Hello, my friends. No matter what line of work we all go through, we’re forced to endure several strenuous hardships on both a physical and mental level. For one particular street-level woman, she’s gone through a lot of physical hardships in the name of delivering justice. Needless to say, the things that she’s gone up against aren’t exactly the kind of things that any regular human could possibly survive, no matter their level of training. With that said, it’s time for us to look back at a quarter-century amount of spent bullet shells, spilled blood and the deceased bodies of fiends that tried to take our featured female on, yet ultimately failed. As such, I welcome you to a historical overview called…
For 2021, we’re going to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of this independently-created character and look back at all of the harrowing adventures that she’s been on, the characters that she’s crossed paths with and the various publishing studios that would handle the documentation of her journeys. As such, let’s finally get into her humble debut.
Originally created by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada back in 1995, our main gun-totting heroine wouldn’t get her proper introduction to the comic-reading populace until the very next year. However, it wouldn’t be in a comic series barring her own name.
Also known as “22 Brides: Married To The Mob”, this four-issue series saw the debut of our featured female (as well as several others gun-totting ladies) with its first issue being published in March 1996. However, this comic series is actually (somewhat) based on a real indie folk music group from Zero Hour Records, since the two main heroines have the same first names as the sisters who fronted the band back in the ’90s: Carrie and Libby Johnson. So in a similar fashion to Marvel’s “Nightcat” where real-life singer Jacqueline Tavarez got her own superhero comic (albeit just a single issue), we have actual musicians being portrayed in fictional action-packed comics. As such and in a round-about way, we have the actual band to thank for Painkiller Jane’s existence. Anyway, let’s see how she makes her debut.
For the most part of the first three issues, she’s only briefly seen in the beginnings of those parts as she interrogates a mob boss named Don Joe Fonti. As such, I’ll try to summarize these comics as best as I can. In the inaugural issue, she mentions how he “made a deal with those girls” before breaking it. With her gunning down several crucial thugs from his operations, she gives him a choice to how he wants to be axed off. From there, he decides to explain how things got to this point. We then truly open at the Slimelight Nightclub in Manhattan as Libby and Carrie are let down to the main establishment by an elevator operator.
Eventually, she escorts the two ladies over to Fonti who’s working on a barbarian statute and weirdly uses their lipstick to color it. Afterwards, they’re excused before Joe asks his bodyguards about Libby, implying that he has some eventual interest in her.
As the two young women take their leave (with Libby even limbo-ing underneath a cigarette woman’s cart for some reason and the club has a guy in drag who watches the front door), they discuss how their band is being scheduled to play there, despite Fonti running the place, and that they need the money from the upcoming gig to help out their mother. As they walk back to their place, Libby tells her sister not to worry and that they’ll take care of this, while Carrie has a brief flash to something tragic from the past. Later, Libby gets literally pulled into a nearby alley by a street gang called the Pinheads who seem to have been ordered to get her, at the very least.
Suddenly, Carrie brandishes some firearms and helps her sister escape the leader’s grasp with a precise shot before Libby kicks him into his fellow thugs. From there, the Pinheads get pelted by a barrage of kunais as our main ladies are met upon by their saviors: a scantily-clad woman named Tweety and a young girl named Mercy. However, the street gang manages to recover and prepares to retaliate. Suddenly, a limo pulls up before a woman named Lulu invites our four women inside. From there, the Pinheads are threatened with a hidden compartment of guns before the females drive off.
Back at the Slimelight Nightclub, Fonti learns about his mens’ failed attempt at attacking the women while he’s using a urinal. Afterwards, he tells his bodyguards to locate the ladies’ hideout before taking his leave. Just then, the elevator operator tells the hired muscle about a guy that’s right outside the establishment and that they “called for him”. Later, they reach the man named Vincent Barbarino Testavino and demand for some useful information about “the two young ladies” within their boss’ employ. Vinnie claims to not know anything about it, but he quickly talks after being held up at gunpoint as he exclaims that Fonti has gotten himself “on the bad side of the Brides”. Meanwhile over at Stump Towers (ugh), Libby, Carrie, Tweety, Mercy and Lulu arrive as they make their way up to the private penthouse. As they prepare to unwind, Carrie tells a butler named James to inform their fellow teammate named Spyder to find out whom the Pinheads work for and that she also wants to talk to Deseo.
Following a relaxing time in the private sauna, Libby and Carrie learn from Spyder that she tracked a phone call from the Slimelight Nightclub to a bowery warehouse shortly after they initially left the establishment. From there, the Pinheads were picked up by a pair of checker cabs and dropped off within the alley in time for them to intercept our two ladies. With them realizing that the gang was working with Fonti, Spyder then informs them that the local informant named Vincent Testavino was called over to the club not long after the attempted assault in order to inform Joe about the incident. From there, Deseo comes in with a bunch of weapons and tells Carrie & Libby that they’re ready to strike back. We then have a quick scene over at a diner where a female detective is in the middle of a phone call with an inside source over at the night club. After being informed that the Don “has run afoul of the Brides”, the detective says that the famed “22 Brides” don’t even exist, yet the inside source informs her that the injured street gang say otherwise. From there, the detective says that they may wind up capturing “this mythical girl gang” in addition to Fonti. However, her inside source essentially warns her to be careful with this endeavor before hanging up. Afterwards, the elevator operator is about to return to the lift before she finds Carrie & Libby walking out of it as they arrive to perform for the patrons.
Over the next hour, they perform their set before Libby eventually makes her way into a back room. She’s ultimately met upon by Joe in a creepy manner, but Carrie manages to come to her rescue and holds Fonti up at gunpoint. Unfortunately, the ladies are suddenly cornered by Joe’s bodyguards who proceeds to stick them up with their weapons. Fortunately, the rest of the Brides arrive to stick the goons up. Sadly, they’re all suddenly out gunned when the rest of Fonti’s men pop up and surround them. From there, Issue 1 ends with Joe offering to spare their lives if they agree to work for him, even sweeting the deal by helping Carrie and Libby’s mother be freed from her prison sentence.
Issue 2 ultimately begins outside of the Celestial Casino as a mob boss named Bobby The Dog arrives. However, he ultimately gets assassinated by a fellow Bride named Hardkiss. Afterwards, another Bride member named Frenchie (who carried the cigarette tray back at the Slimelight Night Club) jumps onto Manny’s back and causes him to shoot two of his fellow bodyguards before subduing him by firing at his foot. The remaining goon attempts to retaliate, but he’s ultimately taken down by a barrage of kunais, courtesy of Tweety. From there, Libby, Carrie and Dark Ali arrive onto the scene, subduing Manny before telling him to inform his fellow bosses of the looming threat that’s coming to him “courtesy of Don Joe Fonti and the 22 Brides”.
Back over at Stump Towers in Manhattan, Lulu gets chastised by her father Ronald (more eye-rolling from me) for spending far too much money, especially since she purchased a Humvee for her group’s operations. However, she sweet-talks her way out of the situation before Ronald tells Lulu’s main butlers James & Joseph to keep track of her or else as he takes his leave. Afterwards, Deseo comes in and informs her that Spyder hasn’t found a way that the group can get out of their current partnership with Fonti. As such, they have to rely on their “inside source” to come up with another way for them to work. Over at the Slimelight Night Club, the drag queen doorman named Marilyn is ultimately given a break from his duty. With Fonti learning that the bodyguards have been put on a strict, high alert for his “rival” ever since the Brides’ previous infiltration of the building from over a month ago, Marilyn ultimately reaches the main club and wonders if this adversary could help our main ladies out of their situation, since Fonti is going to just string Carrie & Libby along and use them to knock off the opposing mob out in Las Vegas with the promise of helping their mother out, only to ultimately leave them in the lurch. Over in Joe’s office, he learns from a woman named Go-Go that she was forced by the Brides into double-crossing him. As such, she swears to do whatever it takes to “make it straight” with him.
Over at a motel in Henderson, Nevada, the Brides are hiding out there as Tweety, Mercy and Hardkiss return with some groceries. Suddenly, Libby accidentally opens up their room door with enough force to spill their newly-acquired food and knock Mercy over the railing, though she’s thankfully saved by Hardkiss. Dark Ali peaks out to inquire about the ruckus as the spilled, red liquid briefly triggers a traumatic moment from Libby’s past, mainly of a bloodied person at the bottom of some stairs before her mother gets placed in prison, due to aggravated assault and second-degree murder. Afterwards, Libby is snapped out of her traumatic memory by Carrie and promises her that they’ll get their mom out of jail. Libby asks her if Fonti will truly live up to the bargain, to which Carrie says that they don’t have much of a choice at the moment.
Back over in Manhattan, the trench coat detective named Fernandez arrives at a diner before she discreetly talks with her contact. She goes on to learn that the Brides were blackmailed into working for Fonti with the promise of busting a loved one out of prison if they followed his orders. Fernandez then tells her inside source to keep digging in order to find out any further details, or else their whole operation will have been for nothing. Over at an Italian Restaurant in the Little Italy district, Fonti meets up with an abnormal man named Adam. They’ve ultimately managed to reach a truce with their businesses before he takes his leave, to which Joe tells his bodyguards to rub out his newest business partner.
