| Isaiah Bradley (Joint Venture) | |
 | |
| Real Name | Isaiah Bradley |
| Current Alias | None |
| Alias(es) | Patriot, Battlestar I, "The Black Captain America" |
| Relatives | Faith Bradley (wife), Sarah Gail Bradley (daughter), Josiah Bradley (son), Elijah Bradley (grandson), Stephanie Bradley (granddaughter), Litigous Bradley (grandson) |
| Affiliation | Sentinels of Liberty (former), The Transia Experiments (former), The Black Wolves (former), Camp Cathcarl (former) |
| Base Of Operations | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Alignment | Neutral Good |
| Universe | Joint Venture Universe |
| Gender | Male |
| Eyes | Brown |
| Hair | None |
Isaiah Bradley was "the black Captain America", a victim of Super-Soldier experientation after Steve Rogers' disappearance in the 1940s. This is the Joint Venture Universe version of the character.
History[]
The 300 "Volunteers"[]
Isaiah Bradley and his wife Faith spent their honeymoon at the 1940 World's Fair. They had been married for barely a year when America formally joined World War II in 1941. To protect his wife and unborn daughter, Isaiah enlisted with the US army,
It was a decision he would regret for the rest of his life.
Two years prior, Steve Rogers had become Captain America. Unfortunately, Dr. Abraham Erkine, the scientist who developed the Super-Soldier procedure, did not live out the hour after witnessing the miracle. An agent of HYDRA attempted to sabotage the experiment, killing Erskine before fleeing pursuit, and finally committing suicide to preserve the organization's secrecy when Rogers caught up with him.
Left with only Erskine's notes and materials, the military assigned Colonel Walker Price to the task of making more. Price enlisted the aid of Dr. Wilfred Nagel, the second doctor to bear the alias Josef Reinstein (the first being Erskine himself). Dubbing the project "Operation: Rebirth," they conscripted 300 African-American soldiers, some seasoned veterans, some fresh from basic training, and set up a base in Mississippi, Camp Cathcart, where they would begin the process of re-creating "the Erskine formula."
The testing was wildly unsuccessful. Isaiah watched as friends, passing acquaintances, and complete strangers alike went into a specific triage bunker for "testing". No one who went into that bunker survived for more than a few days afterward, and most of them came out terribly misshapen, or in searing agony, or insane, or some combination of the three, before their bodies finally gave out. Eventually, the place stated feeling less like a military base and more like a death camp.
The Black Wolves[]
Among Isaiah's fellow "volunteers" was Maurice Canfield, a friend of his from Philadelphia. Canfield was considered a radical leftist at the time, with "dangerous" communist beliefs that put him at odds with most of the rest of the base, though it was more out of fear of punishment by association than any ideological reason. The only people who attempted to bond with Canfield were Luke Evans, a former Captain who had been demoted to Sergeant following an attempt to intervene on behalf of a fellow soldier facing violent disciplinary action, and Isaiah himself. Coincidentally, these three were among the only members of the Camp Cathcarl "platoon" to survive the initial Super-Soldier Experiments, gaining all of Captain America's enhanced attributes. Dubbed a success, the remaining members of the Camp Cathcarl company were given the "successful" serum procedure, after which they were given the title of "The Black Wolves" and sent out on black-ops missions by Colonel Price.
It is unknown what manner of missions the Black Wolves were sent on, or how many. What is known is that eventually, only three members remained: Canfield, Evans, and Isaiah Bradley. Dubbed "the three bears" colloquially (among other, less flattering titles), they served their country loyally and without complaint, even as that country started to train and prepare more prospective Super-Soldiers as if building an assembly line - which, of course, is what the American government had wanted all along.
Side Effects[]
The Black Wolves, like the rest of Operation: Rebirth, were intended to remain top secret. As such, Price and Nagel sent out letters of condolence to the families of every subject of the Camp Cathcarl experiments, whether they survived the procedure or not. Unfortunately, Maurice Canfield's parents did not take their son's supposed 'death' well. His father suffered a complete mental breakdown, and murdered his mother before committing suicide in a fit of grief and depression. Colonel Price sought to hide this information from Maurice, but the outspoken anti-capitalist was growing bolder by the day, and even the idea of a Super-Soldier gone rogue filled the top brass with dread.
