In the lead up to the Netflix series ‘Jessica Jones’ premiering on November 20th, I wanted to look at the comics that are the source for the new show for the first time. I plan on looking at these comics with an eye as to their quality within the medium but also as to how they could be adapted for television.
Jumping into Jessica Jones’ story is easier than Daredevil’s as she only stars in 42 issues of ‘Alias’ & ‘The Pulse’, both of which are collected in their (almost) entirety by Marvel and are readily available.
‘The Pulse’ was a comic I never got in to during it’s original run as I had no idea who Jessica Jones was, having not read ‘Alias’. When I finally got my confusion about ‘Alias’ sorted out, I figured I’d get around to reading ‘The Pulse’ at some point. “At some point” is now.
‘The Pulse’ was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis when ‘Alias’ was concluded. Bendis was given the option to write for main line Marvel, and he decided to bring his original character Jessica Jones with him. And why not? Despite swearing, drinking and having more on panel sex than many of her comic counterparts, Jessica Jones is definitely a citizen of the Marvel Universe proper.
Running from 2004 to 2006, the series contains three storylines and two one-shots to cap off the series:
- “Thin Air” (Issues 1-5)
- “Secret War” (Issues 6-9)
- “Fear” (Issues 11-13)
- “Finale” (Issue 14)
- New Avengers Annual #1
Issue #10 was a House of M tie-in, and despite my usual desire to dig into every sideways path of a comic book series, I am not wading into House of M for any reason. So excluding that, we’ll look at the entirety of the ‘The Pulse’ run in this article.
The entire run bar issue #10 has been collected in a nice trade paperback, which is easy to track down still, but also available online.
Thin Air
Jessica’s main line Marvel adventures begin when she accepts a job offer from J. Jonah Jameson, editor of The Daily Bugle. The fact that Jessica would take a job from JJ after their antagonism in ‘Alias’ seems odd, but with a baby on the way, Jessica wants a proper job with benefits. And with newspaper sales down, ol’ JJ has has decided to give the people of New York what they (mistakenly, in his view) want; positive stories about the superhero community. Jessica will be the Bugle’s conduit to that world, and Ben Urich will write the stories proper, even if JJ seem to have lost faith in the once legendary reporter.
Jessica’s first week on the job is intercut with a body being fished out of the lake in Central Park, having mysteriously fallen from the sky. Once the deceased’s connection with the Bugle becomes apparent, Jessica and Urich begin tracking the killer, and finding that all roads lead to Urich’s former failure, being unable to prove that Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin…
Out of the gate this is a strong opening, integrating Jessica into main line Marvel with a great story deeply imbedded in the company’s lore, with the bonus of showing the Fall of the House of Osborn. Supported by great art from returning ‘Alias’ contributor Mark Bagley, this is Jessica showcased in her new role as ensemble lead in stories about superhero journalism, with great character stuff from Ben Urich, Luke Cage, JJ and Spider-Man.
Secret War
Someone has tried to kill Jessica Jones and Luke Cage with a bomb in their apartment. Whilst Jessica and the baby are fine, Luke is seriously injured, and his superpowers prevent the medical team from performing surgery to assist him. Things get even stranger when Nick Fury shows up and then Luke Cage vanishes.With seemingly no one willing to help her track Fury down to find out what happened to Luke, Jessica must head out on her own to track him down.
Naturally given the title, this was a tie-in with the miniseries Secret War. Outside of the context of that, the reader will have absolutely no idea what the Hell is going on. Jessica’s actions in this story would likely reflect the readers’; she’s got no idea what’s going on either as she essentially stumbles around looking for Luke Cage. It’s here we see some of the problems of Jessica joining main line Marvel; she’s lost her edge. While the drinking, cussing and debauchery could be considered gimmicky by some, stripped of all of that more humanising behaviour, Jessica in this feels like a characature of her former self. This is not helped by a cameo by Danny Rand – the Immortal Iron Fist – essentially acting like a tool to the partner of a man he considers his brother when she just wants to know that he’s okay.
Art by Brent Anderson and Michael Lark feel like a transitional style between Bagley and ‘Alias’ co-creator Michael Gaydos, which works nicely. Also, some of the politics regarding the Bugle and Nick Fury are compelling, and HYDRA managing to look almost reasonable and heroic is unsettling in the extreme, but leads to possible Jessica’s best scenes in this story arc. Still, it ultimately doesn’t work as a stand alone story, which is what it needs to be in the context here.
Fear
This arc sees the original ‘Alias’ team of Bendis and Michael Gaydos back together again, telling the story of New Avenger Luke Cage trying to pick a costume for his new station just as Jessica’s water breaks. Meanwhile, Ben Urich investigates a string of jewelry store robberies apparently filed by little known C-List hero and former Avenger, D-Man.
Despite the original creative team working together here, this is actually about as pedestrian as my synopsis makes it sound. There’s a lovely bittersweet ending involving Urich and D-Man’s ultimate fate as Daredevil comes to save him, but at that point it’s too late to redeem what came before.
“Fear” also marks the end of Jessica Jones association with the Bugle, JJ couldn’t help himself and smeared the Avengers in a scathing article. Given Jessica is involved with New Avenger Luke Cage, that’s enough for her to quit her job with a great verbal diatribe against JJ whilst in the middle of giving birth.
Okay, that felt like the old Jessica Jones, i will admit.
Finale
In which Jessica Jones talks to her new baby daughter Danielle.
No, really.
I found this one shot more emotionally satisfying than the last story arc, as Jessica explains to her baby how she met Luke Cage for the first time. it also explains a loose story thread from ‘Alias’; just when did Jessica Jones adopt the superhero alias “Knightress”?
New Avengers Annual #1
In which a shotgun wedding is held. Well, kinda.
I seem to remember Marvel being big on Wedding Issues Back in the Day, This annual seems like a nice nod to those, with the set up of an augmented Yelena Belova (the other Black Widow) attacking the new Avengers during a meet and greet with the New York City Mayor just as an exhausted Jessica Jones consents to marrying Luke Cage.
it’s a fun bit of fluff, with nice pencil work by Olivier Coipel. The thing that struck me most was seeing his rendition of Ms Marvel in her service uniform; something you don’t see enough of.
Naturally, Stan Lee is the one to marry Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. because why not?
‘The Pulse’ is in many ways Marvel’s execution of an idea I wish DC would just bloody well do; a series focused on the journalists within that comic universe. And “The Pulse’ does that really well, but at the cost of its intended central character. Ultimately, this feels more like Urich and JJ’s story than Jessica’s sadly.
Is ‘The Pulse’ a good primer for ‘Jessica Jones’? Probably not.
Is ‘The Pulse’ worth reading divorced from that? Yes, but not for seeing the continuing story of Jessica Jones.
If you’re a fan of ‘Alias’ I can’t recommend ‘The Pulse’, Jessica as a character has lost something in her transition from Max to Marvel, sadly. I don’t think this is even a Jessica Jones story, it’s a ‘Daily Bugle’ story. Which in itself is an fantastic idea that I wish Marvel would explore more consistently, but it’s not something that should include Jessica Jones ultimately.
To cap this all off,, I’ll be looking at the ‘Jessica Jones’ one-shot tie in before the premiere of the TV series.
‘Jessica Jones: The Pulse’ can be found on Marvel Unlimited.
