Jessica Jones Getting Her Own TV Series

So I may be a little late to the game with this information, but I just came across the news that our favorite interracial married, journalist, gay fanboy fave super mom Jessica Jones of Avengers fame will be getting her own television series on ABC, under the title AKA Jessica Jones [via G4].

Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos, the character was introduced in 2001 as super-powered private investigator with a retconned origin loosely connected to Spider-Man's, as a woman who gains super strength, durability, and flight after a car accident that killed her family exposed her to radioactive material. However, after a less than successful stint as a costumed hero called Jewel, her present was shown as a gritty career in street clothes as owner of Alias Private Investigations. With a relationship to Marvel hero Luke Cage (who is rumored to be in the running for a movie,) that results in their marriage, as well as a stint with the New Avengers, Jessica's ran quite a gamut in just under decade. As the report describes her TV character:

"Jessica, now in her early 30s, decides to keep far away from others gifted with superpowers and to open her own detective agency. But once she settles down, she realizes she still has a drive to help people -- and finds herself assisting other superheroes."

We could possibly be in store for a show with a bad-ass female who, unlike the others we see on TV and movies, isn't all that self-assured and carries an ambivalence with which audiences might identify. While she'll undoubtedly be gorgeous and sexual, and her superpowers may be larger than life, her day-to-day problems may not necessarily be the hybrid of the plot of some Bond film and a Penthouse forum letter. In fact, Rosenberg describes her new show's character as "deeply flawed but with a biting sense of humor."

I'm really excited at the news that Jessica is getting her own series. Jones was one of my favorite characters in the early days of Young Avengers when she was a surrogate mom of sorts to the super powered teenagers (and the object of much fanboy love from Billy and Teddy). Now that she has a kid of her own, her supermom priorities have been focused on keeping her super baby safe and returning to the superhero life as a part of the New Avengers. Particularly interesting with this announcement is that Marvel is choosing to shine some focus on some of its tangential characters who aren't the big hitters of the Marvel Universe, but nevertheless have strong fan support.

Here's hoping AKA Jessica Jones is also known as a great tv show!

Superqueeros! for December 29th, 2010

Happy New Year's Eve! Hopefully you survived any family, vacations, or Snowagnaröks that came your way this past week, because we've got some winners shipping this week! Though three of the four are comics that I reported as shipping earlier in the month... Looks like comics can get held up by winter weather too!

Gotham City Sirens #18

This is the only comic I HAVEN'T previously reported as shipping, and it's also the comic with the most amazing cover art! GCS is finishing their storyline pitting Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Zatanna, Catwoman, and Tahlia Al Ghul against each other! Everyone is struggling to either find out or continue to conceal the identity of Batman, information that Catwoman has managed to convince her compatriots that she DOESN'T have. Will Selina be able to survive being the focus of the most powerful players in the Bat-verse???? Or will this be Selina's next mental derailment?

Also this week, we get:

Daken: Dark Wolverine #4 and New Mutants #20

AND

X-Men: To Serve and Protect #2

Superqueeros! for December 22nd, 2010

HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND KWANZAA!!!!!! The comic book industry can sense when you're about to get gift cards to your local comic book store (call it a Spectacular Spider-Man Sense) and so they're throwing caution to the wind and inundating the market with new comics on Wednesday. I'm serious: things about the get crazy. So who's gay on Wednesday?

Wildcats #30

Did you read The Authority #29? Do you know who the new Doctor is? Are you ready for The End of All Things (Wildstorm)? This is THE ISSUE, guys! Apocalypse came to Wildstorm and it's about to be retconned, solved, or otherwise resolved as we meet the fastest Doctor ever to hold the title! Expect Rainmaker, Apollo, and Midnighter cameos, as well as EVERY OTHER WILDSTORM CHARACTER EVER. If Christmas is about family, then this is the most Christmas-y comic you'll read this month! #soexcited

New Mutants #20

TEAM UP. We all know that Karma is the most important New Mutant (certainly the most interesting), but FINALLY the universe agrees. With every other New Mutant held captive by the Purgatory Babies, Karma and Magik are going to rally Utopia and save their friends! Well, unless they're too late. Then the world is going to end. And in Marvel there's no Doctor to fix everything when your planet gets turned into a hell-dimension. #whoops!

