 1 #10 , and was created by Alfred Bester and Martin Nodell....
. Jeffrey decided to continue the legacy by becoming the new Mr. America.
Publication history
Jeffrey Graves made his first, non-speaking appearance in the first issue of the third volume of the Justice Society of America series in 2007. In issue #4, he made his first full appearance and then appeared again in issue #11 as the superhero, Mr. America. He appeared in three more issues after this, and then only made occasional appearances.In 2009, Mr. America began to make more significant appearances in the series, starting with issue #29. Later in the year, Mr. America appeared in Justice Society of America 80-Page Giant
80-Page Giant
80-Page Giant was the name used for a series of comic books published by DC Comics beginning in 1964. The series was named for its unusually high page count. . The cover price was typically 25 cents, while other comics of the day were rarely above 12 cents...
#1 and in the six-issue mini-series JSA vs. Kobra.
Later, in 2010, he appeared in Justice Society of America Annual
Annual publication
An annual publication, more often called simply an annual, is a book or a magazine, comic book or comic strip published yearly. For example, a weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication....
#2 and Blackest Night: JSA #1. He later appeared in issues #45 through #48 in the second volume of the Justice League of America series, due to the Brightest Day
Brightest Day
Brightest Day is a year-long comic book maxi-series that began in April 2010. The story follows the ending of the series Blackest Night and how the aftermath of these events affect the entire DC Universe.-Plot:...
tie-in JLA/JSA crossover story.
In 2011, Mr. America appeared in issue #36 of the fourth volume of Outsiders. Currently, Mr. America is continuing to appear in the Justice Society of America series.
Fictional character biography
Jeffrey Graves was a Special AgentSpecial agent
Special agent is usually the title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government. An agent is a worker for any federal agency, and a secret agent is one who works for an intelligence agency....
who worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
. His former partner, Trey Thompson was currently working as the superhero Mr. America, who Jeffrey supplied information to about the crimes that went on so Trey could investigate them alongside the FBI. Jeffrey was the only one who knew about Trey's secret identity and he had to pretend to not know Mr. America. However, when Trey's family was murdered, he revealed his identity to the FBI. After discovering and brutally interrogating his family's murderer, a villain named Catalyst, on who had hired him to kill his family, Trey was later murdered. Trey's murderer was revealed to be Vandal Savage, who was killing all of the descendants of early superheroes who had their legacies carried on. Savage was eventually defeated by the Justice Society of America. Jeffrey then lost his job when the FBI discovered he supplied information to Trey, as Trey used to be with the FBI until he took vengeance on a murderer. Jeffrey, while cleaning out his office, took out Mr. America's costume and put his mask on.
Joining the Justice Society
Later, Jeffrey appeared at a crime scene in the Mr. America costume with two whips, claiming himself to be the new Mr. America. Soon, while investigating more murders by himself, Mr. America was attacked and brutally beaten by Gog. He later stumbled into the Justice Society of America Brownstone, barely breathing. He lived and it was revealed that Gog was murdering metahuman criminals who claimed to be gods. Mr. America was then submitted as a member of the Justice Society. During this moment, Gog appeared and took on the JSA. Mr. America was not seen throughout the rest of the story arc, however Gog was absorbed by the one true Gog, a god who rose on earth. The JSA eventually defeated him.Mr. America later recruited his new sidekick, All-American Kid
Jeremy Karne
Jeremy Karne, better known as Kid Karnevil, or simply Karnevil, is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics Universe, a member of different supervillain teams such as The Pentacle and the Nazi organization called The Fourth Reich...
. On the day that Mr. America brought All-American Kid to the Brownstone, most of the team left for battle, leaving All-American Kid, Mr. Terrific
Mister Terrific (Michael Holt)
Michael Holt is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics. First appearing in Spectre #54 , he is the second character to take up the Mister Terrific mantle....
and King Chimera
King Chimera
King Chimera is a fictional superhero in the DC Comics Universe, a member of the superhero team the Justice Society of America. King Chimera first appeared in Justice Society of America King Chimera is a fictional superhero in the DC Comics Universe, a member of the superhero team the Justice...
as the only ones left at the Brownstone. All-American Kid then went to Mr. Terrific and stabbed him in the back. When the JSA came back and found Mr. Terrific injured, they interrogated All-American Kid. After watching the security tape of All-American Kid resisting, it was concluded that he was mind controlled. However, when the villains that the JSA previously fought attacked the Brownstone, Mr. America was knocked out by his sidekick. Throughout the rest of the arc, it was revealed that All-American Kid was actually a sociopath named Jeremy Karne. He stabbed Mr. Terrific so he wouldn't figure out who he was and he wanted to infiltrate the Justice Society to kidnap Obsidian
Obsidian (comics)
Obsidian is a fictional superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in All-Star Squadron #25 , and was created by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway. According to an Infinity, Inc...
.
