Jessica goes to a small town to find a missing girl. It’s a very, very good little mystery made all-the-better by the “collage” style arwork woven throughout Michael Gaydos’ noirish art. We’ve seen that on the covers of this book, but now it’s part of the narrative. The collages come from the girl’s diaries–stories of anger and alienation.
As Jessica investigates the case, she learns that the missing girl is a mutant obsessed with vigilantes like Daredevil and Punisher–and she was rejected by her classmates when her powers manifested.
Small-town mutantphobia (spurred by the local church) itself then becomes a suspect in the case.
Issue #12 weaves in yet another art style…
…Pictures of Jessica from her “Jewel” days–drawn by Mark Bagely.
During her investigation, Jessica has sex with the local sheriff (who says she’s “too rough”). Her gritty, alcoholic nature stands in contrast to the “happy Jewel” pictures (above)–continuing to bring a depth to this character unlike any in Marvel Comics before now.
Jones finally tracks down Rebecca doing a spoken word piece in a nightclub a couple towns over–about Daredevil’s recently exposed secret identity.
She’s alive. And she’s fine.
Jessica exposes a murder plot, brings the girl home, and we get to the end of the story.
Another home run.