J.Jonah Jameson

## Bio

John Jonah Jameson was born in 1913 to Betty Jameson and John Jonah Jameson Sr in Brooklyn. His father disappeared from his life and young Jonah was raised by his mother Betty Jameson and step father David, who his mother married in 1917. David was a war hero of the 1898 Mollusc Invasion and the Airship Wars but abused his wife and son, leading Jameson to grow a paradoxical dislike for Heroes but a praise for the "Real Heroes" which he considered to be non powered men and women who endangered their lives. Jameson was a boy scout as a child and in High School took up Boxing and photography. He met his first wife Joan Leland when they were part of their school's photography department. Joan fell in love with Jonah after he fought back against three bullies. They began dating and married soon after leaving school. While in School, Jameson pursued an internship at the Daily Bugle and clashed with the editor of the campus newspaper Perry White.

Jameson joined the Daily Bugle in 1937, the same year Berzelius Windrip installed himself as a Dictator. Jameson passed around publications for the New Underground, supporting the resistance while pretending to be supportive to the regime until it was overthrown, after which he shifted gears to exposing their corruption. He publicly criticized the Corpo Regime’s efforts to cover up the Mollusc Invasion of 1938 as a hoax. While doing this, he made good friends with Phil Sheldon, a fellow Daily Bugle reporter and witnessed the first battle between Namor and the Human Torch. Jameson was skeptical about the new Superheroes, fearing they would takeover Humanity and not liking Nazi Germany’s approach toward them, an idea reinforced when while taking photos of another battle between Namor and the Human Torch in 1941, Phil Sheldon lost an eye. Jameson quelled his attitude a bit as the US Government endorsed and promoted its own Heroes and so supported Clark Savage Jr and Captain America. He remained in the US while fellow Bugle reporters Phil Sheldon and Richard Jones under his alias of the Phantom Reporter, covered the war overseas. Jameson was vehemently against covering the war in person. Not so much out of cowardice as he did put himself in danger during the Corpo Regime, but because he saw defending the Homefront as more important and saw the loss of life overseas as Pointless. He later changed his mind and was sent to cover the African campaign, witnessing the thwarted invasion of the Race, and travelled to the aftermath of D-Day, photographing the remains of the Nazi Dinosaurs deployed along with begrudgingly taking photos of the Vought Sponsored Soldier Boy.

After the war, Jameson had a son, John Jonah Jameson III but usually simply John Jameson, who was born in 1946. Jameson was among the earliest supporters of the Superhero Relocation Program in 1948 and focused on the collateral damage caused by Mr.Incredible, Superman and others. Then in 1949, Joan Jameson was murdered by a masked assassin. J.Jonah Jameson had been investigating Wilson Fisk and been ordered to back down. He did not and paid the price. Jameson gained a new distrust for men with masks, which led him to support Iselinism and even controversially support Businessman Lex Luthor, though possibly motivated by his rival Perry White taking an opposing stance at the Daily Planet. In 1950 when the Kanamits arrived on Earth, Jameson expressed distrust of them, which proved vindicated when their true intentions were revealed. In 1951 when Klaatu arrived on Earth he advocated for a violent response to demonstrate humanity capable to the members of the alien citadel. In 1952, he advocated for Ras the Exhorter, leader of the 1952 Harlem Riots to be executed. His support of Johhny Iselin led the senator to be put on the Republican ticket with David Kamperhaufe, which backfired when he was assassinated and revealed as a Communist Spy, forcing Jameson to put out a touching obituary to him and then immediately rush to recall it. He took a firm anti-communist stance, saving his reputation and his experience led him to become Editor-in Chief of the Daily Bugle in 1956.

