University of Panels

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Comic Review: Ms. Marvel (Vol. 8): Mecca

Writer: G. Willow Wilson

Artists: Marco Failla & Diego Olortegui

Arguably Ms. Marvel’s best story thus far! MECCA is reflective of the current issues we face today!

Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The concept of an “allegory,” or a story that can be read from both literal and figurative perspectives is one that has existed all throughout human history. From classical fables of the ancient Greek philosopher Aesop to the modern political satire of George Orwell, allegories are often employed by writers as a method of commentating on individual, societal, and political issues through the usage of symbolism and metaphor rather than direct reference. George Orwell’s novel ANIMAL FARM, on the surface, appears to be a simple story about a group of farm animals that rebel against their corrupt owners but end up creating a society that’s just as bad, if not worse. In actuality however, the novel is designed to serve as a critique on Russian Communism and the totalitarian regime of Joseph Stalin. Comic books also are no strangers to the usage of allegories, with the most famous example being the X-Men. X-MEN is unique in how it handles allegory. While its mutants are metaphorical representatives for oppressed minorities, it is more overt in its discussions about racism and homophobia, with the fictional island nation of Genosha’s treatment of mutants symbolizing South African Apartheid, or the Legacy Virus serving as a metaphor for the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.

These examples serve as a nice transition into discussing the form of allegory known as satire, in which an author targets a specific subject or issue in his work, usually one that’s political in nature. While the aforementioned ANIMAL FARM is perhaps the most famous example of political satire, two important instances of this in the realm of comics are Frank Miller’s BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and Alan Moore’s WATCHMEN, two of the most critically acclaimed graphic novels of all-time. Although both books are primarily about superheroes and themes of vigilantism, both Miller and Moore decided to have their stories take place in semi-realistic settings that reflected American society in the 1980s. Miller, for instance, uses this type of setting in TDKR to satirize the mass media and the Cold War politics of the Reagan administration (primarily through the usage of talking news heads), while Moore’s WATCHMEN portrays an alternate America in which the existence of superheroes would have changed key historical events such as U.S. obtaining victory in the Vietnam War or Nixon passing an amendment that allowed him to serve for three terms. Regardless of its form, allegory continues to remain an important literary device. It allows authors to create stories that reflect and comment on the issues of their respective societies at the time.

Such is the case with the eighth volume of the hit-series MS. MARVEL, “Mecca,” which serves as an allegorical satire discussing the political and cultural issues that currently predominate American society. As I mentioned way back in my review of MS. MARVEL (VOL. 1): NO NORMAL, the new Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, is quite easily one of the most important comic book characters created in the past decade.

Ms. Marvel, a.k.a. Kamala Khan, punching a bank robber. From Ms. Marvel Vol. 3 #6 (Jul 2017).
Art by Jamie McKelvie and Matt Wilson. Copyright © Marvel Entertainment.

Conceived by both writer G. Willow Wilson and editor/Vice-President of Content and the character development at Marvel, Sana Amanat, Kamala Khan is a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who gains polymorph powers after being exposed to the mysterious Terrigen Mist. I personally loved MS. MARVEL (VOL. 1): NO NORMAL, and praised Wilson’s writing for her nuanced portrayal of Muslim American characters, fleshing them out to where they felt like genuine human beings and that their religion was not their only defining character trait. And I’m not alone in that opinion as MS. MARVEL has proven to be critically and financially successful. The first issue was listed as Marvel’s top-selling digital comic and was one of the company’s few books to receive a seventh printing. The series also won the Hugo Award in 2015, the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics in 2016, and has been nominated for six Eisner Awards (essentially the Oscar-equivalent for comics). Furthermore, Kamala’s success has contributed to Marvel’s increasing attempts to appeal to wider demographics, which has been evident through the diversification of older characters such as making Thor a woman and having Iceman come out as gay, as well as the creation of new diverse characters such Riri Williams (Ironheart), an African American girl from Chicago who built her own version of the Iron Man armor. I have personally followed every single one of Kamala’s adventures since her first issue and have loved each volume for its stellar writing, complex characters, near-perfect balancing of humor and drama, and its exploration of adolescence, heroism, and even issues that affect minority groups in America ranging from gentrification to racial profiling. In fact, Kamala Khan may very well be my second favorite superhero of all-time (right behind Spider-Man), as although she adheres to a different faith, she's incredibly relatable due to her nerdy personality and struggles to find her place in life. But most especially, Kamala's fierce determination to help others simply out of the kindness and decency in her heart makes her an inspirational figure for others to follow. While Linkara once described Superman as "the most human superhero of them all" in his review of KAMANDI AT EARTH'S END #1, I personally think that Kamala fits that bill even better than Clark Kent!

Despite the success and popularity of MS. MARVEL, however, it, along with all of Marvel’s other books starring new diverse characters, has recently become subject to massive criticism from far right-wing fans. Their criticism led to the formation of an online movement called Comicsgate sometime between October 2016 to July 2017. According to an article by Buzzfeed, the proponents of Comicsgate “[use] racist, sexist, and sometimes threatening language to intimidate [’SJWs’ or ‘social justice warriors,’ which refers to] people [who advocate] for diversity in the [comics] industry.” Prominent Comicsgate members like Richard C. Meyer, creator of the ironically named YouTube channel “Diversity and Comics,” have made repeated attacks against diverse characters like Ms. Marvel in the form of unscripted videos with clickbait titles like “MS. MARVEL Is SJW Propaganda On Almost Every Page” and “MS. MARVEL Is Another SJW ‘Hero’ Who Is Obsessed With Being Oppressed.”

Richard C. Meyer's "Reviews..."

Meyer has frequently made inaccurate and offensive statements about the content and creators of MS. MARVEL, like saying that the book is racist towards white people, that it promotes left-wing propaganda, and he has repeatedly called Wilson a “self-hating white woman” and a “fake cosplay-Muslim who converted to Islam solely for the oppression.” The reason I bring all of this up is that Meyer's racist rhetoric, the growth of Comicsgate, and the derision of diverse characters and creators is eerily reflective of the current state of American politics. Alt-right hate speech has unfortunately become more mainstream in recent years, and US government policies have been increasingly hostile towards immigrants and minority groups during the current presidential administration. And since both G. Willow Wilson and Sana Amanat are Muslim and are therefore especially affected by these rising negative trends, it makes sense that one of latest volumes of their MS. MARVEL series would be utilized to critique these issues. And thus, MS. MARVEL (VOL. 8): MECCA serves as an effective story with multiple layers of allegory and symbolism, while also being a well-written and character driven narrative in its own right that ties up loose plot threads from the previous volumes, making it arguably the best story arc of the series to date!

(As a brief aside, while the MS. MARVEL (VOL. 8): MECCA TPB contains both the “Mecca” and “Northeast Corridor” arcs of the series, I’ll only be focusing on the “Mecca" arc for this review. While the NORTHEAST CORRIDOR arc was a fairly enjoyable storyline in its own right, it’s MECCA that steals the spotlight here!).

The MECCA arc opens on the outskirts of Jersey City where Kamala and her family are preparing to celebrate the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha. After a humorous sequence in which Kamala fails to convince her father not to sacrifice a goat for the holiday feast and her sister-in-law Tyesha is revealed to be eight-months pregnant, the Khan family returns home only to discover that their neighborhood has been blocked-off with series of signs stating “Bring Back the Real Jersey City!”

