Pretty much since the day that Spider-Man made is amazing debut, he's had a target on his back that's continually fired upon by J. Jonah Jameson. Grumpy, curmudgeonly and utterly hateful, anyone who draws the ire of Jameson is quickly hit with a barrage from his cigar-chomping lips. Seeing Spider-Man as a fiend and a menace, this disdain for the Webslinger is used to showcase how completely unfriendly JJJ is.
Despite how mean he might otherwise be, it seems that J. Jonah Jameson does indeed have a softer side. He utilizes this friendlier persona to actually be of assistance to a hero - a Spider-hero, no less! This friendliness with Silk shows how Jameson is more well-rounded than many suspect, and how this characterization could make him a more useful character.
J. Jonah Jameson Gives Silk a Pep Talk
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Issue #4 of Silk deals with the fallout of the previous, wherein the heroine Silk/Cindy Moon faced a Korean witch whose magic allowed her to drain the youth from others. Silk herself becomes a victim to this power, aging into a shriveled old woman without any of her radioactive vitality. With her powers basically useless and her haggard appearance unrecognizable to even her brother, Cindy is unsure of what to do or where to go. Even her attempts to stop a mugging fail, as does her webbing.
With no one else to really turn to, she knocks on the window of none other than J. Jonah Jameson. He notes her sullen and downtrodden behavior, though a Spider-Man mask conceals what's happened to her. The conversation of age is brought up, particularly poignant given Silk's current predicament. Jameson assures her that aging is nothing to worry, and that the future in general should be put in the same boat. Having lost his closest loved ones already, Jameson now sees this in a more optimistic, laid back way.
Not only is his general disposition fairly sunny, but Jameson even drives the debilitated Silk to go and face her witchy villain. The two bond over bad knees, arriving just in time to intervene with some sort of ceremony. Jameson finds himself in the heart of the action, with this and everything else that he's done putting him in a much different light than usual.
J. Jonah Jameson Should Help Heroes More - Even Spider-Man
J. Jonah Jameson actually works really well as a mentor and supporting cast member to Silk. He gives her good advice while still at times coming off in his usual brusque manner. At the same time, neither of these are done in a way that's like a caricature, making Jameson feel like a true character and not just a joke. This could be seen as part of the development of Jameson, who's cooled down somewhat over the years. He even mentions the deaths of his wife and son as having a huge impact on his mentality, and he now tries to not be so angered about things.
Not only would Silk benefit from more of this side of Jonah, but other heroes could as well. Just imagine how he might interact with heroes who aren't Spider-Man, such as Moon Knight, Daredevil or even The Punisher. Better yet, big time heroes such as Thor, Iron Man and Captain America might even inspire awe out of him, which would certainly be a change of pace. Thus, it could be argued that his relationship with Silk is a reflection of her not being Spider-Man, though if this were the case, their similar powers might negate that a bit.
It's also worth noting that J. Jonah Jameson isn't as one-dimensional toward Spider-Man/Peter Parker as many think. Even in the early days of The Amazing Spider-Man, Jonah reflected on the fact that his hatred of Spider-Man might stem from jealousy, as Spidey is selflessly heroic while JJJ merely pursues money. Likewise, when Peter was framed for murder during the infamous Clone Saga, Jonah - who feigned otherwise - helped foot some of his legal costs.
This all came to a head more recently in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #6. There, a scheduled interview with Spider-Man had Jonah lashing out at him, admitting that the hatred he felt for Spidey was all that he had left after the aforementioned death of his wife. Feeling sorry for his former boss, who was an utterly broken man, Peter revealed to Jameson that he was Spider-Man. Jameson would show his gratitude by actually assisting Spider-Man, even ironically using an old Spider-Slayer that he had helped get made to kill Spidey in order to instead stop Norman Osborn.
Jonah has since been a lot more helpful, and he's really not such a bad guy, especially now that life's losses have helped him mellow out. Hopefully, this side of him shows up more to help Silk, Spider-Man and anyone else that the once curmudgeonly mustache comes across.