Back over at the Henderson-based motel, the Brides are having brunch courtesy of Dark Ali. Carrie explains that they only have one more mob boss to take out before the group is suddenly met upon by a loud rumble. It turns out that a pair of military-grade helicopters have descended upon their room before they proceed to open fire. Thankfully, the Brides manage to avoid the bullet storm as Carrie tells them to split up before ultimately regrouping at the bowling alley. As she evades the opposing gunfire, Hardkiss manages to toss a grenade underneath a car where it gets blown up towards one of the enemy helicopters, taking it out in a fiery explosion. Most of them manage to slip away, but Tweety and Mercy end up getting cornered before they’re ultimately forced to surrender to the remaining copter.
Later, Carrie and Libby arrive at the bowling alley, initially believing that they were the only ones to survive the sudden attack. However, they suddenly find themselves surrounded by a group of thugs with Tweety and Mercy as their prisoners, having learned about their meet-up spot by interrogating Tweety. From there, Issue 2 ends with Adam approaching them and offering up a deal: He’ll spare their lives if they side with him and assassinate Don Joe Fonti.
Issue 3 ultimately opens with Fonti on the run, now that his blackmail scheme has blown up in his face. One of his bodyguards, Pauly, is struggling to keep up, so he’s ultimately left behind. He’s eventually confronted by Tweety and Mercy as he instantly surrenders and promises to inform them if he gets spared. From there, Mercy asks him when the hit on Carrie & Libby’s mother is going to happen and who’s the person inside the prison that’s going to carry it out.
We then shift over a luxury apartment complex called Skeyes as Carrie & Libby are now wearing voluptuous dresses at the preferable behest of their new employer Adam. It turns out that Carrie had to make this meet-up occur, since they were forced by him into siding against Fonti in this current mob war. Adam tells her that this is necessary in order for them to save the ladies’ mother from her wrongful imprisonment. More flashes from the traumatizing incident pop up within their minds before Carrie asks him what he’s going to do with them, to which Adam says that he intends on helping them with their family-based plight. Libby asks her sister what they can do at this moment, before Carrie says that they have to hope that Joe doesn’t carry out his execution of their mother and that Adam sticks to his promises. She then mentions that they still have a wild card in Hardkiss who’s still out there.
We then cut to an ironic moment where she’s been caught by Det. Fernandez and a group of police officers. After discarding her weapons, Hardkiss shares the Brides’ current situation with the officials and that in order for the imprisoned mother to be protected, she would prefer to get arrested.
Meanwhile over at Stump Towers, the captured Pauly continues to get interrogated as Lulu and Deseo are now unable to retrieve any further information from him. Thankfully, they do have someone who can squeeze some much-needed details out of him: Spyder. We then shift ahead to the next morning as James & Joseph inform Lulu that Spyder’s interrogation went pretty well. Deseo then shares a newly-retrieved detail with them, specifically where Fonti is going to get Carrie & Libby’s mother named Victoria executed and thus, convince them to go after Adam. As such, the only way they can stop this is to have someone inside the prison. Deseo then says that they have someone on that task and that Marilyn can inform them about “the real score”. Deseo then calls him up, but he tells her that “411 is DOA” and that Go-Go has fled ever since Fonti was forced to go on the run, causing them to question the loyalty of their inside agent.
Over at the Lazar Women’s Minimum Security Detention Facility in Upstate New York, Victoria is arriving at the showers when she’s suddenly approached by a pair of hit-ladies who intend to murder her in Fonti’s name. Suddenly, the lights go out as Hardkiss arrives and beats them up before informing Victoria that she’s here to bust her out. They’re then approached by a small group of female guards, but Hardkiss is able to smack them up before swiping some of their uniforms for herself and for Victoria.
Later, they manage to escape the facility as they comb through a tall-grass field in order to reach their pickup point. A car arrives as Hardkiss is surprised that Go-Go has shown up, questioning her how Fonti knew that she would be here at this moment. Go-Go says that he doesn’t before betraying Hardkiss by firing a single shot at her. Later over at Stump Towers, Joe’s bodyguard named Sean arrives and communicates with Tweety, Mercy & Deseo and demands for the release of his comrade Pauly, especially since he reveals that Victoria has been captured and her life is now in Fonti’s hands. Back over at Skeyes on Park Avenue, Adam tells our main ladies that he regrets the predicament that they and their mother have wound up in, not to mention that his original plan of turning the Brides against Fonti has gone sour. Fortunately, Carrie and Libby tell him that they can be used as something far better than leverage. From there, Issue 3 ends with them exclaiming that they can be effective weapons.
Now, we can finally get some significant movement from our featured retrospective subject. Issue 4 opens with Painkiller Jane continuing her interrogation on Fonti. Suddenly, she’s held up at gunpoint by Go-Go and helps Joe out of his predicament. We then flashback to how Jane wound up here to begin with, particularly shortly after the events of the previous issue. After meeting up with Marilyn at the Slimelight Night Club, she arrives at a diner and proceeds to share what she’s discovered thus far with Det. Fernandez: Fonti’s gone in to hiding, the 22 Brides have gone missing and are presumed dead, Carrie & Libby are out somewhere searching for their comrades and their mother Victoria was busted out of jail, only to go missing herself. Fernandez criticizes her poor surveillance skills, but Jane says that she can still go after Joe, especially since he’s the crucial lynch-pin to this entire situation. When asked how she’ll be able to get to him, she simply tells Fernandez that she has her own personally-known methods before taking her leave. That night over in Greenwich Village, Go-Go gets a call from Fonti and gets told to go to a specific location. During this, Jane had wire-tapped the conversation before staking out her current area. Eventually, Go-Go heads out to her destination via a taxi as Jane hops into another cab in order to tail her. One half-hour excursion on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway later, she arrives at a casket store and makes her way inside, taking out the lone thug on guard duty.
She then approaches Joe and Go-Go as Fonti realizes that the elevator operator at his night club was an undercover cop this whole time. Jane then demands for a simple reason why she shouldn’t arrest him or turn him over to Adam, to which he reveals that he’s kidnapped the Brides and that the only way that their lives will be spared is if she stops Carrie & Libby. From there, they would temporarily team up to take down Adam, especially since he’ll blackmail her into allowing him to escape the law. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the beaten-up goon has recovered and manages to hold Jane up at gunpoint, thus forcing her to carry out Fonti’s scheme. Later, she arrives at Adam’s apartment. As soon as he opens up the door, Joe unleashes his plan as it turns out that he used Jane as his personal suicide bomber. Thanks to his otherworldly nature, Adam survives the blast before taking Jane’s mortally-wounded body with the intent of saving her life.
Over in Upstate New York, Hardkiss is still holding on as she slowly crawls her way to her ultimate goal: getting back at Go-Go for betraying her and the Brides. Meanwhile at the Mawner Cawner Store within Times Square, Libby kicks off the big rescue operation, starting with Tweety. As they proceed to regroup, Carrie calls up Marilyn and learns that he’ll fax the rest of the Brides’ current locations to their car. From there, the ladies proceed to save their teammates before they conclude with the rescue of Victoria, leading to a heartfelt reunion between her and her daughters. With the entire gang reunited (apparently Hardkiss managed to heal up and rejoin them at some point in all of this), they prepare to make their final stand against Fonti. Over at an abandoned subway station on Bleeker Street, Jane emerges from a healing pod as she’s shocked to find herself alive, as well as her discovery of the highly-advanced technology that saved her. Either way, she intends on getting some much-deserved vengeance against Fonti.
Over at the Slimelight Night Club, Joe and Sean arrive back as Marilyn informs them that Pauly has been interrogating the lone Bride who hasn’t been rescued: Spyder. Unfortunately for him, he hasn’t been able to get any vital pieces of information out of her. Meanwhile, Fonti has Go-Go running an errand for him. As Marilyn discreetly tells Spyder that this whole ordeal will end soon, Joe says that a disc within a small statue will help him avoid any jail time. Suddenly, Painkiller Jane arrives as she shoots up the sound system in order to get Fonti’s attention. With her sights set on him, she manages to take down Sean & Pauly before she engages the rest of the bodyguards in a fierce shootout. Fonti then soon discovers Marilyn helping the tortured Spyder before shooting him in the back for his betrayal. He then rushes to get the key disc in order to escape, but he’s suddenly approached by Painkiller Jane.
One lengthy interrogation later, we shift back to the present as she’s current in Go-Go’s crosshairs. Suddenly, the side-switching lady then says that she can’t trust him anymore. Jane then tells her that Joe has a computer disc in his office that contains the necessary details that can help keep her safe from him. After acquiring it, Go-Go discovers the wounded Marilyn and gets informed to hand it over to Carrie & Libby in order to reveal Fonti’s blackmail scheme to the cops. Just as Go-Go exclaims that the Brides won’t take her back after betraying them, Sean and Pauly manage to recover just enough in order to shoot her. This distracts Jane long enough for Joe to take out a hidden gun from his sleeve and shoot her in the head.
