The Woman Who Just Wouldn't Quit Part 2

The Pulse 1-14 (2004-2006)
Marvel Comics
Brian Michael Bendis, writer
Mark Bagley, Scott Hanna, Brent Anderson, Michael Lark and Michael Gaydos, artists

Last time, we talked about Jessica Jones and her book Alias, which ran its course and was ended by its creators on a high note because they felt like they'd done with the character what they had set out to do. Except, as writer Brian Michael Bendis himself explains on the last page of Alias' final issue, that wasn't really the end of Jessica's story.

Jessica was actually a pretty popular character in the Marvel Universe at the time of Alias' cancellation. And Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada had another book in mind that he thought might be a good fit for Bendis and Jessica Jones, this time told squarely in the Marvel Universe, not the Marvel Max periphery.

The idea was for an investigative procedural-style comic that could go anywhere story would take it in the Marvel Universe, and Jessica Jones seemed very nicely suited to such a venture. After the personal changes the character underwent at the conclusion of Alias, there was also a natural personal path for her to undertake. So The Pulse debuted a few months after the last issue of Alias was released. In story, "Daily Bugle" publisher J. Jonah Jameson is not fond of costumed vigilantes, but he has to concede that tales of their exploits sell newspapers. So he decides to create a weekly sister publication to the "Bugle" that will play up the doings of the super-powered denizens of New York City. Jessica agrees to take a job consulting and investigating for the new publication, to be named "The Pulse." And "Bugle" staffers Ben Urich and Kat Farrell will write much of the copy. The upside of the steady gig for Jessica is health-insurance now that she is pregnant and in a steady relationship with the baby's father, Luke Cage.

The Pulse was an interesting title, although it had a much different feel than Alias had. And the art on the initial arcs was quite a bit different from Gaydos' painted work on Jessica's initial adventures. But the stories put Jessica and the other "Bugle" staffers next to heroes like Spider-Man, the Avengers and Nick Fury while pitting them against the likes of the Green Goblin, Hydra and childbirth. Brent Anderson and Michael Lark took over the art chores for the second story arc and the book took on a darker feel, more like Alias, as it dealt with the aftermath from the Bendis-penned Secret War. And finally, Gaydos returned to deliver the art for The Pulse's final story arc, the birth of Luke and Jessica's baby, and the final missing pieces of Jessica's untold past in costume.

Bendis again penned a text page in the final issue of The Pulse explaining that he'd finished what he'd wanted to do with Jessica's character and was moving on. The plan had been, Bendis explained, for the title to continue on without him. That wasn't to be the case either, however, as the announced new writer for The Pulse, Paul Jenkins, would instead write the Front Line companion book to Civil War. Plans change.

And so, Bendis would continue to write Jessica's adventures, albeit in a third book. Jessica's boyfriend, soon-to-be-husband, was the leader of the New Avengers, the group that went underground and refused to register with the government during the events of Civil War. Jessica and the baby continued to be an important part of Luke Cage's life, and thus, popular back-up characters in the pages of New Avengers.

The Woman Who Just Wouldn't Quit

Alias 10-28 (2002-2004)
Marvel Max
Brian Michael Bendis, writer
Michael Gaydos, Mark Bagley, Rick Mays and Art Thibert, artists
********** Mature Content Warning ************

I didn't pick this book up when it debuted; in fact, I'm not even sure I knew anything at all about it when it debuted. Unlike some books, I'm not even sure exactly why I picked up issue No. 10, my first exposure to the series. But I did, for whatever reason.

I still don't know what was in those first nine issues or how the creators of the series -- Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos -- first introduced the world to Jessica Jones, the main character of the book. But my first exposure to her was in issue No. 10. Jessica Jones is a former superhero in the Marvel Universe who now works as a private detective. She doesn't use her powers much; I didn't even have a clue what her powers or abilities might be from this issue. The entire book is a single afternoon, mostly in the offices of the Daily Bugle. Publisher J. Jonah Jameson has called Jessica to his office and wants to hire her to uncover Spider-Man's secret identity. Also involved in the discussion between Jessica and Jonah are Robbie Robertson, the Bugle's editor-in-chief, and Ben Urich, an investigative reporter at the tabloid. Jonah wants Ben to cover Jessica's investigations into Spider-Man's I.D. Oh, and as a Max book, there's a lot of cussing in the dialogue.

The entire book is also painted in big, bold panels without any word balloons whatsoever. Rather, all of the dialogue is typed out in the negative spaces like the dialogue in a play or movie script. The story didn't have any real action or superheroics at all. It was just the conversations between these characters, but it was intelligent and made you think a little bit to fill in the gaps. And the presentation was so unique, and the story was so thoughtful and thought-provoking to me, that I continued to pick up the book for the rest of the run.

The rest of the issues are a little more traditional in their presentation: more action taking place, word balloons, multiple panels per page, etc., although there were still several scenes with prolonged conversations between two or more characters. This is still a Bendis book, after all. The subsequent stories were still thoughtful and thought-provoking. Not everything was spelled out for the readers, and more is revealed about Jessica's past in each successive story arc. See, Jessica is a continuity implant. The character never existed before Bendis and Gaydos dreamed her up in the last decade. But her story is that she gained her powers through tragedy and tried to use them for the betterment of mankind by putting on a costume and being a hero. She took the hero name Jewel, and while she never became a household name, she tried. Until something bad happened to her. It took a long time, but after she recovered from that second tragedy, she tried again to be a hero, this time a decidedly darker hero named Knightress. That didn't last long either before she quit superheroing for good and became a P.I. That, in a nutshell, is Jessica's back story, but it never really happened in any Marvel Comic before this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the series and the various arcs that followed that stand-alone issue No. 10. There was one where Jessica is hired to find a teenage girl who disappeared. In the middle of that case, Jessica is fixed up on a blind date with then-current Ant Man Scott Lang, and they begin to date. Another case begins with Jessica coming home to find an intruder in her apartment, an intruder that turns out to be the missing Mattie Franklin, former Spider-Woman. That arc brings in guest-appearances by Jessica Drew, another former and now current again Spider-Woman, and J. Jonah Jameson. Matt Murdock, Jessica's friend and attorney, and not-so-secretly at the time Daredevil, also makes several appearances, as do other heroes of the Marvel Universe. But very seldom is anyone powered seen in costume in this book. Oh, and the last two story arcs flesh out a lot of Jessica's back story previously only hinted at. As I said, I very much enjoyed the rest of this series, and I guess I never went back to see what was in those first nine issues because Jessica's story felt pretty complete with what I had. I just never missed those first nine.

So Jessica's book ended with issue No. 28. Not because sales were particularly bad or anything, but because it felt like an ending to her creators. They'd said what they wanted to say with the character. So Alias ended. But Jessica's story was not yet over.