When it comes to J. Jonah Jameson, I’ve long debated the argument of whether or not he effectively crosses the line from “antagonist” to out-and-out villain. He’s certainly long been one of Spider-Man’s greatest adversaries over the history of the character, but a villain? Definitely not a villain in the fashion of a Doctor Octopus or a Green Goblin, as he wouldn’t stand much a fight one-on-one with Spidey, which is why I’ve always leaned more towards the “antagonist” argument. Then again, there are the events from ASM #20, which, when you think about it, are so outrageous and over-the-top, I’m glad Roger Stern had the wherewithal to address them more than 20 years later during the “Secrets” storyline starring Hobgoblin.
That’s because in ASM #20, Jameson goes from curiously to criminally obsessed with bringing down Spider-Man. In ASM’s previous 19-issues, Spidey was the focal point of a number of unfair front page exposes questioning his integrity and heroic nature. Jameson would constantly try to link Spidey with every new supervillain that popped up around the city – Electro, Mysterio, etc. Jameson’s obsession was cartoon-like – clearly a caricature of the “yellow journalism” days of Hearst – but nothing too insidious. In many ways, Jameson was no different than the rising number of blowhards who get paid to spout political nonsense of cable news networks today.
