Jessica Jones #1 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

Back in the Thick of It

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis
Art By: Michael Gaydos, Matt Hollingsworth
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 5, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Now I don’t know about you guys but this is a comic that I’ve been waiting for. Jessica Jones has really come into the forefront due to her very successful Netflix series. Frankly, the Jessica Jones show is my favorite of the Netflix shows and I was very excited to learn that she would be having her own comic in Marvel NOW!. Not only would she have her own comic but the comic would be written by the original creative team that made this character. I will say that I’m a little hesitant with Brian Michael Bendis right now though. I was never a BMB hater but what he has been doing with Civil War II has made me very hesitant to buy something that he has written. However, I’m holding on to hope because Jessica Jones is a character that he created. Will the character so many have come to love be done justice in this new series? Let’s find out.

We begin the series with Jessica Jones being locking in some high security prison but today is the day of her release. She is escorted out the prison and then she is given her belongings. The guards seem to tease her about how no one came to pick her up. They thought she was some kind of big deal but apparently they were wrong. This is when they look up and see that she is completely gone. We see a scene of Jessica Jones leaping through the air and then she is at a beach in New York covered in sand and water. She didn’t quite make it back with her leap. However, she gets up and arrives back at her old office. We get the sign of Alias Investigative Services before she cleans herself up. Just as Jessica is about to check her phone messages there is a slam from the door and someone yells at her.

We cut to see Misty Knight at the door and she asks where the baby is. Misty gets in Jessica’s face before asking once again where the baby is and Jessica simply blows her off and tells her to leave. Misty responds by throwing a punch which Jessica grabs and kicks Misty in the gut. The then hauls Misty out of her office and tells her not to come back. Jessica goes back to checking her messages. Seems like there is a message from Carol Danvers. It may reference how Civil War II ends. However, we still don’t know how Jessica got into that prison or why Misty is looking for the baby. However, the final message on the machine is a job offer and Jessica decides that she needs money and the illusion of normalcy so she decides to meet the woman.

At the meeting, the woman tells Jessica that her husband has been with her for eleven years but more recently he has been remembering things differently. He believes that eight months ago he got married to someone else and that he has a daughter with her and now he has woken up last month and he has been married to this woman instead. Jessica wonders if he wouldn’t be better treated in a Psychiatric hospital but decides to eventually take the case. Jessica then starts to wander off saying that something has come up. She moves into the crowd and sees something that makes her try to escape by leaping up to the roof of a nearby building. At the top is Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman) and while she tries to start with a simple conversation, Jessica is able to see through her. Spider-Woman asks Jessica where the baby is and Jessica just tells her to mind her own business. Spider-Woman then asks if the baby is even alive still to which Jessica doesn’t say anything. Then she tells her that if he doesn’t stop sending his superhero friends after her, then they are going to have some real trouble. We cut to a scene where Jessica is hiding out in a car monitoring the man that she was hired to investigate. However, she is cut short when someone walks up to the car and says hello. It is Luke Cage and he asks Jessica where their daughter is. This is where the issue ends.

Well the first issue of Jessica Jones has come to an end and it’s just kind of okay. Don’t get me wrong, the issue is far from bad. However, a lot of the issue is mostly set up. We get the small hints of what Jessica Jones has been up to and a hint as to something has happened to her daughter but for the most part, the issue is setting up stuff that will pay off later. However, it leads this issue to be a little dry. The art fits the issue and definitely feels like the old series but I’m honestly not a huge fan of Gaydos’ art. Just a personal preference. However, I still am excited to see where this series takes us especially with that cliffhanger at the end.

Bits and Pieces

This issue starts off slow. It certainly doesn’t stumble out of the gate but it takes its time to get to something really exciting. However, so far this series has the feel right but we just need more before we can say whether it’s good or not.

6.0/10