John Jameson (comics)
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| John Jameson | |
 John Jameson. Art by Terry Dodson. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Mar 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Steve Ditko |
| In story information | |
| Full name | John Jameson |
| Supporting character of | She-Hulk, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Captain America |
| Notable aliases | Man-Wolf, Stargod |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, agility, stamina, speed and senses, Accelerated healing factor |
John Jameson (also known by the aliases Man-Wolf and Star-God) is a fictional character in publications from Marvel Comics. He debuted in Amazing Spider-Man #1.
Contents |
[edit] Fictional character biography
John Jameson was born in New York City. He is the son of J. Jonah Jameson, the irascible, gruff publisher of the Daily Bugle. Jonah is immensely proud of his son, who he sees as a true hero. Initially an astronaut, he was first seen being saved by Spider-Man when his craft malfunctioned on re-entry, something that did nothing to endear the wall-crawler to his father, who resents Spider-Man's form of heroism.
On a later mission, Jameson was infected with spores that gave him super-strength, but strained his body and mind. He was forced to wear a strength-restraining "Jupiter suit" and battled Spider-Man at his father's urging before recovering.[1]
While he was on the moon, Jameson found the mystical Godstone, an other-dimensional ruby. The jewel grafted itself to his throat and extended tendrils through his body. Moonlight activated the gem, which transformed him into the lycanthropic Man-Wolf[2], and he fought Spider-Man in this bestial form. The ruby was removed by Spider-Man.
Some time after that, the ruby was reattached to John by Morbius, the Living Vampire who used Man-Wolf as a pawn so Morbius could find a cure for himself. Man-Wolf was again thwarted by Spider-Man.
Later, he was transported to the dimension known as Other Realm, from which the ruby originated and the source of the radiation that transforms John into the Man-Wolf. It was revealed that the ruby was created by the dying Stargod to pass on his powers. While on Earth Jameson could only partially transform, resulting in his berserk behavior. While in the Other Realm he could fully transform, resulting in retention of his human consciousness while in lupine form. He took up the mantle of Stargod, and acted as champion of the Other Realm, and gained new powers such as telepathy and energy manipulation. He fought his foes with a sword, dagger and longbow in this incarnation. Afterward, he opted to return to Earth, resulting in him losing the ability to fully transform, and the loss of all memories of being the Stargod. He later allowed himself to be subjected to a procedure that removed the ruby, restoring normalcy for some time.[3]
Jameson became the pilot of Captain America's personal Quinjet for a period, using the call-sign "Skywolf". During this time, he was temporarily transformed into Man-Wolf by Dredmond Druid, who wanted the power of the Stargod. Jameson left Captain America's employ due to his attraction to Cap's then girlfriend, Diamondback.
Jameson remains friends with Spider-Man and often tries to convince his father to "let up on him." He spent some time as Ravencroft Head of Security and briefly dated its director Dr. Ashley Kafka. Both John and Ashley were fired by a director angry about the escape of the Chameleon and his subsequent killing by Kraven the Hunter II. Via hypnotherapy, Kafka helped discover that Jack O'Lantern had caused him to attack his hospitalized father. This therapy also briefly unleashed John's Man-Wolf aspect before Ashley was able to help John suppress his changes once more.
[edit] Civil War
John has been revealed to have helped Captain America while Captain America was in hiding. He was assisting She-Hulk in locating and signing up unregistered superheroes. John has also been registered as the Man-Wolf under the Superhuman Registration Act.
[edit] Stargod and She-Hulk
John had been dating She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) and the two had been living together for some time along with She-Hulk's coworker, Augustus Pugliese. Recently they eloped in Las Vegas. However, John was forced into becoming the Man-Wolf once more after being injected by a mysterious substance. After a brief rampage, John stopped fighting his situation and became the Stargod again. He now retains his intelligence while in Man-Wolf form, has the Stargod's powers, and apparently can switch between human and lupine forms. His current superhuman status can be defined in his own words as "I am a god" and is supported by a battle with a clone of the Mad Titan Thanos in which he held his own. However, John does not want to be the Stargod because he feels that having powers makes him arrogant and savage. She-Hulk and Stargod separated after she discovered that her feelings for John were influenced prior to their marriage by her former Avengers teammate, Starfox and when she learned that John had hoped to convince her to give up her powers permanently. Dejected, Stargod sought adventure in outer space before finally returning to Earth. He resumed his human form and tried to reconcile with Jennifer, but when she rejected him again John realized their relationship was truly over and he signed the legal papers annulling their marriage.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Jameson is a skilled pilot, astronaut and is experienced in hand-to-hand combat and a variety of weapons.
