Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones
File:Pulse14cover7dn.jpg Promotional art for cover of The Pulse #14. Art by Mike Mayhew Pictured clockwise from the top left Jessica as Jewel; with husband Luke Cage; with her newborn daughter Danielle; as Knightress
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Alias #1 (Nov. 2001)
Created by	Brian Michael Bendis Michael Gaydos
In-story information
Alter ego	Jessica "Jess" Campbell Jones
Team affiliations	New Avengers The Pulse Magazine Alias Private Investigations
Notable aliases	Jewel, Knightress
Abilities	Flight, Superhuman strength and physical resistance

Jessica Campbell Jones is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe, created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos. Jones debuted in the series Alias as an embittered former superhero who had used the aliases Jewel and Knightress. After hanging up her costume, she became the owner and sole employee of Alias Private Investigations.

Publication history

Jessica Jones debuted in the Marvel MAX-imprint series Alias, (which bears no relation to the TV program of the same name). The character and series were created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos. Alias ran for 28 issues from 2002 to 2004, with most covers drawn by David Mack. Jones and other characters from the series moved to Bendis' subsequent series, The Pulse.

In a 2005 interview, Bendis claimed that "[o]riginally, Alias was going to star Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman), but it became something else entirely. Which is good, because had we used Jessica it would have been off continuity and bad storytelling". Previously, Bendis commented, "I was at one time toying with doing Jessica Drew [in Alias] because she has the best hair of any superhero in comics, but this book is entirely different than what that idea was to be." Although both statements make clear that Drew was a part of Bendis' earliest conception of Alias, by the time he was actively developing the title, Jones was his central character, one with a distinct background and voice from Drew.

In a Marvel Comics podcast Bendis expressed his desire to incorporate Jones into the parallel-universe Ultimate Marvel imprint. In Ultimate Spider-Man #106 she appears as a senior at Peter Parker's school.

Fictional character biography

Origin

Introduced in the Marvel Universe as a retcon character, Midtown High student Jessica Campbell was present when Peter Parker was bitten by the irradiated spider that gave him his powers. She had a crush on him, and had just plucked up the courage to speak to him when he was distracted by the bite. She also had a celebrity crush on teen heart-throb Johnny Storm.

Soon thereafter, Jessica was riding in a car with her family when they collided with a military convoy carrying radioactive chemicals. Her family was killed and, after spending several months in a coma, she was placed in foster care and adopted by the Jones family. Months later she awoke, stirred by the first coming of Galactus outside her hospital room.

Jessica later discovered that the radioactive materials she was exposed to in the accident had granted her super-strength, limited invulnerability, and flight (which she never fully mastered). The Joneses re-enrolled Jessica at Midtown High, where she was ostracized by her classmates, especially Flash Thompson. Peter Parker (who had since become Spider-Man) sensed in Jessica a kindred spirit — someone who had also lost family due to a tragic circumstance. Jessica mistook his kind attention and lashed out at him, believing he was merely pitying her. At that time she found out she had super-powers.

Heroic career

Promotional art for cover of Alias #28. Art by David Mack and Mark Bagley.

As Jewel, Jones was an upstart heroine with a fairly uneventful career until she intervened in a disturbance at a restaurant involving longtime Daredevil foe Zebediah Killgrave, the Purple Man. Killgrave effortlessly placed Jones under his mental control, a situation that would continue for several months. Though she wasn't sexually assaulted herself, Killgrave enslaved and humiliated Jones, forcing her to watch as he raped a succession of college coeds whom he had abducted and mind-controlled for his amusement. Killgrave also forced Jones to beg him to have sex with her, often until she broke down in tears, only to deny her, as a form of psychological abuse. After eight months under his control, Jones began to lose the distinction between his will and her own, developing a kind of Stockholm Syndrome.

In the midst of a temper tantrum, the Purple Man sent Jones to kill Daredevil, erroneously directing her to the Avengers Mansion. Since Daredevil is not an Avenger, Jones attacked the first hero she saw there in a red costume — the Scarlet Witch. The mind-control began to wear off and Jones attempted to flee, but she was caught and received a severe beating at the hands of the Vision (the Scarlet Witch's then-husband), and Iron Man. She escaped death due to the intervention of the only Avenger who actually knew her, Carol Danvers, who took her to safety.

Jones remained in a coma for months, under the care of S.H.I.E.L.D., while also undergoing psychic therapy with Jean Grey of the X-Men. In addition to assisting her emergence from the coma, Grey placed a special mental command in Jones' subconscious that would protect her from further mind control. During this time Jones developed a doomed romantic relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Clay Quartermain, who would prove to be a valuable friend and contact for her later in life.

The intensely violating nature of her experience with Killgrave, combined with the fact that no one noticed she had been missing for eight months, forced a demoralized Jones to give up being a costumed superhero.