While the rest of her family and neighbors celebrate their feast for Eid, Kamala decides to investigate the situation when she is randomly stumbled upon by agents of the newly formed organization K.I.N.D. (the Keepers of Integration, Normalization, and Deference), an agency conceived by the newly and illegally empowered mayor of Jersey City Chuck Worthy. In actuality however, Kamala knows that Worthy is secretly a member of the Neo-Nazi terrorist organization HYDRA, who had attempted in the previous volumes of the series to seize control of the city through neighborhood gentrification and gerrymandering the mayoral elections. Despite having been defeated by Ms. Marvel on both occasions, Worthy and K.I.N.D. managed to usurp Jersey City’s rightful Mayor, Stella Marchesi, and have now issued an executive order forcing all residents with superpowers to register their status or be forcibly deported from the city limits. Recognizing these policies as familiar, Ms. Marvel soon discovers that Mayor Worthy is in league with the main antagonist from the CIVIL WAR II tie-in arc, “Basic” Becky St. Jude (a.k.a Lockdown), alongside a mysterious new villain named Discord.

Although Discord’s face is hidden by a mask, Ms. Marvel believes that he is someone she has previously met, as he knows all her weaknesses and seems to hold a personal grudge against her. As Ms. Marvel struggles to fight against Lockdown and Discord, the agents of K.I.N.D. suddenly arrest Kamala’s older brother Aamir, as he was accidentally granted temporary superpowers during the LAST DAYS arc of the series. With her brother in danger and Discord relentlessly pursuing her, will Kamala manage to defeat K.I.N.D. and bring down the fascist regime that has seized control of her city? And even if she does succeed, will she be able to come to terms with the fact that there are some evils dwelling within the hearts of people which cannot be fought?

Out of all the volumes that I have read of MS. MARVEL, the MECCA arc easily stands as my personal favorite storyline from the series thus far! Not only is it very well-written with solid character development and resolutions for previous story arcs, but it’s also highly topical and relevant, providing complex allegories and metaphors for various issues that we as a society are currently dealing with today. In my opinion, the best type of symbolism is that which can be interpreted on multiple levels in various ways rather than just one. MS. MARVEL (VOL. 8): MECCA excels in this regard, as the HYDRA takeover plotline can be interpreted as either an allegory for the controversial policies of the current presidential administration, or for the backlash against Marvel’s lineup of new diverse characters from Comicsgate supporters. For instance, Mayor Worthy’s executive order requiring mutants, inhumans, or any person with superpowers to disclose their status or face deportation is primarily reflective of Donald Trump’s immigration reforms and travel bans. These parallels are clearly made evident with Discord’s statements of “Jersey City is done with super heroes… we are getting back to normal,” and “[we’re] making life in New Jersey so inconvenient for super-powered folks that they’ll self-deport back to New York.”

Discord threatens to deport Jersey City's superhuman population. From Ms. Marvel Vol. 4 #20 (Jul 2017).
Art by Marco Failla. Copyright © Marvel Entertainment.

But while Wilson’s primary intention was likely to draw parallels to the Trump administration, an individual could simultaneously interpret the HYDRA takeover as metaphors for Comicsgate and the rise of alt-right hate speech. The scene in which this is most clearly evident is where Ms. Marvel asks the former mayor Marchesi for advice on how to stop Mayor Worthy and K.I.N.D., Marchesi states that “Chuck Worthy has tapped into the fear that lies at the heart of all other fears… greed. The desire for more fueled by the fear of losing what you already have.”

Stella Marchesi discusses "the fear that lies at the heart of all other fears." From Ms. Marvel Vol. 4 #20 (Jul 2017).
Art by Marco Failla. Copyright © Marvel Entertainment.

While Marchesi’s dialogue is highly reminiscent of the tactics that Trump uses to appeal to the far-right, it can also be used to refer to the dissatisfaction and anger demonstrated by Comicsgate. Although Marvel in recent years has sought to appeal to a greater audience than just adolescent white males, there was a small vocal minority of that original audience who were not in favor of making superheroes more multicultural and ethnically diverse. Consequently, when Marvel began introducing new characters like the African American-Latino Miles Morales and the Muslim American Kamala Khan, or replaced older white heroes with new characters like a female Thor or a Korean American Hulk, this vocal minority feared that they were being robbed of the voice they once possessed. And just like the Mayor Worthy convinced a minority of Jersey City residents in MS. MARVEL that Kamala was “trying to force super hero garbage” on them, prominent Comicsgate members like Meyer have managed to convince this vocal minority of fans that Marvel is trying to push an “SJW agenda” onto the readers, tapping into the fan’s greed just like Marchesi describes to Kamala. Wilson is to be complimented for her ability to weave together an allegorical narrative that is topical and relevant on so many levels.

While the metaphors and parallels Wilson provides are highly informative, they never become overly preachy or distracting from the overall narrative of the MECCA arc as she utilizes them to fuel a character-driven narrative centered primarily around Kamala, Aamir, and Discord. Kamala’s arc is given the most attention, as MECCA serves as a major turning point for Kamala's character development throughout the series. She comes to the important realization that despite all of her efforts and good intentions, there are some evils that are impossible to fight, evils that dwell deep within the hearts of average people. This revelation is made light to Kamala during her first encounter with Discord, as the masked man quickly subdues her and forces her to remember what she witnessed when she thwarted Chuck Worthy’s previous HYDRA real-estate plot and rigged mayoral campaign. While in the moment she was solely focused on stopping the bad guy, it is only in hindsight that she realizes each time there were crowds of people supporting Worthy, failing to consider that there were people who openly supported Worthy's toxic ideas and rhetoric and that not “everybody agrees with [Ms. Marvel’s] agenda” as Lockdown earlier described.

Wilson further fleshes out Kamala's development in this volume by tying it into events from previous books of the series. During the ARMY OF ONE arc Kamala created clones of herself in an effort to balance her overwhelmingly busy schedule, which ended up rapidly multiplying into an army that ran amok in Jersey City and caused a lot of property damage (which was made no better by the inclusion of a cloned t-rex designed specifically to eat the clones). Additionally, during the CIVIL WAR II arc Ms. Marvel briefly supported Captain Marvel's predictive justice program, which relied on an Inhuman psychic to detect future crimes and prevent them before they occurred. However, Ms. Marvel soon turned against Captain Marvel when she learned that the program basically amounted to violation of due process, kidnapping, and profiling, as not only was her classmate Josh Richardson illegally arrested, but her childhood best friend Bruno nearly got himself killed and crippled for life while trying to break him out.

These past mistakes come back to haunt Ms. Marvel during the MECCA arc despite her previous attempts to rectify them. Not only are the clone army and dinosaurs are used by Discord and Mayor Worthy as political propaganda against Ms. Marvel and Jersey City's superhuman population, but Discord holds a personal grudge against Ms. Marvel because of her involvement in the predictive justice system. This, combined with Ms. Marvel's aforementioned efforts to stop Worthy's real-estate and election schemes, results in her being scapegoated as a public menace and the silent majority being unwilling to acknowledge her previous heroic deeds or the Mayor's obvious associations with HYDRA. Consequently, Kamala begins questioning herself and her superhero activities just like the public. The major turning point, however, is the discovery of Discord's true identity. Without going into spoilers, when his mask is finally removed it's revealed that Discord is indeed someone that Kamala is familiar with despite never having witnessed him supporting fascist ideologies beforehand. This revelation heavily affects Kamala on an emotional level as it forces her to come to terms with the fact that the things people might perceive as familiar or safe are not always what they seem to be. She learns how specific circumstances can reveal that individuals who once appeared to be rational and reasonable on the surface may actually believe in ideologies that are controversial or dangerous. Therefore, Kamala is forced to ponder whether or not these toxic ideologies have always existed within the hearts of people like Discord and if they're truly representative of who they are, which in turn causes her to doubt both her own place in the world and her mission as a superhero.

