John Jameson (Marvel)
John Jameson is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
John Jonah Jameson III or John Jameson was the son of J. Jonah Jameson and his first wife Joan Jameson with their child being born in New York. His father was the publisher of the Daily Bugle and watched proudly as his son matured to become one of the youngest applicants of NASA's astronaut program. John piloted a shuttle in his first mission into orbit but during re-entry to Earth the Forward Guidance Package of the capsule broke off casing it to spin out of control. During the descent, the newly operating superhero known as Spider-Man was present on the scene where he saved the younger Jameson by attaching a replacement guidance module to the craft. With it, John was able to steer the capsule on a controlled landing and was safe as a result. As the public praised Spider-Man, Jonah Jameson resented the attention to what he perceived as a vigilante was getting instead of his son and make his first editorial denouncement of the hero. On a further space mission, Jameson was contracted by an unknown form of virus during a space walk. Following his return to Earth, he began to exhibit superhuman strength as a side effect of the exposure. Unable to control his strength, he was provided a special body suit by scientists at NASA who designed it. to keep his power under control. During this time, it appeared that Spider-Man was behind a bank robbery and J. Jonah Jameson managed to convince his son to use his strength to subdue the web-slinger and reasoned that John could be declared a public hero for the service. John agreed but was defeated by Spider-Man during their first encounter. It was only later that Jonah learnt that Spider-Man was innocent and tried to convince his son not to engage the hero in a fight. However, John Jameson was eater for a rematch as he resented his earlier defeat at the hands of Spider-Man. During their second fight, Spider-Man managed to neutralize the virus that was within John's body through a high dosage of electricity which turn the younger Jameson back to normal.
Man-Wolf
Six months ago, he was at an unscheduled space shuttle launch from Camp Kennedy that took him to the Moon. This flight officially did not happen and thus not known to the public. Its purpose was a top-secret but similar to previous missions to the Moon where on this occasion John came to find something on the lunar surface. This was a red gemstone that John came to desire for his own and on his return to Earth he managed to convince a friend in the quarantine centre to recover it for him. He then fashioned it into a pendant that he began wearing when he returned to civilian life. One night, he was driving when during the full moon the gemstone triggered a transformation in him that turned John into a werewolf-like creature. He lost control of his vehicle causing an accident and emerged as the Man-Wolf where a bystander attempting to check on him barely managed to survive the encounter. He would wander the Pennsylvanian hills until the next day when he awoke to find himself half-naked. Since then, every month he suffered a transformation and his efforts to remove the pendant failed as it bonded to his skin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #125)
Colonel Jameson came to accept Captain America's offer to join the support staff of the Avengers as a pilot. (Captain America v1 #358)
After a brief rampage, John stopped fighting his situation after being rendered unconscious when he was shot in the chest with a silver bullet Two-Gun Kid who mistook him for a werewolf, and became the Stargod again to save himself. He retained his intelligence while in Man-Wolf form, had the Stargod's powers, and could switch between human and lupine forms at will. (She-Hulk v2 #11)
She learnt that John had married She-Hulk in the hope of convincing her to return to being Jennifer Walters when he knew she did not want that. John also told her that he did not want to remain as Stargod because it rendered him arrogant and savage. (She-Hulk v2 #20)
He resumed his human form and tried to reconcile with Jennifer as she was unable to turn into She-Hulk at this time and he had given up the powers of Stargod. When Jennifer still rejected him, John realized their relationship was truly over and he signed the legal papers annulling their marriage. (She-Hulk v2 #20)
He was later selected for a flight mission for the new Horizon Labs designed Vertex shuttle that was to be launched from the Andru Air Force Base. His father and grandfather both were present to witness the launch when it came under attack from Alistair Smythe and his Insect Army who were seeking revenge against J. Jonah Jameson. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #652)
During the attack, Marla Jameson was killed at Smythe's hands with a funeral held for her. John Jameson was unable to attend the funeral due to him still being on his mission at Apogee-1 station. Unknown to him, hundreds of Octobots arrived where they took over the station. Jameson had managed to evade capture and remained on the run on Apogee-1. He later saved Spider-Man and Johnny Storm from Octobots that swarmed the pair when they had come to the station to save the crew. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #680)
A few months ago, Jameson was on duty in Afghanistan when he went missing. A NATO patrol later found him where it was discovered that he had transformed into the Man-Wolf and had torn up a Taliban training camp with everyone at the scene being killed. Jameson was recovered in his human state where he had no memory of the incident which came to be classified. (Carnage v2 #3)
Colonel Jameson was part of the task force that sought to bring Carnage into custody. (Carnage v2 #1)