Uncanny X-Men #531

Quarantine continues! E'erybody on Utopia is sick! Wolvie is DYING! Rockslide is... basically over? How does a psychic entity get sick again? PLOT HOLES ASIDE, Northstar is going to be KICKING BUTT this month! As one of the 5 X-men outside of the quarantine, he, Dazzler, Pixie, Angel, and Storm are going to be putting the smack down on Sublime's latest home-made mutants and, hopefully, the Collective Man! People have criticized this storyline as being, basically, exactly what Grant Morrison did during New X-Men, to which I say: New X-Men was AMAZING!!!!! Don't knock a working formula! And buy this book, even though Greg Land is doing the art!

Daken: Dark Wolverine #4

Okay, so this book is called "Daken: Dark Wolverine" but, according to the solicit, Daken is going to be forging a new identity after faking his death last issue? Meaning that this comic book is about to NOT be about Daken, since he's presumably going to be selecting a new moniker, and is DEFINITELY not about "Dark Wolverine" (sooo 2009) ? So why does it retain the outdated name? PLOT HOLES ASIDE, Marjorie Liu and Daniel Way rock at writing, so this is going to be a ball-busting issue no matter who it stars. I wonder if Daken's going to refrain from using his claws in his new identity? The cover shows him fighting the FF; will Johnny et al. be able to recognize their former friend? And what is the next step in Daken's plan for world conquest???

Honorable Mentions after the cut!

Wonder Woman #605

Diana vs The Morrigan! The solicit tells us that Diana is facing off against one of the three Morrigan, and Wikipedia tells us that there is no definitive story to that. Evidently in Latin texts morrigans are scary evil monster ladies and in Ireland it's a proper noun that refers to either a war goddess or a trio of goddesses. Does this mean that for JMS's Wonder Woman she's defending her people and her religion against the very real attacks on them by other pantheons? There are more questions than answers here, but never have I been more excited for a Wonder Woman book than this month! Irish goddesses fighting the champion of the Greeks? This is what comics were made for!

X-Men: Legacy #243

As Jason noted, Bling! is one of the X-Men within the radius of Karima's wrath, so even though this book seems to be focusing more on Hope helping Julian deal with the anger he has over loosing his arms we may get some queer cameos! Also, Mike Carey is a god amongst scribes.

X-Men #6

This is the ultimate issue of X-men vs. Vampires! It's the mutants against Dracula, perhaps one of the X-Men's most classic conflicts. But this time there's an additional element: Jubilee is among the enemy! How will the X-men save one of their own without losing any more compatriots??? And will Bling! get to do some slaying???? #ToughSkinGang

Scarlet Betch Episode 33

Hey betches!

This week is refreshingly light! We talk about Barbara Gordon's alleged death in Gail Simone's Birds of Prey "The Death of Oracle" and also Peter David's latest chapter of X-Factor as the adventure to Las Vegas/Hell/Nordic Extravaganza wraps up.

We also have slight musings about the state of the male strip club and have a New York vs. Montreal analysis! #tangential

Let us know what you think! Plus, any comics you think we missed in our coverage let us know! Send us a tweet @ScarletBetch or by email at scarletbetch@gmail.com

Turn Off the Dark Reviewed!

My friend Nathan "Knathan" Archer saw the Spider-man musical this past weekend and he's just posted a review! Be warned, it contains MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS!

If you don't want to be spoiled then here's a summary of his review: he loved the show (whew!), there were no technical difficulties (whew!), and he sat in front of Angela Landsbury (hot!). And if Angela Landsbury came to the show, you know it has to be good!