Just as he’s about to leave his wounded bodyguards behind, he’s suddenly approached by the Brides. Just as they’re about to gun him down, Painkiller Jane (despite all of her bullet wounds) stops them as she wearily tells them that killing him isn’t worth ruining their lives over. She then gives Libby the computer disc before telling her that she’ll deal with Fonti. After the Brides take their leave, she then prepares to execute Joe. Unfortunately, they discover that she’s out of bullets shortly before Det. Fernandez arrives with a bunch of officers. After her former partner recognizes her underneath her bandage wrappings, a smoke grenade flies in and allows Jane to escape, though she thankfully leaves Fonti to his imprisoning fate.
Shortly afterwards, it’s revealed that Hardkiss helped her out. Later on at Stump Towers, the Brides are relaxing following their victorious moment. As Carrie & Libby share another comforting hug with their reunited mother, the series ends with Hardkiss telling Dark Ali that she’s still miffed with Go-Go turning on them. However, she wonders if it’s good or bad that they now have a “Guardian Angel From Hell” looking out for them as Painkiller Jane looks over the city from the rooftops.
Before we finally get to her first go-around in the solo series corral, let’s get to a few more comics from this particular publishing company. Even though Painkiller Jane does appear within the pages of a two-issue mini-series called “Ash/22 Brides”, she’s not as essential here as she was in the previous series. As such, I’ll do a brief plot summary for this part. Essentially, there’s a small statue that our familiar group of females have managed to swipe from an international art smuggler’s collection and have returned to the Guggenhaus Museum. Eventually, they’re approached by a group of demonic-looking vampires as their leader claims that it “belongs to the Sedahcia Sect”. During the commotion, the statue falls and shatters, unveiling a specific access card called the Tomorrow Key (or Infinity Access, both names are used). Not to mention, the Brides gets some help from a superpowered fireman named Ashley Quinn a.k.a. Ash, who crosses paths with them after the dealer’s apartment was destroyed through arson. They’re ultimately met by Sir Whitney Humbert, who’s standing before them despite having previously discovered a series of stasis chambers beneath the surface of the Melanesian Islands back in 1856. Having been turned into a vampire by the Sedahcia Sect, he tells them that the newly-acquired access card must be safeguarded before a horde of the opposing group’s dinosaurs (which are able to talk, by the way) burst in and eat him. After fighting them off, the group makes their way back to the smuggler’s toasted apartment for answers. As they head inside, Carrie reminds her sister that they lost their commission due to the statue getting destroyed. As such, they might as well go back to where this whole venture started, especially since the former tenant stole the monkey statue from a Sri Lanka-based museum. Even though they were hired by the Guggenhaus owners to get it back for them, they’re not fully aware of its whole history. As such, she hopes that they can learn about the statue’s origin in order to get to the answers they need. Just then, they’re met upon by the dealer himself named Hunter Bounty. After our main group acquire the much-needed information from him, they form a plan before Lulu provides them with one of her father’s helicopters. Ten hours later, they arrive at a castle in Sri Lanka. Hunter explains that it was brought over brick-by-brick near the end of the 19th Century, to which Dark Ali also mentions that its former occupants, the Whitney Family, left England after Sir Whitney Humbert went missing during his overseas excursion. As they head inside, they’re suddenly met upon by a swarm of ghosts. They soon discover that it’s the spirits of Sir Humbert and his family. As things settle down, Whitney explains that after his Oceania-based excursion, he took his home & his family and fled the country in order to evade the Sedahcia Sect, especially since those vampires were among the terrible beings that he accidentally released from their stasis chambers. They attacked him and he wound up becoming a vampire, but he managed to evade their intent to kill him. Upon his return home within England however, he became consumed by his bloodlust and ended up turning his sister Emily into a vampire herself. From there, they attacked their remaining family and consumed their blood before they fled the country altogether. Thankfully, he’s able to help our main group reach the catacombs in order for the vampiric sect to be stopped once and for all. Seventeen hours later, they arrive at the temple within the Melanesian Islands as Ash uses his fire-based powers to open the main gate for himself and his teammates. After making some significant progress within the main chamber, they’re suddenly met upon by several vampires. Despite being surrounded, Ash and the Brides manage to fight them off before their brawl carries over into the main technological hub. They discover a small group of fluently-speaking dinosaurs who say that they’ve been trying to keep themselves away from humankind for several millennia. Ash tells them that he’s been seeing lots of images within his mind and that he was hoping to learn the truth about them, specifically “things from the future” that could potentially affect his past. The leading T-Rex then proceeds to explain how millions of years ago, the various dino bodies that they inhabit were used as hosts by their alien race, since they needed to take “sturdier physical forms” in order to survive. They wound up stranded on Earth and thus, needed the stasis chambers in order to preserve their “immortal consciousness” by preventing their host bodies from withering. As they endlessly waited for their rescue, they would only leave their pods in order to occasionally check on humanity’s progress. When Libby asks them about the rise of the vampiric sect, the T-Rex says that it was “a misguided effort” for them to discover some deterrents. Carrie then asks about the access card (or “green diskette” as she says here), to which another dinosaur explains that each one of those contains a portion of their collected knowledge that their race has gathered over several million years of universal space travel. When Humbert escaped from them over a century ago, he swiped a statue that just so happened to have one of their disks within it. Sir Whitney confesses that he stole it in order to get some money, before Bounty also admits to swiping the statue from him for some cash as well. Ash then apologizes to them for everything that’s happened and that they deserve their privacy. With the disc back in the dinos’ possession (as well as their treasure that some of the Brides tried to swipe for themselves), our main group proceed to fly back home as Ash calls out some of the ladies for their attempted pilfering of the alien dinosaurs. He then says that even though he didn’t get to learn about his past, he’s still satisfied how there’s no more dinosaurs or vampires running loose.
From there, the comic ends with a guy getting attacked by a female vampire. Suddenly, she gets shot and killed by Painkiller Jane who’s stunned about slaying a creature of the night. She also discovers a dinosaur egg that her victim has swiped before taking it for herself as she takes her leave.
Before we finally get to the first of her solo adventures, I should also mention the brief appearance that she makes within a single comic called “The Ash Files”, released in March 1997. The table of contents on the inside cover does list off several people within Ash’s world, including the aforementioned 22 Brides and the villainous Don Joe Fonti. Painkiller Jane is also listed here, but the comic says that she technically debuted in Ash #3 in a cameo capacity before properly debuting in 22 Brides #1. By the way, I checked all throughout a scanned copy online and although the featured group of female gunners (specifically Cassie, Libby & Tweety) are present here (and are even listed in this comic as their first appearance), Jane herself was nowhere to be found in that book. Either way, let’s get to her profile page. Within this particular comic, it only gives her a “real name” of Jane Doe (not knowing what her real last name is, at this point in time) and says that she’s somewhat invulnerable, even though she’s still able to be “shot, stabbed, wounded, etc.” & even though she’s still able to feel the pain from those hits, the wounds won’t leave any lasting injury. As for her history, she was brought in to the Witness Protection Program by Det. Maureen Fernandez, who happens to be Ash’s widowed sister. With no immediate friends or family of her own, Jane became a covert agent and was placed under cover as an elevator operator over at Fonti’s night club. During her assignment, she became aware of the 22 Brides and formed a bond with Mercy. Eventually, she was caught by Fonti and used as his personal suicide bomber against Adam (described as an “indestructible alien” here) in order to help spare the Brides’ lives. He revives her with his “alien powers”, confronts Fonti, frees the Brides from his grasp and became a vigilante in her own right. With all of that out of the way, let’s finally get to her first solo series.
Painkiller Jane’s first go-around with a solo series lasted from June to October 1997, with Issue #0 eventually getting a release in January 1999. For the original five-issue run, Mark Waid & Brian Augustyn shared writing responsibilities, Rick Leonardi handled penciling duties, while Jimmy Palmiotti took care of the ink. As for the eventual prelude issue, Augustyn handled the script while Palmiotti was in charge of inking duties, even sharing the story credit with Joe Quesada. As for the main pencil work, that would fall under the responsibility of Amanda Conner. So with all of the “Event”-ful build-up out of the way, let’s finally tackle our main character’s inaugural time away from other related characters.
Issue Zero opens at the Manhattan-based Club Noir as a young couple named Cliff and Lindy arrive on the scene, even being allowed inside ahead of those who’ve been waiting in line. Unbeknownst to them, Painkiller Jane is working undercover as one of the exotic dancers. Her assignment sees her looking out for club owner Neal Garner who’s being pressured by a devious merchant who wants to set up his drug dealings within the club’s back room. Meanwhile, Cliff and Lindy are at their table talking about their potential future together, since they’re going to get married in two weeks. Just then, a particular drug lord named Javi Lagarto arrives on the scene as Jane contacts the 22 Brides about this turn of events and tells them to stay alert. Neal approaches him and orders him to leave, but Javi refuses as he takes out a grenade and demands for some “respect and some wiggle room”. Just as Jane tells the Brides to move in before she jumps down from the hanging cage to intervene, Cliff notices the grenade and decides to spring into action as he grabs Javi’s arm. Unfortunately, Lagarto’s men gun him down.
