When an accident leaves Jesse Black Crow paralyzed, the spirit of the Crow endows him with mystical powers and transforms him into the Black Crow.
A Legend Come to Life
In the legends of North America’s Indigenous peoples, the Crow is sometimes held to be either a trickster or guardian of life. Growing up on a Navajo reservation, Jesse Black Crow hears stories of the Crow from his great-grandfather. When Jesse grows up, he leaves the reservation and becomes a construction worker in Queens, New York. However, while working on a skyscraper, the scaffolding gives way and he falls twenty stories. Jesse survives, but is left paralyzed below the waist.
As he lies in a hospital bed, Jesse experiences strange sensations, as though his body had taken flight while he was asleep. Although Jesse remains unaware of it, the spirit of the Crow takes residence within him, and transforms Jesse into the Black Crow. Jesse has no memory of the Black Crow’s actions, but the Black Crow’s body has full movement, and gains mystical powers.
Mystic Senses
The Crow can transform Jesse Black Crow into the Black Crow, in which form he is able to move his legs and possesses superhuman strength and durability. The Black Crow has mystic senses, and can communicate telepathically with the gods of the Native Americans (Anasazi), and with Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America. He can remove memories from the minds of others, cast illusions, and create a portal into the realm of the Anasazi.
The Black Crow can cause himself to be in two places simultaneously, enabling to fight side-by-side with himself. He can also transform himself into other forms, including a crow, mist, or a bolt of lightning, and he can use this power to assume the appearance of others. He can summon and control fog and murders of crows.
He can also perform a variety of mystic rites, including one to nullify the effects of poison. He carries a knife, spear, longbow, arrows, and a pouch containing herbs used in his rites.
A Crow’s Predators
Black Crow at first goes up against the wall-crawling Super Hero Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, and Thomas Fireheart, AKA Puma, but then sides with Spider-Man.
The demon D’Spayre attempts to turn Jesse Black Crow against the Crow spirit, but the Crow spirit instead helps Jesse Black Crow understand his connection to the hero Black Crow.
When Black Crow doesn’t adhere to the Superhuman Registration Act, he’s arrested by the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and placed in prison.
Heroic Allies
Black Crow allies with several heroes, such as Matt Murdock, AKA Daredevil, and Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye. He also aided Dr. Stephen Strange, AKA Doctor Strange, and Red Wolf.
The Black Crow’s Nest
The Black Crow was angered at how the people of the USA had treated its Indigenous population, and sought to balance the hardship the Native peoples had endured by taking the life of the one man who most embodied the country’s greatness: Captain America. After monitoring Captain America in his crow form, the Black Crow eventually confronted him and explained why he wanted Captain America to die. In order to satisfy vengeance, Captain America offered his life freely. Impressed by him, the Black Crow refused to take his life, and considered the Captain to be his “brother” from then on. Later, after the Captain was poisoned by Johann Shmidt, AKA Red Skull, the Black Crow sensed his peril and performed a rite over his near-dead body, summoning the spirit of all that was good in order to cure him.
The Black Crow embarked on various other missions, monitoring and challenging the morals of heroes such as Daredevil and Hawkeye. He also aided Doctor Strange and Red Wolf against the Cheyenne gods when they sought vengeance for their worshiper’s sake. Black Crow later tested Spider-Man and the Puma, ultimately aiding Spider-Man by removing the Puma’s knowledge of Spider-Man’s double identity.
The Crow spirit had incurred the wrath of D’Spayre, a demon who was repulsed by the hope which the Crow offered mankind. D’Spayre believed that he could destroy the Black Crow by taking advantage of how the Crow had manipulated Jesse to be his host, but the Crow communicated directly to Jesse and revealed to him that he was the hero Black Crow. With both of their psyches in alliance they were able to overcome D’Spayre, but chose to let him live because battling him made humans stronger.
Some time after, the Black Crow alerted Captain America to what seemed to be his certain death when the Super-Soldier Serum that gave him his abilities was ravaging his body, but the Captain was ultimately saved by the Red Skull.
Recently, Black Crow was apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. for refusing to comply with the Superhuman Registration Act, but escaped the “Project 42” Negative Zone prison during a breakout engineered by Captain America.
