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  1. #16
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    Jonah is one of best supporting characters in all of comic-dom. He's a character who can have moments of both seriousness and goofiness, where most characters lean more heavily in one or the other. Also, its interesting to note that he's one of those characters who can be antagonistic toward the hero, but still be a good guy.

    Also when it comes to adaptations, I will say that Jonah is one of the characters who is consistently done well (when they decide to include him). Are there any portrayals of Jonah in adaptive media that you feel stand out? We all know J. K. Simmons portrayal will be up there (as he's been the only live action version that I am aware of).

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Revolutionary_Jack View Post
    Not a single bad issue in his run. Not many about whom that can be said. Lee-Ditko certainly, no bad issues (well maybe that Looter one near the end).

    And Chip Zdarsky's landmark "My Dinner with Jonah" kind of made this canon. In an additive retcon (i.e. a retcon that doesn't contradict anything previously established), he put Jonah in the audience when Spider-man made his debut on TV.
    If I had to choose a stinker, I'd probably go with the one with The Tinkerer in it. Not surprisingly, Stern felt the need to fix that one up.

    JJJ having a reporter's interest in Spidey's career as a wrestler was already pointed out by Lapham. Although that one isn't even earth-616, I liked his approach better; inserting a new character in an AF#15 panel, is a little over the top for me.

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Speed Force League Unlimited View Post
    This comment using a good line from one of my favorite episodes deserves thumbs up.
    Thanks.

    Quote Originally Posted by Revolutionary_Jack View Post
    This is the ultimate Jonah moment for me. I am also happy to say that I own the original issue of this comic.

    Attachment 92207

    To me Jameson is a great character. A great reporter who is undone by his lapse in judgment, and who serves as the living incarnation of Peter's guilty conscience that there was a time when he was just as much of an attention seeking selfish a--hole indifferent to collateral damage as Jameson frequently disparages Peter to be.
    Quote Originally Posted by Revolutionary_Jack View Post
    Not a single bad issue in his run. Not many about whom that can be said. Lee-Ditko certainly, no bad issues (well maybe that Looter one near the end).



    Well you bought it cheap then I guess. I shelled out a fair bit for this issue because it has now become a classic collector's item.



    It's purely subtext and obviously it depends on fans connecting the dots, since I don't think Stan Lee or Ditko were entirely conscious about this when they wrote and created this character.

    But let's ask,
    -- What is the main purpose that Jonah serves in Spider-Man's story? The answer is that he makes the public disapprove of Spider-Man, and gives him bad publicity.
    -- Now the second question is, why is it important for Jonah or a character like him to do so, to turn the public against Spider-Man? To always have him defending himself, to always yearn to prove and vindicate himself? Why is it important? What is lost and gained if this element were not there?

    Because from a plot perspective in AF#15, Peter Parker gets the lesson of "great power there must also come great responsibility" and he learns that he's not perfect or good and he learns the price paid for the vain pursuit of fame. He decides that he will set right and become a superhero. Then in TASM#1, the first issue of his flagship title, Jonah appears and launches into his crusade against Spider-Man. Basically Jonah is an external manifestation of Peter's internal guilt. Peter will never forgive himself about Uncle Ben and he doesn't think he's entirely a good guy, well here's someone on the outside who thinks that about Spider-Man. So basically neither Peter nor Spider-Man can take anything for granted, they have to always prove themselves and are held to a high standard. And Jonah is the guy who does that. Jonah in Peter's life is "Part of that power most misunderstood. Who always wills evil, but always does good".

    And Chip Zdarsky's landmark "My Dinner with Jonah" kind of made this canon. In an additive retcon (i.e. a retcon that doesn't contradict anything previously established), he put Jonah in the audience when Spider-man made his debut on TV. So Jonah, like Mary Jane, knows Spider-Man before Spider-Man:

    Attachment 92211

    So Jonah now has reason to believe that deep down Spider-Man was always a clown and showman out for publicity. Because that's the first thing Peter did when he got powers. Did Peter subject his blood to the scientific method and publish research papers? Nope. First thing he did was become a superhero Justin Bieber. Which I guess is better than becoming a school shooter or taking over the world. But it's not exactly someone you would think of as capable of heroism. You would think that guy's first instinct is for wealth and fame.
    That sums it up just about perfectly.
    The spider is always on the hunt.

  4. #19
    Ultimate Member Mister Mets's Avatar
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    Jonah's great because he's entertaining, but there is a depth to him.

    Sincerely,
    Thomas Mets

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Mets View Post
    Jonah's great because he's entertaining, but there is a depth to him.

    Exactly. It's why he's arguably the most compelling of Peter's supporting cast.
    The spider is always on the hunt.

  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Mets View Post
    Jonah's great because he's entertaining, but there is a depth to him.
    It's clear that Ditko intended for the character to have said duality, but Stan's words don't add up to JJJ's actions throughout his own run. I wonder how Spider-Man's creator intended those famous panels to come across.

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mistah K88 View Post
    Also when it comes to adaptations, I will say that Jonah is one of the characters who is consistently done well (when they decide to include him). Are there any portrayals of Jonah in adaptive media that you feel stand out? We all know J. K. Simmons portrayal will be up there (as he's been the only live action version that I am aware of).
    There is another, played by David White and Robert F Simon in the 1977-79 American TV series. Peter, Aunt May, and Jonah were the only characters from the comics used, though there was a character, Rita Conway, who serves Glory Grant's role.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Am...an_(TV_series)
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  8. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Mets View Post
    Jonah's great because he's entertaining, but there is a depth to him.