As Editor-In-Chief, Jameson remained anti-Communist. He supported Civil Rights, which were covered by Jean-Louise Finch, a talented writer, who wrote the praised article *Go Set a Watchman,* which dissected the pros and cons of Superheroes. Under his tenure Jim Dial exposed the details of the 1958 Doomsday Crisis. The Bugle also reported on the Tropico Missile Crisis in 1962. Jameson took a stance against superheroes of any kind and supported the idea of Mutant registration. The target for much of his hatred was Spider-Man. This sabotaged Spider-Man’s career as a performer early on. Ironically, Spider-Man was actually Peter Parker, an employee under Jameson. Jameson employed Parker and teenager Betty Brant, who admitted to needing the money to pay off gambling debts held by her brother. Jameson even dismissed Spider-Man saving his son John Jameson from dying in a shuttle craft accident in 1963 as being done by the wall crawler only for publicity, which caused a rift between Jonah and his son. John Jameson left for the Space Hotel USA and parted on bad terms with his father. Jameson was nearly killed and eaten when the Knids attacked the Space Hotel and he was forced to evacuate in 1964. Jameson advocated for a violent response but was ignored. Jameson condemned the Actions of the vigilante Rorshach, while the controversial newspaper, the New Frontiersman supported him, resulting in Jameson slandering them as well. Jameson’s hatred for Spider-Man led him to work with scientists to create supervillains to take the wall crawler down. This began with turning Mac Gargan into the Scorpion in 1964, and while he volunteered, Gargan snapped and was defeated by Spider-Man, gaining a vendetta against Jameson. He also worked with Professor Spencer Smythe to create the Spider Slayers in 1965, the first of which displayed Jameson’s face on a screen as it attacked Spider-Man. Under Jameson, the Daily Bugle declared Galactus a hoax when he attacked Earth in 1966, gaining much condemnation even from within. Phil Sheldon was an old friend and coworker since the 1930’s and genuinely believed the world was going to end, spending that time with his family until the Fantastic Four foiled Galactus. He clashed with Jameson. Another figure to condemn Jameson was police detective John Jones. While Jones had done some work for the Daily Bugle under Jameson’s own boss Mr.Powers under the pen name “Huntley Haverstock” by going to Europe during the Second World War, what Jameson and most of the world didn’t know is that Jones had been killed in the 1950's while on a case and the Martian Manhunter had assumed his identity to avenge him, retaining it thereafter. Jameson ironically attacked the Martian Manhunter in public by claiming he was an alien spy along with other alien Superheroes and claimed shapeshifting species such as the Pod People, Skrulls and Zygons were still in hiding within humanity despite thier invasions being thwarted. Jameson himself came under fire when the Government investigated his involvement with the Scorpion and the Spider-Slayers, resulting in his arrest in 1967.

Without Jameson, the Daily Bugle, now under Robbie Robertson, was forced to change its stance on protesting the Sarkhan War when Captain America was sent over only to change it back when Captain America went rogue in protest against the atrocities committed on the civilians by American soldiers. The Bugle would spend most of the War printing Op-Ed articles from CEA Agent Blackford Oakes denying atrocities and details such as Colonel Kurtz going rogue. Already in prison, Jameson was arrested by President Max Frost’s Suede denim Secret Police and placed in an internment camp until Frost was removed from power later in 1969. Being a victim, Jameson was pardoned by Richard Monckton(Real name: Ferris F.Fremont) among many others which included his previous crimes. As a result, Jameson was favorable towards Richard Monckton and turned his view around when Monckton did send Superheroes into Sarkhan, resulting in a victory in 1971. When the Watergate Scandal broke thank to Mark Forman and Joseph Turner, even Jameson had to condemn Monckton and support the pardoned Captain America, though he did show support for Monckton's brief successor Henry Talbot McNeil. By contrast he attacked Prez Rckard, largely due to him being elected on the policy instituted by Frost, his dislike of the "Hippie President" and his accidental win thanks to Watergate. When Gwen Stacy was murdered by the Green Goblin in 1973 despite Spider-Man's efforts to save her, Jonah tried to comfort Peter by relating it to his own wife’s death, while condemning Spider-Man as the murderer as he had done with the death of Captain George Stacy in 1970 despite clear evidence it was Doctor Octopus, a fact proven by Reporter Phil Sheldon. Jameson’s son John was cursed with Lycanthropy, which added another element of his dislike towards the supernatural. Jameson wrote in 1976 an article about what drove Howard Beale to commit suicide. The Bugle also covered the assassination of Presidential candidate Charles Palantine. He was approached by Dr.Marla Madison for possibly rebuilding the Spider-Slayer. While Madison’s Spider-Slayer failed, she and Jameson hit it off, though she disliked his smoking, a habit he gave up for her. Despite some friction between Madison and John Jameson, the two were soon married. Jameson suggested violent action against the aliens when the 1977 Devil’s Peak Incident became public knowledge. Jameson pushed for the Keene Act and its supporter Robert Kelly and the Black Prime Massacre in 1977 led to its acceptance. The Bugle publicly attacked President Douglas Dillman while working with Finch to not appear racist, pointing out they criticized he successor Jordan Lyman in much the same way. Jameson was critical of the UWO's negotiating with a race of Space Cats first contact was established with in 1978. Jameson covered the 1979 Senator Joe Tynan affair and the Asranian Revolution.