Jones tried being a superhero one final time before giving up, adopting a darker identity as the Knightress. Intercepting a crime meeting between the Owl and a mafioso, she met up with fellow superhero Luke Cage. After defeating the Owl and his goons, she discovered that one of the thugs had brought his children with him. Jones took off her mask and revealed her identity to the cops so that they would allow her to look after the children for the night. Luke Cage went to her home later that night and the two had a long talk, the first step towards a lasting friendship.

Private Eye

Main article: Alias (comics)

Jones, now no longer a superhero, opens a private detective agency, and, given her background, was sought out by clients with superhero connections. Despite her wishes to leave the superhero life, she finds herself repeatedly drawn back into it. Longtime friend Carol Danvers set Jones up with Scott Lang (the second Ant-Man), and the two date for several months. She also had an off-and-on affair with Luke Cage.

Having escaped from high-security incarceration, Killgrave, obsessed with Jones, attempts to break her spirit by making her experience her worst nightmares — that she had walked in on both Lang and Cage in bed with her friend, Danvers. This time, however, the mental defenses Grey had given her allow Jones to free herself from his control. She knocks him out and he is recaptured.

When Jessica reveals to Luke that she is pregnant with their child, the elated Cage admits his strong feelings for her and the two enter into a committed relationship.

The Pulse

Main article: The Pulse (comics)

Jones takes a leave from the detective business and joins the staff of the Daily Bugle as a superhero correspondent and consultant, becoming a main character of the comic book The Pulse, and a contributor to the same-name fictional newspaper supplement within. She quit her job with the Bugle after publisher J. Jonah Jameson uses the paper to smear the New Avengers. Jones extracts payback by refusing the Bugle exclusive rights to cover her daughter's birth.

Jones and Cage are living together when she gives birth to their child, Danielle. Cage proposes marriage, and Jones accepts.. The two are married by a priest with an uncanny resemblance to Marvel Comics publisher emeritus Stan Lee. Jones retained her maiden name.

Civil War

In Marvel's cross-over Civil War, Jones and Cage are confronted by Iron Man and Ms. Marvel, who urge them to register with the authorities under the provisions of the Superhuman Registration Act. When asked if they intend to sign up, neither actually says "no," though they make their intentions to defy the law very clear, with Luke going so far as to compare the Act to slavery. In order to keep their child safe, Jones travels with her to Canada, while Luke stays in their home in Harlem. Having eluded the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents dispatched to apprehend him, Cage joins Captain America's "Secret Avengers." Despite the surrender of Captain America at the conclusion of the Civil War crossover, Cage remains underground as leader of the New Avengers.

Post-Civil War

At the end of New Avengers #31, Elektra is killed during the team's battle with an army of ninjas and is revealed to have been a Skrull (it is not clear how long the deception has been going on). In the next scene, Jones' baby's eyes flash yellow-green. As a test, Doctor Strange later uses a spell on the entire team to reveal their inner-selves, and none of them show signs of being a Skrull, though Spider-Man had earlier jokingly suggested the possibility of sleeper-Skrulls, who truly believe they are who they are impersonating.

Seeking revenge for their defeat at the hands of the New Avengers, the Hood's gang attacks the Sanctum Sanctorum. Spider-Man's Spider-Sense warns him of the impending danger and he instinctively snatches Jessica's baby from her hands to get her to safety. Not knowing the reason why, both Cage and Jessica are enraged. Jessica flies after him and demands that he return the child. Spider-Man reveals that, to him, the baby comes first and he had no time to explain, before returning to the fight. Cage, furious at the endangerment of his child, turns his anger upon his attackers.

Separated from the New Avengers, and desperate to protect her child, Jessica goes to Stark Tower with her baby, to register under the SHRA.

Powers and Abilities

As a result of the chemical spill, Jessica Jones possesses superhuman strength and resistance to injury and the ability to fly. The exact limits of her strength and durability have not been defined. She was not able to withstand a Venom Blast from Jessica Drew, nor a severe beating by Iron Man and the Vision. She has not been able to master her ability to fly.

Jessica was vulnerable to telepathic attack, which lead to her ordeal at the hands of the Purple Man. However, mental barriers put in place by Jean Grey have granted her some resistance to this type of attack.

In addition to her superhuman powers, Jessica is a skilled detective and investigative journalist.

Other versions

File:Ultjessicajones.PNG

Ultimate Jessica Jones.

House of M

In the House of M Marvel Comics crossover, Jessica is married to Scott Lang (the second Ant-Man).

What If

In What If Jessica Jones Had Joined the Avengers? Jones accepts Captain America's offer that she work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and, perceiving that something is amiss with Wanda Maximoff (the Scarlet Witch), she alerts the other Avengers, ensuring that the catastrophic events depicted in Avengers Disassembled and the House of M never occur. Jessica marries Captain America.

Ultimate Jessica Jones

In Ultimate Spider-Man #106, Jones appears as a senior student in the school Peter Parker attends. She's the executive producer of the school's television network. She later becomes jealous of Mary Jane Watson's better film skills.

References

• Oct. 2005 Bendis interview at Comic Book Resources
• Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed: Which Jessica for Alias?