Nomad

Advertisement

Background

Powers and Abilities

At this point, Nomad’s strength is at its peak. He can bench-press more than 1,000 pounds, easily crashes through reinforced doors and jumps superhumanly high and far. Jumping over a standing man from a completely standing start is easy for him.

He’s very adept physically, and has received some additional training from S.H.I.E.L.D. and his friends. For instance, he knows how to parachute and to SCUBA dive, and Captain America put him through a special regimen to develop his acrobatics and judo skills.

In DC Heroes terms the STR of 06 is somewhat tentative. We never see actually lifting that much, but it seems reasonable with the damage he inflicts with his punches and body blocks. He seems on par with Cap, and even as a teenager he was stronger than the Falcon. His unarmed punches seem on the same level as Cap’s.

Advertisement

Cap clearly mentions Nomad’s superhuman strength when Monroe beats a pair of thugs bloody for no clear reason and his mentor yells at him.

He also obliquely mention it upon finding Jack had survived floating in sea water for 8 hours after having a normally fatal dose of heroin pumped into his heart (in DC Heroes terms BODY, Systemic antidote).

On the other hand, Nomad has a lower speed, agility and precision than what you would expect. He was clearly less skilled than the members of Batroc’s Brigade, and roughly on par with many Serpent Society members in terms of combat effectiveness.

Though he’s very physical and aggressive, he’s not that skilled – if he goes into a fight against real experts or medium-powered superhumans, he’ll likely get thrashed.

Generally, Nomad doesn’t have ’it‘. He’s something of a loser, things seldom turn out right, he takes some stupid decisions, a lot of the opposition can thrash his despite his strength, training and confidence, etc.

His Hero Points  were never too great, and he never had the “greater than life” spark he so admires in Captain America.

History

Nomad’s attempt to rescue Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Gail Runcinter from the coils of the Viper completely failed. He was captured. Cap did manage to shake the mind control engineered by the Viper, and was joined by the Constrictor – who betrayed his employer as he couldn’t stomach her plan.

Jack broke the mind control just in time to join the fight, but was then forced to shoot the Viper to save innumerable lives, seemingly killing her.

In the wake of the clean-up (and as the Viper, still alive, discreetly slithered away), Nick Fury made Monroe an offer to join S.H.I.E.L.D.. Jack didn’t take it, as he wanted to be a super-hero like Captain America.

Out of time man

With Rogers’ help, Monroe continued to try to adapt to the 1980s, but that was awkward and little progress was made. Not knowing what to do, Nomad began shadowing Captain America, hoping that he would get to help but also feeling anger and his failure to outgrow being Bucky.

When he tried to counter an onslaught by the Porcupine against Cap, he failed and was taken hostage. Monroe was crushed by a feeling of inadequacy, but Rogers galvanised him back into action and used Monroe’s sudden charge to win the fight.

Rogers continued to provide training, shelter and moral support to Nomad. Monroe started patrolling New York City as a swashbuckling street vigilante and often fought alongside his idol. However, he was discreetly captured and hypnotised by Mother Superior as part of a Red Skull plot.

He unknowingly became a sleeper agent, dosing Cap’s food with a drug that made him age rapidly. Just when Cap was considering making Monroe his full-time fighting partner, the Red Skull sprung his trap.

In order to make Rogers suffer he was put through a series of simulations and tricks, some including Monroe and other captured allies. Cap saved Monroe through sheer willpower, derailing a re-enactment of Bucky (James Barnes)’s death.

This allowed Monroe to team up with the Falcon, Bernie Rosenthal and Arnold Roth to save Cap. They got him medical care in time to stop the accelerated ageing and bring him back to his prime.

Monroe resumed his life as a friend of Steve Rogers, minor super-hero and occasional ally of Captain America. He once teamed up with Spider-Man, and convinced a small kid not to join a street gang by providing a heroic and wholesome example.