In 1982, when Lou Grant came under fire by the Cyclops Administration for his criticisms of the administration, the government pulled strings to get him fired from the Los Santos Tribune. Jameson got him a job at the Daily Bugle. In 1983, Jameson was skeptical of the Visitors when they arrived until their intentions were revealed. Jameson argued that the government should allow more freedom to small businesses such as the Ghostbusters following their fame after the 1984 Gozer incident. He started a feud with reporter Raoul Duke when the latter pointed out the Scumlabs disaster, calling him a drug addled Hippie and gaining much criticism for this. Ironically both were targets during the Soviet Invasion of Operation: Red Dawn that same year though the Soviet forces were defeated before they could reach Metropolis. The removal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 led to the Bugle taking on more conservative viewpoints. This alienated many of the longtime staff including Jean Louise Finch, Jim Dial(who left for the Magazine FYI), Lou Grant, Betty Brant, and Nick Alexander, who abandoned him. Jameson replaced them with Blackford Oates, Peter Petrawicki, Birch Barlow, and Mary Marsh, who would all dominate the conservative media scene for decades to come. This change was matched with a change in Jameson’s appearance as he lost all his hair and became bald. While the Bugle had previously been supportive of Mutant riots and unbiased when covering Mutant rights, thanks to Jean Louise Finch’s views comparing it to the Civil Rights issue, the Bugle now supported the idea of assassinating Erik Lensherr, who had taken over the island of Genosha after overthrowing the tyrannical regime there, the Bugle encouraging reinstating the old government. Jameson was shocked to learn that his own son John Jameson was planning on marrying She-Hulk and sent the original Spider-Slayer after her, which she easily defeated and was easily incriminated for as the Slayer still clearly displayed his face. She-Hulk then took Jameson to court along with Spider-Man as the Plaintiff, though the charges were eventually settled out of court. The Visitors were discovered to have infiltrated Earth in 1988. This shook Jameson more than any other invasion as he realized that he’d been one of the most vocal supporters of free market capitalism which the Visitors had weaponized and used for brainwashing and had scared off most of his older friends and employees to replace them with biased conservatives. On his request, most of these figures moved on or were fired. Jameson vowed to change both himself and the Bugle by recruiting unbiased figures. This included Frank Fontana, Kitt Kittredge, April O’Neil(A Computer programmer turned recent reporter),  Herb Welch, and a returning Betty Brant. Jameson’s attitude changed regarding Superheroes as well.

In 1991, the Bugle surprised many when Jameson insisted that the Tectonese Refugees be let in rather than the usual Xenophobia he and the Bugle normally displayed. He also covered the rising power of the Augments and Khan Noonien Singh. The Bugle broke the story of Japan’s Battle Royale Program created in the wake of the Akademi High School Massacre. He asked Betty Brant to cover the Jack Ryan’s confirmation of Vice President when the attack on the Capitol Building resulted in Brant’s death. Blaming himself, Jameson resigned from the Bugle.

