Spoilers for Jessica Jones: Blind Spot #1 below

Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis are casting a new light (again) on Marvel’s sassiest detective in Jessica Jones: Blind Spot #1, the first of a single print issue run of the mini-series. Blind Spot was released digitally in 2018 along with a follow-up trade paperback, but this new chapter in Jessica’s life is so good, having it in multiple formats is a fantastic idea.

While Blind Spot is significant for a number of reasons, Thompson hits on one of the biggest in a letter at the end of the first issue: it’s the first time Jessica Jones’s original creative team, Bendis and Gaydos, have passed the torch to a new writer and artist in a solo book. Jessica Jones made her first appearance in Alias #1 almost two decades ago, and has been making expletive-filled waves in the Marvel Universe ever since. Jessica has certainly come a long way from her days begging for an audience at the front gates of the Avengers mansion, with her marriage to Luke Cage and the birth of their daughter, Dani Cage. Bendis and Gaydos have seen her through a number of trials and evolutions, but Thompson and De Iulis are ready to grab the character’s reins and take her back to… a new sort of origin.

Blind Spot successfully gives readers a new insight into Jessica Jones, without trodding on any of the character’s development in years past. In fact, before one of Jessica’s many haunting decisions reappears, she is more intently focused on her domestic life than any sort of imminent doom. Jessica seems to have grown, picking out the correctly-shaped cereal for her toddler, as opposed to whiskey for herself. While that isn’t where Jessica is going to stay, it’s a nice acknowledgment of Bendis and Gaydos’ work, setting the tone for Thompson and De Iulis as they undertake the mighty feat of forging their own path in Jessica’s story.

In a move that might seem counter-intuitive to creating her own narrative, Thompson sends Jessica right back into her more sordid past with the reemergence of a former client. In effect, allowing a chance to add to Jessica’s origins in an independent but complementary fashion (Thompson’s grip on the character as both a writer and a fan particularly shines through in a police interrogation). The visuals reinforce this goal by somehow managing to evoke the feel of Alias while retaining a style all De Iulis’ own. Ultimately, Blind Spot #1 feels like a strong case of déjà vu – mixed with delightful innovation – that plays to Thompson and De Iulis’s strengths.

The multiple releases of this storyline in different formats has certainly raised questions. Arguably, a transition this important (and so well-done) for a groundbreaking and beloved heroine seems to deserve several moments in the sun. But Marvel’s decision to now release the series in single print issues offers fans a bit of poetic resonance with the story itself. In the same way that Thompson and De Iulis carve their own path with Jessica without a new origin story, the print issues offer the opportunity for fans to experience the mini-series in a whole new way. And there’s no denying that print issues offer the chance for even more readers to find this fabulous story (and also opened the door for Valerio Giangiordano’s stunning cover being added to collections).

With this new format release, Marvel is giving fans of Jessica Jones the opportunity to introduce themselves to this new chapter for the superpowered detective in whatever format they prefer. The multiple releases also seem like a worthy acknowledgement of Thompson and De Iulis’ successful taking-up of the mantle. And as was the case when it was first released digitally, it’s a no-brainer for those itching for a fix of Jessica’s signature attitude.

  • JESSICA JONES: BLIND SPOT #1 Written by Kelly Thompson Art by Mattia De Iulis Cover Art by Valerio Giangiordano The critically acclaimed Marvel Digital Original series by Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis, released for the first time as a print miniseries! Jessica Jones was once the costumed super hero known as Jewel. She sucked at it. Now she’s a private investigator at her own firm, Alias Investigations. She sucks less at that. With the Purple Man gone, her relationship with her husband, Luke Cage, and their daughter, Danielle, is better than ever. But her past always comes knocking, and when a woman whose case she fumbled winds up dead on her office floor, Jessica goes from private investigator to prime suspect. Can she find the real killer and clear her name? In comic shops now!

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