Eventually, Maurice Canfield "crossed a line". It is unknown what was said or what transpired, but in the head of the moment, Price revealed the truth of his parents' fates to Maurice, and it triggered something within the conscript. Perhaps it was post-traumatic stress disorder, or a previously-existing mental illness, or perhaps this was the proverbial straw for both of them, but Maurice turned violent and aggressive, going into an almost berserker rage and laying waste to Camp Cathcarl despite every attempt made to calm him down. Luke Evans tried to subdue him but Maurice, lost in his fury, killed his best friend without even knowing he had done so. Isaiah grabbed his firearm and mentally steeled himself to put down the only other friend he had, but Maurice suffered a massive brain aneurysm, dying seconds before Isaiah could even contemplate pulling the trigger. Now the only black Super-Soldier left, Isaiah wept over the bodies of his friends and cursed the military and the fate that had trapped him there.
From Lockdown to Liberty[]
Despite not being involved in Canfield's one-man riot except to try to stop it, Isaiah was held accountable and incarcerated, not for any crime he had committed, but out of fear of another mental break like his friend's. Even though, as a Super-Soldier, the camp's brig would have been child's play to break out of, Isaiah had no guarantee he wouldn't end up the exact same way as Canfield, going mad, hurting innocent people, maybe killing them. So Isaiah resigned himself to his fate, waiitng to die in a jail cell as he watched a tiny sliver of sunlight crawl across the far wall of his cell day after day.
But it was not Isaiah Bradley's destiny to die in that jail cell. Instead, he got a visit from the Sentinels of Liberty. Peggy Carter, their liason with the governments of the Allied nations, informed him that someone wanted to meet him. Then she stepped aside, and Isaiah watched, dumbfounded, as the walls of his cell tore themselves apart like a massive curtain, to reveal a man in a revealing black costume...and, more importantly, Steve Rogers, the original Captain America himself. Despite looking somewhat embarrassed at the pretense, Steve took charge immediately. He informed Isaiah that even though he was draped in the flag, what he really wanted to represent was American ideals of liberty and justice for all, and that he felt some people were a little too concerned about who was included in that "all" for his liking. To prove his point, Rogers gave Isaiah his freedom and personhood back, no strings attached, using his rank - and more importantly, his reputation - to ensure that no one in power would or could reasonably object.
Isaiah initially refused, citing what had happened with Canfield and Evans, but Rogers brought in a woman with black hair who put her hands on Isaiah's temples, chanted some strange language, and then informed him, and them, that he was "clean". Despite not knowing what that meant, Isaiah did not look this gift horse in the mouth, and instead expressed his solemn gratitude. He watched as the Sentinels of Liberty evacuated Camp Cathcarl before razing it to the ground, along with any chance of replicating the Super-Soldier procedure on anyone ever again, or so they hoped.
With his liberty restored, and Captain Americal literally serving as a shield from spiteful government officials, Isaiah felt it would be best for everyone if he laid low for a while. Steve Rogers, of course, had other ideas.
Patriot[]
Steve wanted the world to see Isaiah as he saw him: not a knockoff or an inferior copy, not inferior at all, but an equal. The two bonded over their shared working-class New York backgrounds, and Isaiah admitted to himself that even if they thought he was dead, he would still do anything to protect his wife and child, even work with the government that had abused him and killed his platoon. Steve said that that was enough to make him a patriot, and so Patriot was what he was called.
With his new moniker and a renewed sense of purpose, Isiaiah went to work. He dressed in a uniform that had been designed for Steve but never worn, and carried a shield of his own, albeit one of adamantium this time, rather than an adamantium-vibranium alloy like Cap's. Steve had wanted to give him the alloy shield, but Isaiah denied it, saying that although he was black, he was no more Wakandan than Steve himself, and the shield was, after all, Rogers' to begin with. Patriot's "double-v" kite shield wasn't quite as aerodynamic as Captain America's discus, but Isaiah learned that with some work, he could make it return to him like a boomerang if he threw it right, even without ricocheting it off objects like Steve did.
The Sentinels of Liberty mostly operated in the European theater, an ocean away from everything Isaiah knew and loved, but also from everything that caused him pain. With his uniform and shield, Patriot joined the team to a surprisingly warm welcome - Steve was very selective about who he let on the Sentinels - and, with the assistance of Peggy Carter, Isaiah quickly became the team's new leader after Steve went on to join the Howling Commandoes, and Bucky went on to found the Invaders. The time spent fighting alongside them, battling both HYDRA and the more conventional Nazi regime, was some of the proudest of Isaiah Bradley's life.