While Kamala is inflicted with feelings of self-doubt in light of these revelations, she understands that she still has a moral obligation as Ms. Marvel to protect the people of her city. She realizes that the silent majority's animosity towards her and super-powered peoples does not give them the right to place their own grievances above the law, and that there are still people who believe and are depending on her. Thus Ms. Marvel continues to stay true to her ideals and keeps fighting against the corrupt HYDRA regime which threatens to ruin the livelihood of her older brother and the superhuman population. The scene in which this development is most effectively illustrated is where Ms. Marvel unmasks Discord. While she does convey feelings of sadness and remorse towards him, she simultaneously understands that she cannot excuse his actions as he's still an individual who wrongfully succumbed to the temptations of far-right extremism and fascism. Essentially, even though Kamala wants to believe that Discord is an inherently better person underneath, she recognizes that he was the one who ultimately made the choice to join HYDRA and help oppress superhuman minorities. Therefore, Ms. Marvel acknowledges that Discord is still her enemy regardless of his reasons or whatever sympathy she might feel.

The decision to not condone Discord reflects an astonishing level of maturity for Kamala and is further indicative of her overall character arc in MECCA. In large measure, Kamala’s character arc is the reason why the story is titled “Mecca” in the first place. Although she does not go on a physical pilgrimage to the actual Holy Islamic city, she does experience a spiritual pilgrimage as the HYDRA takeover of Jersey City forces her to realize that not everything is what it seems, that some evils cannot be fought, and that although she’ll endure hardship and failure in her mission she must stay true to herself and others even if there are some people who will never agree with her actions or who she is. It's these revelations that further develop Kamala into "the most human superhero of them all" in my opinion, as it's not just her kindness and willingness to do good that makes her a hero, but also her ability to continue to do good even when confronted with external and internal doubt. And since the entire story takes place over the two-day period of Eid al-Adha, the holiday in which millions of Muslims embark on the pilgrimage to Mecca, Kamala’s psychological journey of self-discovery resonates with the reader on a much deeper level.

The other two characters that Wilson provides great care and attention to are Aamir and Discord. Aamir has been an interesting character throughout the series as while he is naive and overly pious to the point that he refuses to have a bank account or job (a running gag throughout the series), and possesses conservative religious views while dressing in traditional Islamic clothing, he has been portrayed as a kindhearted individual who loved his family and little sister, and appeared to know more than he let on. Wilson ingeniously used his character to shatter stereotypes as while the character self-identifies himself as “traditional and conservative” he was not ashamed of who he was, openly despises violence, and he was willing to put the needs of his family before himself and do whatever he could to protect them. This was best demonstrated when Aamir was kidnapped by Kamala's evil ex-crush Kamran during the LAST DAYS arc, and Aamir stood up to Kamran, telling the latter to stay away from Kamala.

These character traits demonstrated by Aamir come full circle in the MECCA arc. Since Aamir was forcibly granted temporary superpowers back when he kidnapped, he is now targeted by K.I.N.D. for being an unregistered superhuman. This label placed on him leads to a brilliant scene where Aamir is apprehended by K.I.N.D. while delivering food to his neighbors, and Aamir immediately assumes that he was arrested due to his traditional Islamic appearance and attire. Wilson not only draws further real-life parallels as K.I.N.D. threatens to have Aamir's U.S. citizenship revoked since their policies classify undisclosed super powers as a form of immigration fraud, but she also uses this scene to have Aamir give an eloquent speech about the causes of domestic terrorism. Aamir states that the individuals most likely to succumb to extremism are those who don’t understand their faith, feel alienated and ostracized by society and/or their peers, or have pre-existing vices plaguing their lives like domestic abuse or drugs. And according to Aamir, it’s those factors which make those individuals “vulnerable to whatever vulture is circling overhead, selling death and despair as a way through the gates of paradise.”

Aamir’s speech is brilliantly executed. It’s not only disturbingly accurate to the causes of real-life extremism, but Wilson also integrates it into the context of the story. When Aamir states that people “get radicalized when they think the only way they can have a starring role in their lives is by playing the villain,” the panels zoom-in and focus on Discord’s masked face as he’s watching the interrogation.

This focus infers to the reader that although Aamir is specifically referring to domestic Islamic terrorists in his speech, his words can also apply to Discord, who is a super villain taking his anger out on society by illegally arresting and deporting super-powered people. Discord is eventually revealed to be a person who felt alienated and ostracized and that a vulture in the form of his accomplice Lockdown took advantage of his negative emotions. Acting like the “junior fascist” Bruno previously described her as in CIVIL WAR II, Becky was able to radicalize Discord into becoming a super villain since he felt that he lacked a purpose in life. And as Aamir stated in his speech, “the most dangerous thing of all [is] when you don’t have a story to tell about who you are and what your purpose is.” In that sense, Discord may very well be the most multilayered and realistic antagonist for Ms. Marvel that Wilson has crafted to date as his character truly demonstrates how ideas of extremism and fascism can easily corrupt individuals who lack purpose. In essence, the insight that Wilson provides for both Aamir and Discord not only contributes to the growth of their respective characters, but also furthers the topical metaphors and allegories that MECCA provides for its readers.

At the end of the day, MS. MARVEL (VOL. 8): MECCA stands as not only my personal favorite story arc of the MS. MARVEL series so far but also as one of the best comics that I’ve read in recent memory. The story serves as an effective allegory for the issues surrounding the current presidential administration and Comicsgate while simultaneously delivering complex arcs for characters like Kamala, Aamir, and Discord as well as exploring themes of self-doubt and realization, pilgrimage, and the dangers of extremism and fascism. Although the current state of both American politics and comic book fandom is quite disheartening, it is important that we have characters like Ms. Marvel in our lives, who serve as a reminder of basic human kindness and decency. And like Kamala’s pilgrimage, we should continue to do good for our society even if that society is currently against what one believes in or stands for.

“Life is a pilgrimage. The wise man does not rest by the roadside inns. He marches direct to the illimitable domain of eternal bliss, his ultimate destination.”