    Marv Wolfman repeated this moment in the end of Amazing 192




    It's funnier to think that he idolizes Captain America. I think that bit started with the 1981 cartoon and stuck to the character later.
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  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Speed Force League Unlimited View Post
    Marv Wolfman repeated this moment in the end of Amazing 192




    It's funnier to think that he idolizes Captain America. I think that bit started with the 1981 cartoon and stuck to the character later.
    Indeed, and honestly, if Jonah was there for some of Spider-Man's most crushing moments of self-doubt and recrimination, I'd think he'd realize some things about himself and Spidey.
    The spider is always on the hunt.

  10. #25
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    The preview of Amazing Spider-man issue next week by Spencer has a preview on https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalo...90863?Prevue=1


    looks great, you really feel for JJJ in making amends liking where Spencer is taking him

  11. #26
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    ...I just had a thought. While it seems like Jonah hated Spider-Man for a mix of no reason and jealousy in earlier stories, do you think that Peter antagonized the man at all when behind the anonymity of a mask, thus contributing to the publisher's libel toward the web slinger?

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mistah K88 View Post
    ...I just had a thought. While it seems like Jonah hated Spider-Man for a mix of no reason and jealousy in earlier stories, do you think that Peter antagonized the man at all when behind the anonymity of a mask, thus contributing to the publisher's libel toward the web slinger?
    In legal terms, Peter's behavior with Jonah is supremely dodgy.

    Getting photos of Spider-Man while being Spider-Man, and gaining an artificial exclusivity to the material is a con. It's definitely an attempt by Spider-Man to monetize his heroics...of course the con is double edged because getting pictures of Spider-Man helps the sales of the Daily Bugle, and Peter has no copyright over his photos (as David Michelinie made clear in that entire "Book Tour" arc where Jonah tells Peter that a publisher wanted to print out "Webs" but the Bugle owns copyright over the photos and in exchange Peter gets some fees but no royalties). So I would say it's a con that Peter's not very good at getting the most out of.

    Likewise, Peter was the one who convinced Jonah to commission the Spider-Slayers. Which is something that people have forgotten. Dan Slott was the writer who kept harping about Jonah creating supervillains and he made that an issue that Zdarsky and Spencer had to address, but both forget or neglect that it was Peter, for totally petty and selfish reasons, who got Jonah to back Smythe.

    ASM #25 - Peter siccs the Spider-Slayers.jpg

    So that definitely is shady "Create crime for me to fight and score a photo-op" and it's certainly the attitude of a conman.

    So Jameson definitely has some grounds against Peter and Spider-Man.

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Revolutionary_Jack View Post
    In legal terms, Peter's behavior with Jonah is supremely dodgy.

    Getting photos of Spider-Man while being Spider-Man, and gaining an artificial exclusivity to the material is a con. It's definitely an attempt by Spider-Man to monetize his heroics...of course the con is double edged because getting pictures of Spider-Man helps the sales of the Daily Bugle, and Peter has no copyright over his photos (as David Michelinie made clear in that entire "Book Tour" arc where Jonah tells Peter that a publisher wanted to print out "Webs" but the Bugle owns copyright over the photos and in exchange Peter gets some fees but no royalties). So I would say it's a con that Peter's not very good at getting the most out of.

    Likewise, Peter was the one who convinced Jonah to commission the Spider-Slayers. Which is something that people have forgotten. Dan Slott was the writer who kept harping about Jonah creating supervillains and he made that an issue that Zdarsky and Spencer had to address, but both forget or neglect that it was Peter, for totally petty and selfish reasons, who got Jonah to back Smythe.

    ASM #25 - Peter siccs the Spider-Slayers.jpg

    So that definitely is shady "Create crime for me to fight and score a photo-op" and it's certainly the attitude of a conman.

    So Jameson definitely has some grounds against Peter and Spider-Man.
    And thus a spot-on example of the trope "Create Your Own Villain" that has plagued so many superhero stories over the ages.
    The spider is always on the hunt.

  14. #29

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    Sorry for resurrecting my thread, but this is an appreciation thread, and I want to appreciate the character.

    Oh well, I think I prefer Jonah Jameson with integrity despite his opposition of Spider-Man. Mayor Jameson was too childish to be the respected mayor who doesn't like to color facts or waste tax payers money, and his anti-Spidey Squad was too expensive garbage that I think is out of character for cheap old grumpy scrooge Jonah Jameson. I enjoy the mayor Jameson stuff, but it doesn't really suit the character.
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  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Speed Force League Unlimited View Post
    Sorry for resurrecting my thread, but this is an appreciation thread, and I want to appreciate the character.

    Oh well, I think I prefer Jonah Jameson with integrity despite his opposition of Spider-Man. Mayor Jameson was too childish to be the respected mayor who doesn't like to color facts or waste tax payers money, and his anti-Spidey Squad was too expensive garbage that I think is out of character for cheap old grumpy scrooge Jonah Jameson. I enjoy the mayor Jameson stuff, but it doesn't really suit the character.
    That's a pretty good point. Mayor Jameson leveraging (or abusing) his power to get at Spider-Man doesn't speak well to the character, but considering that this was the same guy who funded the transformation of Mac Gargan into the Scorpion out of his own pocket . . .
    The spider is always on the hunt.

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