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Character Spotlight: Jessica Jones

By | March 17th, 2010
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Those who picked up Bendis’ New Avengers just to read an Avengers title without having read his series Alias as well might be a little bit confused as to exactly who Jessica Jones (-Cage) is. First of all, you should be ashamed for not reading one of Bendis’ best series (my second favorite work of his, after his Daredevil run). But fret not, because for Multiversity’s latest Character Spotlight I give you the history of the soon to be New Avenger. Follow the jump to learn more about Marvel’s most foul-mouthed lady.

Jessica Campbell was a fellow classmate of a young Peter Parker in Midtown High School. While out on a drive one day, Jessica’s family had a car accident with a military vehicle that was carrying radioactive materials. Jessica was the only member of her family to survive the crash, but she was left in a coma. Waking coincidentally with the Galactus’ first arrival on Earth, Jessica was adopted by the Jones family and soon found out that she had developed the standard superpowers of flight, super-strength and extreme endurance due to being exposed to said radioactive materials. How about that?

A few years later, Jessica established herself as the super-heroine Jewel. Most of her superhero career wasn’t particularly exciting, but she enjoyed being able to help people. However, all that changed when she had a disastrous encounter with Zebediah Killgrave, better known as The Purple Man. For those not familiar with The Purple Man, Killgrave is able to use pheromones he secretes to control and manipulate others. Unable to resist The Purple Man’s power, Jessica became a thrall to Killgrave for many months and was subjected to unspeakable psychological horrors (seriously, it was pretty painful to read). Eventually Killgrave sent her to attack his old foe Daredevil, but due to a mix-up she instead arrived at the Avengers’ mansion and attacked the Scarlet Witch. No matter how tough Jessica was, she couldn’t stand up to the whole of the Avengers and barely survived, thanks to Ms. Marvel recognizing her. After recovering from another coma, Jessica Jones was implanted with a psychic defense to resist mind control, and gave up her costumed career (for the first time, at least).

Now, if you’re a veteran Avengers reader you have no reason to be ashamed of yourself for not remembering that bit of Avengers history. Jessica Jones’ run-in with the Avengers didn’t exist until 2001’s Alias by Brian Michael Bendis, set a few years after the aforementioned tragedy. As a matter of fact, Jessica didn’t exist at all until then. Jessica is an example of a retcon character; that is, a character that is inserted into previously established continuity. Unlike a lot of these characters, however, the placement of Jessica into the Marvel Universe is done very well. Her inserted past doesn’t disrupt continuity at all, and her past is revealed through flashbacks that further the story of Alias, rather than bog it down.

Jessica Jones develops as a character over the course of Alias, particularly in her relationship with Luke Cage (another favorite character of Bendis). At the end of the series, she faces her fears and confronts Killgrave (who had escaped in the New Avengers arc “Breakout”), and reveals to Luke that she is pregnant with his child. Following the end of Alias, Jessica’s story continued in the 14-issue The Pulse, also written by Bendis. Throughout this series, Jessica works for the Daily Bugle as a super-powered consultant. More of her past is also revealed, particularly regarding her second attempt at super-heroics as the heroine Knightress, which in turn tells of her first meeting with Luke. After the birth of their baby, Danielle, Jessica decides to marry Luke (the actual ceremony being covered in New Avengers Annual #1).

Jessica has also been used heavily as a supporting character; again, mostly by Bendis. She was hired as Matt Murdock’s bodyguard during Bendis’ run on Daredevil around the same time as Alias, and was used as an important supporting character by Allan Heinberg in the first arc of his Young Avengers, published around the same time as The Pulse. Lately she has most prominently been featured in Bendis’ New Avengers (as mentioned at the beginning of this article), wherein she and Luke gained notoriety for denying the Superhuman Registration Act. However, following the attack of The Hood on Dr. Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum (which had become the Anti-Reg Avenger’s base of operations), Jessica fled with Danielle and ended up registering for the sake of keeping the baby safe. Initially Luke felt betrayed, but following Secret Invasion the two made up, with Luke going as far as to request help from Norman Osborn for help in rescuing their baby from Skrulls.

In the most recent New Avengers Annual (#3), Jessica was seen in costume as Jewel for the first time in “real-time” continuity. A few months later, she was announced as one of the new members of Bendis’ new volume of New Avengers, again as Jewel rather than her civilian identity. While I’m excited to see what Bendis does with her next, the idea of her being an actual superhero seems like a departure from what made Jessica unique. Here’s hoping Bendis proves me wrong.


//TAGS | Character Spotlight

Walt Richardson

Walt is a former editor for Multiversity Comics and current podcaster/ne'er-do-well. Follow him on Twitter @goodbyetoashoe... if you dare!

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