-Swami Sivananda

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Comic Review: Spider-Man: One More Day (Re-Review)

Writers: J. Michael Strazynski & Joe Quesada

Artist: Joe Quesada

ONE MORE DAY is the definition of a story that gets worse and worse the more you think about it…

Rating: ⭐

Ever since I started reviewing comics, there has been one single book that I have shown more hatred and contempt for than any other... SPIDER-MAN: ONE MORE DAY…

For those who are unaware, SPIDER-MAN: ONE MORE DAY is widely regarded as one of the worst Spider-Man stories ever published, with the controversy surrounding it rivaling even that of THE CLONE SAGA (though having read the entirety of the saga myself for my CLONE MADNESS series, that story was CITIZEN KANE compared to this abomination). The story serves as the conclusion to J. Michael Straczynski’s (or JMS's) run on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, where following the events of CIVIL WAR, Peter Parker has publicly revealed his secret identity to the entire world and is now a wanted fugitive on the run. In response, the Kingpin hired an assassin to eliminate Peter, but Aunt May was hit instead. The plot focuses on Peter desperately searching for a way to save May from dying, as he seeks help from various members of the superhero community, including Iron Man and Doctor Strange, who state that Aunt May is beyond saving. When all hope appears to be lost, Peter is suddenly approached by the Mephisto (who’s basically the Marvel Universe’s equivalent to the Devil), who claims to be the only can prevent May's death. Instead of offering to save May’s life in exchange for Peter’s soul, Mephisto instead desires to erase Peter and MJ’s marriage from existence. After spending one more day together, Peter and MJ agree to Mephisto’s terms, saving May’s life, and altering the time line (and basically the twenty years’ worth of Spider-Man comics) to where Peter and MJ never got married.

Mephisto wants Spider-Man's marriage. From Sensational Spider-Man #41 (Nov 2007).
Art by Joe Quesada. Copyright © Marvel Entertainment.

This was a story that was immediately criticized by both fans and critics alike upon its initial release, and I myself have I’ve already written two reviews over this monstrosity. Despite that fact, I have been personally unsatisfied with both of my previous reviews, as I feel neither provide a coherent or satisfying analysis of the book’s problems. My very first review OMD (which was also the very first comic review I ever wrote) is one that I deeply regret making to this day, as I had not actually read the story back then, but just a plot summary of it on Wikipedia. As a critic, this was very unprofessional and inexcusable, as my arguments lacked credibility since I had no genuine evidence to back them up. A couple of years later, I rewrote my review of OMD after having read the story by then, and could provide legitimate criticisms. While my second review was not without merit, as it did address my biggest problems with the book, it also suffered from severe problems as I let my anger get the better of me while I was writing it. Therefore, the review came across as less of a mature and critical analysis, and more as a rant and tirade towards OMD and Joe Quesada, the former Editor-in-Chief of Marvel who spearheaded the project. However, since writing both reviews, I have gained much more experience as a critic, and feel that it is necessary for me correct my past mistakes. As such, I feel it is necessary for me to critique OMD one last time, and in a less biased and calmer manner.

Some people might think it's unnecessary for me to review this story for a third time, as both of my previous reviews clearly stated my main problems with the book: that I found the decision to erase Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage from continuity to be incredibly insulting to me as a Spider-Man fan as it regressed Peter’s character development, and was an editorial mandate enforced by Joe Quesada and Marvel Editorial, who deliberately ignored the wishes of the fans for their own selfish purposes. While it is true that those were my initial and only problems with OMD (and are still the biggest ones in my opinion), I felt obligated to reread the book when I recently read the entirety of JMS’s run on Spider-Man. After having read the book for a second time (as well as having watched Linkara’s review of it that he did for his 200th episode), I discovered that OMD has far more problems than I initially realized. On top of editorial greed, the retcon of Spider-Man’s marriage, and insulting of the intelligence of both Spider-Man fans and readers of comics and escapist fiction, OMD is also plagued by awful narrative structure, plot contrivances, and out-of-character behavior. Aside from redeeming my past mistakes, this is another major reason as to why I’m reviewing OMD again, as it’s the definition of a story that continuously gets worse the more you think about it. Basically, you fail to to notice most the book’s narrative flaws because you are distracted by the other problems that are more offensive on a personal level. As such, I’ll feel that should address all of OMD’s narrative failings before I discuss issues that personally offend me. I should also mention that none of my criticisms will be directed towards the book’s writer, JMS, as he has publicly stated that he did not want to write the comic in the first place, but that he was forced to by Marvel Editorial. In addition, JMS has also stated that he loved writing Peter and MJ as a married couple during his run on the book, and even threatened to take his name off the final issue of OMD in protest. As such, I hold no ill-will towards JMS and don’t blame him at all for his involvement in the book’s creation (plus, I really loved the rest his work on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN…), and will be associating the majority of OMD’s problems with Joe Quesada and Marvel Editorial, as they conceived the premise and have been incredibly biased towards Peter and MJ’s marriage since its inception back in the 1980s. With all that out of the way, it’s finally time to go into all the reasons why ONE MORE DAY is such a monumental failure of galactic proportions!

One of the less apparent, yet serious problems with ONE MORE DAY is that the plot is poorly structured and loaded with unnecessary filler. As I previously stated, the premise of the comic is that Peter and Mary Jane sacrifice their marriage to save Aunt May’s life by making a deal with the Devil. Because of this, one would think that the majority of the plot was focused on Peter and MJ, exploring the depth of their relationship and why they’re prepared to give it up to save Aunt May. Unfortunately, that is not the case as the deal with Mephisto ultimately doesn’t come in until more than halfway through the story. OMD is a four-issue story arc, and three of those four issues contribute nothing to the overall plot. This is particularly evident with the first two issues of the story, as they focus on Peter begging other superheroes to help save Aunt May, and they tell Peter that there’s nothing they can do before Peter leaves to find help from someone else. This is a major problem as both issues end exactly where they began, with May dying and Peter continuing to beg other superheroes for help. As such, neither chapters do anything advance the overall plot of the book, and provide nothing new to contribute, therefore coming across as unnecessary padding. Issue three commits similar sins by having most it dedicated to Peter coming across alternate versions of himself who are only there to point out the various ways in which Peter’s life could have gone in a different direction, and it’s only at the very end of this issue that Mephisto finally shows up and makes his offer. Essentially nearly three-fourths of OMD’s plot is completely wasted on Peter begging for help, as well as him meeting parallel versions of himself for no adequate purpose. Because of this, deal with Mephisto lacks sufficient build-up and comes completely out of left-field, as Quesada fails to provide insight into why Peter and MJ are willing to sacrifice their love and happiness for each other to save Aunt May, whose already an old woman likely to die of natural causes in the near future. Peter and MJ’s dilemma therefore lacks tension, as the reader is not given any emotional connection or reasoning as to why Peter is unwilling to let go of Aunt May, other than him constantly whining about how May’s death would be his fault due to publically unmasking. In my opinion, if OMD wanted to be an effective story about a couple giving up their love to save someone else, it should have focused its time on analyzing the importance of Peter’s relationship to Mary Jane, compare it with his relationship to Aunt May, explain what they each person means to him on an emotional level, and why he’s willing to let go of one in exchange for the other. This would not only have provided genuine emotional depth to the story, but also would've given better build-up and development to the erasing of the marriage. It wouldn’t necessarily have saved OMD as I still hate the premise, but would have made it feel less forced in my eyes. However, because the reader’s time is wasted by with unnecessary filler the central conflict of OMD lacks emotional weight and feels rushed and shoe-horned in at the last minute, making an already insulting premise even worse.