Agent of Wakanda
Despite this, he remained as the Man-Wolf and came to be recruited by King T'Challa's Agents of Wakanda who were a support crew for the newest incarnation of the Avengers that were based at Avengers Mountain. Agent Jameson was tasked with space operations where he was sent to help recover the broken shards of the Bifrost bridge for Odin so that it could be reassembled. (Avengers v8 #12)
Investigating an anomaly on the Moon, the Agents of Wakanda were attacked by Entea, an intelligent plant that had taken root there. Jameson became the Stargod again and the conflict with Entea ended once the Agents of Wakanda realized she was starving due to a lack of sustenance on the Moon. The Stargod opened a portal to the Other Realm for Entea to feed there, only to discover that, in his absence, some unknown disaster has reduced it to a desolate wasteland devoid of life. Still, Entea was able to use the nutrients in the soil to take root and bring life back to the Other Realm. The other Agents returned to Earth and the Stargod remained in the Other Realm to help Entea settle in and to investigate the disaster, intending to return to Earth once that was completed. (Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda v1 #4)
Absolute Carnage
Afterwards, Jameson came to find himself being recruited into the Aberant Crimes Division. He was next dispatched to investigate the town of Doverton a year after its experience with Carnage after learning a number of deaths occurring in the area. Jameson was sent by the organization where he discovered people formerly possessed by the Carnage Symbiote the year prior had been turning up dead with their spines ripped from their body. There was a connection to a new faith called the Church of the New Darkness where Jameson discovered it to be a group that was led by Carnage who were seeking the return of the dark god Knull. As Man-Wolf, he was possessed by the Carnage Symbiote but upon awakening he was discovered with partial amnesia by Misty Knight who had been sent to find out Jameson's findings when he briefly disappeared. (Web of Venom: Cult of Carnage v1 #1)
Jameson was commanded to kill Misty where he resisted long enough to allow other heroes to save her. Knight then managed to get Jameson to fight the Carnage virus in him and turn against the Demagoblin. This allowed Cloak then to teleport all the heroes along with Jameson to safety. He was then given treatment to cure him of the Carnage infection with him returning back to normal. (Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors v1 #3)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Later, he came to be transformed into a werewolf and came to be known as the Man-Wolf. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #125)
Jameson did not retain his human personality or intelligence whilst in his Man-Wolf form. However, the bestial side was capable of speech though it did not talk too often. (Carnage v2 #3)
He had a more positive reaction towards the superhero Spider-Man when compared to his father. In fact, John did not understand what his father had against the hero. This stemmed from Jameson being grateful for his life being saved by the masked hero. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #41)
Powers and abilities
Jameson was originally an ordinary human being who came to be trained to be a pilot and astronaut. During one mission, he came to be exposed to space spores where over time they seemingly grew weaker before fading from his body whilst on Earth. (Amazing Spider-Man #41) It was believed the spores where it was believed that far greater muscle power was needed to overcome tremendous gravitational pull of their world. The spores came to effect his body where he grew larger with his strength increasing to superhuman levels. Such was his strength that he could smash metal pillars and snap marble/steel countertops with his strength far exceeding a normal human. Under the lesser gravity of Earth, the spores gave Jameson incredible leaping ability where he could cover great distances. The sudden conversion of his body though placed a great strain upon Jameson's heat and nervous system where he could injure himself due to carelessness. To prevent this, a special suit was created to protect him and slow him down. This was created by Tony Stark's technicians who where the restraining suit weighed him down to better manage his power whilst also regulating his heart and nervous system to lessen the strain on them. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #42)
From the Moon, he recovered a red gemstone that came to bond to him and led to his transformation into the Man-Wolf. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #125) This gem was known as the Godstone which was said to be a symbiotic alien entity that co-existed in a host body. (Creatures on the Loose v1 #37) The entity was a god-like being known as the Stargod who once ruled the Other Realm. (Marvel Premiere v1 #45) The transformation was shown to be triggered following exposure to the light of the full moon. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #125) Though seemingly a jewel, it was more akin to alien technology and similar to a Symbiote. It was said to had re-written Jameson's genetic code. (Carnage v2 #3) This seemingly allowed it to manifest in his body even if the jewel itself was physically removed. (Carnage v2 #5)
Jameson came to find himself recruited into the Aberrant Crimes Division that were a branch of the FBI that dealt in superhuman crimes. (Web of Venom: Cult of Carnage v1 #1)
Notes
- John Jameson was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where he made his first appearance in the Amazing Spider-Man v1 #1 (March, 1963).