SuperQueeros! for December 15th

I am HUGE X-men fan, so even though this week is lighter on queer characters than last week was, I'm super excited! More Anole this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Plus, just in time for X-mas, next week is going to be a comic book DELUGE. But until then...

X-Factor #212

Shatterstar Takes Las Vegas continues! Joined by Thor, X-Factor is preparing to confront Hela in her lair and dissent is starting to foment among the X-ranks. This is the start of a story thread that will see one member of X-Factor leave the agency: who will it be, why will it be, and what role do the machinations of the Norse Gods have to play in this decision? Just because it's the Heroic Age for Thor doesn't mean every mensch in tights has magically become super-boy scouts like Clark Kent! As usual, the awesome and angst-y X-drama starts here!!

X-Men: To Serve and Protect #2

Or, as I like to call it, Anole & Rockslide: To Snark and Pummel! Yup, we get the second issue of the X-Men's "Heroic Age" short story collection, and everyone's favorite lizard-boy is front and center. Rockslide and Anole have taken down the fringe forces of Mr. Negative's crime syndicate, which means that they've successfully tickled a sleeping dragon. Will the two teenage vigilantes be able to survive the full brunt of one of Spidey's most sinister rogues if the X-Men aren't waiting in the wings to save them?

Plus, the Stepford Cuckoos! And Spidey! #sweeeeet!

Scarlet Betch Episode 32

Hey betches!

We're back! In this week's issue Jason and Anthony review the latest in queer comic book news, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "The Last Gleaming Part III" and Batwoman #0

We also have a ton of shout outs in this episode to from the many colored X-men ranch (New Mutants, Uncanny, Legacy) to Alpha Flight's long awaited return to Canada's great white north.

Let us know what you think! Plus, any comics you think we missed in our coverage let us know! Send us a tweet @ScarletBetch or by email at scarletbetch@gmail.com

Sneak Peak at Outland, Aussi Gay Geek TV Show

Australian gay news publication, SX, has acquired a sneak peak photo of the cast of the upcoming Outland series that we've been chattering about here on Scarlet Betch. The show evidently features a cast of four white gay men of varying degrees of outness and a black lesbian in a wheelchair. So from left to right it looks like we've got the Boy next door gaymer, the Dungeons & Dragons (emphasis on the Dungeons) leather daddy, Oppression McGee aka Black Oracle, ChiChi LaRue meets Uhura, and Preppy closet nerd. While my problematic-o-meter is pinging like mad, I'm reserving judgement 'til we see some footage. See for yourself:

Superqueeros! for December 10th, 2010

Wow, this week is pretty slim pickings... Torchwood didn't ship last week, so hopefully it'll be in stores this week. But other than that we just have What If?'s Baby Daken (cuuuute!) and the varied and troubled cast of House of Mystery to "bring the queer" to comics this week.

What If? Wolverine Father

This issue asks, "What would Daken be like if Wolverine had raised him?" It appears to imply that a killing-machine-for-a-Dad might not be the most nurturing (or different) scenario for Baby D, but Wolvie was the best friend of all the Kitties, Jubilees, Marrows, and Pixies that were sheltered by the X-men over the years, so he might make an excellent father. What do you think? And is Daken still going to be the queer we know and love given the radically different rearing he's about to face? Only one way to find out! #buyit

House of Mystery #32

Like Dorothy from Kansas, the House of Mystery and its owner Fig were swept away from their friends and foundations to face their final foes last issue. Meanwhile, Abel re-opens the House of Secrets to quench the thirst of the lost souls who are demanding a table at which to tell their tales. Who knows if we'll see Tursig this issue (I'm assuming the House of Secrets is also located in the bazaar), but I think one of the women in the main cast may also be queer (there was this one throw-away line last issue that piqued my interest), so maybe this book has more of an LGBT cast than I thought!