In relation to the poor narrative structure, OMD also relies heavily on illogical contrivances and inconsistencies in order to advance the plot. Basically, OMD falls into the category of an “idiot plot,” which to quote the late Roger Ebert, is “any plot containing problems that would be solved instantly if all the characters were not idiots.” All throughout OMD, each of the characters make stupid decisions for the plot to advance, while completely ignoring obvious and more logical solutions in front of them. This is most evident in the fact that apparently, no one in the Marvel Universe is capable saving Aunt May from a bullet wound in the chest. All throughout the story, Spider-Man visits various characters for assistance, such as Iron Man and Doctor Strange, and each of them state that they cannot help. This makes absolutely no sense as not only is the Marvel Universe home to gods, aliens, monsters, and technology far more advanced than that of the real-world, but it’s also inhabited by superheroes who have fixed much worse problems than a simple bullet wound. For instance, Doctor Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme, one of the most highly skilled magic users in the world, as well as a well-renowned surgeon. He should be perfectly capable of healing a simple bullet wound, but instead the writers have Strange idiotically reason that he can’t do it because of the damaged nerve endings in his hands. As Linkara perfectly stated in his review, Strange could easily get around this problem by creating magic hands to operate on May, or have him consult and advise other doctors performing the procedure. But instead, Quesada decides to ignore a fairly simple solution to the problem and make the situation ludicrously hopeless for no logical reason, which is further illustrated by Strange later sending multiple astral projections of Peter across the world to ask for aid from other superheroes and villains, including Mr. Fantastic, Beast of the X-Men, Black Panther, and Doctor Doom, and they too are incapable of helping.

Spider-Man desperately seeks help. From Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 (Nov 2007).
Art by Joe Quesada. Copyright © Marvel Entertainment.

This is undoubtedly one of the laziest plot contrivances I’ve ever seen as it only serves to make the situation more hopeless than it needs to be. While I can understand someone like Beast being incapable of helping Spider-Man due to other crap going on in the X-Men books at the time, it makes no sense that the Black Panther and Doctor Doom can’t help. The Black Panther rules a country that has the most advanced medical technology on the planet, and Doom not only previously stated during JMS’s run that he owed Spider-Man a debt for saving his life from Latverian terrorists, but he could easily save May by allowing Peter to borrow his time machine to prevent the assassin’s bullet from hitting her, or he could transplant her brain into a Doombot or something.

Doctor Doom owes Spider-Man a debt. From Amazing Spider-Man #50 (Apr 2003).
Art by John Romita Jr.. Copyright © Marvel Entertainment.

In relation to the problems concerning Doctor Doom, Quesada also ignores other alternative solutions for saving Aunt May that are made possible due to previously established continuity. For instance, in the 1960s SILVER SURFER series, a young woman was nearly killed by aliens wielding highly advanced laser-guns (and I'd imagine that alien weaponry would cause far more damage than the high-powered sniper rifle that May was shot with) and the Surfer was able to heal her using the power of the near-infinite cosmos.

Based on that information, why didn't Spidey find a way to contact the Silver Surfer, especially considering that Peter is friends with the Fantastic Four, who are closely affiliated with the Surfer? Or why not have him go to the X-Men and have them contact the alien Shi'ar race, who once saved Professor Xavier from a near death experience by transplanting his brain into a cloned body?

The comic never bothers to mention these possibilities. Because of how many alternative options there are to saving May’s life, this makes the deal with the Devil incredibly ill-conceived, as it could have easily been avoided, and is only there because Quesada deliberately and lazily ignored those aforementioned solutions in order to move the plot in the direction he desired. This is one of the worst sins a writer can commit as it removes all intelligence and depth from characters, reducing them into idiotic puppets whose actions are dictated by whatever the plot wants them to do. Overall, OMD suffers heavily from “idiot plot syndrome” as it relies on lazy and moronic contrivances in order to advance the plot, while completely ignoring solutions made possible based on previously established continuity.

The final flaw that I noticed upon rereading OMD was how heavily out-of-character Peter Parker was in the story, especially in comparison to the rest of JMS's run. Throughout the comic, Peter continuously whines and complains about how the whole situation is his fault, and refuses to simply accept May’s death. While I can understand being upset over a family member dying (as that’s perfectly natural), I am unable to sympathize with Peter as not only does his whining get really irritating very quickly, but it also doesn’t make sense from a character perspective. Peter says that he can’t accept May dying as she took the bullet intended for him, but that he would be fine if she were simply dying of natural causes.

Spider-Man whines about it being "all his fault." From Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 (Nov 2007).
Art by Joe Quesada. Copyright © Marvel Entertainment.

Not only is that just stupid (dead is dead Peter…), but it’s very clear that Quesada was attempting to recreate the guilt that Peter felt for being indirectly responsible for Uncle Ben’s death, but it massively fails here. See earlier in JMS’s run, Aunt May had discovered Peter’s secret identity, and when Peter confessed how he felt responsible for Ben’s death, May revealed that she felt the same way, as she and Ben had an argument that led to Ben walking outside where he was shot by the burglar. Upon learning this Peter felt a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders, as not only did he and May share similar guilt, but May held no-ill will towards Peter afterwards.

Essentially, Peter should have been absolved of his guilt over Uncle Ben after this, and his moping over May’s bullet wound contradicts the aforementioned character development. This correlates with my next problem concerning Peter’s behavior in OMD, as his whining and selfishness completely contradicts the maturity that he expressed earlier during JMS’s run. Throughout JMS’s stories, Peter came across as a mature adult as he not only perfectly balanced his normal and superhero lives, but he also took a teaching job at his old and financially run-down high school in order help young adolescents that he saw his old self in, confided all the secrets of his superhero life to both MJ and May, and showed leniency towards confused individuals that were unwillingly drawn into crime. Conversely, Peter comes across like an immature man-child in OMD as he not only whines about how no one can understand his pain (which is a selfish mentality as he's not the only person on Earth to ever lose a loved one...), but he also neglects to listen to anyone who would bring up the very real possibility of May dying, completely ignoring them. However, the biggest out-of-character moment for Peter in OMD is his willingness to make a deal with the Devil (and before anyone tries to tell me that Mephisto technically isn’t the devil, he’s still a demonic entity who makes offers in exchange for people’s souls and resides in a Hell-like dimension; not to mention the fact that Mephisto’s name is a reference to Mephistopheles, the demon from a German legend to whom Faust sold his soul to). In all the years since Stan Lee and Steve Ditko first created Spider-Man in 1962, this has undoubtedly been the biggest slap in the face ever given to Peter’s character as it completely goes against what he stands for. Peter’s has always upheld the belief that “with great power comes great responsibility,” as it expresses the idea that those who have power should use it wisely, and abuse of said power is irresponsible. By having Peter make a deal with a Satan-like figure, he is essentially ignoring his moral principles and using power for his own selfish-gain, which betrays both the core-concept of the character and the beliefs that his aunt and uncle raised him to uphold. In my opinion, if the writers wanted to have Peter save May he should have done so in a manner that reflected the character's sense of responsibility. For instance, he could have offered to turn himself in to the authorities under the condition that May received medical treatment, or he could have asked Dr. Doom to repay the debt he owed him, thereby making sure that the former stayed true to his word while simultaneously teaching a supervillain a lesson in responsibility. And if he couldn't save May, Peter should have taken up responsibility by simply accepting May's death (which he had previously done when she supposedly died during THE CLONE SAGA). But instead, Joe Quesada decided to have Peter make a deal with the Devil, which is undoubtedly one of the most irresponsible actions imaginable. This comic literally gives the phrase, “character assassination” a whole new meaning…