By the time that Jane manages to work her way through the packed dancing crowd, Neal retaliates by shooting Javi, thus dropping the live grenade. With the explosive landing next to Cliff’s corpse while Lindy mourns the loss of her potential husband, Jane tells the crowd to evacuate before diving onto Lindy. Unfortunately, they’re still within blast range as Painkiller Jane is forced to shield the young woman just as the grenade blows up, causing the whole club to crumble.
Despite some severe injuries, she manages to survive the whole ordeal. Unfortunately, Lindy gets pinned underneath some rubble. Jane tries to pull her out, but she screams in pain. Jane goes to investigate, only to discover that Lindy was impaled on some rebar. Jane then proceeds to comfort her by telling her that a fire-rescue crew will be arriving, even while she knows that Lindy won’t survive this. Jane says that she wishes that she could ease her pain, to which Lindy asks her if she’s been “hurt a lot”. From there, Jane decides to share her backstory with her.
We then flashback to a younger and far-more optimistic Jane Vasko who’s just graduated from the New York Police Academy, alongside her best friend Maureen Quinn. While her parents named Karl & Maria, and her boyfriend named Mark Willofsky are in attendance to celebrate this momentous occasion, a pair of agents are overlooking Vasko & Quinn’s files as they have some keen interest in them. Sometime later, Jane is on assignment before the scene becomes serious as a crack-house bust turns into a hostage situation, due to a thug having kidnapped a little girl. Fearing that the negotiator won’t be able to arrive in time, Vasko decides to take matters into her own hands as she sneaks her way up an adjacent fire escape before smashing through a window, shooting at the thug named Larnell and thankfully managing to just wound him in the knee. She manages to handcuff him before the rest of his goons arrive, forcing her to take cover with the young girl. She then manages to shoot the three thugs before emerging from the building with the girl and Larnell. Jane would get rewarded with the Medal of Honor before she’s met upon by the two agents and gets offered to help fight “a more effective war against drugs”.
Later, she and her newly-married friend Maureen Fernandez have been brought into this operation. They’re informed that the DEA has been tracking the rise of a new and deadly set of designer drugs being sold throughout the city, especially since it gives its users “heavenly highs” before messing them up on a “chromosomal level”. As such, they need to place an undercover agent within the supplier’s organization, which is run by Reynaldo and Angel Blanco within a “high-class dive” called the Whip-Shack. Maureen then asks why she and Jane are needed for this gig, to which the two agents clumsily explain that the Blancos are into red-heads. Eventually, Jane and Maureen are dressed up as they arrive at the Whip-Shack. Ultimately, they get the Blanco brothers’ attention and get brought into their group. Eventually, they find themselves in a limousine being forced to kiss the two fiends, despite their own marital statuses. After four-and-a-half months into their undercover assignment, Maureen ends up blowing her cover when the gang sees a newscast talking about her husband named Raymond getting severely wounded from a recent shootout and in critical condition over at Spicer Memorial Hospital. Despite only being in her underwear, she grabs a coat and runs off to the hospital. While there, the agents call her out for ditching her partner. Meanwhile, Jane has been caught by the Blanco brothers’ thugs as Angel decides to give her a new drug called “The Bomb”, despite his associate warning him that the batch hasn’t been perfected yet.
However, Vasko gets injected and ends up falling into a comatose state. Later, she’s found naked and in an alley by her friend Maureen who ultimately gets her to a hospital. With her parents overseeing her unconscious body, Dr. Seth Hiller tells them that their daughter is in a coma due to an “unknown toxic substance”. Back in the present, Lindy says that it’s miraculous that she survived, to which Jane explains that she became “something else” that day since the chemicals within the drug cocktail has transformed her metabolism and ultimately gave her a healing factor that makes her nearly impossible to slay. We then shift back into the flashback where it turns out that Jane was in her coma for two years and the only people who continued to visit after such a long time were Maureen and Dr. Hiller. On one fateful Halloween, they arrive at her room to discover that she’s gone as they scramble to find out what happened to her. Meanwhile, Jane is stumbling through a neighborhood as trick-or-treaters believe that she’s dressed up as a mummy. Sadly, she learns that her boyfriend got married and moved away last year before discovering that her parents had moved out of their home. Back at the hospital, Maureen was able to discover that Jane had escaped under her own power. Seth says that a Jane Doe corpse looks similar enough and they can use that as a faux-Vasko that can be buried alongside her parents and keep Fernandez’ friend safe.
Later on after the news of her “death” got out, Jane meets up with Maureen over at her grave site two days after the Jane Doe corpse was buried. After learning that her friend’s husband didn’t survive his fatal wound, Jane tells Maureen that she has only one thing on her mind: Payback. From there, she goes through some intense physical conditioning in order to build up her muscles after being in a two-year coma. As she physically hits a punching bag hard enough to snap its supporting chains, her arm gets cut by a snapped chain. However, the bloodied gash vanished as Maureen witnesses her friend’s Healing Factor. From there, Jane decides that she’s ready to embark on her vengeance quest.
Later, she arrives at the Whip-Shack after hearing that the Blanco brothers had returned to their old hideout. As such, she jumps through a window and confronts the two thugs. Angel discreetly summons his bodyguards via a floor button, but Painkiller Jane is able to gun them down. Reynaldo manages to shoot her in the stomach, due to him claiming to be “a lousy shot”, before getting up close to finish her off. Thankfully, her Healing Factor kicks in before she shoots him in the head. Before she departs for the hospital, she warns Angel to discontinue his drug-based business, or else she’ll return to finish him off. As such, she shoots him in the knee before taking her leave.
From there, her vigilante venture saw her crossing paths with the 22 Brides while Maureen serves as her contact and Seth provides some medical help. As we shift back to the present, Jane says things have drastically changed for her since she’s lost everything that she deeply cared about and even feels that there’s no more room within her life for another shot at a meaningful relationship. She even feels like her life as become one big “cosmic joke”, since she has no reason for living, yet has seemingly no way to end her own life. Shifting back into the present, she tells the mortally-wounded Lindy that she’s since been using her abilities in order to help others, especially since it helps fill an “emptiness”. With her dying words, Lindy tells her that coming back from the brink and helping others feels like a good reason to keep striving. Shortly after telling Jane that maybe this is why she was brought back from the dead, Lindy succumbs to her injury. Vasko then narrates how she didn’t want to listen to the young lady’s words, nor think of her life as a burden. After surviving yet another harrowing ordeal, she wonders if someone is truly looking out for her and thinks that avenging people like Lindy is the main reason why she survived. Just then, a fire-rescue crew finally arrives as Jane receives some medical attention. Maureen then approaches her in order to learn about how this situation went down. After realizing that Javi worked with the Blanco brothers, Fernandez asks if the remaining drug-producing sibling has long since left town as Vasko doesn’t believe so, though she promises to take him down if he’s truly behind this incident while both of them are unaware of Reynaldo discreetly seeing them from a nearby alley. From there, the issue ends with Jane declining a car ride from Maureen before saying that she’ll heal from her wounds, yet she’ll always feel the lingering pain.
The main series itself begins at Don Joe Fonti’s mansion where a birthday party is being held for his daughter named Angela. The festivities include several carnival-related attractions and even some entertainment from a hired clown named Binky. Unbeknownst to the guests however, the clown that was originally hired has been murdered and his corpse is barely hiding within his van. As such, the disguised thugs spring into action and kidnap Angela, telling Fonti’s men to stand down. Joe tells his men to comply, but one bodyguard decides to take matters into his own hands. However, he gets gunned down before the head goon named Deke tells Fonti that they’ll keep in touch before taking Angela into the van with his henchmen and driving off.
Later on within the unused wing of Spicer Memorial Hospital, Jane is resting up and healing her gun wounds while her narration talks about her past history with Joe. Suddenly, she hears someone approaching her room as she manages to hide in time. Just then, Fonti’s men make their way in and are unable to find her. Unbeknownst to them, she’s hiding underneath her bed as she uses her legs to force it onto them before lunging at them to attack. Paulie accidentally shoots her through a window before getting scolded by his comrade, since their boss needs her help.
They check outside for the aftermath, but they only discover some shattered glass and a small pool of her blood. However, this distraction allowed Jane to recover and return to her room. After beating up most of Joe’s bodyguards, she interrogates the remaining guy who tells her that Fonti wants her help in rescuing his baby girl. Ultimately, she settles down and agrees to hear him out. After introducing himself as Joe’s right-hand man named Tom Mackey, he explains that three days ago, Angela was kidnapped during her sixth birthday party and is being held for a $1 million ransom. With the payment required to be carried out by 10pm this evening, Tom says that the goons are hiding out in a former Civil War prison located on Garrison Island over within Hudson Bay. With its surrounding area completely open, there’s no way to approach it without being seen. As such, Fonti wants her to make the drop and find a way inside. Tom then says that the ransom money and a speedboat will be waiting for her at 9pm over at the Battery Park docks. After agreeing to this assignment, Jane tells him and his men to clear out so that she can prepare. Later, she calls up Maureen and asks her to meet at their “regular place” in twenty minutes and to also find any vital information about Joe’s daughter Angela, since she’s been kidnapped. As she passes a bus stop, an elderly man brushes past a woman before he suddenly gets a vision of her death in a car accident and utters “Not Again”.
