| Character Name: | Black Jack Tarr |
| Real Name: | Jack Tarr |
| Publisher: | Marvel Comics |
| Debut: | Master of Kung Fu #17 (Apr 1974) |
| Creators: | Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin |
| Species: | Human |
| Alliances: | Freelance Restorations |
| Partners: |
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| Powers: | Excellent hand-to-hand combat, experienced in using firearms. |
"Black" Jack Tarr is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is Sir Denis Nayland Smith's aide-de-camp.
The character of Jack Tarr is portrayed as a successful officer in the British Army who, having received a discharge from the military, undertakes positions within fictionalized versions of the British Foreign Service, MI-6, and then eventually under the command of Sir Denis Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard.
While serving with Smith, Tarr comes into contact with Shang-Chi and the small band of adventurers fighting a covert war against the antagonist of the story, Dr. Fu Manchu. This group includes the characters of Leiko Wu and Clive Reston[1] who will later become two of his closest friends. Tarr joins them in their fight, confronting Fu Manchu's forces multiple times around the world. Throughout the Masters of Kung Fu series, Dr. Fu Manchu is portrayed as having near worldwide reach and many allies. This notably includes several fictitious cults that, in some issues, work together in confrontations with Tarr and his allies.
Tarr is personally targeted by Brynocki, the android ruler of a small island. This is later revealed to be part of a plan to gain access to Wu, whom Brynocki has fallen in love with.[2]
When Fu Manchu is finally defeated, Black Jack Tarr becomes part of Freelance Restorations, a group of private adventurers. This organization is based out of the fictitious Stormhaven Castle in Scotland with offices in London.
During a case where Tarr was tracking down the seemingly kidnapped daughter of family friends, Mandy Greville, he came to New York to investigate the cult Dawning Light. Tarr was attacked outside the embassy building where Shang-Chi was staying with friends. He escaped inside. Shang-Chi listened to him, learning of Freelance Restorations, then helped him rescue Mandy. The girl was safely spirited away and the cult's headquarters was destroyed without loss of any life. Unfortunately Mandy had been well brainwashed by the cult at this time and promised to kill Tarr.
Mandy is taken to Stormhaven Castle where several of Smith's colleagues attempt to bring her back to normalcy. This doesn't go as well, until an attack by the destructive villain Agent Syn. Tarr risks his life to save Mandy from Syn's fire. Seeing the risk he took and the slight flesh wound from Syn's attack is enough to break her conditioning. Shang-Chi defeats Syn moments later.
It was after this case that Shang-Chi joins Freelance. Tarr eventually becomes the leader of Freelance Restorations when Smith retires.
Tarr's group comes under attack by Comte de Saint Germain, who in the reality of Marvel Comics, is a seeming immortal who inherits the killers and cultists and resources of Fu Manchu. Germain captures Leiko Wu, Tarr's agent and Shang Chi's ex-girlfriend. Reston and Tarr have a shootout with an assassination team on the docks of Singapore, after yet another safe-house is uncovered. Shang-Chi saves them from certain death.[3]
Sometime later, he rejoins MI6 as an agent and close confidant of Sir Clive Reston. Together, they lead MI6 in attempting to prevent an other-dimensional Martian invasion of Britain while trying to keep the situation hidden from rival organization MI-13 - both Tarr and Reston believe that the organization, lacking history, would simply collapse and fail like previous "weird happenings organizations". However, keeping MI-13 in the dark led to the Martian invasion and Tarr & Reston have to help Pete Wisdom to stop it.
Tarr has been promoted to the director of MI-6. After Leiko is murdered in London's Chinatown while on an undercover mission to infiltrate the triads, Tarr reunites with his old ally Shang-Chi, who has come to London to investigate his former lover's death. Although Tarr tells Shang of Leiko's darker change in demeanor, he lets him continue with his investigation. It is later revealed that Tarr and MI-6 are discretely monitoring Shang-Chi's activities. Tarr tips off Lin Sun to Shang-Chi's location when he and the Sons of the Tiger arrive in London to help their friend and the Daughters of the Dragon. After Midnight Sun's ritual with the Mao Shan Pai causes a citywide electrical interference, MI-6 tracks the energy source to White Dragon's estate outside London, where Tarr deduces Shang-Chi is. Tarr and his men storm the estate; the recently resurrected Leiko escapes while White Dragon's men are arrested. After explaining the situation to him, Shang-Chi takes up Tarr's offer for a drink.[4]
After Shang-Chi assumes leadership of the Five Weapons Society and acquires the Ten Rings, Tarr dispatches Leiko and Reston to keep Shang-Chi preoccupied with a fake rescue mission while he and his men extract the Rings from their secure vault, as MI6 does not trust the Society with safeguarding the weapons.[5] When MI6's and MI13's tampering causes the Ten Rings to summon an alien parasite called the Wyrm of Desolation, Shang-Chi reacquires the Rings to rescue them. Shang-Chi admonishes Tarr and his former friends for betraying him and leaves with the Ten Rings.[6]
Black Jack Tarr is an excellent hand-to-hand combat, and is experienced in using firearms.
In the Ultimate Marvel setting, Jack Tarr appears in Ultimate Human #3, written by Warren Ellis, as the head of MI6's Special Section, a group of four covert agents reporting directly to the Director of Operations, Peter Wisdom. Tarr refuses to kill the Deputy Head of MI6 on Wisdom's orders, and convinces his superior that no one else will do it either. One of Tarr's men is James Larner, who in the Marvel Universe is similarly an MI6 agent associated with Shang-Chi.[7]