Now that I’ve discussed ONE MORE DAY’s other problems, it’s finally time for me to elaborate on the elements about this comic that anger me on a personal level. Ever since the beginning, I’ve made it perfectly clear that my greatest problem with OMD was that it erased Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s marriage from existence. From a purely technical standpoint, OMD is basically a massive retcon, as it states that Peter and MJ never got married in previous issues, and will continue to remain unmarried in later issues. This offends me for a variety of reasons. To start off with, removing the marriage from Peter’s life removes one of the most important elements of the Spider-Man books: the character’s ability to relate to the reader. Joe Quesada has stated on numerous occasions that he disliked the marriage as it aged Peter’s character and made it difficult for teenagers to relate to him. I still find this reasoning to be complete bullcrap, as while yes, Peter was originally intended to appeal to a teenage audience (hence why he was still in high school when he first debuted), Quesada fails to understand that those teenage readers eventually grow up. Like Peter, they too get married, deal with financial concerns, have families, and lose loved ones. Essentially, having Spider-Man marry MJ allows him to grow up alongside the readers, therefore making him more relatable. By wiping the marriage from Peter’s history, Quesada is essentially removing the essence of what makes his character appealing. Another problem I have with the retcon from a personal standpoint is that I have been a huge fan of Peter and MJ as a married couple since I was a little kid. I’ve always found their relationship to be extremely compelling, as the two shared terrific chemistry, were both highly fleshed-out characters and had so many heart-warming moments together that just provided me a happy feeling whenever I read them. To see those beautiful moments taken away from me and then be told that they never happened is not only incredibly insulting, but also disappointing. This correlates with my next major problem, which is the fact that retconning the marriage essentially regresses Peter’s character development over the past twenty years. I went into great discussion over this in my previous review of OMD, so I’ll keep it brief here. Basically, I’ve always felt that the marriage further fleshed out Spider-Man as a character, as he felt more mature afterwards, having to deal with the complications of the adult world, and had a deeper and intimate relationship with MJ. The marriage also also widened the scope of his responsibilities, as he not only had obligations towards MJ as a husband, but also had to be more careful as Spider-Man. Since OMD is now saying that Peter never got married, his character has essentially been regressed to where he was before the marriage. As a fan of literature, undermining character development is inexcusable. The final major problem I have with Quesada retconning the marriage is that the idea of Peter and MJ would sell their marriage to the Devil doesn't make sense from a character perspective. Not only is May likely to soon die of natural causes, but Peter should not be putting his feelings for his aunt over those for his wife. As Linkara perfectly summarized in his review, “marriage raises the stakes in the relationship. It’s bigger than just that guy or girl [you’re] romantically affiliated with. You are saying that you want to spend the rest of your life with this person. They have become your family.” Therefore, Peter should not be willing to give up his love for MJ, as by marrying her, she has become his soul-mate, the person whom he should care about the most, which is further supported by AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1999) #50 from JMS’s run. In that issue, Peter confessed to MJ that he's able to do what he does as Spider-Man because of her, that it’s her that gives him strength, that his life would be difficult without her, and that he needs her and not the other way around.

Plus, May herself would've been furious with Peter is she ever found out that he sold his marriage to the Devil, as she has always placed greater emphasis on Peter's happiness over her own, and a previous issue had May's spirit tell Peter that her getting shot was not his fault, and that it was her time to pass on and he needed to let go of his guilt. This further cements my previous point about Peter's selfish behavior as he's essentially ignoring the dying wishes of the woman who raised him like a surrogate mother, thereby believing that his pain is more important than what she wants. Overall, if Peter and MJ's love for each other was supposed to be this powerful, the idea that they would sacrifice it for Peter’s aunt is not only completely implausible, but it contradicts the previous development to the couple's relationship.

However, despite all my complaints about the horrible narrative structure, plot contrivances, out-of-character behavior, and even the retconning of the marriage, I believe that the biggest sin committed by ONE MORE DAY at the end of the day is the amount of editorial greed and cynicism surrounding the project. As I previously stated, the decision to undo Peter and MJ’s marriage was not a decision of the writer JMS, but rather an editorial mandate that was enforced upon him. Joe Quesada was a strong vocal opponent towards the marriage ever since its inception in the 1980s, and wanted to get rid of it from the Spider-Man books, even though there were a lot of fans who enjoyed the marriage, and JMS had been further developing Peter and MJ’s relationship during his seven-year run on the book. Essentially ONE MORE DAY was created because of the selfish interests of a single editor-in-chief, who willingly ignored the wishes of both the fans the then-current writer of Spider-Man, and enforced his own idea of what the story should be despite it going against the past twenty-years of Spider-Man’s history. This heavily angers me, as not only does it reinforce the terrible idea that editors should dictate a story’s direction rather than the actual writers, but it also shows a clear sign of contempt towards the audience as well. The layers of insult towards Spider-Man’s fanbase are clearly apparent in OMD, as by retconning the marriage and saying it never happened, Quesada is basically telling the fans, “say, you guys like Spidey being happily married? WELL SCREW YOU, YOU CAN’T HAVE IT! NOW READ WHAT I WANT YOU TO READ INSTEAD!” This is unforgivable in my eyes, as I feel comic book writers and publishers should owe a bit more respect to their readers, as they’re the source of the company’s profit, which is more likely to be gained when the customers are satisfied. By refusing to listen to the wishes of the readers, Quesada is not only insulting the audience’s intelligence, but also the very people who buy and pay money for the books Marvel creates. In addition, layers of contempt also seem to extend to comic book readers as a whole, and not just Spider-Man fans. This is particularly evident in a scene from the third issue of OMD, where Peter encounters an alternate version of himself in the form of an overweight video game designer that states, "You know why guys like me get into games like that? Because there's something missing... because things didn't plan out like they were supposed to. So we go someplace else.”

Earth-7161 Peter's speech about "Video Gammers." From Sensational Spider-Man #41 (Nov 2007).
Art by Joe Quesada. Copyright © Marvel Entertainment.

If you didn’t already notice, this speech is clearly meant to be a metaphor for comic book readers, saying that they only enjoy escapist fiction because they’re losers who are unsatisfied with their lives. That is, without a doubt, one of the most insulting statements towards comic book fans I have ever read in my entire life. Not only is it hypocritical for a comic book of all things to be criticizing people for enjoying escapist fiction (which comics are clearly a part of), but the sheer audacity that someone at Marvel would shame their customers by telling them, “You buy our crap because you're a loser, so keep buying our crap, loser!” is purely disgusting and offensive to me as a person who has been collecting and reading comics since the third grade! Even disregarding the deal with the Devil and the retcon of the marriage, the highly insulting statements made by ONE MORE DAY alone are deserving of all the hate and scorn this book has received.

After having analyzed and discussed every single one of the comic's numerous problems, I feel safe in my maintaining judgement of SPIDER-MAN: ONE MORE DAY as my hated comic book of all-time. While I freely acknowledge that other comics like Frank Miller’s HOLY TERROR, the entirety of Chuck Austen’s run on UNCANNY X-MEN, and even AVENGERS #200 are worse from an objective standpoint, I still hate OMD more as this is the only comic I have ever read that has managed to offend me personally. On top of retconning the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane, ONE MORE DAY is not only plagued with terrible story structure and pacing, plot contrivances and continuity errors, out-of-character behavior concerning Peter, and editorial greed, but it also goes as far as to insult the intelligence of both Spider-Man fans and comic book readers in general. Never have I ever seen a comic with so much cynicism, contempt, and laziness surrounding it. It is the definition of a book that gets worse and worse the more you stop and think about it. Say what you will about THE CLONE SAGA, but it at least had genuine effort put into it, as the writers were trying to tell a good story that remained true to Peter Parker’s character and mythos despite the saga's narrative shortcomings. ONE MORE DAY on the other hand, shows not even the slightest attempt of effort, and serves as a colossal middle finger towards Spider-Man’s entire mythos and the people who read him. It is undeniably the worst Spider-Man comic ever created, and I can't possibly imagine someone coming up with a worse conceivable story for the wall crawler...

