Hugh Jones (comics)

Publication history

Hugh Jones first appeared in Captain America #180 (Dec 1974) and was created by Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema.

Fictional character biography

Hugh Jones was the son of a Texas oil millionaire and inherited the company Republic Oil & Gas after his father’s death.

With Jones's awareness and approval, Republic Oil's Simon Krieger arranged the murders of Howard Stark and Maria Stark. Jones and executives Krieger, John T. Gamelin and Jonas Hale attempted the takeover of Stark Industries. They used surreptitious purchases of Stark stock and the use of superhuman agents Saboteur and the Dogs of War. Following Krieger's arrest, Hale had Krieger killed in jail. To help separate the company from Krieger, the Republic Oil executives oversaw the company's change to the identity of the Roxxon Energy Corporation.

An ex-lover of Jones tried to shoot him, but either missed or wounded him.

Jones later attended the premiere of the Captain America movie at the Strand Theatre in New York. Jones was kidnapped by the Serpent Squad (consisting of Viper, Eel, Cobra and Princess Python). The rebel Atlantean Warlord Krang had recovered and delivered the Serpent Crown to Viper. Jones immediately fell under the mental control of Set as he instructs all Roxxon workers to cooperate with any demands. The Serpent Squad then took Jones to a central Pacific Ocean oil derrick where Jones followed Krang's instructions to pump water underneath the sunken city of Lemuria in an attempt to raise the city. The police, along with Nomad and Namor the Sub-Mariner, interrupted the Serpent Squad's plan, however, and Krang reclaimed the Serpent Crown and fled. Jones then reversed the process that was to raise Lemuria.

Jones voluntarily maintained a link to Set in the Serpent Crown's absence. Set informs Jones of Nomad's identity. Jones then sent men to recover the Serpent's Crown. Jones later sent a message about the Red Skull's location that this paid his debt of Nomad rescuing him from Warlord Krang and the Serpent Squad. Once he recovered it, he began wearing it invisibly.

With the power of Set, he was able to make psychic contact with a group of businessmen called the Serpent Cartel, acolytes of Set from the alternate universe known as Earth-S. This Earth is where the superhero group the Squadron Supreme resides, and that universe's version of the Serpent Crown has managed to gain control of the minds of many of the leaders of America's largest corporations and even that alternate America's President Nelson Rockefeller.

Following Roxxon's purchase of the Brand Corporation, Jones was at the Brand Corporation facility in Jamaica, Queens. When the Avengers broke into a Brand Corporation facility during their investigation, Jones used an interdimensional transporter to bring the Squadron Supreme to his Earth and they captured the Avengers. When the Avengers escaped, the superhero team and the Squadron Supreme were sent back to Earth-S with the interdimensional transporter when the police came to investigate. After deceiving and dismissing the police investigators, Jones used the Serpent's Crown to speak to Nelson Rockefeller. When the Avengers again invaded the Brand Corporation facility, Rockefeller informed Jones that the Avengers have overthrown him. Jones sent Orka against the Avengers where he defeated some of them until Orka was defeated by Thor and Moondragon. Jones ordered the execution of the other Avengers, but they escaped and Jones was captured.

Using Brand Corporation and Roxxon Energy Corporation's facilities, Jones fashioned his own superpowered serpent for a Serpent Squad to retrieve a second Serpent's Crown which the Avengers brought back from Earth-S and dropped into the Pacific Ocean. Jones was given the Serpent's Crown of Earth-S by Sidewinder (who retrieved it upon being hired by Jones). Upon wearing both Serpent Crowns, Jones gained a scaly appearance and used these powers to assume complete control over the residents of Washington DC for the purpose of putting them under Set's control. Jones allowed the Thing, Stingray and the Scarlet Witch to enter unopposed so that he can control them and then created versions of the Serpent Crown's recent previous wearers to fight the threesome. While simultaneously fighting Scarlet Witch and Thing physically, Jones was surprised when Scarlet Witch capitulated and Thing took advantage of Jones's memory disorientation to wrench the Serpent Crown from Jones's head.

Following his traumatic separation from the Serpent Crown, Jones was driven insane and was hospitalized in a mental hospital. He was succeeded as Roxxon president by Gamelin (the Vice President of Foreign Operations) and would eventually be succeeded by other men.

Television

Hugh Jones appears in the Agent Carter television series, portrayed by Ray Wise. He is depicted as the President of the Roxxon Oil Corporation and was Howard Stark's former friend until the woman that would become the former's wife came between the two. In season one's "Bridge and Tunnel", he is visited by Deputy Director Roger Dooley and Agent Jack Thompson of the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Jones told the two agents that his spies within Stark Industries that told him about Stark's Nitramine bombs formula. Hugh also told the agents that the Nitramene emitted Vita-Rays to which Dooley, Thompson and Peggy Carter use a Vita-Ray Detector to help in the scan all of the Roxxon employees to see who has been working with Leet Brannis of Leviathan. In season two, he appears as a member of the Council of Nine. In the episode "A View in the Dark", Jones and Thomas Gloucester tell Calvin Chadwick to shut down the Isodyne Program and focus on a senatorial campaign. Hugh is seen in the episode "The Atomic Job". When Peggy poses as a worker to infiltrate Roxxon's Los Angeles branch, Jones eventually remembered Peggy, causing the agent to keep using the Memory Inhibitor on him in order to find the key to one of Roxxon's facilities which is within Hugh's belt. In the episode "Life of the Party", Jones attends a party with the other Council of Nine members. When Whitney Frost is brought before the Council of Nine, Jones and the others witnessed Whitney's absorption abilities. After Frost takes over the Council of Nine, Jones is among the ones spared; his only comment is that he looks forward to the collaboration. Later on, Jones does what Whitney says where he tells Vernon Masters what happened.