As the Man-Wolf, Jameson possessed superhuman strength, agility, speed, healing, and stamina as well as heightened senses. He also has large razor sharp teeth and claws to use as weapons once transformed. The Man-Wolf's strength and degree of intelligence varied according to the phases of the moon. Jameson did not retain his personality or intelligence while in Man-Wolf form. He was not a traditional werewolf and was not vulnerable to silver. While in the Other Realm, Jameson possessed both his human intellect and the Man-Wolf's body, as well as vast superhuman strength, a high degree of durability, and telepathic powers.
As Stargod, Jameson possesses both his human intellect and the Man-Wolf's body. He has cosmic powers, the full extent of which is yet unrevealed. He wears scale mail armor and uses a broadsword, dagger, short bow and arrows.
[edit] Other versions
[edit] Earth X
On Earth X, John Jameson lives on the moon and is the father of Jay Jameson. He first appeared in Earth X #0.
[edit] House of M
In the House of M universe, John Jameson was part of the project that gave the Fantastic Four their powers. Jameson is in the spacecraft along with Ben Grimm, Reed Richards and Susan Storm. Instead of transforming into the torch he died along with Richards and Sue, leaving only Ben alive in the form of the Thing but calling himself The It.
[edit] MC2
In the alternate-future known as MC2, John Jameson married Dr. Ashley Kafka and they had a son, Jack. Jack became the costumed adventurer known as The Buzz.
[edit] Ultimate Universe
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, J. Jonah Jameson made reference to his dead astronaut son, called him a "true hero". Jonah doesn't name his son, but does not say he has any other kids. Jonah says his son died when the space shuttle "Orion" burned up in orbit. Although the incident was implied to be public knowledge, details on the cause were classified.
[edit] In other media
[edit] Television
- John Jameson appeared in The Alien Costume saga of Spider-Man: The Animated Series voiced by Michael Horton. In his first appearance, he unwittingly brings the Venom symbiote to Earth.
- John, as well as his alter-ego Man-Wolf's well known animated appearance was in the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series voiced by John Payne II. In the series while traveling into space, John Jameson crashed on the animated Counter-Earth thanks to Venom and Carnage. He and Spider-Man (who went there to save him and return him back to earth) joined the Human rebels to fight the High Evolutionary and restore peace to Counter-Earth. Later in the series, The High Evolutionary experimented on Jameson and every time he gets angry he becomes the Man-Wolf, marking Man-Wolf's first animated appearance.
- John Jameson appears in several episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man[4] voiced by Daran Norris. He is an Air Force colonel with an upcoming trip into space. When his father planned on writing an article on how John saved New York City by finding the bomb the Green Goblin planted, John warned him it would lead to an investigation that would pull him from the space mission. Later on, his spaceship malfunctions after being hit by an asteroid and nearly crashes similar to Amazing Spider-Man #1, but John is able to safely land his ship, which contains the alien symbiote. J. Jonah Jameson's anger that other newspapers which had Spider-Man's battle with Green Goblin on the front page sold more than the Bugle, with John Jameson's survival as the front page story, caused Jonah to completely declare Spider-Man a menace.
[edit] Film
In Spider-Man 2, John Jameson, played by Daniel Gillies, is Mary Jane Watson's fiancé. He is again an astronaut (noted for playing football on the moon). Mary Jane later realized that she did not truly love John and left him at the altar for Peter Parker. The movie includes multiple references to the comic story arc where John Jameson becomes Man-Wolf. Jameson wears the same medallion that in the comics turned him into Man-Wolf, and he is portrayed next to a full moon in another scene. In spite of rumors circulating online, John Jameson does not appear in Spider-Man 3.
[edit] References
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #41-42
- ^ Amazing Spider-Man #124
- ^ Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #3
- ^ Comics Continuum by Rob Allstetter: Friday, April 25, 2008
