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Jessica Jones Reading Order (Marvel)

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Jessica Jones Reading Order

Popularized by her Netflix Show, Jessica Jones started in the pages of her own Marvel comic book. She’s a PI with an avenger past (and future). Created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos, Jessica Jones first appeared in Alias #1 (November 2001), a Max imprint—which means adult content and language.

Once upon a time, Jessica Jones was a costumed superhero—but not a very good one. Now a chain-smoking, self-destructive alcoholic, Jessica is the owner and sole employee of Alias Investigations, specializing in superhuman cases. But when she uncovers a hero’s true identity, Jessica becomes the target of a far-reaching conspiracy.

At first, Bendis introduced her as a former superhero who becomes a private investigator, but she was retconned in the regular Marvel universe, becoming a student who was in school with Peter Parker and an ex-avenger.

Jessica Jones Reading Order

Jessica Jones: Alias

Unlike a lot of characters, Jessica Jones started a career with her own ongoing series. Previously known as just ‘Alias’, this is the first solo series of Jessica Jones. Published between 2001 and 2004, this is what you need to read to familiarize yourself with the character. This series is part of our 50 Best Comics and Graphic Novels of All Time as well as our Selection of the 25 Best Marvel Comics to read.

The Omnibus edition:

 

The trade paperback collection:

If you want to know What if Jessica Jones Had Joined The Avengers?, the question has been answered with this one-shot.

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The Pulse & Young Avengers era

After Alias, Jessica Jones came back in The Pulse. This series follows her as she is working for the Daily Bugle’s new super-hero section, The Pulse! During that time, she slowly shifts from investigation work to proper superhero action. She also had a baby and started a family with Luke Cage. In the middle, she appeared in House of M, a bit in Daredevil, and mostly in Young Avengers stories.

And a more detailed reading order for that era:

  • The Pulse: Thin Air
    Collects The Pulse#1-5.
  • Daredevil (vol.2 ) #59 (optional)
    Collected in Daredevil Vol. 9: King Of Hell’s Kitchen. This issue is optional, but Jessica Jones confronts Matt Murdock about his secret identity or, to be precise, the fact that he didn’t tell her about it when he was paying her to protect him.
  • Young Avengers Vol. 1: Sidekicks (optional)
    Collect Young Avengers #1-6: Here, Jessica Jones is not the main characters, but she play a substantial part in the story. For more Young Avengers, go to the dedicated page.
  • The Pulse: Secret War
    Collect The Pulse #6-9. The Title is pretty explicit, this is a tie-in to the Secret War event. You need to read Secret War #1-3 before The Pulse #6.
  • Young Avengers Special (optional)
    Collected in Young Avengers by Allen Heinberg and Jim Cheung: The Complete Collection. After some minor cameos in issues #7 through 9, there a special issue in which Jessica Jones interviews the team.
  • The Pulse: Fear
    Collects The Pulse #11-14, New Avengers Annual #1.

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Jessica Jones & The New Avengers

Now, Jessica Jones is happily married with a baby. Luke Cage is in New Avengers (see the Bendis’ Avengers Reading Order for more information about the series). It’s not the easiest read if you only want to track important Jessica Jones appearances. It’s pretty spotty but I tried to list what’s at least pertinent. Overall, this part is quite optional except for the one TPB:

  • Jessica Jones: Avenger
    Collects New Avengers (2005) #38, #47; New Avengers Annual (2006) #3; New Avengers (2010) #8, #31; What If Jessica Jones Had Joined The Avengers?; Custom Netflix Jessica Jones Nycc Comic; Material From Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #601, Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration #1.

You can read all of New Avengers, and from the perspective of enjoying and following the Marvel Universe in the 2000s, I recommend that you do. For Jessica Jones, here’s what you need to know:

  • New Avengers #22
    Let’s start with a Civil War Tie-In about Jessica and Cage. Go to the Civil War Reading Order. 
  • New Avengers #28 to #35
    During that period, Jessica Jones pops up here and there. She got some cameos and even a bit more in issue #34. It was collected in New Avengers vol. 6: Revolution and New Avengers vol. 7: The Trust.
  • New Avengers #36 + Annual #2
    That’s the issues you need to read. Jessica Jones is forced to register in order to protect her baby.

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Jessica Jones, mother, and superhero

With the Siege event (full reading order here), things change a bit. Jessica Jones ends up with a more interesting thing, doing more superhero stuff. We are in 2010 and a new volume of New Avengers began (see Avengers Reading Order). It was called “Heroic Age” and the new team consisted of Luke Cage, Victoria Hand, Iron Fist, Mockingbird, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, The Thing, Wolverine, and of course Jessica Jones.

Mighty Avengers

As you might know, after the Avengers vs X-Men event, Marvel relaunched almost every superhero book. Jessica Jones went back to being just a supportive character and she mostly appeared occasionally with Luke Cage in Mighty Avengers. It’s even more optional than her first New Avenger era, because with the exception of a few pages, she’s mostly in the background. Let’s pass to the next era.

The New Jessica Jones Solo Series

We’ll skip the All-New All-Different Marvel, because it’s mostly like the Mighty Avengers era. Let’s focus on what’s really interesting: there’s a new Jessica Jones solo series.

With the help of the Netflix Show, Jessica Jones is really back in action. A lot has changed in the Marvel Universe and there are many secrets hiding in the shadows – secrets only a special woman like Jessica Jones can hope to uncover. Alias Investigations is open for business, and of all the many mysteries to discover, her new case may be the most dangerous one!

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Jessica Jones by Kelly Thompson

Brian Michael Bendis left Marvel to work on Superman at DC Comics. He will not write more Jessica Jones in the near future. It’s time for a change and Kelly Thompson took over for a short Marvel Digital Original series.

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Guest-starring Jessica Jones

After the end of her last ongoing solo series, Jessica Jones made guest-starring appearances, but nothing really important. An issue of Daredevil, Captain Marvel, or Spider-man here and there. I will not list them here, because it’s mostly irrelevant stuff. If something big happens, I’ll update this guide.

Devil’s Reign

Jessica Jones was not one of the biggest players in the Devil’s Reign event, but she got enough. In fact, the miniseries gave us a conclusion for the Purple Man storyline. For more information about the event, go to our Devil’s Reign Reading Order.

  • Devil’s Reign
    Collects Devil’s Reign #1-6, Devil’s Reign: Omega #1.

The Variants

What would it really be like to meet an alternate version of yourself — another you who had made different choices and lived a completely different life as a result? That’s the question facing Jessica Jones, as what seemed like a routine investigation instead has her encountering other incarnations of herself from across the Multiverse!

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