Patriot (comics)  Patriot is the name of three fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. These include the Golden Age hero Jeffrey Mace and the modern-day characters Eli Bradley and Rayshaun Lucas. The first Patriot, Jeffrey Mace, created by writer Ray Gill and artist Bill Everett, debuted in "The Human Torch" # 4 (Spring 1941; numbered #3 on cover). He was a reporter who became a costumed adventurer after seeing Captain America in action, and was later a member of the World War II superhero team the Liberty Legion. The Patriot himself became the third Captain America. The second Marvel Universe character to use the name Patriot debuted in "Young Avengers" #1 (April 2005): Eli Bradley, grandson of Isaiah Bradley, an incarnation of Captain America. Isaiah had received his powers (in the limited series "") as part of an early Super-Soldier Serum experiment tested on African American men in an attempt to reproduce the formula lost after being used to turn Steve Rogers into Captain America. Eli's mother was conceived before Isaiah's involvement with the experiment, however, so Eli could not have inherited his grandfather's powers genetically. When Iron Lad began his search for the next generation of Avengers, he came to the Bradley household in search of Isaiah's son, Josiah. However, Josiah had been missing for several months, and Iron Lad met Eli instead. Eli claimed to have gained superpowers through an emergency blood transfusion from his grandfather, but this was untrue. He later gained his powers artificially with Mutant Growth Hormone (MGH), an illegal street drug that causes brief periods of superhuman abilities. MGH has been demonstrated to promote irascibility in individuals. Writer Allan Heinberg has stated that Bradley's drug usage is based on his own history, stating  Patriot became a founding member of the Young Avengers. The public believed his costume resembled that of Captain America's 1940s sidekick, Bucky, but he revealed that his costume is a redesign of his grandfather's. He has an adversarial relationship with teammate Hawkeye, who nonetheless gave him Captain America's original star-spangled triangular shield. When the truth about Eli's lack of superpowers was revealed, Eli quit the team. He returned after the Hulkling was kidnapped by the Super-Skrull, and the other Young Avengers convinced him that he was the only one of them capable of leading the team, even without his powers. Patriot was later gravely wounded by a Kree warrior when he jumped in front of a blast meant for Captain America, and received a blood transfusion from his grandfather, Isaiah, which granted him the abilities afforded by the Super-Soldier Serum.