- He would feature as the Man-Wolf in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #124 (September, 1973).
- In Back Issue! v1 #44 (2010), writer Gerry Conway wrote, "I'd wanted to do something with [John Jameson] for a long time. I felt like he was a character who'd gotten lost over the years. Also, at this point, it's 1973, John Jameson is an astronaut, and we've been to the moon, so I asked myself, "What would we do with that in Spider-Man's world?" And that was how it played out. It also added another layer of tension to Spider-Man's relationship with J. Jonah Jameson. As a writer, you always want to find a way to increase the pressure on the main character, to increase the involvement of other characters with that character. Consequently, anything that could make Jonah's hatred of Spider-Man more intense and at the same time more understandable was a useful device dramatically."
Alternate Versions
- In Spider-Force v1 #2 (2018), an alternate version of John Jameson was shown in the Multiverse on a world designated as Earth-3145. This version was on a space launch mission when the radioactive spider entered his space suit and bit him turning him into Astro-Spider. His world faced a great cataclysm that left its surface irradiated and most of the population dead with Jameson along with a few survivors operating from a space station in orbit.
- In Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider v1 #6 (2019), an alternate reality version of John Jameson who was shown to inhabit the world of Spider-Gwen in the Multiverse that was designated as Earth-65. This version was a crime lord who could transform into a werewolf with him engaging in a plot to take down Spider-Woman.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, the character made an appearance in the episode "The Alien Costume" where he was voiced by Michael Horton. He was shown as an astronaut that was onboard a space shuttle that explored a passing asteroid. They exploration led to the discovery of Promethium X and the Venom Symbiote that snuck onboard the shuttle causing it to crash into New York. The Rhino was dispatched to acquire the Prometheium X with Spider-Man saving Jameson for recovery with him being taken to a hospital. John's father J. Jonah Jameson would see his son who disoriented mention Spider-Man fighting 'a guy in a rhino suit'. Shocker would later abduct John Jameson from the hospital to draw Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson to an abandoned church. Whilst there, Jonah would manage to take his son to safety where he recovered allowing him to visit the Daily Bugle in a wheelchair where he was welcomed by the staff.
- In Spider-Man Unlimited, the character made an appearance in a supporting role during the series where he was voiced by John Payne though the vocal effects as the Man-Wolf were made by Scott McNeil. He was shown as the astronaut selected to pilot the shuttle Solaris-1 after the discovery of Counter-Earth where Jameson was sent to explore the other world. His ship would crash on Counter-Earth where he was captured by the Beastials and taken to the High Evolutionary. Once there, he was tagged for tracking and the High Evolutionary conducted experiments that filled him with Beastial fluids to turn him into a werewolf-style creature named the Man-Wolf. However, before the process could be completed, the Human Revolution arrived and freed him whereby he quickly became the leader of this resistance force though his experiences made him colder and more bitter. When Spider-Man arrived on Counter-Earth, Jameson would seek him out as an ally and refuse to return to Earth until he had overthrown the High Evolutionary who had kept mankind on this world as second-class citizens.
