When I reviewed the first issue of Jonesy, I complained that the main character was completely self-absorbed and self-serving, but that she seemed to be on an arc to move beyond that and become better. In this second issue, Jonesy is still on that arc, but progress is very slow.
The town is having a huge talent show, which Jonesy thinks is dumb, because it doesn’t directly affect her. She’d rather spend the time on her phone, looking for news of her favorite pop star, a singer named Stuff who’s also her secret crush. Unfortunately, her father wants her to help sell donuts at the talent show instead.
Meanwhile, the mayor’s daughter, with whom Jonesy kind of bonded last issue after they both tormented each other and then felt bad about it, now wants to be friends. Jonesy grudgingly says yes.
If you read my review of the previous issue, you may have noticed that my synopsis of issue #2 doesn’t make any mention of what’s ostensibly the most important part of the comic: Jonesy’s secret power to make anyone fall in love with any person or object she chooses. Honestly, that’s because they seem almost incidental to the plot this time around.
Jonesy uses her powers several times, but it’s generally just as a convenient plot device to achieve something else. She uses her powers to get what she wants. Then, she gets in trouble for doing what she wants and uses her powers to get out of trouble. That, in turn, causes more trouble, so she uses her powers to get out of THAT trouble, and so forth. What’s odd is that when she makes people fall in love, it’s almost always with an object, rather than a person. She makes various people fall in love with a hat, a song, a disgusting snack food . . . it’s a little odd.
There are a few things that make this issue interesting. Her pop idol, Stuff, rather than being a Justin Bieber or One Direction clone, is apparently more of a David Bowie type, complete with face makeup and Ziggy Stardust persona. Jonesy also puts out a zine about the star which includes some hilarious parodies of Buzzfeed-style journalism.
In addition, as I said at the beginning, Jonesy is slowly becoming less self-centered. She at least seems to care about her new friend, Susan, and when her selfish actions accidentally cause Susan harm, Jonesy feels bad about it and tries to make things right.
We’re halfway through the 4-issue arc, now. Perhaps by the end, Jonesy will have become a decent person with actual human empathy and such. Then again, she is still in middle school, so probably not. Regardless, though, this issue has some fun things in it that are worth checking out.
