Product Description

Meet Jessica Jones, one-time costumed heroine turned private investigator. After realizing that her powers were unremarkable compared to those of the icons in the Marvel Universe, Jones gave up being a super hero and eventually opened up a detective agency. While her intent to help others is intact, her personal behavior is anything but valiant: She is bitter, resentful and self-destructive. In lieu of professional help, Jessica battles her inferiority complex and depression with a chain-smoking habit and alcoholic tendencies. In spite of her self-imposed exile from the spandex crowd, Jessica's cases continually lead her back to her old circle of acquaintances, which only fuels her angst even more. Jessica is imperfect and human, and her textured personality is eloquently rendered by Bendis and Gaydos.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #337100 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

Painfully funny, smart
Alias follows the life of Jessica Jones, private investigator. Jessica Jones is a mutant, and is considered in some circles to be a super-hero, although that description doesn't fit her very well. This part of Alias doesn't clearly say what Jessica's powers are, in the beginning we learn that she has a mean left hook and later on she breaks a shotglass in her hand with no cuts after.
As the story progresses more of her history and her powers are revealed, and there are a lot of cameos from more famous Marvel heroes. The appearances of other heroes is pretty neat for readers who are familiar with the Marvel universe, but it doesn't prohibit people who haven't read from starting.
There's a little of everything in Alias, Jessica takes a normal case which leads her to a large governmental conspiracy which provides action and also shows Jessica at work as a detective. The major story arc aside, I found that the heart of Alias is Jessica's endearing personality, I think that people will see their own traits in her life. It's somewhat pricey compared to other graphic novels, but it's also pretty long by graphic novel standards, and I think that it's a smart buy.
Alias has the "MAX" rating which is comparable to a R rated movie. I didn't find it to be offensive, there's a lot of profanity though.
Not related to the television show "Alias".

My All-Time Favorite TPB Series
***not related to the Jennifer Garner TV show***

This book is for a VERY specific demographic: people who grew up reading Marvel comics who are now adults rediscovering the world of comics. This is the Marvel Universe from an adult point of view. You've still got Captain America, the Avengers, Daredevil, your old Marvel favorites here, but they're filtered through an adult's eyes. The first word of the book is "F---!"

The protagonist, private investigator Jessica Jones, is complex, not totally likeable, like a real person. She has super powers but chooses not to use them (more is revealed about her background in the later books).

I'm not a "Bendis can do no wrong" kind of guy. A lot of his stuff is fluff written to please young fans and sell books. Not this time. This is a character piece, a huge risk in the comic biz. This might explain it's short run.

The artwork is dark and moody, a refreshing change from the typically glammed out super-hero books. The art fits the character perfectly.

All four Alias books are totally engaging from start to finish. If you only buy one graphic novel, GET THIS!

There are rumors that this series will come back. I hope so!

Jessica Jones is currently in "The Pulse," a comic where she works for the Daily Bugle. It's an "ensemble cast" kind of book so she's not really in it that much. If you really want more of her story, Pulse is worth picking up. But get the other three Alias books first!

Private Dick Grittiness in a Super-Hero Setting
If you have ANY kind of knowledge of the Marvel Comics stable, you will enjoy this seedy view of the Marvel Universe as seen through the eyes of Jessica Jones, former super-hero, former member of the world-famous AVENGERS, now turned private investigator. She's a functioning alcoholic trying to eke out a living by performing skip-traces, spouse-spying, and missing person investigations. As she exists in the world of Spider-Man, The Hulk, and company, her investigations and associations lead her to cross paths with the occasional hero or villian when they're not tending to the usual spate of bank-robbing, world-conquering, or world-saving. She has a one-night-stand with Luke Cage, Power-Man, Hero-For-Hire and she becomes a dupe in an espionage-sting involving Captain America's secret identity. She's a new character but she's been retroactively inserted into Marvel history so most of the super-hero community is aware of her existence. I thought that she was actually a thinly-disguised version of Jessica Drew who has also become a private investigator since she lost her powers as the original SPIDER-W0MAN. But THIS Jessica seems to have retained a semblance of her powers which she occasionally uses in the course of her work.

Even if you're not into comics and super-heroes, this work stands up on its own with realistic street dialogue that rings true to the ear, thanks to the very-talented Brian Michael Bendis. It definitely raises the bar for the entire spandex-genre, proving that there can be more to a super-hero tale than the monthly slugfest...