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The J. Jonah Jameson thread.

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TheDrifter Since: Mar, 2011
#26: Sep 6th 2012 at 10:18:21 AM

I really loved him on Spectacular Spider-man. Ham....so much delicious ham. waii

Jhimmibhob Since: Dec, 2010
#27: Sep 6th 2012 at 1:11:01 PM

I loved the glimpse we got of him in Busiek & Ross's Marvels. I say it's past time for a "Young J. Jonah" title—a two-fisted, muckraking young journalist-antihero uncovers corruption in the early Marvel universe, using only his wits, a typewriter, and an interpersonal style that would make Dr. House blanch!

DrFurball Since: Jan, 2001
#28: Sep 6th 2012 at 10:01:30 PM

[up][up] Daran Norris is definitely the best voice actor Jameson's ever had. Of course, having such great writing helped, too. I particularly loved the "number of words" bit in the episode where Spidey gets the alien costume.

TiggersAreGreat Since: Mar, 2011
#29: Sep 7th 2012 at 4:35:57 AM

JJJ is the kind of character that causes me to experience mixed feelings over. On one hand, he has stood for mutant rights, and is simply not the kind of guy who will be intimidated. On the other hand, he is an Ungrateful Bastard of the extreme kind (so much that some might label him The Scrappy), keeps stiffing his employees, and seems to have an I Reject Your Reality thing going on at times.

Did you know that he has suffered a heart attack twice, and Spider Man (I mean Peter Parker) saved his life both times? The first time was when PP made the reasonable demand to have a raise, and JJJ flew into a rage that induced it. The second time was when he woke up in a hospital bed, and PP let it slip that while he was unconscious, his wife sold the Daily Bugle (which he would never have let happen while conscious), and he flew into a rage that induced that one too! Talk about anger problems! surprised

edited 7th Sep '12 4:36:18 AM by TiggersAreGreat

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NapoleonDeCheese Since: Oct, 2010
#30: Sep 7th 2012 at 7:17:31 AM

[up]Well the first one was unreasonable, but I can understand his rage at the second one. Basically, that was backstabbing of the lowest kind.

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#31: Sep 7th 2012 at 11:27:05 AM

@Jhim: That's a really good idea. It would be something exciting, but also quite different to the usual superhero fare.

I'm thinking it should be a bildungsroman that doesn't use Comic-Book Time. Start off with a young JJJ investigating organised crime in the roaring twenties and the Great Depression, and follow him through investigating Nazi infiltration during World War II (with a subplot about trying to unmask Captain America), then acquiring the Bugle and covering civil unrest in The '50s, and ending when he takes on a young freelance photographer named Peter Parker in 1963.

edited 7th Sep '12 11:27:41 AM by VampireBuddha

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Jhimmibhob Since: Dec, 2010
#32: Sep 7th 2012 at 11:53:12 AM

[up]I'm liking this. Could maybe have a subplot that starts with young JJJ's strong admiration for these new "superhero" types, and his progressively dimming views on them through a combo of Broken Pedestal scoops and personal problems.

VampireBuddha Calendar enthusiast from Ireland (Wise, aged troper) Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
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#33: Sep 8th 2012 at 7:08:08 AM

I was under the impression that he disliked superheroes, or at least Spider-Man, because of the masks. After all, why would a true hero need to hide his identity?

I actually figured he would be suspicious of this Captain America person for precisely that reason, and heck, he'd probably think Cap himself was part of some elaborate Nazi plot.

Ooh, perhaps that is why he dislikes Cap, but they gradually come to an understanding after they jointly take down a number of Nazi and Soviet plots. However, during this time, the first costumed supervillains start to appear, and since it's also the time of the first resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, JJJ comes to think that all anonymous vigilantes are criminals, with Captain America being about the only exception.

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warrior93 warrior93 from North Carolina Since: Feb, 2011
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#34: Sep 8th 2012 at 1:20:04 PM

I always liked how he fought for mutant rights and that's about it.

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Jhimmibhob Since: Dec, 2010
#35: Sep 10th 2012 at 9:25:01 AM

[up][up]There's a good story in that Captain America idea; really starting to hope this whole concept eventually occurs to someone at Marvel.

As for the "mask" business: That's always been Jameson's stated reason, but it's always had an unconvincing ring to me—it could be concealing something else that we don't know, maybe some unknown episode in JJJ's past.

NapoleonDeCheese Since: Oct, 2010
#36: Sep 10th 2012 at 12:10:03 PM

Didn't Jonah once start throwing dirt on the Avengers as well when they tried defending Spider-Man?

Part of the problem with Jonah is, although he's a good and entertaining character, he's kinda trapped in that eternal Spider-Man hating loop. Even things like making him Mayor only tend to Flanderize that to unbearable levels. It was fine for a long while, but it's been decades and decades now to the point of being grating, which is sad because otherwise, the character is badass and rules, when they aren't playing him one-note with the Spider-Man threat gimmick.

edited 10th Sep '12 12:10:14 PM by NapoleonDeCheese

LizardBite Shameless Self-Promoter from Two Galaxies Over Since: Jan, 2001
#37: Oct 11th 2012 at 3:53:41 PM

it could be concealing something else that we don't know, maybe some unknown episode in JJJ's past.

wild mass guessArachnophobia?

