J. Jonah Jameson

"There's an old saying. Enemies can kill you, but only your friends can hurt you. Spider-Man was a thorn in my side. He ticked me off, embarrassed me, infuriated me... but it's Peter who has finally succeeded in hurting me. And there is a price for that, Robbie. There is one hell of a price for that."

- Jameson "Turn on the TV. Go online. Pick up a newspaper. We hate them. We love them. We worship them. We condemn them. Hell, maybe we're the ones who elevate them. Maybe we force them to live like this because we need them to live like this. Maybe the only reason they exist is because we can't solve our own problems."

- Jameson's view on superheroes. "He doesn't want to be famous? Then I'll make him infamous."

- Jameson's plans to incriminate Spider-Man.

John Jonah Jameson Jr. is a major antagonist from Marvel Comics, most often serving as an antagonist to Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. He is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Now Magazine, Woman magazine, and most importantly, The Daily Bugle newspaper and website. Jameson holds a hatred for all superhuman or superpowered individuals (especially Spider-Man), and will often use libel and slander in his newspapers and reports to defame and incriminate them to make them seem like villains in the public eye, all to fuel his personal goals and bias.

Though he usually serves as a non-action antagonist, he will occasionally step into the fray and hire assassins and supervillains to kill superheroes, and is directly responsible for the creation of some other extremely dangerous supervillains, namely Scorpion and Man-Wolf. On rare occasions, Jameson will even do battle himself with use of his robotic Spider-Slayers.

Past
Jameson was born to John Jonah Jameson Sr. and Betty Jameson. However, his father left for unknown reasons when Jameson was still a child, leaving Jameson to be raised by his mother and eventual stepfather, retired United States Army veteran David Jameson. However, he was abused by his stepfather, leading him to believe that "heroes" were not always good people. He grew up a Boy Scout and took up hobbies in boxing and photography, and later courted his crush Joan in high school. When he was attacked by three bullies, he used his boxing skills to easily beat them, impressing Joan and kicking off their dating. The two married right out of high school.

Jameson began his journalism career by starting as a paperboy, and later as a reporter for New York City's newspaper The Daily Bugle, later serving as a war correspondent. Through personal assets and inheritance from his recently (presumed) deceased parents, Jameson eventually acquired enough funds to open his own company, Jameson Publications, which then bought the struggling Daily Bugle with the intention of revitalizing it from a cheap tabloid to a popular newspaper. Jameson bought a building to turn into The Daily Bugle's office. He and Joan later would have their son John Jonah Jameson III, but shortly after Joan passed away from unknown circumstances.

Despite his hatred for superhumans, Jameson held a respect for normal human minority groups and was a strong opponent of organized crime, even leading to assassination attempts by the Kingpin.

Conflict with Spider-Man
As the number of superhuman individuals began to grow, Jameson became more infuriated by their theatrics and disregard for the law. He began targeting them and even falsifying information regarding their actions in his newspaper to defame and villainize them in the public eye. Though he spoke out against superheroes like the Fantastic Four, Hulk, She-Hulk, and X-Men, he primarily targeted local and less professional superhero Spider-Man, who was, at that time, little more than an entertainer. However, as he began to rise as a superhero vigilante, Jameson soon began defaming Spider-Man, causing so much public hatred for Spider-Man that he was effectively blacklisted from appearing in entertainment.

Soon after, Spider-Man saved Jameson's son, who had become an astronaut, from a disastrous space capsule accident. Despite this, Jameson accused Spider-Man of sabotaging the capsule as a publicity stunt, and incriminated him with the destruction of government property and the endangering of his son's life. Spider-Man became an outcast and an outlaw. Shortly after, Jameson hired a freelance photographer name Peter Parker, who took pictures of Spider-Man's battle against the Vulture.

Jameson continued to villainize Spider-Man and discredit his public image through lies and libel, though Spider-Man continued his vigilantism. Eventually, Jameson was overcome with rage and decided to take matters into his own hands. He commissioned Dr. Farley Stillwell to biologically mutate and enhance criminal MacDonald Gargan into the vicious supervillain Scorpion to kill Spider-Man, though this failed when Gargan turned against him. He would later get Spencer Smythe to create the Spider-Slayers, controlled by him, to battle Spider-Man, though this too failed. He would later hire Daniel Berkhart, the second Mysterio, to defeat Spider-Man, but again failed. Jameson fled to France, and retured to try and continue the Spider-Slayer program with Dr. Marla Madison. Though this failed as well, Jameson and Madison fell in love with each other during their time together, and were eventually married.

Business and Family
Later, the Hobgoblin attempted to blackmail Jameson for his involvement in the creation of the Scorpion. Though this failed, Jameson publicly announced his guilt and stepped down as The Daily Bugle's editor-in-chief, though he remained a publisher. Though he made other attempts to bring down Spider-Man by hiring the Wild Pack, he mainly laid low. He was later kidnapped and impersonated by the Chameleon, who once again used his newspaper to spread anti-Spider-Man propaganda. He was saved by Spider-Man, and The Daily Bugle was temporarily run by Thomas Fireheart, a.k.a. Puma, who was an ally of Spider-Man. Shortly after Jameson regained control of the company, he was blackmailed into selling it to Norman Osborn under the threat of homicide attempts on his wife. He was soon after attacked by supervillain Mad Jack, causing him to go through a downfall until Osborn was driven mad by a ritual he had performed and the company was sold back to Jameson.

Soon after, Jameson and his wife adopted their niece Mattie Franklin, who was also the Spider-Woman. Jameson learned of her identity after a failed heroic outing where she had to be saved by Jessica Jones. Jameson, in return, hired Jones as an investigator and promoted her agency.