Flash! Bang! PAF! Jubilee Appreciation

[Candylyn]

NEVER!!! Jubilee should remain Jubilee forever!!!

The thing I want to see most is that she be treated as a full-fledged X-Man. No more of that kiddie crap. She's been around for about 23 years, now. If I see one more "Jubilee is still a teenage girl that needs to learn a lesson" story, I'll lose it. I'm also tired of the "X-Men/Wolverine save Jubilee from etc." crap. I want to see Jubilee save herself and step into her own.

I'm encouraged by Gischler's focus on her. She hasn't had this amount of focus since her role in Operation: Zero Tolerance. Do I agree with everything? No. I prefer my Jubilee alive... but at least he's treating her as the X-Men's equal and not one that needs to be led by the hand.

I wouldn't hold my breath on her appearing in any AvX materials at all. Face it... Other than Gischler and Liu, the other writers would prefer to pretend that she never existed. The most I'll ever be hopeful is that she continues to be a major part of X-Men 3.0 and has her story told in a way that doesn't banish her into Limbo again.

Well... and getting her mutant powers back (and used correctly and effectively) would be an awesome bonus as well.

For the record... Plasma is the fourth physical state of matter, which is essentially air heated to the point where its molecular bonds destabilize. If she's converting air into plasma, then theoretically her powers should be a lot more damaging in more solid materials.

I co-sign everything you wrote about Jubilee. I do not understand why she is ignored. If someone at Marvel can explain this to me I would be so grateful.

[Herring]

I've kind of noticed that none of the writers other than Gischler or Liu seem to want to use her in any significant way. My theory was that being mainly male comic book geeks (I assume you love comic books, that's why you write one), gettting into writing a bubbly teenage girl with a relatively clean history is not something they take to easily.

This can't be completely it though, as they keep on creating more teen girl characters to fill the same role: Pixie, Armour, etc... Jubilee's actually got a rougher history than they do.

I think it's more a case of them having a trope that works - "token team neophyte" - and them just looking to recycle that over and over. When a teen girl character gets too old, they just get replaced like a hollywood child actor who failed to transition into adult parts. They haven't got any intention of developing the characters, or given any thought on how to develop them (except in the case of Kitty Pryde, who was lucky she was around in the era where chris claremont wrote pretty much everything , and could get long lasting development).

Aaron did use her for the odd cameo in Wolverine but it was more of a good writer taking note of his character's history rather than setting her up to play a significant part in the plot. Heck, both he and Gillen totally ignored her in Schism and Regenesis despite her being featured first in the Regenesis teasers.

In hindsight, and given how lame most of regenesis was, I'm kind of glad her decision was covered by Liu instead. Though it does annoy me that they thought it better to include a moronic caveman metaphor over covering other characters.

As for Schism itself, my "alternate Jubilee fanboy ending" would have been to have Jubilee show up with the other X-teens and have her actually pry the detonator out of Wolverine's hands when he was wrestling with Cyclops. That would have immediately given her a reason to stay on Cyclops side. Then pretty much continue as usual showing the other x-teens on the island fight the sentinel.

Jubilee's absence from even the background of that battle was moronic, when you consider that people who had absolutely no means of damaging a sentinel (eg the Cuckoos) rushed out into the open to fight it. I guess Cyclops has them trained to act as human shields lol.

[NPC016]

This can't be completely it though, as they keep on creating more teen girl characters to fill the same role: Pixie, Armour, etc... Jubilee's actually got a rougher history than they do.

Heh, of all the Asian races and countries Marvel could have picked from when creating the NXM and Gen Hope, they seem to have heavily favoured Japanese ones. Not surprising when you consider the proliferation and impact of Japanese culture, coupled with the creation of X-men animes for that market. My guess is Armour was created and promoted for a combination of these reasons.

China's the largest market in the world but is a regulatory nightmare for foreign businesses, especially for companies like Marvel whose core product is essentially intellectual property. At any rate an American Chinese like Jubilee who takes no pride in her heritage may not be received very well in China.