After a team-up with Cap (triggered by the Batroc’s Brigade stealing his disks and Cap’s shield for Stane International), Monroe tried to re-enter society. He took a job as a bagboy at a nearby drugstore, since Cap’s girlfriend Bernie was visibly getting tired of Jack mooching off them.

Jack lost his job when he unsuccessfully intervened to stop Madcap. Frustrated, he packed what few belongings he had in order to leave Steve and Bernie’s place. He said he would only come back once he had stopped the maniac.

Monroe eventually captured the maddening marauder. This victory made him realise that he needed to move out of Cap’s shadow and strike out on his own.

Wherever I may roam

Roaming the US on his motorbike to act as a hero and create a Captain America-like reputation for himself, Monroe happened on a hitchhiker, Priscilla Lyons. Lyons was going to Miami as she feared that her brother Phil had become part of the drugs trade. Monroe agreed to get her there and help, and along the way the became lovers.

Lyons’s fears were on target. Nomad found her brother working on the yacht of the local drugs lord, the Slug. Phil Lyons betrayed Monroe, who was overdosed with heroin and thrown overboard.

He narrowly survived, thanks to his powerful metabolism and the arrival of Captain America, whom Priss Lyons had called to the rescue when Monroe failed to come back.

Quickly recuperating, Monroe returned to the Slug’s yacht with Cap, discreetly started a grease fire in the kitchen to destroy the boat. He beat the Slug and would have left him to die had Cap not intervened.

Monroe told Rogers he did not know how the fire had started, and that he had left the Slug behind since he needed to save other passengers.

Lyons ended up wearing a costume as Vagabond, acting as Nomad’s amateur sidekick. The pair was contacted by Demolition Man, who was growing concerned after Steve Rogers’s disappearance following the revocation of his right to use the name, costume and shield of Captain America.

D-Man also contacted the Falcon, and they went looking for their friend.

Monroe’s psychological problems surfaced in making him jealous of D-Man. He envied his wealth, his massive strength, his friendship with Cap and the like. When Vagabond asked D-Man to teach her American Wrestling moves, Nomad grew increasingly acerbic.

Despite this the team rallied around Rogers (now calling himself “the Captain”) and was quite successful. They 

• Stopped a robbery by superhuman agents of the Serpent Society in Las Vegas (though this got them arrested by the LVPD).
• Stopped the rampage of Famine (one of the Four Horsemen of the ancient mutant Apocalypse).
• Foiled an escape attempt by super-powered criminals at the Vaults.

They later foiled the hostile take-over of the Serpent Society by the Viper. Still, she almost killed them all when her apocalyptic plan to turn most people in Washington DC (including Ronald and Nancy Reagan) into mutated serpent-men worked for a few hours.

Nomad’s jealousy over D-Man became so bad that it led to a spat with Lyons. He accused her of having her eyes on Demolition Man (which became a self-fulfilling prophecy), broke up with her and left the group.

All night on the beach till the break of dawn

Nomad returned to Miami to fight the drugs trade there, including dealers such as the man nicknamed Corazon del Cuchillo — who turned out to be under DEA protection, reinforcing Nomad’s distrust of authorities.

Nomad had been clashing with del Cuchillo since he thought that he had murdered one of his informants, a prostitute named Patty Joplin.

Monroe discovered that the facts were more complicated. The pusher was the father of Joplin’s child, and the grandfather of the kid was an influential man who now considered del Cuchillo family after the death of Patty.

Disgusted with the senseless death of Joplin and the murky, corrupt complexities of the modern world, Nomad decided to throw away the blue costume and to reinvent himself as a harder-edged vigilante.

Description

Though he has a very powerful physique, Monroe definitely has a youthful air.

Maybe to compensate for this he temporarily grew a drooping moustache when he started adventuring alone. He had to shave it when working for the Slug.

Personality

Jack is somewhat disoriented. Coming from a conformist era, he was initially trying to fit in and obey authority figures. But what worked in the 1950s (especially from the point of view of a teenager looking for social acceptance) simply was no longer viable in the 1980s.

