Chuck Lane was a cop who dressed as a Jester to fight crime. He used jokes and puns while fighting crime and made criminals look like incompetent jokes themselves.
History
Origin
When Chuck Lane was still a rookie police officer, his parents told him that they were members of the secret society known as the Arcadians, who had been secretly "guiding" American politics since the country's beginning, and were currently manipulating the United States into entering World War II, in order to make sure America developed the atomic bomb and became a world super-power. They also told Chuck that the Lanes were descended from Walter DeLane, King Arthur's court jester. While Chuck wasn't sure what to do about the Arcadian information, he used the Walter DeLane info to help him do something he had been thinking about -- design a superhero identity that he could use to pursue justice when being a cop wasn't enough. He became the Jester.[1]
All-Star Squadron & Freedom Fighters
When America entered WWII, Jester (like all American costumed heroes during World War II) became a member of the All-Star Squadron,[2] and later was recruited by Uncle Sam to join his sub-group, the Freedom Fighters (Jester had earlier met the pre-war Freedom Fighters on one of his first cases).[1]
After the war, Chuck saw that all of his parents' predictions had come true, and he joined the Arcadians, working undercover to help them manipulate the direction of the Cold War.[1] He also continued fighting crime as the Jester, and rose from a beat cop to a plainclothes police detective. In 1952, he retired as the Jester because of advancing age, but continued to be a police detective and a secret agent for the Arcadians.[3] He married and had children, so his bloodline in the Arcadians would continue.[1]
Revenge Against the Arcadians
Chuck's son joined the Arcadians too, but frequently disagreed with their goals and methods. Eventually they tired of his dissent and had him killed. Chuck formulated a long-term plan to destroy the Arcadians and avenge his son, a plan that included his grandson Charles Lane II becoming the new Jester, and eventually Chuck's own death in an explosion.[1] Chuck's revenge plan was successful in destroying the Arcadians, killing all of their leadership and most of their operatives and obtaining their mystical artifacts. The Jester II was unsuccessful in his attempt to use the mystical artifacts to steal Uncle Sam's powers and become leader of the United States, but it is unknown if that was part of Chuck's plan or Charles's own idea.[4]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Acrobatics: Chuck Lane is a great athlete.
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic): Chuck Lane was an expert fighter who as the Jester made criminals look like fools.
- Investigation: Chuck Lane is also a trained police officer.
- Law: Chuck is also trained in many police procedures.
Notes
- In 1956, DC Comics obtained the rights to the Quality Comics characters, and re-introduced them 17 years later as the Freedom Fighters in Justice League of America #107 (October 1973).
- The Freedom Fighters were relocated to a parallel world, one called "Earth-X", where Nazi Germany had won World War II. The team was featured in its own series for 15 issues (1976–1978), in which it temporarily left Earth-X for "Earth-One" (where most DC titles are set).
- In 1981, some Quality Characters became recurring guest-stars of All-Star Squadron, a superhero-team title set on "Earth-Two", the locale for DC's WWII-era superheroes, and at a time prior to when the Freedom Fighters were supposed to have left for Earth-X. They later appeared with the rest of DC's superheroes in Crisis on Infinite Earths, a story that was intended to eliminate the confusing histories that DC had attached to its characters by retroactively merging the various parallel worlds into one. The Freedom Fighters became a mere splinter group of the All-Star Squadron.
Related
- 9 Appearances of Charles Lane (New Earth)
- 6 Images featuring Charles Lane (New Earth)
- Quotations by or about Charles Lane (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Charles Lane (New Earth)
External Links
Footnotes
  This character is or was a member of the Freedom Fighters, a team of American super-heroes who fight threats to the nation and its ideals under the leadership of Uncle Sam. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Freedom Fighters members" category. |
 This character is or was a member of the All-Star Squadron in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "All-Star Squadron members" category. |