Eventually, Vasko and Fernandez meet up at the Pegasus Café, though in adjacent booths while communicating through their cell phones. After Maureen says that the police has hardly any information about Fonti’s kid, Jane informs her about the assignment that she’s currently on. Fernandez then asks why they can’t just share details with each other in a regular sit-down, face-to-face format, to which Vasko says that it’s for her protection. Despite being reminded of what Joe did to her in the past, she says that Angela herself is the main reason why she agreed to accept this rescue operation. After informing her longtime friend that she’s required to drop off the ransom money over by Garrison’s Island at 10pm, Jane asks Maureen if she knows who’s behind this kidnapping plot. Fernandez is unsure at this moment, but assumes that the fiend would greatly benefit from the pay-off at the severe risk to the kid’s life. Just then, she gets a call about a murder victim and has to head out. As such, she tells Vasko to be careful. Later on, Jane takes her leave as she narrates if this whole thing is an elaborate plan from Fonti to get back at both her and the 22 Brides.
Suddenly, she’s approached by one of the clown kidnappers who manages to ram into her with the van before swerving back around. With her right shoulder getting dislocated from the hit, she manages to grab her gun and fire at the opposing driver before rolling away from his second smash attempt. With the fiend dealt with, she makes her way over to Dr. Seth Hiller who helps her pop her shoulder back into place. She then turns down his offer for a strong medicine to help her deal with her major soreness, saying that she only takes aspirin and that she also has her Healing Factor, which she sees as both a blessing and a curse. After thanking him for providing her with her own base within the unused hospital room and also for his “unending supply of bandages”, she ultimately arrives at the Battery Park commercial docks.
Joe then tells her that after this task, he promises to never bother her ever again. As she gets shown to her speedboat, one of Fonti’s men provides her with the ransom money that’s in an inflatable bag. He then explains that the thugs want them to deposit it within a buoy and return to shore, especially since there’re mines hiding below the water should anyone decide to venture past it. Joe says that she has to find a way onto the island, save his girl and defeat the “psycho scum”, to which Vasko says that she’ll help out “however necessary”. From there, she heads out towards the drop-off point, all-the-while pondering how she’s going to reach the island in one piece. Fifteen minutes later, she arrives at the buoy while Deke and his thugs oversee it from afar. Ultimately, Jane decides to take a chance and begins to speed towards the island. As expected, the speedboat hits one of the mines and blows up, throwing her from the craft.
While Deke tells his men to call Fonti up and raise the ransom to $1.5 million, Joe gets shocked from the high-seas explosion. Back on the mainland, Maureen and a group of people look over the murder victim, who turns out to be the familiar bus passenger while the same spectacled man looks over the scene from afar. Suddenly, Issue 1 ends with an officer informing Det. Fernandez about the explosion over towards Garrison Island.
Issue 2 opens with Painkiller Jane holding onto the flotation bag while being sent flying from the detonation of the sea mine. She ultimately lands onto the island, though she does slam into a small roof port before violently falling onto some concreate stairs where her body ultimately comes to a bloodied and mangled stop, as she lies with broken ribs, a shattered knee cap and her right shoulder getting dislocated again. Thankfully, her Healing Factor would slowly help her recover from those grave injuries and that she also had some necessary downtime to do so, since the thugs automatically assume that she’s dead.
Back on the docks, Joe is initially worried. However, Tom does remind him of whom the kidnappers are ultimately up against. While Fonti does take some solace in that, he still tells Mackey to assemble their own armada just in case. As Deke prepares to beat Angela up and while Jane continues with her own kind of recovery, we shift over to Maureen as she contacts headquarters in order to learn about the explosion over within Hudson Bay. Afterwards, she tells her fellow officers that she wants this crime scene as well as a similar situation towards a past victim checked over to see if they’re related, especially since the corpses are “all laid out pretty and neat”. As the spectacled man looks over the scene, another woman walks past him before he gets another vision, seeing her die from a vicious assault as he tearfully knows what he must do.
Back at Garrison Island, Painkiller Jane has made enough of a recovery as she makes her way towards the main building. She then checks a nearby storage unit for anything that can help her, but she uncovers a series of C-4 explosives with a detonation timer to boot. With only twenty minutes to work with before it goes off, she proceeds to head inside. Meanwhile, Deke talks with his fellow thugs about how Fonti will be forced to pay their newly-increased ransom, no matter what. He then tells them that once their inside man contacts them with the exact amount of money that Fonti owns, then they can share their newly-imposed ransom. Only this time, they’ll get the drop on him. From there, one of the goons named Milty decides to walk around in order to stave off the boredom of waiting. Suddenly, Painkiller Jane drops down and takes him out with a swift kick.
Upon hearing the distant noise, Deke tells another goon named Chuck to investigate before he ultimately comes across his mutilated body. After gunning him down, Jane proceeds to engage the remaining henchmen in a gunfight. She then reaches Angela and comforts her with the knowledge that her father sent her here to get her out. Shortly after freeing her, the young girl reacts to the final batch of thugs that’re approaching them. Jane manages to take one out with a knife before shooting her way out.
After reaching the port, Angela gets placed upon an adjacent boat as Vasko struggles to push the craft out to sea, due to the soreness throbbing throughout her right arm. Suddenly, she gets shot by Deke before realizing that the explosives are mere seconds away from exploding. As Deke’s right-hand man gets his bazooka prepared in order to destroy Angela and the boat, Jane causes a distraction with some gunfire. Deke then shoots her into the water as she feigns her demise before making it onto the boat while they’re not looking. After they finally notice, they open fire on the boat as Vasko and Angela are forced to take cover. Just then, the C-4s are detonated as Deke and his right-hand fiend are engulfed by the roaring explosion while our main ladies begin to drift out to safety.
Back in the city, the spectacled man catches up to the woman from the crime scene and says that he’s sparing her from a “dreadful doom” from her near future. As such, he injects her with a fast-acting and painless, yet toxic serum as it quickly takes her life. Afterwards, he calmly places her on the ground before he says that he’ll “take care of everything” and tearfully claims that it’s his “sacred duty”. Later, Angela gets reunited with her father back at his midtown headquarters and tells Jane that he owes her a big favor. Vasko then says that she can inform him about the person who hired the thuggish clowns to kidnap Angela. After excusing his daughter, Fonti then asks her who was behind this whole scheme. Jane proceeds to tell him that it was his right-hand man himself: Tom Mackey.
She goes on to explain that the kidnappers tried to run her down with the clown van shortly after she accepted the job. No one else but Tom would’ve known about that in such a short time and the other henchman, Sean & Pauly, aren’t smart enough to come up with this scheme or even set up the explosives upon the island in order to cover up their tracks. Tom objects to this accusation before Jane learns that Joe doesn’t “move drugs” within his operations. She then says that Mackey would’ve required his boss to get distracted in order to move the new “high-end heroin” in order to finance his own usurpation of power over Fonti. Tom does admit to some movement within the drug business, but he wouldn’t want any harm upon Angela and that Vasko shouldn’t be able to coerce Joe into taking her word. During the whole argument, Jane has been taking some rope off of the curtains and ties one end to a desk. From there, she grabs Mackey, wraps up his ankle and throws him out the window. Fonti then forces him to confess, to which he admits his attempt to move some drugs in order to save the whole operation. Furious with the fact that his daughter was sold out and nearly mutilated by the murderous clowns, Joe wants Jane to cut the rope and let his former aide fall to his death. However, she leaves that option to Fonti with a knife that she sticks onto his desk before taking her leave. After offering one final bit of comfort to Angela, she heads out as Issue 2 ends with her narration saying how she wishes that she could be like the kid, in that she actually has an bright future. As for what Joe ultimately decided to do with Tom, that’s left ambiguous as she mentions that she may have heard a scream.
Issue 3 begins within the stairways of Spicer Memorial Hospital as an aide has been assigned with carrying boxes of important files down to a proper storage room. In the opening narration, it mentions how a “Mercy Killer” has been stalking New York City over the past several weeks. However, the citizens hasn’t felt overly terrorized by all of this. Afterwards, the spectacled man brushes past the box-carrying worker before getting a flash of the guy’s bloodied death. As such, he takes a lethal serum and injects it into the worker, taking the guy’s life and places him in a peacefully resting position. From there, he properly enters the hospital as it’s revealed that he works at the facility and that his name is Dr. David Sheridan.
