Cover: Jack Kirby & Frank Springer

The Invaders #9

Oct 1976 · Marvel · 0.30 USD

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“An Invader No More!”

About this Issue

The Invaders #9 (October 1976) serves as the climactic chapter of writer Roy Thomas's three-part Baron Blood storyline, the arc that permanently expanded Marvel's WWII mythology by weaving gothic horror — specifically vampirism rooted in Dracula's own bloodline — into the wartime superhero genre. The issue delivers a tense payoff in which Baron Blood's dual identity as John Falsworth, the estranged brother of James Montgomery Falsworth (Union Jack), is fully exposed, adding a layer of tragic family drama to the superhero conflict that was unusual for the era. It also sets the dominoes in motion for the subsequent transformation of Jacqueline Falsworth into Spitfire, a storyline that would play out over the following issues and give the Invaders their first homegrown British heroine. The arc as a whole — with issue #9 as its resolution — established the Falsworth family as one of Marvel's richest multi-generational superhero dynasties.

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writer Roy Thomas · artist Frank Robbins · inker Frank Springer · colorist George Roussos · letterer John Costanza · cover Jack Kirby, Frank Springer

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History

The Invaders was Roy Thomas's long-gestating passion project to tell Marvel's World War II stories in real time, drawing on the Timely Comics heritage of Captain America, the Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner. Thomas and penciller Frank Robbins launched the Baron Blood arc in issue #7, building an increasingly gothic thriller across three issues; issue #9 carries the standard interior crew of Thomas (writer), Robbins (pencils), Frank Springer (inks), George Roussos (colors), and John Costanza (letters), while Jack Kirby supplied the cover — a pairing that was characteristic of the series during this period. The creative team was working under pressure from a newly established monthly schedule, and the framing device of issue #10 (a reprint of a 1943 Captain America story) immediately following reflects the production strain of keeping pace with that output.

Trivia · 8 facts

Issue #9 (cover date October 1976) is the concluding chapter of the three-part 'Baron Blood' arc that began in Invaders #7 (July 1976), written by Roy Thomas with interior art by Frank Robbins (pencils) and Frank Springer (inks).
The cover was drawn by Jack Kirby, continuing his role as cover artist on the series during this era.
Baron Blood's origin is fully revealed within the issue: John Falsworth traveled to Transylvania, attempted to dominate Dracula, was instead turned into a vampire, and became his brother Union Jack's unwitting enemy during World War I — information delivered as an in-issue flashback confession to Jacqueline Falsworth.
Baron Blood crushes his brother James Montgomery Falsworth's legs under a boulder during their final cave battle, effectively ending Union Jack's active superhero career and confining him to a wheelchair for much of his subsequent appearances.
Baron Blood is killed in this issue when a rolling boulder sends him onto a silver-veined stalagmite that stakes his heart — though he is subsequently revived and returns as early as Invaders #39.
The biting of Jacqueline Falsworth by Baron Blood, dramatized in this arc, directly leads to the Human Torch giving her a blood transfusion in issue #11, which grants her super-speed and allows her to become Spitfire in issue #12.
James Montgomery Falsworth (Union Jack) joins the Invaders as a team member during this arc (formalized in issue #8), with issue #9 marking his last significant active combat appearance before his injury.
The entire Invaders #7–9 arc, including this issue, has been collected in Invaders Classic: The Complete Collection Volume 1. James Montgomery Falsworth was later portrayed by JJ Feild in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain America: The First Avenger.