The woman who just wouldn’t quit Part 3

Jessica Jones Season 2
Netflix
2018

I know it’s been a few months since the second season of Netflix’s Marvel series “Jessica Jones” dropped, but my wife and I just finished watching it. We have a 7-year-old daughter, and sadly, most television and streaming programs these days are not created with a family audience in mind. I’m not personally opposed to anything in this series, mind you. I honestly feel that “Jessica Jones” is my favorite and consistently the best of the Marvel Netflix street-level heroes series of shows. “Daredevil” and its offshoot, “The Punisher,” were also excellent programs. While I had trouble getting into “Iron Fist” and “Luke Cage,” “The Defenders,” which brought all four of the main characters together, was also good. “Jessica Jones” is my favorite, though. It’s just that some of the scenes and topics in the show are not suitable for my elementary-age child to watch while we’re eating dinner.

I’ve previously read and enjoyed much of Jessica’s brief history in the print comics, and you can read my thoughts about her two main series here and here. Hence this being “Part 3” when the previous two posts had nothing to do with this character. (Also as a side note: I re-read the issues in question before writing those posts back in 2013. I liked them so much upon re-reading them, that I sought out the debut hardcover of Alias, so I have now read those first nine issues of Jessica’s debut.)

The first season of Netflix’s version of Jessica Jones started in a familiar place for readers of the comics. Much of her past was explored by making Kilgrave — alias the Purple Man and amazingly, creepily portrayed by David Tennant in the show — the main villain of the season. Jessica herself is portrayed by Krysten Ritter as a no-nonsense, boozing, jaded private detective who cares more than she initially lets on. The show also includes Malcolm, played by Eka Darville, a young wannabe assistant to Jessica. In the show, Malcolm is also a former victim of Kilgrave’s.

Several other characters make it into Netflix's "Jessica Jones" from a variety of Marvel Comics sources. Claire Temple, alias the Night Nurse and portrayed by Rosario Dawson, is most closely associated with Luke Cage in the comics, but she was one of the earliest unifying members of all of the Netflix shows’ casts. Jeryn Hogarth is a character most closely associated with Iron Fist in the comics. A male attorney in print, Jeryn “Jeri” Hogarth is a female attorney in the Netflix Marvel universe and is played by Carrie-Anne Moss. Actor Mike Colter first brings Luke Cage to life in the first season of “Jessica Jones,” too.

But the most important transplant for the Netflix version of Jessica Jones is Patricia “Patsy” Walker, played in the show by Rachael Taylor. In the comics, Patsy Walker was the co-star of a teen romance/comedy title in the 1940s and 1950s. She was re-invented as a superhero named Hellcat in the mid-1970s. The Netflix show works Patricia “Trish” Walker in as Jessica’s sister after Jessica survives the crash that kills her biological family and is adopted by the Walker family. Trish was a child television star best known for a sitcom called “It’s Patsy” in the Netflix continuity, but she begins her transformation into the eventual Hellcat during the second season of “Jessica Jones.”

All of these nods to past Marvel continuity are a great bonus for a longtime fan such as myself. But the producers behind “Jessica Jones” do a fantastic job of keeping those things as Easter eggs for the longtime fans while not confusing fans new to the Netflix series. They tell you everything you need to know about each person to follow along. I know this because my wife watched both seasons of the show with me, and she not only doesn’t know all the comic book ties, but doesn’t really care. She doesn’t want to have to do homework (or listen to me explain everything ad nauseam) to follow a television show. She was not only fine simply watching what was presented, but she also enjoyed “Jessica Jones” more than the other Netflix Marvel programs.

So the show is accessible to non-comics fans. It also holds surprises for longtime comics fans. The Netflix series does not feel it has to follow the character’s history from the books to the letter. Starting off with Kilgrave was a smart decision because it is a compelling story and gets to the heart of the character of Jessica Jones. Attaching all of the other ancillary characters from other books was the first departure and has offered up a number of story directions different from the comics history of the character, for instance. I don’t believe any kind of foster family was ever introduced for Jessica’s backstory in the comics, for instance. Not only adding a foster family, but adding one with its own heroic history, opened up a number of possibilities. The second season of “Jessica Jones” further opens up the title character’s history by suggesting the possibility that Jessica is no longer the sole survivor of the car crash she believes claimed the lives of her biological family.

Netflix’s “Jessica Jones” is smartly written, wonderfully acted and well worth checking out if you enjoy a good drama. The other shows will allow you to learn more about the shared universe, if you enjoy this show, but it is not necessary to watch all the shows to understand any one. Give Jessica a try; she’s just conquered another medium, so she remains the woman who just won't quit!

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.