“Contempt for happiness is usually contempt for other people's happiness, and is an elegant disguise for hatred of the human race.”

-Bertrand Russell

Friday, June 3, 2016

Comic Review: Jessica Jones: Alias (Vol. 1-4)

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artists: Michael Gaydos, David Mack, Mark Bagley, Bill Sienkiewicz, Rodney Ramos, Art Thibert, Dean White, Al Vey & Rick Mays

Bendis’ work on ALIAS is an achievement in character psychology, adult-oriented fiction, and exploring serious issues...

Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

(WARNING: The following review contains both massive spoilers for the plot of ALIAS, and discussions about mature subject matter that some readers may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised!)

One of the most least understood and divisive genres that I’ve come across in any medium is “mature,” or adult-oriented fiction. This is primarily due to the fact that stories specifically created to appeal to an adult audience tend to fall into one of two categories. The first category is what I like to call “pseudo-mature” stories, as these are the ones that shove in as much violence and sexual content as possible for the sole purpose of shocking the audience, whereas the other category is the stories that utilize said dark and mature themes in order to serve a legitimate purpose, whether it be to explore the mindset of a character, provide commentary on society, or elaborate on controversial and serious issues. Unfortunately, “pseudo-mature” stories are the type of adult-oriented fiction that appear the most frequently, which has I feel has severely damaged the image of adult-oriented fiction in the eyes of the general public. What a lot of creators fail to understand is that filling stories with gratuitous amounts of sex and violence for no purpose only serves to make these “adult” stories more childish. Comics are no stranger to this to, as several writers have attempted to make their stories darker by increasing the amount of violent and sexual content in their stories. At best, this makes their books come across a juvenile and pandering such as the majority of bad 90s and Rob Liefeld comics. At worst however, not understanding dark subject matter or sensitive issues can end up becoming heavily offensive to readers, such as AVENGERS #200, which I covered in my last review. What’s truly sad about this is because of the prevalence of “pseudo-mature” stories, audiences are often biased towards adult-oriented fiction in general. If handled correctly, the utilization dark and serious issues in fictional stories has the capability to highlight sensitive subjects in a manner that is both respectful and dignified. Such is the case with the comic series ALIAS, which greatly excels in using its main character to discuss serious issues such as depression, PTSD, and even rape in a mature and tasteful manner.

For those who are unaware, ALIAS was a 28-issue comic series that served as the introduction of the character Jessica Jones, a former superhero who operated as a private eye in the Marvel Universe. The series was the first book to be published under Marvel’s MAX imprint, a line of comics that was designed to serve as their equivalent to R-rated movies. While controversial, the MAX imprint was important as it not only allowed the creation of comics that appealed to an adult audience, but also promoted a greater prevalence of creator-owned content. ALIAS was one such example, as Jessica Jones was an original character created by Brian Michael Bendis, who I feel the majority of the comic’s success can be attributed to. As I’ve mentioned before, Brian Michael Bendis is not only the long-time writer of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, but he’s also quite possibly my all-time favorite comic book author (followed closely by Jeph Loeb, Grant Morrison, and most recently J.M. DeMatteis). The primary reason I hold Bendis in such high regard is because I feel that he, more than any other writer I’ve encountered, has the ability to develop his characters in a manner that makes them as close to resembling real people as possible. This was especially evident in his work on ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, as Bendis perfectly understood how real teenagers acted and behaved, which he portrayed through Peter Parker and his classmates. Bendis' intricate knowledge and understanding of human behavior directly contributes to ALIAS mature discussion of sensitive issues in my eyes, as by modeling his character close to reality allows the him to portray the comics themes as close to reality as well. I’ll admit that before reading ALIAS I had very little knowledge of the character Jessica Jones, but once I heard that Bendis created her, and that his series was being adapted into the JESSICA JONES Netflix series, I decided to take a look into ALIAS. Not only is Jessica Jones one of the most well-grounded and psychologically complex female comic book characters I've ever come across, but the comic’s ability to explore dark and sensitive subject matter in a tasteful manner conveys the potential of adult-oriented fiction.

The first issue of the series opens in the offices of Alias Investigations, where Jessica Jones is dealing with a dissatisfied client who hired her to discover whether or not his wife was actually a mutant. Although the client angrily lashes out at Jessica and attempts to strangle her, she quickly throws him out of window of her office door. Later when she reports the situation to the police, it is discovered that Jessica was once a costumed superhero known as Jewel, but for unknown reasons had retired from crime fighting years ago. Now a private investigator, Jessica is trying to make a living for herself by discretely gathering information and spying for clients, often those connected to the superhero community. But investigative life has not made things easy for Jessica, as she is also suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. She attempts to drown her sorrows through various methods, including chain-smoking, alcoholism, as well as extreme sexual activities with other superheroes such as Luke Cage. Her personal struggles are also present in her everyday behavior, as she is shown to be rude, foul-mouthed, and introverted while interacting with friends, strangers, and even romantic partners. As the series progress, Jessica is forced to use her skills as both a private investigator and former superhero in order to solve various cases, including a government conspiracy theory against both Captain America and the White House, tracking down a missing Rick Jones and later a young girl suspected of being a mutant in a conservative and racist small town, as well as discovering a connection between the new Spider-Woman and a gang dealing and getting people hooked on the Mutant Growth Hormone drug. Throughout these cases, the reader gradually learns more about Jessica Jones history, including the origin of her powers, her reasons for retiring from crime fighting, as well as the source of her psychological turmoil when it resurfaces in the present day.

Before I address the highlights of ALIAS, I feel that I should provide my one major criticism of this comic. While the majority of the series avoids being gratuitous with its explicit content, the one area in which it’s unnecessarily exploited in is its strong language. Throughout the series, Jessica Jones is portrayed to be extremely foul-mouthed, often using words like “sh**” and “f***” in her regular vocabulary. Now to be fair, having strong language isn’t necessarily a problem in and of itself, as it does work to a degree when considering both Jessica’s personality and events of her past. My main issue with the language however is that it feels needlessly forced at times. For instance, the very first issue has the f-word as the first piece of dialogue in the series, and I think it would be difficult to find an issue ALIAS that does not say the f-word at least two or three times. Because of how much words like f*** are used in the series, it feels like sometimes Bendis is using the f-word just because he knows he can get away with it in a comic aimed specifically at adults. While the overuse of strong language can be somewhat forgiven as this was the very first comic published under Marvel’s MAX imprint, it does take some credibility away from what is otherwise a well-written and mature story. I’m not the only one who thinks this, as Bendis himself has openly stated that he probably used the f-word too much while writing ALIAS, which was why the comic’s sequel series THE PULSE was ultimately published outside the MAX line. Aside the occasional overuse of profanity, however ALIAS remains one of the most well-written adult-oriented stories I’ve ever come across.

