By: Omar A., Grade 11
When most people think of superheroes, they think of really strong, morally-upright, kind people who can do such incredible feats like lifting cars, spinning around the world in seconds, flying up higher than skyscrapers in seconds, etc. And certainly this assumption is not wrong. Yet, I believe even with that there is a more interesting side to the equation: those without those talents yet try their best to do good. Those are ultimately the more interesting bunch, in my opinion, as they yield much more realistic and interesting struggles more akin to that of real life — or even if unrealistic they could just plain be more interesting.
There is a typical, common answer: Batman. He has no superpowers, just a rich guy, and all the feats come from his clever gadgets. Again, that is not wrong. I want more street level, more gritty and disturbing (???!!) stuff. The only issue with that demand is, with the constant release of comics over the past hundred or so years, such dramatic and dark stories have easily been written with every character under the sun. But I believe that for any of them, their stories or characters being defined by being dark rarely happens. Superman rarely stays dark — he is more of a beacon of light but can get depressed every once in a while. Batman has that gritty dark tone…until he doesn’t every once in a while when a new writer believes that it's time to switch it for the umpteenth time.
That makes the characters which have consistently dark or being defined by their flaws are the much more interesting ones in my opinion. It could be considered slight burnout considering I spent much of my middle school years devouring traditional superhero content through the movies, etc. But, much of what I read younger next to that material did help me sway towards more complex, character-driven stories — after all, I was reading complex fantasy and horror novels.
That’s just the context for what I want to say.
Now that I have gotten how I came to be interested in those street level heroes a bit more clearly, I want to talk about one of my new favorite characters in comics: Jessica Jones.
I admit, by the time I am writing this, I have only read her most popular and acclaimed series, Jessica Jones: Alias by Bendis and Gaydos and haven’t yet delved into the complexities of her character, but I wanted to try and get across her much of why I came to be interested in her character and unique strength.
Firstly, Jessica Jones is not really a superhero. While I don’t believe in putting perimeters on what is considered a superhero or not simply because there is much variation between them; certain limits could expel some credible and strong heroes, so it’s not really fair. But even if I had perimeters, I would consider her to be a superhero. Then why did I say she wasn’t really a hero? Simply because she was a former superhero. Her good deeds “nowadays” are compromised mainly by her ordinary word and ability as a…detective. A private investigator. That idea of a former superhero really interests me, because the tradition in comics are these ageless heroes who only give up the mask for short, shocking moments before donning it again ‘cuz Disney or Warner Bros. need even more money.
But that element of Jessica Jones being Jewel, an ultimately unremarkable superhero who didn’t stand out that much compared to the elite group like the Avengers, despite being friends with some of them. Also she didn’t stop being a superhero out of choice, there was the traumatic and psychological element of it.
(Quick content: Jessica Jones was a headliner series for a new initiative by Marvel called “MAX,” which was getting more mature content in comics after decades of censorship by the Comics Code.)
Her months being held captive by Killgrave, a truly shocking and despicable man, had an immense toll on her wellbeing, I wouldn’t get into much of what that is in here because I think the comic should be read to find out, also I don’t think it would be proper to write it here.
That psychological tone was much darker and more depressing than almost anything else I had seen from Marvel, much more than a more unrealistic and dramatic loss that could never in a million years happen in real life. The fact that what Jessica went through did include that supernatural element, but the impact of it and what actually went on was realistic and depressing.
I have read a lot of stuff, so when a comic or material really really makes me feel disgust or sadness, it is already remarkable for me. Some that interests me immensely and keeps me thinking about it. It already made this comic really really stand out to me from what I have been reading or even watching recently.
Secondly, the investigation aspect.
Jessica Jones quit being a superhero after Killgrave — except for a short stint which made her deem herself “unworthy” to do such activities as a result of all stated above. That made her do work on the down-low as a private investigator.
Yet, she wasn’t cheery or bright; she had a somewhat negative reputation for her tempers, cynic nature, and alcoholism. While it is…debatable if any of those are good, it just makes Jessica Jones all the real. Almost basically stand out when it seems that such an archetype is common in regular crime fiction.
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