Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Don Heck, the character first appeared in The Avengers #19 (August 1965). Although Swordsman was first introduced as an enemy of Hawkeye and the Avengers, the character has since appeared as both a supervillain and a superhero.
Tony Dalton portrays a variation of the character, renamed Jack Duquesne, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe / Disney+ series Hawkeye (2021).
Publication history
The Swordsman first appeared as a supervillain in The Avengers #19 (1965). He went on to appear in The Avengers #20, 30, 38, 65, 78 and 79 (1965–1970). The Swordsman changed his ways and became a superhero in The Avengers #100 (1972) and later became a member of the Avengers in The Avengers #112–130 (1973–1974), Defenders #9–11 (1973), Captain Marvel #32–33 (1974), Fantastic Four #150 (1974), Giant-Size Avengers #2 (1974) and Avengers Spotlight #22 (1989). Later, the Cotati-possessed Swordsman appeared in The Avengers #134, 135, 157, 160 (1975–1977), Giant-Size Avengers #4 (1975) and West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #39 (1988).
The Swordsman has been a member of various supervillain groups, including the Lethal Legion in The Avengers #78–79 (1970) and Iron Man Annual #7 (1984), the Emissaries of Evil in Alpha Flight Special (vol. 2) #1 (1992), and the Legion of the Unliving in The Avengers Annual #16 (1987), Avengers West Coast #61 (1990) and Avengers (vol. 3) #10–11 (1998).
Introduced as a villainous counterpart to Hawkeye in the pages of The Avengers, the Swordsman went on to appear in Hawkeye #1 (1983), Solo Avengers #2 (1988), Hawkeye (vol. 3) #3 (2004) and Hawkeye: Blindspot #1 (2011) as part of Hawkeye's origins. The Swordsman also battled Captain America in Tales of Suspense #88 (1967) and Captain America #105 (1968).
The 2010–2011 crossover storyline Chaos War saw the return of the Swordsman. He was one of the central characters in the tie-in series Chaos War: Dead Avengers (2010–2011). The Swordsman also featured in Chaos War #2 & 4–5 (2010–2011) and Chaos War: Ares #1 (2010).
Fictional character history
Jacques Duquesne grew up as a privileged youth in the (fictional) Southeast Asian nation of Siancong, then under French rule. Unlike his father and other European residents, Duquesne held no prejudice against the Siancongese natives, and after performing an act of kindness for a native servant, he was invited to join a communist rebellion against French rule. As the costumed Swordsman, Duquesne, fancying himself a swashbuckling freedom fighter, helped liberate Siancong, only to learn the rebel leader Wong Chu had killed Duquesne's father. Devastated and disillusioned, Duquesne departed Siancong to seek adventure. Nothing else is known of Duquesne's early career, but he eventually joined the Carson Carnival of Traveling Wonders; although his swordplay made him one of the carnival's star attractions, he gradually descended into gambling and drunkenness, his youthful idealism long behind him.
Eventually Duquesne, by now in his thirties or older, took a young runaway named Clint Barton under his wing and taught him how to use bladed weapons, while another performer, Trick Shot, taught Barton archery, at which he proved to be a master. The young Clint stumbled upon Duquesne stealing money from the carnival's paymaster to pay a gambling debt. Clint attempted to turn his mentor over to the law, but he was pursued by Duquesne and badly beaten. Before Duquesne could deliver the fatal blow, Trick Shot stepped in to save the young boy. Duquesne then fled the carnival and adapted his swordsplay act to become a costumed supervillain.