Meanwhile, Painkiller Jane is in the middle of a hectic situation as she hangs off the side of a double-decker tour bus that’s been pilfered by a group of diamond thieves. Not only that, but three members of the 22 Brides are also on the bus and have been taken hostage, specifically Hardkiss, Dark Ali and Mercy. However, they’re just casually talking about their situation, especially with Dark Ali chastising the thugs for robbing a jewelry store that’s under their protection and for also stealing a giant bus as their getaway vehicle. One of the goons does admit that they screwed up, but he also says that they weren’t counting on coming across actual Bride members. Mercy then says that while they and the rest of their group are bad enough for them, Painkiller Jane is helping them out and that they’re in big trouble if she’s on board. After the main thugs falsely assume that Vasko has been shaken off, she proceeds to hop onto the upper deck as the goons attempt to shoot her, with some shots missing and a few managing to graze her. Jane then warns them that they’re approaching the Park Avenue Overpass and that the bus is too tall for it to go under. The fiends don’t believe her but get proven wrong too late as the bridge begins to scrape the roof off. Jane manages to evade this using the railing to leap onto the bridge before running to the other side and jump down, where she ultimately crashes through the windshield in order to take out the goon that’s at the wheel.
Vasko then tells the thugs that she’s done with them and that this is her last favor for the Brides. With no one driving the bus, Mercy manages to reach the emergency brake as the sudden stop sends the goons flying through the windshield while the bus crashes into a clothing store. As the Brides get to their feet and Mercy takes out the last thug on the bus, Jane suddenly feels woozy before falling over. They then rush her over to Spicer Memorial as Dr. Seth Hiller explains that a big shard of glass has pierced Vasko’s chest and that it may have fatally cut her aorta. As such, the Brides are forced to wait while Jane is in surgery. Hardkiss is unable to contact the rest of the group, so Dark Ali tells Mercy to go to Eisenman’s and inform their fellow mercenaries about what’s gone down. Shortly afterwards, they’re met upon by Sean & Pauly, since they also heard about what happened to Jane. As Dark Ali and Hardkiss point their guns at them, Sean & Pauly assures them that Fonti is now on good terms with Vasko, due to her saving his daughter. As such, they’re also here to make sure that nothing bad happens to her. Dark Ali says that she and Hardkiss don’t want their help, but Steve & Pauly tells them that the jewel thieves that they defeated were hired by a vicious employ named Frank Largo and that he now has his murderous sights set towards Jane. As such, Dark Ali and Hardkiss allows them to stay, as long as they follow their lead.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sheridan gets comfortingly welcomed back to the facility by Dr. Kohl. During their conversation, it’s revealed that David had a brain tumor removed ten months prior. During said time, he tells Kohl that he got some insight on suffering while he was a patient. As they reach the Oncology wing, Sheridan gets led to a current cancer victim named Mr. Gannon before being left to care for him. After touching his arm, David gets a vision of the patient’s death before he personally regrets being here. As he exits the room, he bumps into a nurse and gets a flashing image of her lying in a pool of her blood. Sheridan tries to get her attention, but she doesn’t comply since she’s busy with her job. Shortly afterwards, she oversees her fellow orderly getting hassled by a guy demanding to see “the broad with the bandages”. She tells the man to leave her ward alone, or else she’ll “have to get tough”. However, she winds up meeting her prophesized fate as a goon named Nells shoots her before the group continues with their search.
Meanwhile, Jane wakes up as she’s swept over by a wave of physical pain. Seth tells her that she had a large glass shard impaled within her and that it came close to killing her after nicking her aorta. Thankfully, her Healing Factor had kicked in by the time she went into surgery. However, she’s not entirely thankfully, since she’s spent a good amount of time “hurting like the devil”. He does offer to find a cure to her immortality, but he’s aware that she’s “far too busy being tough” in order for anyone to care about her. Even still, he still wants her to rest up due to the severity of her injury, since he’s still her doctor and he’ll make sure that she gets the proper medical care that she needs. Meanwhile, Maureen arrives to hear about Vasko’s status. Dark Ali informs her that Jane’s out of surgery, though her health is a bit dicey. Fernandez assures her that Vasko’s Healing Factor will help her pull through before Hardkiss tells her that they haven’t heard back from their fellow Brides, despite sending Mercy out to get them. Just then, Steve & Pauly lets the ladies know that Largo and his henchmen have arrived in order to finish their friend off. Maureen says that she’ll handle this on her own while someone else contacts the police, but Hardkiss, Dark Ali, Steve and Pauly assure her that they’re all the backup she needs.
They manage to approach Largo and his goons before a shootout erupts. Meanwhile, Jane gets awoken by the distant gunfire as she wearily tries to make her way towards the scene. Just then, she comes across Dr. Sheridan before she collapses into his arms. From there, he’s bombarded by a barrage of images of various and lethal situations that potentially await her. As such, Issue 3 ends with him prepping a lethal serum while she narrates about how she’s not fearful of this deadly encounter and that she actually hopes for some sweet release from this incident.
Issue 4 opens with David ready to give Vasko a lethal injection in order to spare her the vicious pain that eventually awaits her. During this, she narrates about this “Mercy Killer” and even mentions that she wants him to go through with his horrifying intent. However, the grief from his act causes him to hesitate for a single moment. As a result, it gave her just enough time to reconsider and regain the personal drive to get pulled “back from the edge”. She wakes up and smacks the serum out of his hand before he tries to reason with her about helping her avoid several monstrous fates. He even says that he doesn’t want to do this, but he’s compelled to carry out his horrible acts ever since he started receiving visions of other people’s deaths following the removal of his brain tumor. He even justifies his loathsome acts by mentioning that he’s a doctor and that he doesn’t want people to suffer. Suddenly, they hear the gunshots from the adjacent shootout as Jane manages to slip away before Dr. Sheridan heads after her. Meanwhile, Det. Fernandez, Sean, Hardkiss, Dark Ali & Pauly are still engaged in a vicious gun fight with Largo and his men. As they try to prevent the fiends from killing Vasko for busting up their “jewel robbery syndicate”, Pauly tells the ladies to draw their fire while he and Sean try to find their vigilante ally. After Fonti’s men manage to slip away to begin their search, Dark Ali reminds Maureen of Pauly & Sean’s reason for being here (protecting Painkiller Jane as thanks for her rescuing Joe’s daughter). From there, Det. Fernandez decides that they should also be finding their comrade. As such, they manage to distract Largo and his goons with some gunfire before beginning their own search. During this moment, Dark Ali wonders why their fellow Brides haven’t shown up yet while Hardkiss is also concerned, considering that they sent one of their members out several hours ago.
We then shift over to Mercy who’s been trying to get some much-needed backup. While she’s waiting at a crosswalk, she’s suddenly approached by a group of kids & young adults who look at her with suspicious intent. She notices this and attacks the closest member to her before making a run for it. As the large group chases after her, one of the youthful members named Leon informs his leader named Caliban about it. As the kid rejoins the chase, the self-proposed “King of Times Square” praises himself for having command over “such loving and generous children” and he hopes that their pursuit doesn’t last much longer. Meanwhile, Mercy continues her evasion of the creepy kids while running past a newsstand. This also attracts the attention of two hookers named Candy and Divine as the former recognizes the swarming children and realizes that they work for Caliban. She then tells Divine that he used to be her “boyfriend” and that he gave her a facial scar once she turned 19 and got kicked out for being “too old”. After also recognizing Mercy as a member of the 22 Brides, Candy asks for a quarter in order to call up some people who can “put the bad man on the run for a change”.
Back at the hospital, David continues to chase after Jane before he finally corners the weary woman within the Emergency Room. He keeps offering to end her pain by showing her to her “final rest”, but Vasko continues to fend him off by ramming him with a stretcher. Unfortunately, she was the verge of blacking out as she desperately crawls over to some operating tools. She manages to grab a scalpel and initially holds it up at Dr. Sheridan, but she then says that it’s not for him. She then stabs it into her leg as a surge of pain flows throughout her body and causes her to yell. However, it also attracted the attention of Largo and his thugs. As they make their way over to her, one of the goons gets shot by Pauly & Steve before they hop inside an elevator and avoid the returning gunfire.
Back with Painkiller Jane, she continues to fight David off with all of her strength. Unfortunately, her consciousness gives out on her as she collapses into Dr. Sheridan’s arms. He once again has another shot at killing her, but he sees that it’s different and that her fate has actually changed. This inspires him to forgo his attempt at taking her life as he places her on the floor and decides to take his future “down a very unexpected path”. He then bumps into Frank and receives a terrifying vision about him before getting forced out of the way. Just as Largo is about to shoot Jane at pointblank range, David injects him with the toxic serum and saves her life before taking his leave. Shortly afterwards, Frank’s men arrive to discover their boss’ dead body. Believing that Vasko took him out, they prepare to kill her. Fortunately, Maureen, Dark Ali and Hardkiss show up in time to stop them.