After Roterschädel[]
1945 marked the end of the war, both the Aliied Powers' war against the Axis and the secret war between HYDRA and the superhumans and secret agents tasked to defeat them. Steve Rogers seemed to sacrifice himself in the skies above Roterschädel Castle, leaving Isaiah Bradley as the only remaining Captain America - much to the chagrin of Washington.
Bradley had done too much good, and accrued too much visibility. to be ignored. Even though the government tried to downplay him as much as possible, people knew who "the black Captain America" was. When SHIELD was founded by Peggy Carter in the latter half of the 1940s, she offered Isaiah a position at the head, but he declined, instead finally returning to New York to reunite with his wife and daughter, now four years of age. After trials, tribulations, wrongful imprisonment, and the deaths of so many friends, Isaiah Bradley was finally ready to let himself be happy.
But the world is rarely content to let a hero stop at only one war.
The Transia Experiments[]
to be disclosed
Powers[]
Isaiah Bradley is a Super-Soldier, enhanced in a similar process to that which created the first Captain America.
Artificially Enhanced Physiology: As a result of the Super-Soldier Serum, Isaiah Bradley was transformed into a "perfect" specimen of human development and conditioning. Isaiah possesses peak human strength, speed, stamina, endurance, and intelligence. The serum's effects are permanent.
Peak Human+: Isaiah Bradley's Strength, speed, durability, agility, reflexes, stamina, mental faculties, and senses have all been described as "Peak Human," which is to say, the maximum potential a human being can attain. However, Rogers has displayed several feats that have pushed past that into superhuman, including:
- Leaping: Patriot can leap distances that surpass those of Olympic gold medalists, with or without a running start.
- Running: Isaiah can catch up and keep pace with a modern car driving at full speed for roughly half an hour.
- Lifting: Isaiah can lift objects weighing roughly 1 ton over his head with ease.
- Master Shield Fighter: Bradley's years of training and experience with his unique shield, as well as its physical properties, allow him to accomplish amazing feats with it. Aside from bashing foes and blocking incoming attacks, he is able to throw it with nearly perfect aim. Like Rogers, Bradley can hit multiple targets with the same throw by means of ricochet, and can even achieve a boomerang-like return effect, allowing him to strike enemies from behind or retrieve the shield without objects to ricochet from.
- Master Acrobat: Despite little to no training in the art, Isaiah Bradley possesses the instincts and abilities of an expert acrobat, gymnast, and aerialist. He often utilizes these talents in combat for both evasive and offensive purposes.
- Accelerated Healing: While not on a par with mutants like Wolverine or Deadpool, Patriot, like Captain America, can heal from wounds or injuries with remarkable speed. He is immune to all known, naturally-occurring diseases and highly resistant to poisons, and is even incapable of getting inebriated (much to his chagrin at times).
- Advanced Longevity: Unlike Steve Rogers, Isaiah does age, due to some differences in the two disparate Super-Soldier formulae. However, his muscles do not atrophy, nor do any of his incredible attributes diminish in the slightest, regardless of how much time may pass or what kind of lifestyle he leads.
- Suspended Animation: Lastly, like Steve, it is presumed that when Isaiah is injured to the point of being near-death, his body will shut down temporarily, placing him in a heaing coma somewhat similar to the "Odinsleep" of the King of Asgard, while his body heals its wounds. When his body judges itself fit again, he will reawaken, however long the healing process takes.
- Empowerment: A blood transfusion from Isaiah Bradley to a compatible recipient has a chance of infusing them with his superhuman abiltiies, as it did his grandson Elijah.
Weaknesses[]
Aging: Isaiah Bradley, unlike Steve Rogers, does in fact age, albeit far less rapidly than a normal human. At over 100 years of age, Isaiah resembles a 55- or 60-year-old man, with a physical condition more akin to someone in their late 30s to early 40s. However, unlike Steve Rogers, he is not functionally ageless.
PTSD: Isaiah suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the extensive history of trauma he has suffered. He can have vivid, violent flashbacks, which can be triggered by certain stimuli or even his own mind playing tricks on him, and lives his life in a perpetual state of "on-edge".