Jessica Jones will be released in November on Netflix, and if you have never heard of the character you are not alone. Chances are that your resident Marvel fangirl or fanboy are hyper aware of its existence, release date, and potential cross-over appearances. The little fanboy that lives in our house is constantly digesting MCU material. Where does it all fit in, Dad? What’s next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Potential viewers beware, the source material for the show Jessica Jones is not for kids. It’s for you, adults. For us alone. Can you feel the cheery Marvel buzz?
I ate comics through the eighties and early nineties. I consumed as much as I could afford, trade, or borrow. And I thought I remembered Jessica Jones as a character from Heroes for Hire. Turns out, I was wrong, though the comic book tramps through Hell’s Kitchen, and Misty Knight shows up as a cameo. From author Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos, Alias ran from 2001-2004 on Marvel’s adult comic imprint, MAX.
Turns out Alias is a heck of a title. As good of an adult comic as say The Walking Dead, or The Maxx, or dare we say anything by Frank Miller? The first word in the book is “Fuck” and Bendis does not shy away from profanity or realistic dialogue. Gritty content and a commitment to character development, Alias treats the superhero world is the backdrop. Cameos by Daredevil, Captain America, Jarvis, and other minor characters serve as setting, color, flavor.
Alias also satirizes superhero life. Luke Cage is described by Carol Danvers, or Captain Marvel/Ms Marvel as having a cape fetish, and the gossip among the superheroes is aired at cocktail hour while Jones gets hammered. Gaydos manages to capture Jones’ deadpan tone with his brush, and the title character’s smartass, insecure emotions. See Jones is a failed superhero. She couldn’t hack it. She tried. And now she works as a private investigator, and many of her cases involve cape culture, or anything that whiffs of superhuman. Cases tend to find her.
Possessing superhuman strength and the ability to fly (though she does not practice flying, save when she’s drunk and having sex, yes you read that correctly), Jones uses her powers when she has to, but the action is rarely in the panel. We see people going through windows, or we see the aftermath of a conflict, but rarely the action itself. It’s a crime series drama with a focus on character development. For the most part Alias is a redemption story. Jones is a wreck. She’s an alcoholic. She smokes too much. She’s emotionally guarded. She obsesses about her failure as a superhero, a lover, and a woman. She’s grumpy, and unpredictable. She’s only an average detective, and most her success is accidental or indirectly because of her powers, or from her association with the Avengers. She’s a very real person, you root for her and watch her fuck up again and again.
It’s a gorgeously rendered comic. Gaydos is a painter, and many of the comics feature mixed media collages reminiscent of comic book illustrator Dave McKean. One of the best issues features J Jonah Jameson and the staff of the Daily Bugle. Almost the whole issue is from Jones’ POV and is rendered in warm and cool watercolor panels. The writing crackles, the panel composition is eye candy.
Luke Cage is one of Jones's love interests. Matt Murdock looms large, and Daredevil casts a shadow over Jones’ world. While on a date with Scott Lang, one of the Ant-Men, the couple witness Spidey and the Human Torch in pursuit of Doc Ock. Jones almost has an itch to get involved but doesn’t want to. She just thinks she ought to. Because she has powers. Because she’s one of them. But she isn’t one of them. Lang echoes her and they blow it off and have a nice dinner. It’s perfect fodder for the MCU, and it is ripe for Marvel to stretch its creative wings. Fan dissection of every inch of the show will multiply on Youtube and social media. Early word on the television show is that it will be a psychological thriller, suggesting the source material is inspiration only.
Netflix’s Daredevil proved to be a great crime superhero series with a gritty tone, paying homage to great crime dramas such as The Wire, or NYPD Blue. Reading the source material certainly increased my excitement. Plus David Tennant as the Purple Man? No brainer. I’m on board. I’m not so sure I’ll let my kids watch it, perhaps a fight scene or two, but Dad’s gonna have to binge first and regulate later.
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