Created by: Larry Fuller
1st appearance: Ebon #1 “A Hero is Born”; Spearhead Comics 1970
Nationality: African American
Aliases: none
Team Affiliations: none
Legal Status: No criminal record
Relatives: unnamed mother (deceased), Jom (alien who landed on Earth in ancient times)
Skills and abilities:
Powers: Flight, Super Strength (increases even more in the dark), Super Speed, Enhanced Vision
Weapons: Wears and Indestructible costume and a “Life Mask” to conceal his identity
Biography
Valentine Jones was living hard times in the ghetto of the inner city in the late 1960s. Although poverty, hopelessness, crime, and violence are everyday occurrences, today is particularly horrible for Valentine because he has attended the funeral of his beloved murdered mother who is now gone forever, just another victim lost to inner-city crime and now another statistic. Valentine is angry, raging, fed up. He is angry for and hurt about the loss of his mother. He is angry at the perceived impotence and indifference of the police. He is about to explode when…From the stars comes an advanced alien life-form…A black man, like Valentine. His name is Oju, and he is the imperial messenger of an advanced and godlike race of humanoids. Oju kidnaps Valentine by force, only to tell him the story of Jom, the greatest explorer of his civilization. Near the beginning of man’s history, Jom visited Earth, found men in Africa, and taught them advanced ways and science. He married a woman and lived among them, caring for them, until his death. It was then that mankind went awry and learned war, murder, and all vile manner of evil. But Jom’s descendants still remained, unaware of their heritage and duty. But Oju has found Jom’s last descendant, Valentine Jones, and he imbues him with powers far beyond his wildest dreams. Oju arranges a test in the arena for Valentine to test his powers. After successfully defeating the challenger, Valentine is given his purpose, and flies off, calling himself Ebon.
*notes* Ebon is considered the first black independent comic hero