I think it's more a case of them having a trope that works - "token team neophyte" - and them just looking to recycle that over and over. When a teen girl character gets too old, they just get replaced like a hollywood child actor who failed to transition into adult parts. They haven't got any intention of developing the characters, or given any thought on how to develop them (except in the case of Kitty Pryde, who was lucky she was around in the era where chris claremont wrote pretty much everything , and could get long lasting development).

I think that's where Pixie comes in. Jubilee by the point of NXM was kind of caught between generations. Not old enough to serve as a mentor, too experienced to be treated like one of the kids. It would've been fairly weird to have her Gen X team mates being full-fledged X-men while she still had to hang out with the kids. And at that point Jubilee hadn't been developed out of that trope to fill another role like Kitty.

But you're probably right in that had Claremont still been around Jubilee might've gotten better development, given how he used to regularly hint that she was actually pretty powerful.

That, and having Natalie Portman turn down the role of Jubilee in the movies, resulting in her being written out. =P

In hindsight, and given how lame most of regenesis was, I'm kind of glad her decision was covered by Liu instead. Though it does annoy me that they thought it better to include a moronic caveman metaphor over covering other characters.

Agreed. The thing that upset me more though was the signal that Jubilee wasn't significant enough to warrant inclusion even in the background during a major event that involved nearly every X-man of note.

Subsequent interviews indicated that her side would be told in her own arc, so I'm hoping it's more a case of Gischler screaming hands off his plans for his precious vampire creations than the other writers not interested in writing her ever.

As for Schism itself, my "alternate Jubilee fanboy ending" would have been to have Jubilee show up with the other X-teens and have her actually pry the detonator out of Wolverine's hands when he was wrestling with Cyclops. That would have immediately given her a reason to stay on Cyclops side. Then pretty much continue as usual showing the other x-teens on the island fight the sentinel.

But that would kind of make her a Cyclops supporter who opposes Wolverine's point of view. I think the current status quo works as it sets up a potential duty vs personal conflict-type story. Especially when she's next seen with Logan.

Jubilee's absence from even the background of that battle was moronic, when you consider that people who had absolutely no means of damaging a sentinel (eg the Cuckoos) rushed out into the open to fight it. I guess Cyclops has them trained to act as human shields lol.

LOL that's what I was thinking! Wtf the CUCKOOS are out there and Jubilee's nowhere to be found defending her home? The hell...

[Candylyn]

This can't be completely it though, as they keep on creating more teen girl characters to fill the same role: Pixie, Armour, etc... Jubilee's actually got a rougher history than they do.

Amen. Imo, the main reason Jubilee is not used as much is because she is precieved as asexual. The male readers don't find her attractive, she is not a hottie nor a predator lesbian (hubby's words not mine), so they are not interested.

On the other hand, her female fans, and some of her male fans too, appreciate the fact that she is not a sex kitten. I remember the internet blowing up after she showed up in New Warriors; some coined her 'Boobilee'. Not completely sure why it happened at that point and not before. While she was acting professionally she was drawn... well more mature.

That happened after Gen X ended but before she nailed to the cross on Xavier's front lawn. There are other pictures of her with a more mature figure but that was not the norm. I love her no matter what.

[RLAAMJR.]

Amen. Imo, the main reason Jubilee is not used as much is because she is precieved as asexual. The male readers don't find her attractive, she is not a hottie nor a predator lesbian (hubby's words not mine), so they are not interested.

On the other hand, her female fans, and some of her male fans too, appreciate the fact that she is not a sex kitten. I remember the internet blowing up after she showed up in New Warriors; some coined her 'Boobilee'. Not completely sure why it happened at that point and not before. While she was acting professionally she was drawn... well more mature.

That happened after Gen X ended but before she nailed to the cross on Xavier's front lawn. There are other pictures of her with a more mature figure but that was not the norm. I love her no matter what.

I really just prefer her to be a teen. I want her to be single and carefree. But if they have to change her to be a sexy lady, i might be fine but it would be weird that she looks grown up while the rest of the x-men are still the same.

