Golden Age The Patriot (Jeff Mace) - also Captain America III

[MajorHoy]

The Patriot was introduced in the pages of Human Torch #4 (cover-dated Spring 1941 and with an on-sale date of March 31st, 1941 according to the GCD, and actually the 3rd issue in that series) in both a two-page text story

and later that same issue in a ten-page feature story.


He had a few variations in his outfit during the Golden Age, and in the 1970s when Roy Thomas brought him back as a member of the Liberty Legion during WWII, he was revealed to be the replacement for the replacement of Steve Rogers when he and Bucky disappeared after a battle with Baron Zemo.

From the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Golden Age (2004),

[strathcona]

I really liked the Captain America: Patriot mini from back in 2010. It filled in some gaps in his story and really fleshed the character out. I wish Marvel was more interested in doing stories like that nowadays.

[Digifiend]

That handbook page is from 2004, and he'd only recently died? Oof, that means he just missed out on meeting the new Patriot, Eli Bradley.

[MajorHoy]

That handbook page is from 2004, and he'd only recently died? Oof, that means he just missed out on meeting the new Patriot, Eli Bradley.

Maybe they gave Eli the "Patriot" name only because the original Patriot (Mace) was dead and not going to be coming back?

[Gaastra]

He was killed in the agents of shield show also but at least they used him in live action.

[Digifiend]

That was weird though, as he was young in the present day, not the 80+ year old a comic accurate version would've been - it would've made more sense to use Jeff in the 1950s set Agent Carter than Agents of SHIELD. Live action shows seem to have form for that - the Justice Society used in Legends of Tomorrow included Stargirl and Obsidian, despite being a World War II version and those being 80s and 90s characters. They should've used Starman and Green Lantern instead.

[JudicatorPrime]

The best part about Mace is that he was disqualified as unfit to join the military initially due to webbed feet and some other physical abnormality which presumably hampered his effectiveness. Yet years later he would stand-in for one of the best and greatest hand-to-hand combatants to ever exist -- and a super-soldier at that -- and hardly anyone even noticed the difference. Gotta love comics.

[Digifiend]

Steve himself was also 4F'd. He was only allowed into the army after he became Cap.

[MajorHoy]

Steve himself was also 4F'd. He was only allowed into the army after he became Cap.

Well, Steve did go through a physical change before being allowed in . . .

[MajorHoy]

From a different thread,

Oh, and I never knew Patriot had a different costume starting out…



…it was…not great.

He went through some variations over the years back in the Golden Age, though that might all have depended on the artist for the story.

from Marvel Mystery Comics #50 (December 1943)

And when appeared in The Avengers #97 (March 1972), this is how he looked: