Jessica Jones became a household name when her Marvel Netflix series was a critical hit. The character is a relative newcomer to the Marvel Universe, debuting in 2001, but she ended up as an important street-level hero and was quickly a member of the Avengers shortly after her introduction into the comics.
While the Netflix series followed her as a private investigator, she actually has a rich history in Marvel Comics, although it was always behind the scenes until her official debut. The hero has gone on to marry one of Marvel's strongest heroes and has been part of some of the biggest crossover storylines in the company since her debut, giving her a history that is much deeper than her short time in comics might indicate.
She Had A Crush On Peter Parker In High School
The first time that Jessica Jones appeared officially in Marvel Comics was her own series, Alias, by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos. However, her history was altered to show that she has always been in the Marvel Universe, just never shown in a comic book outside of one issue.
This was in Amazing Spider-Man #4 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. She appeared in Peter Parker's class as an unnamed girl with no dialogue, just watching Peter from the distance. This was revealed in Alias #22 where it showed she was also at the exhibition where Peter was bitten and received his powers.
Jessica Jones Was Once Known As Jewel
Jessica Jones was a teenager when she was riding on a trip with her parents and ended up in the accident that gave her superpowers. It was mostly the same thing that happened in the Netflix series, but in the comics, her entire superhero career took place before she started her private investigator career.
Jessica went by the codename Jewel and her adventures as this superhero played out in Alias in flashback scenes of her career. She was a carefree superhero who seemed to love her life as a hero until the story where Jessica Jones met The Purple Man and he ruined her life.
Jean Grey Helped Her Overcome Killgrave
When Jessica Jones met up with The Purple Man, she had no way to stop what he was doing to her. While she fought him valiantly in the Netflix series, that isn't what happened in the comics when they first met up. He easily took over her mind, abused her, humiliated her, and eventually severely traumatized Jessica's mind.
In the end, she went on a destructive tear and attacked the Avengers before she ended up in a coma. S.H.I.E.L.D. called in Jean Grey, who went into Jessica's mind and helped bring her out. Jean also put a mental block in her mind to make her immune to any influence Killgrave attempted in the future.
She Retired As A Superhero Before Her Comics Debut
Jessica Jones ended up in a coma after she broke free from Killgrave and battled the Avengers. The Avengers and Defenders had just teamed up and stopped a world threat and she flew in and knocked out Scarlet Witch. One punch from Vision and she had severe facial damage and went into a coma.
Lucky for her, Carol Danvers came to the rescue and saved Jessica Jones, and Nick Fury helped reconstruct her face and brought her back at S.H.I.E.L.D. However, when Fury and Carol offered her a position with the organization, she decided she wasn't worthy of being a superhero anymore and retired. It was after this that she made her actual Marvel Comics debut as a private investigator helping people.
She Dated Ant-Man
Jessica Jones is best known in comics for her relationship with Luke Cage. However, that wasn't her first relationship in comics. While she was rehabilitating at S.H.I.E.L.D., she began to date Clay Quartermain, an agent previously best known for his work with the Hulk Busters. However, in her Alias comics, it was Scott Lang that she dated.
Jessica Jones dated the Avenger for a time, the two developed a good relationship. However, Jessica had someone that she liked more and when she ended up pregnant and told Scott he wasn't the father, he left her and ended their relationship.
She Has A Daughter With Luke Cage
The pregnancy that broke up Scott Lang and Jessica Jones was Luke Cage's daughter. This was an important moment in both Jessica's life and the relationship between her and Luke Cage. The two had been on and off for years, and when she told him that she was pregnant with his child, he was happy but left the decision up to her.
When she itted she wanted to have the child, the two moved forward as a couple and remained one of Marvel's strongest partnerships. They named their daughter Danielle Cage, named after Luke's best friend Danny Rand, Iron Fist.
Jessica Jones ed The New Avengers
When Avengers Disassembled decimated Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers broke up and went their separate ways. However, there was still a need for an Avengers team and Captain America brought together a group of street-level heroes to forces as the New Avengers.
When they formed, Jessica was pregnant, but she was always there by Luke Cage's side. When she had Danielle, she ended up ing Luke with the team and was a superhero once again, and with the same team that she attacked before she retired in the first place.
She Worked For J. Jonah Jameson At Daily Bugle
Peter Parker isn't the only person that Jessica Jones has a history with from Spider-Man comic books. She also worked at the Daily Bugle for J. Jonah Jameson. Unlike Peter Parker, who was a photographer, Jones worked as a research consultant for Jameson, helping Ben Ulrich with a column called The Pulse, offering a positive spin on superheroes.
She worked at the paper for a long time, and after having her baby, Jameson went back on his agreement to ease up on superheroes. When Jameson used the newspaper to smear the name of the New Avengers, Jessica quit her job.
Jessica Jones Helped The Young Avengers Form
Jessica Jones has done a lot since she made her debut in Marvel Comics. However, she has also paid it forward. In much the same way that Captain Marvel helped save Jessica and set her on the path to recovery, Jones saw some teenage heroes in need of direction and was instrumental in helping the Young Avengers form.
At the time, Jones was still working for J. Jonah Jameson and was asked to investigate teen heroes posing as the Avengers. While Captain America and Iron Man wanted to shut them down, Jessica reminded them that she was once a teen hero who needed guidance and helped convince the veteran heroes to help the kids and not push them away.
She Married Luke Cage
After Jessica and Luke had their baby and began working together in the New Avengers, she began to look back at her relationship with the superhero. She looked back in Pulse #14 at how she met Luke Cage and their history together and then finally told him that she would accept his marriage proposal.
The wedding then happened in New Avengers Annual #1 and Jessica decided to keep her last name of Jones. After this, Jessica became Jewel again for a short time before finally taking on the name of Power Woman to honor her husband.
