Merge:Patriot

Patriot is the name of two superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe: the Golden Age hero Jeffrey Mace, and the modern-day character Elijah Bradley.

Patriot I (Jeffrey Mace)
The first Patriot, Jeffrey Mace, created by writer Ray Gill and artist Bill Everett, he first appeared in The Human Torch #4 (Spring 1941; misnumbered #3 on cover). He was a reporter who became costumed adventurer after seeing Captain America in action, and was a member of the World War II superhero team the Liberty Legion. The Patriot himself became the third Captain America.

Patriot II (Elijah Bradley)
The second Marvel Universe character to use the name Patriot debuted in Young Avengers #1 (April 2005): Elijah Bradley, grandson of Isaiah Bradley, the first Captain America. Isaiah had received his powers (in the miniseries Truth: Red, White and Black) as part of an early Super Soldier Serum experiment tested on African-American men before risking it on white men. Elijah's mother was conceived before her father Isaiah's involvement with the experiment, however, so Elijah could not have inherited his grandfather's powers genetically.

Recruitment
When Iron Lad began his search for the next generation of Avengers, he came to the Bradley household in search of Isaiah's son Josiah (Josiah X of The Crew). However, Josiah had been missing for several months, and Iron Lad met Elijah instead. Elijah claimed to have gained superpowers through an emergency blood transfusion from his grandfather, but this was untrue. He later gained his powers artificially with Mutant Growth Hormone (MGH), an illegal street drug that causes brief periods of superhuman abilities. MGH has been demonstrated to promote irascibility in individuals.

Young Avengers
Patriot became a founding member of the Young Avengers. His costume resembles that of Captain America's 1940s sidekick, Bucky. He has an adversarial relationship with fellow teammate Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), who nonetheless gave him Captain America's original, star-spangled, triangular shield.

When the truth about Elijah's lack of superpowers was revealed, Elijah quit the team. He returned after Hulkling was kidnapped by the Super-Skrull, and the other Young Avengers convinced him he was the only one of them capable of leading the team, even without his powers. In Young Avengers #11-12, Patriot was gravely wounded by a Kree warrior when he jumped in front of a blast meant for Captain America, and received a blood transfusion from his grandfather, Isaiah, which transmitted the Super-Soldier abilities to him in earnest.

Powers and abilities
While secretly using his specially concocted MGH formula, Elijah possessed agility, strength, speed, endurance, and reaction-time superior to that of normal Super Soldiers like his grandfather and Captain America, but at a heavy physical and mental cost. After receiving a blood transfusion from his grandfather, Elijah developed genuine Super Soldier abilities, including super strength and super hearing.

In Civil War #2, Elijah appears to possess the full physical abilities of a Super Soldier. He is able outrun a helicopter, shrug off a hail of tranquilizer darts, jump several hundred feet through the air, and survive a massive explosion.

Equipment
Patriot carries a replica of Captain America's original, star-spangled, triangular shield, similar to the unpainted one originally carried into battle by his grandfather Isaiah. He also carries white metallic throwing stars patterned after those on the American flag.

Trivia
Since I had personally had a recent (and regrettable) experience with steroids, steroid use was something I wanted to write about. For better or worse, Eli's race was never a factor in those storytelling decisions, and I hope that by the end of this arc, Eli's story will be an inspiring one to all our readers.
 * Writer Allan Heinberg has stated that Bradley's drug usage is based on his own history, stating