Contents

List of Figures

Introduction

Mary Grace Lao, Pree Rehal, and Jessica Bay

Episode Guide

Part 1: A New Kind of Superhero: Film Noir and the Anti-hero

Part 1 Introduction

Jessica Bay

1 When Is a Superhero Not a Superhero?

Catherine Jenkins

2 Defining “Rebel Femme Noir” through Genre Hybridization in Cinematic and Comics Narratives of Jessica Jones

Natalja Chestopalova

3 “My Greatest Weakness? Occasionally I Give a Damn”: (Super)Heroic Duty, Responsibility, and Morality

Sarah Stang

4 Watch Party: Watching Jessica Jones Watch Others

Eric Ross

5 “So Go After the Big Green Guy or the Flag Waver”: The MCU Reality Bridge

Ian Fitzgerald

Part 2: Portrayals of Masculinities, Male Violence, and Entitlement

Part 2 Introduction

Mary Grace Lao

6 From Devils to Milquetoast Little Man-Boys

Jessica Seymour

7 Will Simpson and the Failure of Militarized Masculinity

Brett Pardy

8 #Kilgraved: Geek Masculinity and Entitlement in Marvel’s Villains

Anastasia Salter and Bridget M. Blodgett

9 Undeniably Charming, Undeniably Wicked, and Our Shameful Kilgrave Crush

Mary Grace Lao

Part 3: Surviving Trauma

Part 3 Introduction

Pree Rehal

10 “Tell Us Which One of Us Was Truly Violated”: Disrupting Narratives of Trauma, Rape, and Consent

Kiera Obbard

11 Before Kilgrave, After Kilgrave: The Choreographic Effects of Trauma on the Female Body

Michelle Johnson

12 Code Word, “I Love You”: Sisterhood, Friendship, and Trauma

Tracey Thomas

13 “I Can’t Leave”: The Iconography of Hysteria and the Anti-superhero

Sorouja Moll

14 Representations of Rape and Race

Pree Rehal and Caitlynn Fairbarns

15 “AKA WWJD?”: Interrogating Gendered Ideologies and Urban Revanchism

Arun Jacob and Elizabeth DiEmanuele

Conclusion: Considering Jessica Jones as a Moment in Time

Jessica Bay

List of Contributors

Index