Jackpot (comics)

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caption= Jackpot in ""
Art by Phil Jimenez
character_name=Jackpot
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Free Comic Book Day " (May 2007)
creators=Dan Slott
Phil Jimenez
alter_ego =
alliances =The Initiative
aliases = Sara Ehret
powers =
*Gymnastic abilities and somewhat-limited hand-to-hand combat
*Possesses some invulnerability to injury

Jackpot is a fictional comic book character owned by Marvel Comics. Jackpot's first appearance was in the Free Comic Book Day "Spider-Man: Swing Shift" issue released on May 5, 2007 and set in the storyline.

Fictional character biography

Jackpot is an officially sanctioned Initiative superhero for New York City. She shares many characteristics with the Spider-Man supporting character Mary Jane Watson; long red hair, and a tendency to use the pet term "Tiger", a nickname used by Watson for Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and others on many occasions. Jackpot used money from a modeling shoot (Watson was a model) to pay for a police scanner to use in her heroic persona."Amazing Spider-Man" #546 (January 2008)] The name "Jackpot" itself echoes Mary Jane Watson's classic line, spoken in her first full appearance: "Face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot." Parker himself suspects Jackpot may be Mary Jane"Amazing Spider-Man" #549 (February 2008)] , though she strictly denies it, telling him her real name is "Sara Ehret"."Amazing Spider-Man" #550 (February 2008)] This was the name of a character (played by Polly Cusumano) on the television show Jack & Bobby for which "Amazing Spider-Man" writer Marc Guggenheim was a writer and supervising producer.

Jackpot teams up with Spider-Man on a search for the villain Menace. They eventually find him after he attacks a council meeting and kidnaps a councilwoman. Jackpot interferes with the fight between Spider-Man and Menace, pulling Menace from his glider. As a result of this action, the glider slams into the rescued councilwoman, killing her. Menace blames Spider-Man for the woman's death and escapes. Jackpot blames herself, as does Spider-Man, as seen in his internal monologue. Still, he attempts to comfort her but Jackpot, who is distraught and angry by the experience, takes it all out on Spider-Man by pushing him away and storming off.

Later Spider-Man goes to Jackpot's apparent house only to find a girl who confirms that her name is Sara Ehret, but says she is not the superheroine Jackpot. Frightened, she sends Spider-Man away saying he "really should keep out of this." This leaves Spider-Man astonished and confused.

While returning to Los Angeles after a brief visit to New York, Mary Jane is approached at the airport for an autograph by Sara Ehret. Sara claims to be "a huge fan" of Mary Jane and mentions her famous "jackpot" line, which Mary Jane has since made famous by saying it in a soap opera. The two women are shown side by side and despite different hair styles, have very similar faces."Amazing Spider-Man" #561 (June 2008)]

ecret Invasion: Spider-Man

During the Secret Invasion, Jackpot is slandered by Dexter Bennett, current owner of the Daily Bugle and endorser of a series of scandalistic and libeling articles about her activity as a superhero after she accidentally attacks a legitimate meeting to trade goods for a drug sales group, the group however, was one connected to Walter Declun.

Jackpot is furious when she discovers the articles and goes to the Daily Bugle, along with a PR supplied by the Initiative. While there, the newspaper is attacked by a Super-Skrull in Spider-Man's form searching for the wall-crawler. After her refusal, the Skrull changes from Spider-Man form to a composite form showing the powers and the abilities of Lizard, Rhino, Electro, Hydro-Man, Sandman, and Venom. [Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man #1]

Jackpot battles it long enough for Betty Brant, Dexter Bennett, Robbie Robertson and Vin Gonzales to escape the building. While Robbie drives, Jackpot battles the Super-Skrull on the roof of the car until she is attacked by Menace who kills one of of the invading Skrulls. [Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man #2]

The story is ongoing.

Powers and abilities

The extent of Jackpot's powers and abilities, as well as their origin, remain unknown. She has demonstrated dramatic gymnastic ability. In "Amazing Spider-Man" #549, she says she has some invulnerability. She is shown to have some limited fighting ability.

Jackpot also exhibited superhuman strength, as in "Secret Invasion Spider-Man" #2 she was able to rip the trunk off of a car and throw it into a Super Skrull. In the same issue she withstood some serious punches at the hands of super powered Skrull warrior without developing bruises, which confirms her previous claims about possessing some sort of invulnerability. Jackpot considers herself to be "plenty tough", although these words have yet to be verified.

Costume

Sporting a disco-era costume, Jackpot wears a green jumpsuit with bell bottoms, gold cuffs, a silver stripe running down the front, and a gold mask that covers her eyes, side of her face, and apparently wraps behind her head. She also wears a belt with the numbers 777 (suggesting a winning jackpot) on it.

Footnotes