Graphic Novel Review - 'Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter' by Kelly Thompson (Writer), Mattia De Iulis (Artist, Colourist), Filipe Andrade (Artist), Stephane Paitreau (Colourist), Cory Petit (Letterer)

One of the darkest, most harrowing and intense of 'Jessica Jones' comics, written by the magnanimous Kelly Thompson.

'Purple Daughter' pulls no punches. It is a heart and mind punch from beginning to end. For Marvel especially, it is brutal, and pretty pessimistic and depressing. Its cover is heartbreaking.

Lucky that it is quite a short comic, then.

Jessica and Luke Cage's toddler daughter, Dani, has suddenly turned purple, and what this means in context is Jessica's worst nightmare, the worst trauma of her life come back to haunt her; to psychologically and emotionally kill this survivor.

It is a planned attack. It is torture and terrorism to her very sense of self; to her sense of reality.

Content warning for SA and PTSD is warranted for this Marvel comic.

Jessica Jones's character and story have never been for children for a reason.

As little as little Dani actually appears in the comic whose title refers to her, perhaps there is a reason for it. It is absolutely to do with Jessica and her reactions, and spiralling, fracturing, and desperate denying. She is a traumatised adult seeing her child become a reminder of everything she hates and fears, and the horrific, devastating implications of what it might mean. It's not a trigger, it's an explosion. (Plus, Dani's lack of page time could be attributed to there being only so much Marvel is willing to do with toddler characters, when they even remember they exist).

I won't reveal much of the haunting plot, but I will add a caveat and say it does, sadly, showcase superhero comics' tendency to not commit to just fucking kill off their villains already; even worse when the villain's deserved and cathartic death is retconned away, like it's nothing. Like the heroes never accomplished anything. How insulting, to both them and the audience.

Death has never meant anything in superhero comics - everyone comes back eventually, without fail, we all know this - but it is far more annoying when comic companies refuse to move on and away from the worst, most vile and evil villains they create. Those villains are done, and no one wants to see them again. Move on to something else!

Oh, and how many damn 'Jessica Jones' comics kill a one-off female character, whether she is a client of Jess's or not, as part of a supervillain's plan? The random doomed woman in 'Purple Daughter' is especially egregious and arbitrary, not meaning anything in the long run. Seriously, it's part of the 'Women in Refrigerator' trope, a term first coined from the comics media to describe a pop cultural phenomena*, and it needs to have died by now, and it's kind of counterintuitive to Jessica Jones's character's feminist representation.

But apart from that, 'Purple Daughter' is mostly written deftly, and it handles its subject matters well. Not consistently carefully, tactfully and sensitively, mind you, but well nonetheless. A conscious, knowledgeable effort is there, though there are instances of frustration amid the horror. It is an on-the-edge-of-your-seat mystery thriller, that stays gripping throughout, without feeling tasteless and exploitative.

The artwork is the same (for the most part) as in 'Blind Spot'. As nice, dark and clean as it looks, my lingering suspicion of some tracing stands.

The superheroines who come to Jessica's aid are Captain Marvel, and Emma Frost, who plays a major role. Unlike so many other appearances I've seen her in, Emma Frost is cool, literally and emblematically, and she is neither a boring, too evil villain, nor a boring, bland antiheroine. I like her here, and that's something.

She's still objectified, however, to the point of it being played for laughs a couple times, even in a comic like this. *sigh*

So, Jessica Jones fans, feel free to read 'Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter', but with caution. It's not a fun, sunshiny, easy read. Pay heed to content warnings.

I'll leave it at that.

Bless you, Jessica Jones. Never give up. Remember you are loved, no matter what.

Feel free to also read my reviews of 'Jessica Jones: Alias, Vol. 1', 'Jessica Jones, Vol. 1: Uncaged!', and 

'Jessica Jones: Blind Spot', in that order.

* It is a term coined by Gail Simone herself, who will go on to write 'The Variants' - 'A Jessica Jones Mystery'!

Final Score: 3.5/5