Jack-In-The-Box

* Biography
* Threat Assessment
* Trivia and Notes
* Gallery

### Jack-In-The-Box: 2009 - Present

Months after the death of Winslow Schott, this criminal showed up using various tools and weapons that shared a number of Schott's signature designs and trademark tricks. He started off robbing banks and research companies where he made no signs of breaking in, simply appearing on the cameras in the middle of the night without having set off any alarms. Of course, he would definitely make a scene effecting his escape, but that seemed to be his plan as he laughed menacingly throughout his getaway, as if "toying" with the cops and heroes that would attempt to bring him in. The Daily Planet called him the "New Toyman."

Eventually his modus operandi was discovered when a package was sent to Lex Luthor. As Mercy Graves opened it, out sprang this man like a Jack-in-the-Box, having been apparently double-jointed enough to fit his lanky body into such a tight space. A battle ensued in which this villain attempted to kill Lex by throwing him out the window of his high-rise office, only to be foiled by Superman. After dropping Lex off on a nearby rooftop and checking on the unconscious Mercy, Superman gave chase to the fleeing felon who surprised Superman with his apparent disregard for his own safety, leaping down an elevator shaft and dodging traffic to evade the Man of Steel. Eventually, Superman thought he had him cornered when he ran into an old television repair shop, but then the whole storefront exploded.

The Daily Planet renamed this masked menace "Jack-in-the-Box" as three more times he used this same method in assassination attempts. He was successful in killing a defense contractor and a clergyman caught up in a child abuse scandal, but Superman was able to stop this Toyman-wannabe from killing Emil Hamilton thanks to a panic button Hamilton carried on his person which alerted STAR Labs security which were able to keep Jack pinned down until Superman arrived, at which point Jack decided to flee, diving out a ninth story window and landing on a car. Superman pursued him into the parking lot, where he tossed off a manhole cover like it was a piece of cardboard and went into the sewers, losing Superman in the network of tunnels by leaving toys which emitted sonic pulses which confused Superman's senses.

After these notorious outings, Jack began to work with the Legion of Doom, taking a break from Metropolis for a while.

In 2015, some low-level thugs working with CRIME botched a robbery and hijacked a school bus full of special needs children, threatening to harm them if they so much as saw Superman. The Metropolis PD were able to box the bus into an intersection and lock them and the hostage-takers in a vicious stand-off. Jack-in-the-Box made it clear that he still called Metropolis home when he crawled out from a gutter drain and dashed into the bus, quickly eviscerating the criminals inside and making off with the explosive device they had been threatening to use. Though no kid was harmed physically by Jack's actions (some would have nightmares for years after this event), the police tried to stop his escape but he slid back into the drain from which he came and disappeared.

But Superman, Superboy, and Supergirl were waiting for him. Cornered and threatened by three Kryptonians, Jack countered by threatening to detonate the explosive. Superman accused Jack of being one of Winslow Schott's machines, possibly even being controlled by Schott. Superman demanded to know how Schott survived the explosion, but Jack laughed at Superman's theory, saying "You're right... I was in that explosion, Superman... but I'm not Schott." It took Superman a moment to realize that Jack-in-the-Box was implying he was Jackson Nimball, Schott's old business partner. Just as Superman figured it out, though, Jack ignited the explosive device, blasting the Kryptonians into unconsciousness. When they came around, they found no trace of Jack and believed he had killed himself rather than be taken alive.

Yet, that was not so. Jack did not stay dead long, eventually returning to the ranks of the Legion of Doom just weeks later before he engaged in several crime sprees in Midway City and Dakota, much to the frustration of Hawkman and Hawkwoman.

To this day, Jack continues to elude Superman, the Hawks, the Justice League, and any other law enforcement entity. The current theory is that he is a metahuman with a malleable body able to survive great falls, fit in tight spaces, and even survive intense explosions at close range... almost like he is a living, human toy.

## Threat Assessment

### Resources

* **Unknown Powers/Skills:** Though the exact nature of his antics are unknown, Jack-in-the-Box seems able to fit his lanky body into tight spaces, survive great heights, slip out of handcuffs with ease, and possibly is even able to survive point-blank high-intensity explosions.
* **Various Toys:** Jack-in-the-Box has employed a wide array of vehicles to aid him in his criminal endeavors, all of which are patterned after a toy of some kind. Such vehicles include everything from toy trains to pogo-sticks. These were the same vehicles that were used by Winslow Schott, and have been seen being used by his other copycat and impostor. When Jack needs to get violent, he has toys such as acid spraying squirt guns, toy soldiers with live rounds, toy airplanes with machine guns, wind up tanks with miniaturized shells, exploding balls, acid gum, and a razor-edge yo-yo.

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* If he really is Jack Nimball then he was Winslow's partner in the VR company, made a deal with the military to sell the technology and tried to kill him, but unfortunately Mary Schott was caught in the attempt.
* If he is Jack Nimball, he's somehow gained roughly 10 inches of height.
* Jack-In-The-Box is in fact *not* the true Jackson Nimball, but an android with a digital copy of the original Jack's brain created by Winslow Schott. His brain was digitized before the explosion. Sometimes his memories revert to the moment of the digitization and he forgets everything that's happened since then.

### Notes

* Jack-In-The-Box is a composite character with Walter Dunhill. In the comics Walter was behind the car accident which killed Winslow Schott's wife.
* In the comics he's Toyman. The "Jack-In-The-Box" alias was chosen to differentiate various Toymen.
* Being part of Legion of Doom is a nod to the *Super Friends* cartoon.
* Being an antagonist of the Hawks might be a nod to the giant Nimball-shaped robot which assaulted them in the *Justice* comic.
* The name "Jackson Bernard Nimball" or "Jack B. Nimball" is a play on the nursery rhyme "Jack Be Nimble".

## Appears In

Legion of Doom.pngLegion of DoomThe Toymen.gifThe Toymen

## Links and References

* Appearances of Jack-In-The-Box

1. ↑ Deluxe Oracle File: Jack-In-The-Box
2. ↑ VOX Box: Rise of the Toymen 5