To his surprise, Jameson was approached by Spider-Man in his home while mourning Betty Brant. Jameson though Spider-Man was there to gloat and then became angry at him. The two talked, Spider-Man asking about several problems Jameson had with him, before unmasking himself to Jameson’s surprise. Jameson fainted and screamed. He awoke and when people knocked on the door, he made an excuse to send them away, allowing him and Spider-Man to speak. Spider-Man told his whole Life Story that day and Jameson’s viewpoint changed. He apologized for all he had done to him. In the end, Jameson felt reinvigorated, a massive weight off his chest. He also felt like his work wasn’t finished.

Jameson debuted his radio show Just the Facts soon after where he discussed current events. The image used was intentionally an older picture of him with all his hair. When he criticized Spider-Man on Just the Facts it was laced with sarcasm and quips such as “A Hero has risen to save the city….but enough about me. Let’s talk about Spider-Man.”….”Black Cat is back and of course, Spider-Man is too busy thinking with his web shooters to catch her…”.

Jameson announced a bid for Mayor of Metropolis and won, succeeding Jock Mulligan and serving from 1993 to 1996. While he had initially supported Jack Stanton's Presidency until multiple scandals hit him followed by Donald Thomas "Bud" Hammond being hit as well, resulting in the unexpected victory of Thomas J.Whitmore. During the Harvester Invasion he made the choice to evacuate the city, saving many lives when the Harvester ships attacked. He stepped down as Mayor in the aftermath and was replaced by John Pappas. His view on Superheroes had also changed, and he was supportive enough that he and his wife adopted the young Superheroine Mattie Franklin, also known as Spider-Woman. Jameson renounced many of the views he held in his life near its end and while he alienated many of his old followers he also gained many new ones. Jameson also supported the refugee aliens rescued when the Yeerk where defeated in 2000.

In 2001, MacGargan, the Scorpion, escaped from Prison, intending to kill Jameson. With Spider-Man too far away to make it in time, and Jameson knowing this, he donned the original Spider-Slayer and fought MacGargan in a fight which took them to the Daily Bugle. While MacGargan believed it to be a robot, and heavily damaged it, when it was unable to continue fighting, Jameson leaped out, revealing it to have been turned into a suit. Wrestling with the exhausted MacGargan, Jameson was forced to kill MacGargan with his own broken off tail. While victorious, he suffered a heart attack soon after. Spider-Man arrived too late. Jameson would die in his arms. His death would be overshadowed by the September 11 Terrorist Attacks but to the Parker and Jameson families it remained a tragic passing. His memoir was released Posthumously as Webs: Untangling a life.

Marla Jameson would sell her shares of the Daily Bugle, which had inhabited the famous Flatiron building. Ironically it was lended out to the CEA and would be used as headquarters for Billy Butcher's the Boys in their efforts to bring down Vought. John Jameson, thanks to his lycanthropy, survived the 2008 Clover Kaiju attack. Marla died in 2011. Mattie Franklin remained active as Spider-Woman.

## **Trivia**

-Credit to Anarcho Occultist, for most of this, with some changes.

-References in order: Marvel Comics, War of the Worlds, The War in the Air, DC Comics, It Can’t Happen Here, The Great Dictator, Doc Savage, WorldWar, Dino D-Day, The Boys, The Incredibles, The Manchurian Candidate, To Serve Men, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Mass Effect, Invisible Man, Death of a Politician, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tropico, Murphy Brown, Dr. Strangelove, Watchmen, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Foreign Correspondent, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Doctor Who, The Ugly American, Spiderman: Life Story, Blackford Oakes, Apocalypse Now, Wild in the Streets, California Uber Alles, The Company, Radio Free Albemuth, Heartburn, The Eagle has Landed, Voyage To the Bottom of the Sea, Prez, Network, Taxi Driver, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Carrie, The Man, Seven Days in May, The Cat from Outer Space, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, Area 88, Whoops Apocalypse, Lou Grant, Ghostbusters, V, They Live, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Rampage, Red Dawn, Saints and Sinners, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, The Simpsons, The West Wing, American Girl, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Saturday Night Live, Alien Nation, Star Trek, Battle Royale, Yandere Simulator, Jack Ryan, Primary Colors, Political Animals, Independence Day, City Hall, Animorphs, Cloverfield,