Netflix’s “Jessica Jones” enlisted a team of talented women to bring its second season to life: 13 female directors and 13 graphic designers joined showrunner Melissa Rosenberg to give the Marvel superhero a notable return to the streaming service.
“Jessica is brilliant, strong, and self-directed,” says Colleen Doran, who’s illustrated for Marvel since the mid-1980s.
Doran is among a dozen other international female illustrators tapped to design pulp-style covers for the New York City-set series’ second season, which hit Netflix on International Women’s Day, March 8. Her work can be found in “The Amazing Spider-Man” (1989) and “S.H.I.E.L.D.” (2014), among other comics.
Each more epic than the last, the Netflix covers feature Jessica powering through flames, fighting creatures and demons and narrowly avoiding disasters.
Directed by St. Louis native Millicent Shelton, this is Episode 5: AKA The Octopus, illustrated by International Horror Guild award-winning @ColleenDoran, #JessicaJonesReturns pic.twitter.com/PZAe7u8k6z
— Jessica Jones (@JessicaJones) March 5, 2018
The 53-year-old drew the art for the fifth episode, “AKA The Octopus.” Deep in her search for answers about IGH, the episode sees Jessica uncover crucial information about Dr. Karl Malus, the doctor whose medical experiments caused his patients to adapt superhuman powers. But before she makes this discovery, she’s spending time behind bars for a murder she didn’t commit.
Doran says she was inspired to portray Jessica’s consistent ability to rise amid strife in her cover art design.
“Jessica doesn’t take any guff, but she is carrying serious scars,” she explains. “They’re right out there where you can see them, but she fights, she gets up over and over again. Her demons are internal and external.”
The image shows one of Jessica’s demons — the octopus — towering over her from behind as glass breaks between them. Depending on your perspective, it appears the sea creature is about to overcome Jessica, or she’s about to do the same.
“It was important in the illustration that Jessica be menaced by the octopus, but that she not be cringing or unduly fearful,” Doran says.
Doran designed the illustration alongside Marvel editor Emily Newcommen, who worked on the pulp-art project with Netflix. Though the illustrators weren’t able to view full season ahead of the rest of the series’ fans, they referenced teaser clips and stills from their corresponding episodes.
All 13 episode covers were revealed via Twitter by Jessica Jones ahead of the season premiere. Cover designers include French artist Stephanie Hans (episode 1), Spanish artist Elizabeth Torque (episode 3) and Hong Kong’s Audrey Mok (episode 7).
