Jessica Jones first appeared in the mature Marvel MAX imprint comic Alias #1 in 2001. She was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos. Jones is one of the few characters to begin as a star of a “mature comic” that had been integrated into the mainstream Marvel Universe.
Jones became an incredibly popular character, given the relative newness of her creation, and she became the star of the Daily Bugle connected book, The Pulse and a key member in Daredevil, Avengers and the Young Avengers. Jones had a successful Netflix series that ran for three seasons and was an integral part of the Defenders series.
10 Coma Girl
Jessica Campbell was born in Queens and attended Midtown High School with Peter Parker, on whom she had a major crush. She was present at the New York Hall of Science when Peter was bitten by the radioactive spider. Her family was killed when their car struck a military convoy carrying radioactive material and she fell into a coma. She awoke when Galactus came to New York.
She was taken to an orphanage and eventually adopted by the Jones. Jessica returned to Midtown High and was ostracized by her classmates, having earned the nickname “Coma Girl” unbeknownst to her. Peter tried to approach her to commiserate over the loss of family members but she mistook it for pity, lashed out at him and ran away.
9 Burgeoning Powers
Jessica discovered that she could fly but lost control of it and landed in the Hudson River. Thor had to rescue her. Next time she tried to fly, she landed on the Scorpion after he had just robbed a laundromat. Having a high resistance to injury, Jessica was unharmed but Scorpion was stunned and arrested.
Jessica found that she had superhuman strength. While it has never been definitely measured, she has lifted a two-tone police car over her head easily and knocked out Spider-Woman Jessica Drew with a single punch. It has been shown that her control over her powers, especially her flight, deteriorates if she doesn’t use it regularly.
8 Jewel
When Spider-Man, who Jessica didn’t know was her classmate Peter Parker, battled the Sandman at her school, Jessica Jones was inspired to use her growing superpowers for good. She created the costumed identity of Jewel for herself by dying her hair pink and wearing a bright white costume.
Jewel was active for roughly four years. She had a marginally successful crime-fighting career. She wasn’t very well known by most of the superhero community and was virtually unknown by the public at large because the media did not cover her very well. Her only real superhero friend at this time was Carol Danvers.
7 Under the Thrall of the Purple Man
Jewel went to a restaurant to break up a fistfight and encountered Zebediah Killgrave, the mind-controlling villain called the Purple Man. Killgrave kept Jessica under his mental control for eight months. While he didn’t abuse her sexually, he kept her in various states of undress and made her watch while he sexually assaulted others. Killgrave also verbally abused her endlessly and forced her to aid him in his criminal activities.
One day, Killgrave became angered by a news report about Daredevil. He ordered Jessica to go kill Daredevil and anyone that got in her way. Jessica attacked the first person she saw in a red costume: the Scarlet Witch. The Vision and Iron Man beat her into a coma. After a long recovery, Jean Grey helped her establish mental blocks to keep Killgrave out of her mind.
6 The Knightress Briefly
Embarrassed by their violent attack on her, the Avengers and SHIELD offered to make Jessica the new SHIELD liaison to the Avengers. Still traumatized and angry that no one realized that she had been missing for more than eight months, she declined. She created a much darker costume and called herself Knightress.
Roughly a week into her new career, she stumbled on a late-night meeting between would-be crime lord the Owl and a mafia leader. With the arrival of Luke Cage, they beat the assembled goons. Jessica discovered one of the goons had brought his children to the meeting. Jessica revealed her identity to the police so she could take the kids home for the night.
5 Alias Investigation
Jessica abandoned the superhero life and got a private investigator’s license. But her cases still involved superheroes. Luke Cage hired her to find his father. She was hired to find a woman who ended up murdered in an effort to expose Captain America's identity and discredit the President of the United States.
J. Jonah Jameson hired Jessica to find Spider-Man's identity. Jessica never intended on “outing” Spider-Man but Jameson’s condescending nature led her to take the case. She used the money for underprivileged children and to feed the homeless. Jameson angrily fired her. Jameson was, begrudgingly, better behaved when he asked Jessica to find Mattie Franklin, the latest Spider-Woman, who was also Jameson’s foster daughter. Jessica discovered that her boyfriend was keeping her drugged and used her body’s unique chemistry to create Mutant Growth Hormone. With the help of Jessica Drew, Mattie was saved.
4 Again, The Purple Man
The Purple Man re-entered Jessica’s life when she is hired by a woman to find Killgrave. He had killed 34 people in a restaurant by telling them to stop breathing. However, at the time, Killgrave was supposedly locked up in the Raft Maximum Security Prison. She went there to confront him but left unconvinced of his innocence. By the time she returned home, a prison break had occurred and Killgrave escaped.
Killgrave immediately went to Jessica. She joined him on a crowded street and he started a massive riot. Just as the Avengers arrived, Killgrave instructed her to kill one of them. Jessica saw Jean Grey in her head, telling Jessica that she had placed a psychic defense trigger in her mind against Killgrave. When returned to reality, she beat Killgrave into unconsciousness.
3 The Pulse
After becoming pregnant, Jessica and Luke Cage moved in together in Harlem. While complaining that superheroes were destroying the paper, Jameson offered Jessica a job as a superhero consultant on a new weekend supplement. She partnered with writer Ben Urich on superhero and villain related stories. Jessica demanded a contract and health insurance.
Their first story was about several missing Oscorp employees and his belief that Norman Osborn was the Green Goblin. They ran the story and Jameson had Jessica and Urich confront Osborn. Jessica was attacked by the Green Goblin and knocked out the window, where Spider-man saves her. Luke found Osborn, beat him senseless and outed him as the Goblin for hurting Jessica.
2 Marriage and Baby Cage
Jessica was with Luke and Carol when her water broke. Carol flew Jessica to the hospital and she gave birth to a healthy baby girl, which the couple named Danielle after Luke’s best friend Daniel Rand.
Luke and Jessica married with all their friends and a large contingency of the hero community in attendance. Jessica decided to keep her maiden name. As she puts Danielle to bed one night, she told the baby that she consented to be Luke’s wife the first time she met him. They interviewed a number of people to be Danielle’s nanny, settling on young mutant Squirrel Girl.
1 Avengers
Jessica worked with the Avengers a number of times. She worked with Captain America and Iron Man to consul the Young Avengers. She was present when Speed and Wiccan discovered that the Scarlet Witch was alive and comforted Hulkling when Cassie Lang was killed.
Luke and Jessica defied registration and went underground, living in Bucky’s apartment and Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. Jessica became scared and registered with Stark’s side, taking Danielle with her. They went underground again during Osborn’s reign and Jessica was part of the team that saved Hawkeye. Luke led the New Avengers, which she officially joined as Power Woman, a name she immediately regretted.