[Herring]

But that would kind of make her a Cyclops supporter who opposes Wolverine's point of view. I think the current status quo works as it sets up a potential duty vs personal conflict-type story. Especially when she's next seen with Logan.

Only in as much as every N00b X-man that showed up in the sentinel fight was against Wolverine. They opposed that particular decision he made (they didn't retreat when he told them to), yet most of them ended up deciding to go with Wolverine anyway.

Nor do is it really an invalidation of Liu's line that "Jubilee needed to fight and that Wolverine won't allow that". In fact its would be a pratctical demonstration thereof.

Plus Wolverine's actions would have resulted in Cyclops being killed by the blast. That's classic grounds for Jubilee to go against him.

Amen. Imo, the main reason Jubilee is not used as much is because she is precieved as asexual. The male readers don't find her attractive, she is not a hottie nor a predator lesbian (hubby's words not mine), so they are not interested.

Looks like they've made some progress on that recently.
spoilers:

Sorry, couldn't resist posting this...

end of spoilers







I mean, she's definitely got the predator part down now, right? They even say as much!

On the other hand, her female fans, and some of her male fans too, appreciate the fact that she is not a sex kitten. I remember the internet blowing up after she showed up in New Warriors; some coined her 'Boobilee'. Not completely sure why it happened at that point and not before. While she was acting professionally she was drawn... well more mature.

It's probably a number of things. Firstly that she hadn't been in the comics for a while, so everyone remembered her most iconic depiction - which is relatively short and on the athletic rather than voluptuous. Secondly there was one artist drawing the majoritiy of New Warriors, so she was drawn that way consistently. Some other artists have drawn her with different proportions (some of Generation X, also the X-Corp arc off the top of my head), but they were mostly guest artists who'd be switched out after an issue or two. Thirdly her opening appearance in New Warriors didn't just draw her with large breasts, it drew her with oddly shaped large breasts. It's the sort of thing that tends to invite comment.

That happened after Gen X ended but before she nailed to the cross on Xavier's front lawn. There are other pictures of her with a more mature figure but that was not the norm. I love her no matter what.

X-Men Unlimited #34! O_O

The issue with the SAILOR GUARDIAN of permanent pantyshots, SAILOR JUBE!!1one



(Seriously what's up with that skirt. It's not just short, it doesn't even have a front...)

[RLAAMJR.]

I really, really really like this image.

[NPC016]

Actually when you think about it, since Gen X Jubilee's had her own (short-lived) ongoing, made a field leader in an ongoing team book, and got her own mini. That's actually more than what most of her peers in Gen X or the NXM got. Marvel obviously thinks she has enough of a fan base to try to capitalise on the character.

Perhaps the right question is either a) Why couldn't they find a way to fit classic Jubilee into the X-books or b) Why can't Marvel ever assign her a decent writer?

It's probably a number of things. Firstly that she hadn't been in the comics for a while, so everyone remembered her most iconic depiction - which is relatively short and on the athletic rather than voluptuous. Secondly there was one artist drawing the majoritiy of New Warriors, so she was drawn that way consistently. Some other artists have drawn her with different proportions (some of Generation X, also the X-Corp arc off the top of my head), but they were mostly guest artists who'd be switched out after an issue or two. Thirdly her opening appearance in New Warriors didn't just draw her with large breasts, it drew her with oddly shaped large breasts. It's the sort of thing that tends to invite comment.

Yep. She's had her share of crushes and admirers. Nowhere is it said that she was not hot or asexual - that Savage Land story where the natives thought she was a boy aside. Probably more a problem of artists not drawing her consistently or even well.

That said, heroines don't need to be really hot to be popular with readers, they just need to be well written. Lisbeth Salander from the Millennium trilogy, Death from Sandman, Utena from Shoujo Kakumei Utena come to mind.

Between Gen X and Liu's one-shot in Girl Comics (or was that Nation X story first?) I don't think I've seen Jubilee written by a decent writer in that time period.

