So… Netflix has a new Marvel show coming out this week. It’s called Jessica Jones, and I guarantee that, you the reader, has never heard of the Marvel character Jessica Jones. And the title begs the question of who Jessica Jones is. But to get there you need to understand some things. So, let us begin.

In 2001 Marvel Comics launched an imprint called MAX comics. Under this imprint writers could write comic book stories with explicit content. The first series to be published under this imprint was Brian Michael Bendis’ Alias Comics. Alias Comics tells the story of the character of Jessica Jones. When we first meet her, Jessica is a private investigator with a dark past. Her childhood was quite tragic as her family died in a car crash, she fell into a coma afterwards (although it would later give her superpowers), and after she woke up bullies at her high school ridiculed her for having fallen into a coma. A big part of her dark past is the character David Tennant will be playing, Zebediah Killgrave (a.k.a the Purple Man). Killgrave is a man who has the ability to control the minds of people around him into doing whatever he wants them to do. After Jessica got her powers, she died her hair pink and became a superhero known as “Jewel.” Jessica (as Jewel) ran into Killgrave, Killgrave fancied her, and had her under his control for a long time.

One thing you need to understand about Jessica are her superpowers. Due to the car crash she was in, the radioactive chemicals she collided with gave her powers. She is strong and can fly to some extent. Jessica has been able to effortlessly lift a police car, push over a tree, and even threw a guy through the window! Jessica is strong but not incredibly strong. As it comes to Jessica’s flying, she does not fly like Superman – but in way she can “glide” through the air. Personality wise, she is reckless, grizzled, damaged, and often angry.

In conclusion, this is what you need to know about Jessica Jones should you choose to watch the Netflix show: Jessica herself makes reckless decisions, drinks excessive amounts of alcohol, and is overall a person with a checkered past. And I promise, as grim as her story sounds, the comic she comes from is amazing, and I trust that Netflix will have another smash hit in their adaptation of Jessica Jones.