John Quincy Armstrong

Superpatriot is an Image Comics superhero created by Erik Larsen in 1992. Superpatriot has had regular appearances in Erik Larsen's titles, whether in his own mini-series or as a supporting character and is currently a member of the Liberty League.

History
Superpatriot was once Johnny Armstrong, a soldier in World War II. Captured by the Germans, Armstrong was used as a guinea pig for scientific experiments and gained superhuman powers. He destroyed the base at which he was being kept so the Nazis could not replicate the process on their troops and donned a American flag-styled costume to become Superpatriot. Superpatriot later joined the superhero group called The Allies, working with such figures as Supreme and Mighty Man, and protected the innocent for many decades.

However, in the 1990s, SuperPatriot was faced with more brutal and intense supervillains than ever before and began to have difficulty dealing with them. Eventually, he was overpowered by members of the Vicious Circle, a group of supervillains organized by Chicago crime-boss Overlord. Superpatriot was savagely attacked by his foes, with the shark-man Mako biting off his limbs and much of his face. Left for dead, Superpatriot's body was taken by Cyberdata, a corporation of subversive scientists, and transformed into a powerful cyborg.

Initially his transformation made him highly unstable and he embarked upon a violent spree of vigilante murders, clashing with the Savage Dragon. Superpatriot was easily controlled while in this addled state and was made into a puppet killing machine by terrorist groups like the Covenant of the Sword. Also, he was temporarily controlled by the entity known as The Horde. Fortunately, the Superpatriot later regained his own mind and became a superhero again, joining the newly-formed Chicago group called Freak Force.

Sometime after being freed from Cyberdata & the Covenant of the Sword's control John learned that he had fathered two children. The twins (a boy and a girl) grew up to become Libery & Justice. His ex-wife, who the twins and John thought dead, was revealed to be alive and was a member of the Covenant of the Sword prior to marrying John. His daughter also thinks the Covenant is not as bad as it is made out to seem.

Superpatriot is well-respected in the superhero community, becoming one of the main resistance leaders during the Mars Attacks The Image Universe crossover.

In the 'Savage World', the alternate Earth depicted in Larsen's Savage Dragon series, Superpatriot was controlled by Cyberface, until his eventual downfall. Afterwards he rejoined the newly reestablished Liberty League, and has had various adventures, including meeting Claire Bono, and eventually marrying her.

Superpatriot is currently still married, to the much younger Claire.

Trivia

 * Erik Larsen had the prototype design for the Superpatriot long before the character was introduced in his Savage Dragon series. While working at Marvel Comics in the early 90's, Larsen and Fabian Nicieza made a pitch for the new X-Factor series, which ultimately was given to Peter David instead. Their team would have included the Superpatriot.


 * Larsen later used his designs for a highly similar character called "Cyborg X" that appeared during Larsen's run on Spider-Man, with numerous hints that this was the Crimson Commando, a patriotic member of Freedom Force.


 * Invincible, a newer Image character created by Robert Kirkman, has been depicted as a fan of Superpatriot. Claire Bono, Superpatriot's wife, was the executor of Invincible's father's will and is now a friend and confidante to Invincible's mom.