They squandered her popularity in a sense by throwing her into poorly done books and stories trying to find a niche for her, turning both old and potential fans off. Even now she's saddled with the writer of arguably the worst X-book out there.

X-Men Unlimited #34! O_O

The issue with the SAILOR GUARDIAN of permanent pantyshots, SAILOR JUBE!!1one

(Seriously what's up with that skirt. It's not just short, it doesn't even have a front...)

Lol Taiwanese artists. I quite liked the shoujo art style in that issue even while it mocked the genre's conventions. Pity the sisters didn't seem to do much more work for Marvel after that.

[Herring]

Yep. She's had her share of crushes and admirers. Nowhere is it said that she was not hot or asexual - that Savage Land story where the natives thought she was a boy aside. Probably more a problem of artists not drawing her consistently or even well.

The natives thought she was a pretty boy though, she was given the king's daughter.

I always figured that most of the time, Jubilee was just dressing down with her "signature clothes", (or similarly casual stuff) and short haircuts.

In the few times she's put on a dress, there seems to have been an attempt to depict her as attractive - if a little younger than everyone around her. Like the time she goes off to Madripoor with Paladin to recover a sword (and crushes on him even though he's incompetent, leaving her to save the day lol).

That said, heroines don't need to be really hot to be popular with readers, they just need to be well written. Lisbeth Salander from the Millennium trilogy, Death from Sandman, Utena from Shoujo Kakumei Utena come to mind.

Trouble is, it's alot easier to sexualise a character than write them well. And given who's number one on marvel's top character list, it seems to be an easy substitution.

[NPC016]

I always figured that most of the time, Jubilee was just dressing down with her "signature clothes", (or similarly casual stuff) and short haircuts.

In the few times she's put on a dress, there seems to have been an attempt to depict her as attractive - if a little younger than everyone around her. Like the time she goes off to Madripoor with Paladin to recover a sword (and crushes on him even though he's incompetent, leaving her to save the day lol).

I wonder how much of it is her history, though. If she was 13 when she started having to look out for herself dressing up and grooming would probably take considerably lower priority to food and shelter. In a way with Wolverine wouldn't be surprising for her to grow up a bit wild in more than just behavior.

The problem I think, looking at old issues, is that she really just wasn't drawn very well a lot of times, especially in her early appearances. And in any case unless you work for a hentai studio it's a little disturbing to draw a sexually attractive 13 year old.

I do think she is supposed to be at least as attractive as most superheroines, if not quite seen on the level of Psylocke and Monet looks-wise. Maybe the lack of a proper long-term romantic interest (I try to forget Shane Shooter) has made her seem a bit asexual.

Trouble is, it's alot easier to sexualise a character than write them well. And given who's number one on marvel's top character list, it seems to be an easy substitution.

Definitely. The lack of interest in Jubes really is less her looks than the lack of quality writers and writing for her. I also think the lack of development for her capabilities and powers have really hurt her. Had she actually been shown to be able to skillfully manipulate matter at a sub-atomic level or had a unique mastery (genius intellect and hacking in Kitty's case) perhaps the writers post-Gen X might have found reasons to write her in with the main team.

Now, we can only hope with Gischler.

[NPC016]

Reading the solicits again for Feb - Jubilee learns more about her vampire heritage - what are the chances she might actually learn or develop a new power that confirms her abilities are above those of the average vampire? She is, after all, quite close to Dracula himself in lineage.

I certainly hope it doesn't involve the Forgiven taking up nearly all the pages talking about Dracula's history and themselves vis a vis #11. Or the Lee family somehow being connected to vampires...

[NPC016]

FYI, was mucking around the Marvel site trying to find the ship date for adjectiveless in Feb when I came across this:

http://marvel.com/comic_books/collec...rade_paperback

I suppose if you're a huge fan, really obscure Jubilee stories back in the day might be interesting to pick up for your collection.

P.S. The official Marvel site did not have Adjectiveless in its shipping schedule for Feb. Wtf.