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
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#38: Oct 11th 2012 at 10:52:01 PM

My understanding of Jameson is that he hates the idea of a world policed by masked vigilantes. To him, cops and soldiers are heroes, masked superheroes are a step away from the KGB.

He also has a mad-on for Spider-Man specifically for some reason.

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SaintDeltora The Mistress from The Land Of Corruption and Debauchery Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
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#39: Oct 12th 2012 at 5:03:54 AM

[up]that reason changes from continuity to contiuity though.

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TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
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#40: Oct 12th 2012 at 7:58:30 AM

Yeah, I've seen a couple reasons in different continuities. I don't think I've ever heard a good reason for why he so violently despises Spider-Man in the 616, though, other than basic character Flanderization. Have we ever been given one?

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Jhimmibhob Since: Dec, 2010
#41: Oct 12th 2012 at 8:15:51 AM

No consistent one. As I've said, it could be a great untold story if Marvel showed some incident in JJJ's past that filled him with justified mistrust of masked vigilantes. Some pre-Spider-Man "hero" who was kind of like Spidey, but who proved horribly unworthy of trust in the end ... whom maybe even JJJ believed in despite himself for a while. Could really enrich the character.

edited 12th Oct '12 8:16:37 AM by Jhimmibhob

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
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#42: Oct 12th 2012 at 10:22:33 AM

I always thought it would be an interesting character angle if Jameson actually lost someone he loved to the crossfire of a Spider-Man battle, and that was why he hated Spider-Man; because if the police had been handling it, a gunfight would never have ensued in a public place, thus causing him to see masked vigilantes and especially Spider-Man as ultimately causing more trouble than they solve.

But that's an "If I was a Marvel writer" thing, not an actual in-story thing.

edited 12th Oct '12 10:22:53 AM by TobiasDrake

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RedM Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
#43: Oct 26th 2012 at 8:24:46 PM

I read somewhere that the reason Jonah hated masked vigilantes was that his first wife was gunned down by a masked criminal or something like that.

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#44: Oct 29th 2012 at 6:43:15 AM

[up]It's his reason in Spiderman The Animated Series. I know in the comic his wife also died in a Mugging, but I think he was off at war when it happened.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
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#45: Oct 29th 2012 at 8:26:54 AM

In two of the AUs, Ultimate Universe and the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, JJJ's hatred of Spider-Man is rooted in the fact that the people of New York care more about Spider-Man than his astronaut son, John. What he's really angry at is his own customer base and the fact that they'd rather see a creepy guy in a mask on the front page than an astronaut, but he can't lash out at his customers, so he lashes out at Spider-Man instead.

edited 29th Oct '12 8:27:23 AM by TobiasDrake

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Tiamatty X-Men X-Pert from Now on Twitter Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: Brony
#46: Oct 29th 2012 at 9:08:41 AM

[up] That's part of his motivation in the mainstream universe, too. He sees Spider-Man and other superheroes as showboats, glory hounds trying to take attention away from real, deserving heroes. He also distrusts people who hide their identities, wondering what they have to hide. Further, he doesn't believe superheroes can be good all the time, a result of his fireman father being a drunken asshole at home.

He's actually got a lot of reasons for hating superheroes. And, truthfully, those reasons make a lot of sense.

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NapoleonDeCheese Since: Oct, 2010
#47: Oct 29th 2012 at 10:34:00 AM

I'd say it's that each reason, by itself, is petty to some degree or another (except the dead wife), but put together made sense.

Not to say he doesn't have his share of fault there. Instead of getting over his issues, he only lets them get worse and worse, despite Spider-Man saving his life more times than he should remember by now. There's a point where you just have to stop saying 'Okay, you're justified...' and saying 'Okay, now you're being a dick' instead.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
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#48: Oct 29th 2012 at 12:37:45 PM

I can sympathize with Jameson on the "not real heroes" point. It blatantly disregards all the accomplishments superheroes have made towards protecting people's lives, but I understand why the idea of an unrestricted, anonymous secret police freaks him out, especially for a man old enough to remember the KGB.

edited 29th Oct '12 12:38:07 PM by TobiasDrake

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CobraPrime Sharknado Warning from Canada Since: Dec, 1969 Relationship Status: Robosexual
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#49: Oct 29th 2012 at 12:41:32 PM

Been watching Spiderman The Animated Series and I really find myself rooting for JJJ despite his many dickish, jerkass moments. The series gives him enough moments that you still can't help but like him to some degree. Like when his son's shuttle crash and he's first one out the door to his helicopter, even as Robbie points out that they won't let anything in the airspace around the shuttle. Or when he pays Matt Murdock's legal fees so he can defend Peter when Peter's accused of treason (And does that anonymously because he doesn't want Peter thinking he cares). It's stuff like this that makes him my favorite supporting character in Spiderman medias.

edited 29th Oct '12 12:42:27 PM by CobraPrime

Tiamatty X-Men X-Pert from Now on Twitter Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: Brony
#50: Oct 29th 2012 at 12:54:04 PM

[up] He's done the same thing in the comics. He once paid Aunt May's medical bills, while trying to hide that he was doing it. He told off the occasional racist, and even vowed to bring down a political candidate he'd formerly supported, when he learned the guy was a racist. Then there was his role in Operation: Zero Tolerance, where he turned the Daily Bugle towards stopping Bastion, even after Bastion tried to bribe him with the identities of various superheroes.

JJJ's at his best when he's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, rather than just a jerk.

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