Graphic Novel Review - 'Jessica Jones, Vol. 1: Uncaged!' by Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Michael Gaydos (Artist), Matt Hollingsworth (Colourist), Cory Petit (Letterer)

'Jessica Jones, Vol. 1: Uncaged!' is perhaps my least favourite good 'Jessica Jones' comic. I am aware of its flaws and plot holes, and it has Jessica herself at her most genuinely unlikeable, manipulative, and despicable, mainly due to flimsy and contrived writing.

But Doctor Strangely enough, I find it to still be a fun and thrilling Marvel comic, from 2017. Jessica Jones is brought back to her messy PI noir roots, and she has more complicated life shit than ever before. For one, she has a baby daughter, Danielle, with her now-husband, the unfairly hot and delectable Luke Cage, and because this is superhero comics, this family drama requires sacrifices as well as love... dialled up to extreme and absurd levels.

'Uncaged!' contains Misty Knight (a mainstay in Jess and Luke's lives), Jessica Drew as Spider-Woman, Commander Carter of S.H.I.E.L.D., the supervillain Spot (*pfft*), and Gwenpool...?... I think?... and Jessica Jones's horrible mother, in, thankfully, the only comic I've seen her in.

Oh, and there's Captain Marvel in the aftermath of the 'Civil War II' BS, like anybody wouldn't rather forget that happened. Plus multiverse BS and babble, because of course.

It's to do with Jessica's development, and her considering if life, and choices, are indeed meaningless, I think? The moral is nothing matters?

Bah. Marvel, get your head out of your arse with your existential multiverse nonsense you yourselves created, and into therapy, and have more fun with your heroes. Remember fun? Superhero fun? Likeable heroes who trust one another and don't act like villains?

With that said, in 'Uncaged!', it is all told interestingly, and the ideas hold massive potential. They're just not perfectly reached. In fact, in hindsight, they seem arbitrary, superfluous and pointless. Brian Michael Bendis flung in the first ideas that came to him, without giving them the needed time to develop properly. Did he contemplate seriously whether they would actually fit into the story, a story about Jessica Jones, niche noir PI? In any case, he bit off more than he could chew when penning for the wider superhero universe, which appears to be a reoccurrence in his writing career. I wouldn't call it pretentious, confusing or convoluted, but it comes close.

But I enjoyed the comic nonetheless. It manages not to be an aggregated, messy disaster. It is entertaining, and Jess Jones kicks arse, even when she's failing at being a hero in a simple, straightforward way. The art by Michael Gaydos remains great, and I like the copious amounts of girl power and female presences.

The premise of 'Uncaged!' works in-universe by Jessica Jones being a colossal fuckup, and playing to that strength, to her advantage, so... meta?

I love the painting and shades of the cover art, too, I cannot lie. Love Mum Jessica Jones in jeans, a black jacket, and a scarf.

Read my review of 'Jessica Jones: Alias, Vol. 1' for my additional, greater thoughts on the Marvel heroine.

Final Score: 3.5/5