While many of Marvel Comics' variants are fun and creative looks at fan-favorite characters, Jessica Jones proves that they can carry immense emotional and psychological significance, too.Their iconic run is passing its eight year anniversary, and continues to be read by fans looking to explore the character. Simone and Noto's story captures both of these elements of her character beautifully, and takes the concept of variants to new heights with the added emotional weight of Jessica's story. Jessica Jones is an important character because she represents not only a break from traditional roles for female superheroes, but also the complexities of being a survivor. Considering that one of these variants includes a Jessica Jones Captain America, the issue makes it clear that variants can both symbolize a sense of loss for Jessica as a survivor, as well as a more hopeful future of possibility, defined on her own terms. And while Jessica's variants can be seen as an expression of how her self-concept splintered in the wake of Killgrave's actions, they can also represent the multiplicity of who she can become. Part of what is so damaging about Killgrave's abuse is the way that his powers are an attack on someone's personhood, directly nullifying their free will. For Jessica, Marvel's concept of variants reaches new significance because it represents the ways that Killgrave's abuse has fractured her life, making variants not just a creative conceit, but an emotionally stirring representation of how trauma can change the course of one's life. After going home, Jessica finds two different variants of herself in her daughter's room. After meeting another survivor of Killgrave's abuse, Jessica learns that he may have planted a psychological "land mine" in her brain, after the woman she met reveals that she suddenly started hearing his voice in her head after a decade of being away from him.
While Killgrave is luckily no longer in Jessica Jones's life, that doesn't mean that the effects of his abuse aren't still felt by her, a fact that The Variants #1 by Gail Simone, Phil Noto, and VC's Cory Petit explores. Related: Loki & His Variants Travel The Rainbow Road in Beautiful Pride Month Art
Jessica's nemesis is Zebediah Killgrave, also known as Purple Man, who abused her with his ability to psychologically control others through his speech. She was created in 2001 by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos with her original series, Alias. While fans today know her best as the sardonic and reluctant private investigator in a leather jacket, she has also sported a more conventional superhero look as the pink-haired crimefighter, Jewel, and as the masked vigilante, Knightress. Like many female characters in Marvel Comics, Jessica Jones has changed over her publication history, a fact that her new series, The Variants, will likely explore.
0 kommentar(er)
