Dr. Helga Jace (died 2020) was a leading computational chemist in the US and a criminal.
Biography[]
Original multiverse[]
Early life[]
Doctor Helga Jace was a brilliant computational chemist and an expert in protein synthesis simulation from a fairly young age. At some point, Jace had a theory about infrared spectroscopy and its uses in the treatment of neuropathy.
Working for the U.S. government[]
At some point during the 1980s, Jace worked with the U.S. government and developed a vaccine for the A.S.A. to use on citizens in docile environments. She eventually created an Anti-aging serum and used it on Tobias Whale in order to test its reliability. When she saw its success on Tobias, she would take the antidote.[1] Sometime afterward, she performed illegal experiments on eleven patients, causing ten to lose their feet while the last one died. Jace was imprisoned for the illegal experiments, and was denied visiting rights to her son.[2]
ASA custody[]
Jace was recruited by the A.S.A. to help Lynn Stewart with her research on the Green Light Babies. Stewart was reluctant to include her on the team due to her past, but Agent Odell insisted on her inclusion and pressured Stewart to convince her to join the program. As part of the deal, Stewart promised to arrange a visitation with Jace's son. Jace agreed to join the program. One of the security measures was an implant in her ankle that shocked her if she stepped over certain lines, and would send out an alert if the implant was removed.[2]
Jace conducted experiments on Sean Phillips, who was suffering from rapid mitochondrial deterioration. Jace's experimentation caused Sean's powers to manifest, and then he died. Dr. Stewart was furious at Jace, but Jace simply said they now had more data to work with. Jace later performed an autopsy on Sean and talked with Dr. Stewart about her experiments. During the talk, Jace found metagene records that indicated that the gene could be inherited. She found the idea of experimenting on a family of meta-humans to be exhilarating.[3]
As Lynn Stewart continued to work on finding a cure, she developed a treatment that would be successful in fifty percent of the affected children. However, that was not good enough for Stewart who was intent on saving them all. Jace decided to go ahead with the treatment since she believed that saving half was better than nothing and faked a series of simulations that showed Stewart's cure working with some modification if the cure was delivered to all the test subjects simultaneously. Stewart administered the cure to all the children and was horrified as half of the children died from the procedure. Jace admitted to what she had done, and was led away by security.[4]
In her cell Todd Green visited her and manage to create a hologram of her and keep her tracker inside the cell while Todd broke her out to meet Tobias Whale. With Tobias, she made a deal about finding new Meta-humans. She would later help Tobias find the Meta-humans' location.[1]
Back at her cell agent Odell informed her that Markovian's tried to kidnap Dr. Stewart which made her worried about the fact that they may be looking for her.[5]
Anti-Monitor Crisis[]
During the Anti-Monitor Crisis, Dr. Jace as well as everyone in the multiverse except for the seven Paragons, was killed in an antimatter wave by the Anti-Monitor on December 10, 2019,[6] only to be restored a month later, after the Paragons and the Spectre created a new universe.[7]
New multiverse[]
Background[]
Sometime during the Cold War, she was hired by the U.S. government to oversee a meta-human project with Tyson Sykes while stationed in Markovia. While Jace attempted to replicate the effects of the serum that gave him his powers, a reluctant Sykes lead a coup and overthrew the U.S.-allied Markovian government. Following the coup, Peter Gambi was sent on a covert mission to extract Helga Jace and return her to the United States. Afterwords, she eventually began working for the A.S.A., where she developed Green Light and the anti-aging serum.[8]
Trapped in Markovia[]
War for Freeland[]
Peter Gambi holds a gun to Jace and tells her that he regrets not killing her when he had the chance because now all of the chaos that is occurring was started by her. Jace tells Gambi that Gravedigger is coming to Freeland.
While in a lab, Jace is approached by Brandon Marshall and Jennifer Pierce; despite Jenn's protests, Brandon uses his powers to stab Jace with the crystallized ashes of his mother. Jace tells Brandon that he acts like his father, who had the same power set. Jace says that she will reveal more about Brandon's lineage if allowed to live, causing Brandon to retreat.[8]
The next day, Jace works with Lynn Stewart and they calculate that since Tyson Sykes was the first meta-human, he has an unlimited capacity for power if he takes the Meta booster.
While in her lab, Jace is approached again by Brandon who ties her to a chair and plays video games while threatening her that she will stay bound until she talks about his heritage.[9]
Later, she was killed by Carson Williams, who was ordered by Odell to eliminate all critical information tying the A.S.A. with Freeland; he saw Jace tied in a chair, explained his mission, and shot her in the neck.[10]
Personality[]
Dr. Helga Jace has shown to be intelligent, a very convincing liar and manipulator who has no remorse for human life but just perceives them as science experiments.
Abilities[]
- High-level intellect: Jace was highly intelligent, this is evidenced by the fact that she managed to come up with a cure to stabilize the green light babies with Lynn.
- Expert computational chemist/Bio-geneticist: Jace was a skilled expert computational chemist and bio-geneticist.
Appearances[]
Black Lightning[]
Trivia[]
- Dr. Jace created the Anti-aging serum, that Tobias Whale is using.
- Dr. Jace went to the country of Markovia and started a meta program.
- Dr. Jace was the architect of the Original Vaccine that was released in Freeland.
Behind the scenes[]
- In the comics, Helga Jace was the royal scientist in Markovia and an associate of the Outsiders, who is responsible for giving Geo-Force super-powers. Her first appearance in the comics was Batman and the Outsiders #1 (August, 1983).
- Casey Ann Zeller was a stunt double for Jennifer Riker in the role of Helga Jace.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The Book of Secrets: Chapter One: Prodigal Son"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Book of Consequences: Chapter Three: Master Lowry"
- ↑ "The Book of Consequences: Chapter Four: Translucent Freak"
- ↑ "The Book of Blood: Chapter One: Requiem"
- ↑ "The Book of Secrets: Chapter Two: Just and Unjust"
- ↑ "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three"
- ↑ "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "The Book of War: Chapter One: Homecoming"
- ↑ "The Book of War: Chapter Two"
- ↑ "The Book of War: Chapter Three: Liberation"