Richard Jones (Earth-1543)

History
Richard "Rick" Jones was orphaned at a young age, and after being expelled from several orphanages for disciplinary reasons he was placed into a state institution called Tempest Town. A troubled and rebellious youth, Jones soon came to the attention of the institution's chief administrator who smashed his guitar, a gift from his late father, and then had him severely thrashed. Soon afterward, Jones ran away from the institution. He spent the first half of his teens drifting from town to town throughout the Southwest, trying to avoid the authorities, and doing menial work when he could get it.

At age 16, he got his driver's license and managed to save enough money to buy a used car. Overhearing a teenager dare a friend to ride out with him on the desert where it was rumored an atomic bomb was going to be tested, Jones offered to take him upon the challenge. He drove his car out to the test site to discover his challenger was too timid to show up. Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, designer of the Gamma Bomb to be tested, learned that someone had ventured onto the test site, and believing the countdown had been delayed, ran out into the desert to warn him back. Banner managed to throw Jones into a protective trench before the bomb detonated, but he himself was bombarded with gamma radiation. This radiation triggered a mutagenic change in Banner, causing him to turn into the raging superhuman Hulk. Feeling responsible for Banner's condition and being the only person to know that the rampaging brute was actually Banner, Jones became the Hulk's sometimes unwanted companion and ally. Jones soon organized the Teen Brigade, a group of young amateur ham radio enthusiasts to help him monitor the Hulk's activities. Jones was present during the Hulk's first encounters with the army, as well as superhuman menaces as the Gargoyle, the alien Toadmen, theRingmaster, Tyrannus, and the Metal Master, and even a run-in with the Fantastic Four.

The Avengers formed due to Rick's radio broadcast warning about the Hulk. He temporarily became a sidekick for Captain America. His resemblance to Bucky was noted, Rick even wore Bucky's costume for a time. However, Captain America felt he did not want to lose another partner and that while Rick was a good athlete, he was not quite up to the level Bucky was. When Iron Man suggested that Rick be made a full member of the Avengers, Cap strongly opposed the idea.

Travels with Marvel
The Kree hero Captain Mar-Vell was bonded to Rick due to only being able to function out of the Negative Zone for a few hours. Using the Negative Zone portal in the Baxter Building seemed to remove that limitation. Shortly after Rick and Mar-Vell had to be re-merged. Eventually, they were separated.

During the Kree-Skrull War, an 'omniwave' machine from the Supreme Intelligence caused the Destiny Force to trigger within Rick.

Rick received one of the Nega-Bands and gained similar powers to Captain Marvel.