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History

Early Life[]

Mary Morgenstern was born of Jewish descent in the early 20th Century. Due to social stigmatization of her era toward Jews, she anglicized her last name to "Morgan" in order to hide her lineage.[1] As an adult, Mary was a reporter for the Consolidated News and later the Daily Bugle along with her friends Jeff Mace and Jack Casey during the 1940s.[2] Through her career she considered her co-worker Jeff a coward due to his frequent absences whenever there was danger, unaware of the fact that he was really the costumed hero known as the Patriot. Despite this the two began dating regularly.

Mary Morgan (Earth-616) from Human Torch Vol 1 4 001

Mary Morgan circa 1941

Girl Reporter[]

During her early days with the Daily Bugle, she, Jeff and Jack Casey were eye witness to Captain America battling Nazi spies who were posing as dock workers. Later when Jeff was reamed out by their editor for getting involved in the news, she tried to cheer Jeff up, inadvertently convincing him to secretly take up the costumed identity of the Patriot. After expressing her concerns that union busters would prevent the workers at her father's shoe manufacturer from unionizing, the Patriot appeared and stopped them, allowing the union to form. Seeing Jack all beat up the following day began forming her suspicions that Jeff Mace and the Patriot might be the same man. As a result, she began closely following the adventures of the Patriot, noting Jeff's absences whenever the hero was around.[2]

Mary, Jeff Mace, and Jack Casey were among the many reporters captured by the Yellowshirts a terrorist organization bent on dismantling the United States government and replacing it with an oppressive dictatorship. When they took over New York an other cities in the March of 1941. When Jeff disappeared to battle the Yellowshirts as the Patriot, and ultimately defeated them Mary attributed his absence to his cowardice. Jeff allowed her to believe this in order to protect his double identity.[3]

Often time, Mary would become exasperated and annoyed with the actions of Jeff Mace, such as when he borrowed money from her to purchase a violin,[4] when Jeff disappeared when Nazi prisoner of war Heinrich von Betz took over the train transporting him to a POW camp in Canada,[5] and his disappearance during the investigation of a murdered actor who was part of an Anti-Nazi play.[6] She would accompany Jack and Jeff on assignment to interview Lieutenant Curtis who obtained sensitive information on Imperial Japan while in the Philippines[7] and witness the Patriot battle the Japanese assassin Ginaldo.[8] Mary would once more get on Jeff's case during his acts of "cowardice" during the court room escape of killer Green-Face Reibel.[9]

In January of 1942, after the United States officially entered World War II, Mary threw a going-away party for Jack, as he was drafted into the Navy. Spotting Jeff by himself muttering that he has "more to do", Mary began watching the Patriot's exploits more closely.[2]

Mary Morgan (Earth-616) from Captain America Patriot Vol 1 2 001

Later she would accompany Jack and Jeff to cover a boat builders strike instigated by Nazi spies,[10] and the connection between Dr. Strasser and a series of bizarre murders involving floating corpses,[11] and later be present when the Patriot exposed a Nazi plot to kill American soldiers in war games using insects that flew at super-fast velocities.[12] On assignment to investigate a series of American ship sinkings, Mary witness the Patriot battling a giant mechanical crab created by Imperial Japanese scientist. During this battle, Mary would get a good look at the Patriot (who at the time did not obscure his face with a mask) and found that he looked familiar but was unable to place his face, this was the first of many times that Mary began to suspect the true identity of the Patriot.[13]

Mary next experienced a series of incidents where she was imperiled and was subsequently rescued by the Patriot. Such as when she, Jack and Jeff were captured by a Japanese scientist with an evolution ray in Australia,[14] Nazi spy the Great Astro, and headhunters in New Guinea.[15] Mary once more began to suspect that Jeff might be the Patriot when Jeff abruptly left their coverage of a USO show to recover the money raised at the show after it was stolen by crooks.[16] Mary was once more imprisoned when they were captured by Japanese spies en route from Australia to India, and later rescued by the Patriot.[17] She later accompanied Jack Casey to Canada to cover stories of escaped Nazi prisoners of war, but were informed by the Patriot that the case was solved shortly after their arrival.[18]

While on a date with Jeff Mace to see Drums Toggins, she was unaware when Jeff slipped away to apprehend Toggins whom he deduced to be a Nazi spy.[19] Later, Mary and her friends assisted reformed criminal Thick Lips Scarbo free his son from Nazi spies,[20] was rescued from a meat cooler by the Patriot while searching for Nazi spies,[21] the mysterious suicide of Cecilia Tang[22] and a rash of rampant juvenile delinquency instigated by Nazi spies.[23]

Miss Patriot[]

in December 1943,[2] Mary was captured by Nazi scientist Hans Groitzig and his assistant Scharrolla who were were working on a strength enhancing formula for the Nazis. They injected the drug into Mary to see what happened, however at first it appeared that it had no effect at all. After Groitzig and his assistant destroyed their equipment and notes they were subdued by the Patriot. Just after this, the revived Mary was able to tip off the Patriot about the approach of Nazi spies whom he swiftly defeated. In the aftermath of the battle, the Patriot noted that Mary had gain telescopic vision and radar hearing.[24]

Discovering that she had these powers, Mary confirmed her suspicions that the Patriot and Jeff Mace were the same man. Deciding to be his sidekick, she developed the costumed identity of Miss Patriot and revealed her idea to the Patriot when he returned home. Jeff was surprised, but between his duties as a report, the Patriot, and with the Liberty Legion, Jeff could not fathom taking on a sidekick. Hurt, Mary was about to leave, however Jeff encouraged Mary to still be Miss Patriot, and that they should team-up sometime. Reinvigorated, Mary thanked Jeff, but Jeff questioned if Mary was really kidnapped, or if she allowed Groitzig to experiment on her.[2]

Mary resumed her job as a newspaper reporter, while also continuing her costumed career as Miss Patriot. In early 1946 she and Jeff Mace went to check up on photographer Bridie Heart and found him living in tough times[25] and she later assisted Jeff in collecting funds for a charity that benefited needy children.[26] Not long after this Jeff dropped his Patriot identity and took up the mantle of Captain America.[27][2]

In September 1946, Miss Patriot was still fighting crime, having busted up a pair of crooks seeking to ship black market gold. After busting them, they questioned her relationship to the Patriot and where he disappeared to. Two days later while listening to a radio report about the All-Winners Squad's latest battle in England, Mary recognizes Captain America's voice as belonging to Jeff Mace. As Miss Patriot, Mary paid a visit to Jeff at the All-Winners Squad headquarters. The meeting started off well, until Mary got a number of drinks in her and before she could tell him their old friend Jack Casey had died, she suggested becoming the new Bucky, angering Jeff to the point where she threw her out of the base. When Jeff found out the truth, he was ordered not to go as Captain America due to Jack's homosexual lifestyle and so he went as the Patriot instead. The Patriot then asked Mary to transcribe his eulogy for the paper, which Mary did, even though it turned public opinion against the Patriot leaving Jeff with only the Captain America identity to use.[28] Her exploits thereafter are largely unrecorded.

Mary Morgan (Earth-616) from Ant-Man Last Days Vol 1 1 001

Valhalla Villa[]

By the Modern Age Mary had grown too old to continue operating as Miss Patriot and retired from her costumed role and moved to Miami. Returning to the use of her birth name, Mary Morgenstern, she established Valhalla Villas, a retirement home super heroes.[1] She made a fortune from her business, and became an investor. One of the companies she funded was Ant-Man Security Solutions, run by Scott Lang.[29] She also continued helping people with her powers, under the alias of the "Cloaked Clairvoyant," and became a known local psychic.[1]

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