Jack was fixated upon the persona of Captain America. He craved becoming a positive, bright, moral, admired hero walking straight in the footsteps of his idol. This admiration for his hero paralysed him, though, and made it difficult for him to grow up and be more than Bucky.

By the end of this era he’s shaken that off, but he’s now going in a wrong direction.

Although he’s brash in a fight, Nomad acts like an adolescent in social situations. Initially he’s like a sheltered teen, and later like an angry and uncomfortable teenager.

His lack of contact with everyday people makes it difficult for him to discover the culture of the 1980s, and he does not deal well with it. He made a fool of himself when he witnessed his first modern movie with SFX. He makes occasional references to 1950s youth and pop culture, which he still prefers.

As he grew older and distrustful of authorities started displaying a noticeable James Dean vibe. Being a handsome young man dressed in a 1950s bad boy style he increasingly was a rebel without a cause.

Although he was mostly cured of his paranoid rages, Nomad still has a temper problem. Excessive use of his superhuman strength comes easily to him, and he tends to over-react to threats despite his best efforts.

He initially felt very bad about his impulsiveness, and was very apologetic when he rushed into action despite his best judgement. He increasingly came to accept those brash, violent ways. In many ways Nomad became your typical cinematic brawler action hero from Reagan-era movies.

He does not purposefully kill, but it is OK with him if the bad guys du jour (such as evil drug dealers — this is the 1980s and the idea was to Just Say No) indirectly get their just desserts.

He also acts macho enough to happily beat up random guards whenever necessary… or convenient. And, eventually, just because he felt like it.

Jack grew increasingly concerned with opportunities to “let off some steam” as time passed, increasingly started seeing Cap as being too soft and increasingly became willing to beat people up to interrogate them. Eventually, it seemed that he just was looking for excuses to beat people and blow stuff up.

Monroe got over his racist reflexes (he worked with African-Americans, such as the Falcon, without awkwardness) but remains macho and misogynistic. One of the reasons Priscilla Lyons left him was that he was increasingly possessive about her and treating her like his obedient property.

Quotes

(To himself upon first donning the Nomad costume) “C’mon, Jack — that’s no way to think. You volunteered for this job because you wanted to prove to yourself — and to Cap — that you could hold your own ! That you’re something more than a over-the-hill boy sidekick ! And maybe this is the best way to do it — with a new costume — and a name that’s perfectly suited to a guy who’s totally out of place in this world…. this time !”

“I’ve just come out of 30 years in suspended animation. There’s a whole world out there — waiting for me to explore it, and I intend to do just that…. alone… as Nomad !”

(Jokingly and in a bombastic 1950s radio announcer voice) “Ta-ta-ta-daaaaa! A beacon of hope to the masses below, Nomad — protector of the weak and innocent — prowls the city’s rooftops ! And, everywhere, evil-doers tremble at his passing !”

“Seriously, Pete… you’ll love this picture ! Back in the 50s, when it was made, you could go to the movies and just be entertained ! A lot of these new, modern films seem strange and pointless to me.”

“That’s what being a super-hero is all about, kid — helping other people !”

“Cap. it’s my fault — I’m the one to blame !”

“Filth-dealers ! You think your fancy clothes, your fat wallets, your shiny cars give you the right to do what you damn well please ! You’re all slime ! That crap your megabucks brings into this country ruins lives !”

“Okay blimpo — time you were cut down to size !”

“You look hungry, bag-o-bones… have a knuckle sandwich !”

(To D-Man) “Dweeb-man, you’re the biggest wuss I ever met ! You don’t know how evil the Viper is ! You heard what Slither said — she intends to poison all of Washington.”

“I’m a fighter by nature, preferably on the right side of the law, though whatever it takes is fine by me.”

“I don’t like thinkin’ too much. I’m a simple guy by nature. I have a fist, find me a face, the two meet. Easy.”

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Marvel Universe .

Helper(s): Capita_senyera, Jackson, Pufnstuff, Roy Cowan. M&M stats by Pawsplay.