Doc was an idealist, I think... And an athlete... He wanted to be Los Angeles's own Captain America... 
History
Doc Justice originated as an idealist Angeleno who, at age sixteen, became a vigilante under the alias "Justice." He used his athletic skills to fight crime in hopes to become akin to his city's own Captain America. His family owned a chain of steakhouses and they funded his heroic exploits in the early days of his career. Justice was accompanied by his own team of fellow non-powered vigilantes, the J-Team.
Justice eventually married his teammate Princess Justice and they had a child named Matthew. When Matthew was still a baby, Princess Justice died on a mission. Justice quit his day job at at the steak house chain and focused full-time on crime-fighting. Some time later, Mr. Swift died, leading the remaining members to quit and the J-Team to be disbanded.
_and_Princess_Justice_(Sarah_Jo)_(Earth-616)_from_Runaways_Vol_5_29_001.jpg){kind=link}
First wedding
The J-Team wouldn't reform until ten years later, but since Justice didn't like working alone, in the 1980s, he took under his wing a young protégé who assumed the identity of Kid Justice. Not long afterward, Justice reformed the J-Team as a crime-fighting school, and he started calling himself "Doc Justice."[1] Over the decades of its existence, the J-Team had an ever-changing roster due to the death of their members, in some instances with new heroes stepping up and taking on the mantle of dead predecessors. There were three different Princesses Justice after Sarah Jo's death, and Doc Justice even married two of them.[1] The secret behind the J-Team's high mortality rate was due to Doc Justice routinely orchestrating the death of his protégés to raise his own profile as part of the sensationalization of his super hero life, believing that his mediatic image and the fortune that came with it helped him protect Los Angeles.[3]
At one point in time, the J-Team branched into the J-Squad, and in the 1990s Doc Justice led the unmemorable team named Justice for All.[4] He also adopted the identities of "Dark Justice" and very briefly "The Just."[2] In the 2000s, Doc Justice disappeared for roughly a year, and was secretly replaced by the then-current third Princess Justice. When Matthew was a teenager, he begged his father to take him on as the second Kid Justice,[1] and he eventually became involved in Doc Justice's schemes to kill his teammates. During a staged mission called "Operation: Clear Slate", Doc Justice buried Matthew's super heroic alter-ego, and he started running mission sontrol for his father. In the mid-2000s, the J-Team disbanded after another tragedy.[3] Doc Justice also spent twenty years until the present attempting to subvert the influence of the criminal cabal known as the Pride, claiming to know more about them than any other living person.[2]
In present day, Doc Justice established contact with the Runaways after saving Karolina Dean and Nico Minoru during the couple's first attempt at patrolling Los Angeles together.[2] The group of teenagers sought Doc Justice's help when they were forced out of their underground base due to a public drainage work. Spearheaded by Victor Mancha, whose favorite heroes were the J-Team, the Runaways offered to help Doc Justice in crime-fighting.[4] The Runaways took on the mantles of the J-Team and became a new incarnation of the group,[5] enjoying an outburst of popularity while Doc Justice trained them and took them on missions. However, Doc Justice neglected Gert Yorkes since he didn't think her body type was suitable for the team's image.[6]
_and_Doc_Justice_(Earth-616)_from_Runaways_Vol_5_28_001.jpg){kind=link}
Leading the Runaways as the J-Team
After failing to close a deal for a reality TV show, Doc Justice decided to bump his media coverage by killing Karolina Dean, who had become the latest Princess Justice. He led the J-Team into a trap for Karolina, pitching her against former J-Team member Ashley Pearson, who possessed the ability to absorb solar energy.[3] Gert had become increasingly suspicious of the J-Team's mortality rate,[1] and eventually uncovered the truth behind it. She rushed with her pet dinosaur Old Lace to intercept the J-Team's mission, convincing Matthew to help her.[3]
Gert and Matthew managed to barely stop Ashley from killing Karolina, and Doc Justice defended himself against the rest of the Runaways. When he was holding Gert at gunpoint, Victor Mancha arrived and immobilized Doc Justice long enough for Old Lace to sink her teeth on him, ending his life. The dinosaur afterward dragged Doc Justice's body to Gib, who consumed his soul for sustenance.[7]Attributes
Abilities
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Transportation
Notes
- In Runaways (Vol. 5) #29, Matthew Caniglia mentions both that Doc Justice started his career at age sixteen, and that the first J-Team started "almost fifty years ago", making Doc Justice a man in his mid-sixties. Matthew also mentioned that revealing Doc Justice's age was "literally the only thing he'd fire [him] for revealing."
Trivia
- Doc Justice was known for the epithets of "Los Angeles' Most Venerable Hero," "Our First Protector," and "The City of Angels' Most Steadfast Hope."[2]
- Doc Justice had his own public access TV show and was in the Rose Parade every year.[2]
- Doc Justice has an honorary doctorate.[1]
See Also
- 8 appearance(s) of Doc Justice (Earth-616)
- 3 mention(s) of Doc Justice (Earth-616)
- 25 image(s) of Doc Justice (Earth-616)
- 3 quotation(s) by or about Doc Justice (Earth-616)
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Doc Justice (Earth-616)