Meanwhile, Mercy gets captured by the pursuing kids before they throw her into a nearby taxi cab. From there, she meets Caliban who promises to “break” her “unlady-like habit” before telling his kids to meet up at “The Warren”. Back at the hospital, Jane wakes up within a proper bed as she’s met upon by the episcopal priest/hospital chaplain named Reverend Margaret Cooper. As she offers to be her friend, Vasko says that she’s unsure about that since she’s already hard on her friends and that they don’t necessarily survive her lifestyle. Maggie then tells her that she’s not worried about the risks, but she’s very connected before giving Jane her card and asks her to make a call whenever she wants to talk or even need anything at all. From there, she takes her leave as Dr. Hiller, Det. Fernandez and the two Brides come in to see Jane. Maureen tells Vasko that Dr. Sheridan a.k.a. the actual Mercy Killer saved her life by killing Largo with his lethal serum before fleeing from the facility and even cleared out his apartment as well. Jane then says that she recalls the guy raving about his “sacred duty” to kill people in order to spare them from worse deaths that he foresaw. She even recalls him getting calmer after he last touched her, to which her friends tell her not to worry about that anymore since he’s long gone before they take their leave in order for her to rest up.
From there, Issue 4 ends at the Teller Pharmaceutical Plant in Atlanta as a brand new medicine called KL-7-D is getting produced. One particular worker named Fletcher comments about this being a massive medical breakthrough that will allow people to slightly extend their lives, but Kelso has to been a downer by saying that it gives the populace false hope and it’s not the be-all, end-all cure to death. Not only that, but he sees it as “selling empty promises” and that the populace will still suffer with whatever diseases are ailing them. During all of this, Dr. David Sheridan overhears their conversation while Jane narrates about how despite his past actions, he did leave her with two mysteries to solve: What vision did he see from her that made him change his mind & what did she see within him that forever changed her.
Issue 5 begins with Painkiller Jane making her way into the subway tunnels alongside a few members of the 22 Brides, specifically Hardkiss, Carrie, Libby and Dark Ali. Leading the way for them is Candy, due to her being Caliban’s former girlfriend and having a good knowledge of New York City’s subterranean system as a result. As they embark on their rescue mission to save Mercy, Candy informs them about Caliban himself. With the aid of “drugs and tough love” to keep his armada of runaways at his command, he’s also very arrogant in thinking that any of his youthful minions would ever betray him, hence why he’s never had to change his location. As a former member of his gang, Candy knows where she can find him and is eager to help our ladies take him down. After they dodge a subway train, Candy leads Jane and the Brides down a passage of stairs as it’s the only way to reach Caliban’s hideout. She also explains that the whole subterranean system is essentially one big maze, hence why he’s never had to relocate his base. Not only that, but the entirety of New York City is connected by the numerous series of tunnels, passages and sewers. As such, it’s how Caliban’s kids are able to navigate throughout the municipality and steal for him with effective ease. Not only that, but the police stations are also connected to the sewers, thus allowing them to sneak into the evidence room and discreetly steal drugs & weapons. Now, Candy is looking to get back at Caliban with Vasko and the 22 Brides as the only ones that can possibly help her bring a permanent end to his operation. As Candy leads the group to the central hub, Carrie tells her fellow Brides that once they’re done with this mission, they can help “get her a leg up”.
They ultimately arrive at the main base called the Cross Roads where they come across a huge swathe of Caliban’s loyal kids. Suddenly, they jump down and swarm the ladies as Painkiller Jane tells her comrades (specifically to Hardkiss) not to hurt them, since they’re still children. She also deduces that after they allow the youthful armada to capture them, they’ll get taken to the head honcho himself while making him believe that he’s still in charge at the same time.
From there, our ladies are brought to Caliban before Painkiller Jane demands to know where he’s holding Mercy. He says that she’s being held over in his bed, but she’s been fiercely rejecting his attempts to bring her into the group. After discovering that Candy has helped our ladies reach his base, he tells the disarmed group that his children will make sure that they don’t make any kind of movement and that they can’t be swayed in any sort of way since they’ve been exposed to a special compound called Rapture, an intoxicating formula that keeps its user addicted and allows him to take advantage of it. As such, he attempts to use it on Mercy after starving her of food, water and rest over the past few days. However, she’s still able to surprise him by ramming her feet into his chest, causing him to drop his formula as the container shatters on the ground. As Caliban prepares to beat Mercy to death with his cane, Candy takes out a small handgun that she successfully sneaked in and shoots him, causing him to fall onto his lab equipment as it suddenly explodes in his face. However, he survives the blast before recognizing Candy from her time with him. As such, he takes out his own gun and shoots her.
From there, Jane manages to free herself from the kids’ grasp, grabs a coat rack and smacks Caliban with it before she proceeds to beat him up. During this, she chastises him for his own operations while his base begins to crumble. However, he manages to reach a secret passage in order to get away. Vasko tells the Brides that she needs backup for her pursuit while the rest stay put in order to guide the children back to Cross Roads. Libby says that they have to get Candy some medical attention, but she tells the group to get him. As such, Dark Ali orders Hardkiss, Carrie and Libby to accompany Jane in her pursuit of Caliban, while the rest of the group use the surrounding materials to create a makeshift stretcher for Candy. As for Mercy, she decides to also go after the subterranean tyrant. Back with Painkiller Jane, she chases Caliban through a subway tunnel before he ducks into a dark passageway. She tries to enter in order to continue her pursuit, but she soon discovers something “wet” and “heavy” that’s raining down on her by the hundreds. By the time that Hardkiss, Carrie, Libby and Mercy catch up, Vasko bursts out of the passageway with several rats all over her. She tells the Brides to wait a few seconds before shooting her, since the vermin has given her rabies. After getting some flesh wounds, she steps on the third rail and receives a vicious electric shock, though it does dispel the rats that were on her.
With some careful aiming, Hardkiss manages to shoot Jane off of the electrified third rail. Thanks to her Healing Factor, Vasko is able to recover just as the rest of the Brides reach the group. Dark Ali says that they’ve taken the kids to Cross Roads before Painkiller Jane mentions that Caliban has gotten away. Suddenly, they’re met upon by opposing gunfire as he returns to make them pay for disrupting his whole operation. Jane manages to leap in and fire a few shots at him while saving Dark Ali. As it turns out, this was a distraction as a subway train rumbles in and runs over him.
After evading the train, the ladies return to the Cross Roads in order to help the children and the wounded Candy out of the sewers. However, they’re unsure of where the nearest exit is. Thankfully, one of the kids hands Caliban’s chart book over to Jane. She discovers that it contains the entire subterranean layout upon several napkins, takeout menus and transit maps. From there, they proceed to make their way towards Spicer Memorial Hospital. With every last child getting treated & nourished for their eventual release into social services, Vasko gets treated by Seth who informs her that the serum wears off fairly quickly. Jane tells him that she can finally rest, but Dr. Hiller says that it won’t be likely, since the kids have to be held within the old wing (which is where her room is) until social services can acquire them. Afterwards, he tells the Brides that Candy has undergone some successful surgery and will ultimately recover. Carrie then tells her that her group will make sure that she eventually gets to do some far-more rewarding job. And so, the series ends with Vasko taking her leave while she utters how “no good deed goes unpunished”.
Even though her initial series has come and gone, we’re not even close to being done with this section. After all, the rest of the late 1990s and early 2000s saw her crossing paths with several other comic book characters. First up, we have our titular heroine going on a one-shot venture with Jackie Estacado himself in “Painkiller Jane Vs. The Darkness”. Released in April 1997, Garth Ennis gets to handle writing duties, Amanda Conner takes care of the penciling work, Jimmy Palmiotti gets tasked with the inks and Atomic Paintbrush gets the credit for Color Separations. As for what kind of trouble Jane and Jackie will find themselves in, let’s dive into this tale called “Stripper”.
We open on two informative pages about our main players for this venture. First up, a swindling scumbag named Terrence J. Flannery a.k.a. Terry The Turd. Even since his kindergarten days, he’s been stealing money from various people. His recent heist saw him take $350,000 that was meant to go to Don Frank Franchetti and his laundering scheme. Next up, we have Jackie Estacado, who intends on taking Terry out in order to take his decapitated head and the stolen cash back to the crime boss, who’s also his uncle. Not to mention, the opening narration also states that he has his own “dark secret”. Moving on, we have Painkiller Jane herself. She’s also gunning for Terry’s head, since he framed the 22 Brides for ripping off several Miami-based Cubans. During that money theft, he also shot Mercy in the thigh as Vasko looks to deliver some signature Bride-style justice upon Flannery. Little does she and Estacado know is that “a very special young lady” will play a big role within all of this. From there, we truly open with Terry hastily running through an alley with his stolen money. Suddenly, he’s met upon by a group of ninjas (more specifically, the Yakuza) and order him to return the five million yen (or $43,900.08 in U.S. money) that he took from their master named Lord Muribata. Just as the leader is about to slay Flannery with his blade, the ninjas are suddenly rammed by a woman in her Volkswagen Beetle shortly after see oversaw the scene. She then helps Terry escape before telling him that she’s a “stripper”, which gets him excited.
