Crackerjack

Crackerjack © Juke Box Productions AstroFacts Status: Active Real Name: unknown Earliest Appearance: 1991 Base of Operations: Astro City His main HQ is suspected to be somewhere in the Northside Communities Personal Data Aliases: Eugene Wallace InfoDump Appearances (in Publication Order): Kurt Busiek's Astro City Vol.1 #5, 6 Kurt Busiek's Astro City Vol.2 #1, 4, 5, 6, 21 Astro City: Local Heroes #1 Astro City #1, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21 Event Timeline 1995/12/12     Current Crackerjack Passes Jack-In-The-Box On Patrol. 1995/12/12     Current Crackerjack Captures Possible Criminals. 1995/12/12     Current Techsperts Hitting Museums Again. 1995/12/12     Current Crackerjack rescues Mr. Bridwell from a boarding house fire. 1995/12/12     Current Mr. Bridwell Watches an Encounter Between One of the Scavenger People and the Irregulars. 1995/12/12     Current Mr. Bridwell chooses Crackerjack to be the final arbiter in his decision to invade earth. 1995/12/12     Current Crackerjack Catches Steel Devil Robbing an ATM Kiosk. 1996/01     Current An Avalance In Montana. 1996/09     Current During Thunderhead's 'Tantrum' in Astro City, Jack-in-the-Box stops a pair of looters.. 1997     Dialog Clash between Dr. Saturday and Crackerjack. 2003     Current Sweet Adelines Rob Sprang Museum. 2004/10     Current Omnius Rex/Danielle Battles Honor Guard. 2013/06     Current Broken Man Confides Why He Can't Use Certain People to Unlock the Mystery behind the Doors. 2015/03     Current Quarrel Inspects New Costume Upgrades at N.R.Gistics, Inc.. Crackerjack "He depends on luck, he is jealous of others, he does sloppy work, he steals credit for the achievements of others" -- the Enelsian, Mr. Bridwell "A daring and agile crimefighter, Crackerjack is noted for his theatrical sense of showmanship and for his deep appreciation of his own sense of humor." -- Astro City Visitor's Guide History According to Mr. Bridwell's reconnaissance data, Crackerjack first "debuted" in 1991. In general his early years are a mystery, not yet recounted in the pages of Astro City comics. Just a few years later, at the time of Mr. Bridwell's reconnaissance work for the alien race known as the Enelsians, Crackerjack had already established himself as a popular if not brash public defender. For a time, his private identity was that of a struggling actor named Eugene Wallace. In his boarding room residence, he kept a number of accoutrements, wigs and fake IDs, indicating that he has concocted several private identities, some possibly in use concurrently. The Eugene Wallace identity was abandoned when the housing complex was destroyed in a fire. Powers His physical skills are impressive and quite acrobatic in nature. He keeps himself in top physical condition, but there is no apparent references to suggest he possesses extraordinary powers bestowed through freaks of nature, radioactive exposure, DNA manipulation, or mutation. At least not to date. Equipment He carries a baton whose round tip can be fired off at the end of a line. It mechanisms behave in a manner similar to a grappling hook. Crackerjack often uses this feature of his baton to line-swing across Astro City. Observations Though the super-heroic community has a low opinion of him, he nonetheless has a somewhat impressive track record and is certainly popular with the public at large. Speculations, Theories Partners and Motivations He has what appears to be an on-again off-again romantic relationship with Quarrel. They have also been long time partners fighting crime together, even though both also have set aside significant parts of their time for solo action. Acording to creator Kurt Busiek, "Quarrel’s had the longer career as a costumed hero, but she started younger. And even if she could mentor him, he wouldn’t listen." On general observation is is easy to assume that he is younger than Quarrel, and that Quarrel, having been trained and mentored by Street Angel, was now being the guidance and mentor for Crackerjack. His unauthorized ability to penetrate into Honor Guard headquarters is explainable given his opportunistic ways of handling situations, and the surprising amount of discipline riding in the undercurrents of his otherwise boisterous, carefree and borderline careless demeanor. I mean, he’s been in top physical shape all his adult life, (according to Kurt approaching 50). The cover to issue #18 suggested traces of extra poundage on his frame, which again leads one to conclude a touch of carelessness physically also translated into careless mental motivations as well. I will be blunt here. As a person, its a strain of sorts to like Crackerjack. Even though he has acting experience and shares the discipline inherit in that occupation, he the kind of actor that some would term a xxxxxxx. Too much ego, too much “just getting by” instead of applying himself to his craft(s). One can assume that somewhere in the past, Quarrel took him under her wing instead of it playing out just the opposite. During the Enelsian story arc, Crackerjack seemed very much an amateur, just getting started as a super-hero. Still in his early years, and needing someone like Quarrel to smooth out the rough spots. Even fellow Honor Guard member M.P.H. had a hard time figuring out why women (especially some that I personally was found of) would be attracted to men like Crackerjack. Men that are rather parasitic in a relationship. The comments that Quarrel uses to explain why they are still a couple despite the on and off, hot/cold history is insightful. For her it was more than just feeling she could fix the guy, she actually preferred the freedom and the drama. But even with the extra insights provided so far, it is still difficult to explain Crackerjack’s career motivations. Maybe it’s like his relationship with Quarrel. It provides an excitement, a rush and a lot of extra drama. It comes easy enough, even with all the time spent exercising and training. Maybe it’s a cavalier enjoyment of life, similar to Chicago quarterback Jim McMahon compared to the Patriots’ Tom Brady. Be good enough to feel fine about what you do and can accomplish, but don’t grind on it in a manner that makes it hard, boring work when it should be light, fun and exciting. That almost seems to fit. But it still feels like there should be something more to it somehow. It is hard to put one's finger on it, exactly. But it sure seems like there is more to understand about this character. When asked directly about this, Kurt mentioned that "I asked Crackerjack why he does what he does, and he said that when you grew up as one of King Louis’s Musketeers, learning ideals and comportment from the best, it sticks with you even when you’re time-displaced into the modern day. But I’m not sure he can be trusted on that."