- In Spectacular Spider-Man, the character made an appearance in a number of episodes where he was voiced by actor Daran Norris. He was shown as being an Air Force Colonel and a shuttle astronaut. His father J. Jonah Jameson planned on writing an article on how John saved New York City by finding the bomb planted by the Green Goblin though his son would say that any investigation would pull him from the coming space mission. On the mission, his shuttle malfunctions after being hit by an asteroid and it nearly crashes though John was able to safely land it though was unaware that the alien Symbiote was onboard the craft. This incident also led to J. Jonah Jameson being angry that the news headlines were more focused on Spider-Man's battle with the Green Goblin than his son's survival which led him to declare Spider-Man a menace. In the episode "Growing Pains", it was shown that the Symbiote contained alien spores possibly native to a high gravity world similar to Jupiter that had infected John Jameson. This caused his transformation into a much larger, heavier and stronger being as the spores multiplied despite attempts by Dr. Curt Conners to find a means to eradicate the spores. It was discovered that there was limited success in destroying some spores with electricity but they were not eliminated. For the now superhuman John Jameson, Conners gave a special suit that regulated his strength. At the time, Venom was masquerading as Spider-Man and framing him with J. Jonah Jameson offering to put his son as the hero to defeat the wall crawler and styled him as a superhero named Colonel Jupiter. He would move to help innocents trapped within a burning building and attempt to get Spider-Man arrested though the wall crawler escaped. At this point, the spores had begun to affect John Jameson mentally causing him to fixate on Spider-Man. Venom, as Spider-Man, would attack Jameson sending him into a age to pursue Spider-Man. During the fight, Spider-Man learnt that a high amount of electricity would destroy he spores and he tricked John Jameson into being hit by 2,000,000 volts of electricity that destroyed the alien infection returning him physically to normal. John Jameson was later admitted to Ravencroft where he was craving the power given to him by the spores and led to him being sedated by the staff.
- In Ultimate Spider-Man, John Jameson made an appearance in the episode "The Man-Wolf" where he was voiced by actor Nolan North. He was the astronaut son of J. Jonah Jameson where he went to supervise the construction of a Daily Bugle Communications space station on the Moon. During this time, the construction crew uncovered evidence of a highly advanced civilization that once resided on the Moon where a study of the remains uncovered strange jewels left behind. One of these jewels came to embed itself into John Jameson's chest and transformed him into the feral Man-Wolf.
- In Spider-Man, John Jameson appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Josh Keaton. He was shown as being a young scientific student at the Osborn Academy where he discovered a lunar crystal that could emit radiation and trigger a persons transformation into the Man-Wolf. Norman Osborn tasked Jameson with testing of the crystal but told him to leave out his laboratory partner Harry Osborn. Jameson conducted his experiment where he bonded with the crystal and transformed into the Man-Wolf but lost his faculties as he went feral and sought out Harry in an attempt to cure him. This brought him into conflict with both Spider-Man and the Hulk where the Man-Wolf was shown to be able to absorb the latter's gamma radiation. Scratches from the Man-Wolf were also shown to be able to transform others into werewolf-like creatures.
Films
- In Spider-Man 2, John Jameson made an appearance in a supporting role where he was played by actor Daniel Gillies. He was shown as being the son of J. Jonah Jameson who was an astronaut that was notable for being the first an to play football on the Moon. John managed to develop a quick relationship with actress Mary Jane Watson following a strain in her friendship with Peter Parker. Afterwards, he would propose to her and she would accept leading to their wedding day being set. However, she would not marry Jameson and instead left him in the altar for Peter Parker after she learnt that she did not love John but instead loved Parker
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man v1: (1963)
- Carnage v2:
- Avengers v8:
- Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider v1:
- Web of Venom: Cult of Carnage v1:
- Absolute Carnage v1:
- Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors v1:
External Links
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