[Herring]

P.S. The official Marvel site did not have Adjectiveless in its shipping schedule for Feb. Wtf.

I noticed this too. As of yesterday #24 has appeared (shipping in week 2). #25 Still isn't up, but I guess it'll be week 4.

[Herring]

Jubilee got essentially an entire issue to herself (shared with Gary Kodo and his ISO 9000 compliant vampire team) and there's no commentary in the Jubilee Appreciation Thread?! We must correct this at once!

Let's start with the not so bad stuff.
I rather liked Jubilee trolling ISO team member 2 (Inka - don't bother remembering the name though, as none of this team
are remarkable enough to deserve them). It's the same attitude we got back in the day when Jubilee was captured by the Mandarin, so I rather enjoyed it.


Poor fool, you really have no idea what you're in for going up against Jubilee in full on troll mode. She's even posing like Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream...


SUCCESFUL TROLL IS SUCCESSFUL

I also enjoyed her effortlessly owning ISO team member 3 (Quickshot).

Then on the other side of the spectrum we had the two seduction attempts. The second one, I didn't really have a problem with. It was clearly just a way to efficiently pacify her prospective meal without having him scream. (Also is this conformation that Jubilee can use sexy vampire hypnosis powers? Or is Euro-Yokel just so desperate and inexperienced that he ends up paralysed while Jubilee goes through her internal moral conflict?)



The first one (with Gary S. Kodo, no less), was more painful for a Jubilee fan to watch. There wasn't any attempt to swipe the cell keys or back stab Raizo-stu, it's a plain seduction attempt, complete with the obligatory unzip the front opening shirt (though I like the irony that she is stopped before she can even unzip as much as Rogue, Black Widow and Black Cat usually have their zippers open to).



It's made worse when you consider the addiction angle they are playing in this story: Jubilee is so desparate for a fix here that she's prepared to prostitue hereself for it. I won't say that it's not a legitimate place to take the character, but you really have to be careful when going there.

I'll end by adding that this is the only time in adjectiveless X-Men that we have seen Gischler do character development - EVERY OTHER ISSUE has treated the characters as robots and always managed to end by leaving the characters exactly how it found them. So in that regard, the issue is actually already better than any of the others Gischler's written. Here's the problem: the development in this issue is completely between Jubilee and the guest stars, who'll probably all bog off and never be heard from again. In the mean time, there's still no rapport built up within the team. They're all still robots.

[Candylyn]

It's made worse when you consider the addiction angle they are playing in this story: Jubilee is so desparate for a fix here that she's prepared to prostitue hereself for it. I won't say that it's not a legitimate place to take the character, but you really have to be careful when going there.

I'll end by adding that this is the only time in adjectiveless X-Men that we have seen Gischler do character development - EVERY OTHER ISSUE has treated the characters as robots and always managed to end by leaving the characters exactly how it found them. So in that regard, the issue is actually already better than any of the others Gischler's written. Here's the problem: the development in this issue is completely between Jubilee and the guest stars, who'll probably all bog off and never be heard from again. In the mean time, there's still no rapport built up within the team. They're all still robots.

I agree with you on the point of team development, however, Jubilee being a vampire and all that brings to the team needs to be hashed ASAP or else it will be the gimmick "everyone" claims it to be.

Team development takes time, especially with defined and shared characters like Storm and Psylocke onboard. Hopefully, he will start to develop the other characters within the storyline instead of singling them out like this.

As for Jubilation's (I love that Raizo calls her that) behavior, I think it was dead bang for a person in her position at this point in the arc. The positive effects of Logan's blood have worn off and she has shown she wants to control herself. Inbetween those two things you expect off-color behavior. The prostituting herself for a shot at blood is not out of character for this situation.

What we are seeing is someone we know behave like the addict they have become and we don't like. No I don't want Jubilee whoring her body for blood hits, however, she was desperate in a way only an addict, or the family member of an addict, could understand.

I liked this story and was screaming, ABOUT TIME!!!