The success is of ALIAS can be primarily attributed to the series’ main character Jessica Jones, whose psychological dilemmas and complex characterization directly correlate with the comic's realistic portrayal of dark and sensitive issues. Although Bendis does not reveal Jessica’s backstory until later on in the series, he provides enough information for readers to understand and care this character. We quickly learn that Jessica is a retired super heroine now working as a detective, and that she's very pessimistic woman who is rude towards others. Her attitude is made evident from the first scene in Issue #1, where Jessica’s is shown to be somewhat uncaring about her client's problems, having both a disinterested facial expression, and openly telling him not to “come in here and sh** on my desk.” While this rude behavior could have easily made Jessica unlikable, she still shown to be a good person with moral standards, as during many of her investigative cases, she is willing to forget about the job assigned to her if it means endangering or ruining the lives of others. This is conveyed through her refusing to leak out Captain America’s secret identity after accidentally catching him on tape, as well as denouncing a small town after learning that the missing child they hired her to find runaway because of the community's conservative and blind racism. Essentially, Jessica is portrayed as a character who while having unlikable qualities, readers can still connect and sympathize with, which is further enhanced when by her rude behavior being caused by traumatic events from her past. (SPOILER ALERT) As the series progresses, Bendis reveals that during Jessica Jones’ career as the super heroine Jewel, she encountered a villain known as Zebadiah Kilgrave (also known as the Purple Man), a man whose purple skin secrets airborne pheromones that cause individuals around him to do what ever he commands, simply by asking or telling them to do so. Jessica fell prey to Kilgrave’s mind control, as he transformed her into his superpower slave for a period of eight months. Unable to fight against Kilgrave’s influence, Jessica was forced to obey the Purple Man’s every command, whether it be to strip off her clothes in front of him, act as his lackey by fighting off law enforcement or other superheroes, or even watching him sexually assault other young girls while making her wish that he was doing it to her instead of them. Although Jessica was later saved by the Avengers and freed from Kilgrave’s mind control, the experience left her traumatized, causing her to retire from crime fighting, and suffer from depression and post traumatic stress disorder in the present day.

As I stated, ALIAS is a comic that heavily focuses on controversial issues such as rape, depression, and PTSD, all of which is presented through Jessica's past with Kilgrave and how it has impacted her in the present day. Before I go into further analysis, I should address that discussing sensitive issues like rape in a fictional story can be extremely risky, as writers can easily offend people actually affected by these issues if they are not careful. This was my main problem with AVENGERS #200, the subject of my previous review, as that comic had a villain rape Ms. Marvel for no other reason than to serve as a plot device, and the story ended with Ms. Marvel falling in love with her rapist and leaving to live with him in limbo. Not only was it sexist slap in the face towards women, but it actually becomes insulting to rape victims in general due to how poorly rape was portrayed in that story. But to be perfectly clear, it’s not the fact that AVENGERS #200 decided talk about rape that’s the problem, its that did it badly. In my opinion, sensitive issues such as these can be portrayed well in fictional stories if writers use them not for shock value or as plot devices, but rather to explore how they affect people both physically and psychologically.

ALIAS accomplishes this better than any other story I've encountered. Here, the subject of rape is metaphorical rather than literal, as while Jessica states directly in the story that Kilgrave never physically raped her, he still invaded and controlled her mind for over eight months. Bendis ingeniously utilizes Jessica’s past with Kilgrave in order to both convey how rape victims are affected by these events, as well as to progress Jessica’s own character development. When Kilgrave used his power to take control of Jessica’s mind, she was completely unable to resist and was forced do whatever he told her to do. This meant that whenever he told her to strip in front of him, or watch him rape other women in front of her, she was doing it against her own will and was being violated both physically and mentally. So while mind control itself is unrealistic, Bendis uses it as an effective metaphor for rape, which is further made clear through the emotions that Jessica express after the incident. Not only did Jessica feel personally violated, but she begins to lack self-esteem, as she continuously doubts herself, expresses despair over a loss of control, suffers from depression and PTSD, and sometimes even blames herself for what she did while under Kilgrave’s control. This is reflective of how rape affects people in the real world, as repeated studies have shown that the aforementioned behaviors expressed by Jessica throughout the story are frequently felt by victims of rape. By using the emotions felt by Jessica to convey of how rape impacts people both physically and psychologically, ALIAS serves as a definitive example of how to properly portray controversial issues in a fictional (take notes FAMILY GUY!).

Along with exploring the physical and psychological consequences felt by rape victims, Bendis also utilizes these themes to further flesh out Jessica as a character in her own right. The narrative of ALIAS places great emphasis on how Jessica was affected by her encounter with Kilgrave emotionally, as she feels that she has lost control of her life. Not only does she lack confidence in herself, but she suffers heavily from depression, is foul-mouthed, susceptible to anger, hesitant to discuss her past, experiences relapses from PTSD and panics at the mere-mention of Kilgrave's name, and attempts to drown her sorrows through drinking, smoking, and sexual promiscuity. Jessica's depression and attempts to cope with it are particularly evident in one of the comic's more infamous moments, where Jessica allows Luke Cage to engage in intense sexual activity with her, and she expresses through her inner monologues that she wants to feel something different than what she is currently experiencing, whether it be pain, humility, or anger. Essentially, this conveys that Jessica is a woman who has hit rock bottom in her life, and is willing to do anything to cope with her pain. Bends also utilizes Jessica's feelings of despair to progress her character development, as she is eventually forced to overcome the demons of her past when Kilgrave suddenly returns into her life. This is expertly portrayed when the Purple Man attempts to break through Jessica’s insecurities by comparing her life to that of a comic book character, describing her as a third-rate character who believes that the story is all about her, and that he's an invading force in her life by stating that it “may be [her] book, but this is [his] time.” Not only is this analogy a creepy breaking of the fourth wall, but it serves as an effective metaphor of the state of Jessica's life, and her feelings of doubt, ultimately placing her in a position where she is forced to choose between Kilgrave controlling the direction of her character, or to write her future for herself. Overall, Bendis effectively utilizes this meta-commentary in order to allow Jessica to overcome the traumatic events of her past and triumph over Kilgrave. For him to be able to create a character that not only serves as a fairly accurate depiction of how serious issues like rape affect people, but is also a fleshed-out and three-dimensional character in her own right is an accomplishment truly worthy of recognition (as well as the fact that he managed to make a character called the Purple Man scary… let me repeat that… he made THE PURPLE MAN SCARY!!!)

Not since the likes of Alan Moore’s WATCHMEN have I come across a comic aimed at mature readers that utilizes its dark subject matter to such an effective degree. While ALIAS is a well-written series with compelling detective stories, Brian Michael Bendis elevates the book through it’s psychologically complex heroine Jessica Jones, and utilizes the dark events of her past to discuss issues of rape, depression, and PTSD in a tasteful and mature manner. Aside from the masterpiece that is ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, ALIAS is undoubtedly Bendis’ best for Marvel, and I cannot recommend it any more than I already have! Whereas most adult-oriented stories nowadays are often “pseudo-mature,” relying on shock value and being pointlessly offensive, ALIAS manages to stand strong with its rich character psychology and respectful depiction of serious issues, which effectively carried over years later into the equally compelling Netflix series JESSICA JONES! Overall, ALIAS is a series that manages to be more adult than most stories marketed towards adults.

“Maturity is the ability to think, speak, and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity.”

-Samuel Ullman