After Jeremy's infiltration, the Justice Society decided to split into two teams. Mr. America stayed on the regular JSA team. Mr. Terrific, who was alive and was recovering from his injuries, gave Mr. America his whip, saying he made some improvements on it. When Mr. America, along with Lightning
Lightning (DC Comics)
Lightning is a fictional superhero published by DC Comics. A member of the Justice Society of America, she is the youngest daughter of Black Lightning and sister of the heroine Thunder. The current version of Lightning debuted in Justice Society of America vol...
at his side, tried his whip out by striking it on some cinder blocks, they exploded, with the impact knocking both of them a few feet back. At the same time, Mr. America soon helped his team defeat Mordru
Mordru
Mordru is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics' main shared universe.Mordru is the most prominent Lord of Chaos who is fated to survive even after the end of the universe, although he is usually shown as a powerful wizard...
and then later The Fourth Reich, a Nazi team associated with Jeremy.
Blackest Night
Around the same time during the fight with Mordru, Mr. America helped his team in the fight against the Black Lanterns in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He expressed willpower as he fought against a Black Lantern. Mr. America growled to it, "Come on, you monster." He was later seen defeated and being held by Flash, who sped him to safety at S.T.A.R. Labs
S.T.A.R. Labs
S.T.A.R. Labs, is a fictional research facility, and comic book organization appearing in titles published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Superman vol. 1 #246 , and was created by Cary Bates and Rich Buckler.-Publication history:...
.
Brightest Day
Quickly after defeating The Fourth Reich, Mr. America was then present when Alan ScottAlan Scott
Alan Scott is a fictional character, a superhero in the and the first superhero to bear the name Green Lantern.-Publication history:The original Green Lantern was created by young struggling artist Martin Nodell, who was inspired by the sight of a New York Subway employee waving a red lantern to...
had been taken over by the Starheart. The JSA then teamed up with the Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
and the newly resurrected Jade
Jade (comics)
Jade is a fictional character, a superheroine in the . Known affectionately as "Jennie" or "Jen", she is the daughter of Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern. Her mother is Rose Canton, the Golden Age villain known as Thorn...
to stop Alan and other metahumans who had also been corrupted by the Starheart. After a series of events, Batman
Dick Grayson
Dick Grayson is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940....
figured out that Jade was able to drain the Starheart's power by using her powers against Alan enough where he could take back control of the Starheart. This attempt led to success, which gave Alan control back over his powers and setting every other metahuman back to normal.
Characterization
Although not being explored into much more development after his debut, Mr. America has been shown to be a polite, kind-hearted man. He proves to be just as strong and valiant as his teammates when it comes to being a superhero. While having a nice personality, he is serious and vicious when dealing with his enemies. Before joining the Justice Society, he stated he helped the FBI track down a missing girl who's kidnapper viciously brutalized her. Mr. America had made the kidnapper fall down the stairs to the cellar where the kidnapper kept the girl and then fall "back up" the stairs. When it was said that the kidnapper might never walk again, Mr. America said, "Next time I'll make sure."Mr. America is close friends with his teammate Lightning, as the two often talk and pair up together during battles. When Lightning once called him Mr. Graves, he told her to call him Jeff, as he did not want to feel elderly and reminded her that he was closer in age with her than he is to the veterans of the team. Mr. America is also distasteful against the idea of the military using children
Military use of children
The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities , or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in...
, saying it's "ridiculous to let children go into battle."
Depiction
Unlike Tex and Trey, both who had black hair and mustaches, Jeffrey has brown hair and no mustache. Jeffrey's costume colors are redRed
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
, white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
and blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
, which symbolizes the American flag. He wears a blue mask, a white shirt with blue cuffs, a red cape with a blue stripe at the bottom of it with white stars running across it, a blue collar with one gold star on each side, blue pants, blue boot shin guards and a brown belt. His costume is almost identical to the one Tex and Trey wore, except with a few minor changes. The original Mr. America costume consisted of a red belt, white collar, one blue star on each side of the collar, blue gloves, no cuffs on the shirt, and white shin guards. Jeffrey's costume has a brown belt, blue collar, one gold star on each side of the collar, no gloves, blue cuffs on his shirt, and blue shin guards.
Powers and abilities
Mr. America is one of the few people on his team who doesn't have any superhuman powers or abilities. He is a skilled detective and is skilled at hand-to-hand combat as he is a former Special Agent and he had worked for the FBI. He is also in maximum physical condition for a regular person. While Tex and Trey had only used one whip as their weapon, Jeffrey uses two whips. He used two regular whips as his weapons until Mr. Terrific upgraded them, making them explode whatever they strike. It was never revealed how Mr. Terrific managed to do this, as all he said to Jeffrey was that he had "tinkered" with the whip and had "made a few improvements" on it.Mr. Terrific also never clearly stated why he made the improvements to the whips. However, it can be assumed that he did it to simply make the whips more effective during battles and help Mr. America become more of a threat to super powered enemies, as he is a non-powered human and his two regular whips had proved to be ineffective many times, thus causing him many injuries. At the time when he was beaten by Gog and still using his regular whips, Mr. America said, "I tried to stop him. Guess what? Power staff beats whip."