While Jackie and Jane continue their own separate searches for him, we then shift over to Terry arriving with the young woman at her apartment. She talks about the situation that he was in as he explains that he “left some guys danglin'” without having to give them his address. As he takes a seat while she locks the door, he starts to get excited at the dirty fun he thinks that he’s fallen backwards into. Suddenly, the chair straps him in before the woman reveals that she’s a stripper, though not in the way that he expected. She then reveals her sick obsession where she actually peals the skins from her victims’ bodies. Shortly after she gags him, she prepares to inject some painkillers into him before she begins her twisted operation.
Meanwhile, Estacado arrives at Terry’s rundown apartment before getting held at gunpoint by Vasko who demands to know about him. Suddenly, he unleashes his Darkness powers and ties her up in order to ask her some questions. However, she manages to deploy a grenade which explodes and frees her. She then takes advantage of Jackie’s disorientation by beating him up.
Suddenly, they’re approached by the ninjas and are forced to fight them off. Just as Painkiller Jane gets held at blade point, Estacado unleashes the full extent of his Darkness powers as his viciously mutilates the various Yakuza clansmen to her shocked surprise. After leaving one ninja alive, Jackie demands to know what happened with their pursuit of Terry. The wounded warrior explains that a “crazy woman” ran them down and came to his rescue. Jane then joins the interrogation and learns from him about the lady’s car, even telling Estacado that if they find out about the correct license place number, then they’ll be able to track down where she has their main subject.
Later, they arrive outside of the woman’s apartment as Vasko informs Spyder about the current situation, especially since the physically unseen member of the Brides was able to come through by searching the vehicle registration database for her. After making their way up the stairs, Jackie kicks the door down only to be immediately slashed in the chest by the opposing stripper, especially since she heard him approaching. Jane tries to fire back at her, but she manages to dodge in time. After she heads in, Vasko is shocked to find Terry strapped down and with most of his skin cut off. This distraction allows the stripper to stab a pair of scalpels into her hands as she takes her guns and fires back at Jane.
As she pulls the scalpels out, she calls for help from Estacado’s Darkness powers. However, he’s not in proper shape to unleash it and needs time to heal. The stripper then takes out a cleaver and prepares to cut away at his skin, though Vasko manages to recover and dives in the way, taking the full force of the blade through her back. Thankfully, this allowed Jackie to recover just enough so that he can summon his Darkness powers and mutilate the fiendish stripper. Later, the twosome manage to get back on their feet and tend to their wounds in their own way. Afterwards, they come across the imprisoned Terry who begs to go to the hospital. However, Estacado and Painkiller Jane haven’t forgotten about his money theft and tell him that he’s in big trouble. Jackie then remembers that he has to bring back the goon’s head before Vasko comes up with a solution that’ll work for them. And so, the comic ends with them preparing to cut Terry’s head in half and bring each side back to their respective groups.
Moving on, we have another singular tale to explore. This time, our gun-totting, self-healing vigilante will get paired up with a famous supernatural superheroine within the pages of “Vampirella/Painkiller Jane”. Mark Waid & Brian Augustyn return to write the script, while Rick Leonardi and Jimmy Palmiotti have also come back to handle the artwork. So, what terrifying ordeal awaits the two ladies within this little yarn from May 1998? Let’s sharpen our fangs and find out.
We open at a Vermont-based mansion as its occupant named Rex McCobb has a “genuinely creepy” tale to tell us, involving “a horrific beauty pageant” and the two women who went up against it. From there, we truly begin within an alley in lower-east Manhattan as a late-night waitress named Nancy Fletcher is all by herself. Suddenly, she’s approached by a group of colonial-looking men who’re also vampires. Just as they swarm her, they’re suddenly approached by Vampirella who proceeds to beat them up.
Meanwhile, Painkiller Jane pops in and holds her gun at the demonic fiends that’re holding the waitress in front of them as a shield. Thankfully, she’s able to aim her firearm at their heads as she takes them out with precise headshots. Meanwhile, Vampirella throws the remaining vampires into a massive pile of scrap. It turns out that it contained giant pieces of shrapnel as they were impaled by it before they turn into permanent ash. Despite having no vampire to interrogate, Vampirella says that she knows what they’re up to. Specifically, they were gathering their own stock for their own slave auction, but they masquerade it as a beauty pageant that the Sangfroid bloodline holds on an annual basis. As she sprouts some vampiric wings, she says that even though she’s a vampire, she’s a “good kind” who promised Lilith (the mother of all vampires) to rid the world of these blood-sucking demons. From there, she says that she’ll handle this by herself before flying off. However, this doesn’t persuade Jane to back out as she investigates one of the vampiric corpses and discovers some matches that advertise the Grand Villa Hotel.
Meanwhile, Rex narrates that the two women were in their own race to stop this horrid operation. After mentioning that he’s “something of an expert and a vampire hunter” and upon hearing of this pageant, he hits the road alongside some “Bangor Street Irregulars” in order to slay the vampires themselves. Over at the Grand Villa Hotel’s grand ballroom, the hostess named Ilyanna Potempkin-Popp prepares to kick off Miss Hemogoblin 1998 for her vampiric guests. After mentioning that her family’s support of the Sangfroid bloodline dates all the way back to her great-great uncle Ygor, she presents the crowd with their main host: Eddie Sangfroid IV. He says that depending on the woman who wins the contest, the vampire that brought her here in the first place will get a extravagant trip to Las Vegas. Unbeknownst to all of them, Vampirella has arrived to put an end to this operation. Suddenly, she’s met upon by Painkiller Jane before questioning her ability to stand up against the fanged fiends. Vasko then demonstrates her abnormal Healing Factor by slamming her hand through a desktop note pin.
As such, Vampirella agrees to work with her, as long as Painkiller Jane follows her lead. For now, her only plan is to enter the beauty pageant, win it and slay Eddie during the crown presentation. However, Jane questions her ability to win based on her own physical frame. As such, they both strip down to their bare bodies and compare each other before they settle on Vampirella taking part in the contest. Vasko then tells her that she’ll watch her back from the main floor. From there, they set their plan into motion as Painkiller Jane takes her place as a waitress. Despite Vampirella entering the contest, the vampire crowd doesn’t approve of her figure. As Rex and his comrades try to make their way through the Manhattan traffic jam and ultimately slay the vampires, the pageant continues to heat up as the various contestants continue to get wooed over by the fanged crowd while Vampirella is still looked down upon by them. Suddenly, Jane gets met upon by Eddie who proceeds to bite her neck and drink her blood. However, it tastes foul to him as he spits it out while her Healing Factor heals the bite marks on her neck. Just as he says that he’d like to ram a stake into her chest, the lingerie portion of the overall contest attracts his attention as he heads out to watch.
During this portion of the competition, Vampirella is among the final four. However, the vampire crowd continue to chastise her fabulous frame. This finally ticks her off as she jumps down and attacks them before Jane joins in to help her out.
With there being far too many vampires for them to handle, Vampirella notices that the chandelier has many lit candles. As such, she pulls it down and sets the room ablaze. With the vampires cut off from the door, they make a mad dash for the windows. However, they were smeared with holy crosses by Vasko, though with barbeque sauce instead of blood. As the vampires become engulfed by the flames, Jane tells Vampirella that they have to get out. However, Eddie manages to approach her with vicious intent due to the Sangfroid bloodline being destroyed within the inferno. While Jane helps the women contestants escape, Vampirella grabs Eddie and throws him into a woman-shaped statue with enough force for it to fall on top of him. Not only that, but he gets impaled by one of its pointed breasts. Shortly afterwards, Rex and company drive into the ballroom before they aim their crossbows at Vampirella. Vanko tries to tell them that she’s one of the good guys, but they don’t listen to her before they fire their arrows. As such, Jane jumps in the way in order to save her comrade, even though Vampirella admits that it wouldn’t have hurt her. Rex then introduces himself before he recognizes the two ladies and offers for them to get a hotel room in order to share their stories. However, they rightfully punch him in the face and head out to share their triumph over drinks. And so, the comic ends with Rex saying that the women “wanted” him and proved it by “double-teaming” him within the Presidential Suite. He promises to share the “dirty details of that night” within his newest novel called “Ménage A Terror”.
Even though that’s the only venture that Painkiller Jane shared with the heroic vampire, it wouldn’t be the lone comic that they appeared in together. Briefly, I’ll talk about the “Vampirella Crossover Gallery”, which was published in September 1997. Essentially through various artists, Vampirella would be shown in two-page spreads alongside various comic book characters, ranging from the fairly well-known such as Savage Dragon, Madman, Shi & Pantha to lesser-known creations like Hellshock, Kabuki and even Monkeyman & O’Brien. For Painkiller Jane’s inclusion, Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti mainly handle the artwork, while LIQUID! took care of coloring duties. It’s a brief inclusion within Vasko’s vast history, but it’s still worth mentioning.
Finally, she also has another pin-up appearance within a comic that’s outside of her regular series of books. Published in October 1997 and July 1998 respectively, this two-issue anthology from Head Press Publishing is called “No Justice, No Piece”. Essentially, this was created by publisher and editor Robert Luedke after being inspired by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and their continuous efforts to fend off censorship & support the comic book creators’ 1st Amendment Rights (mainly concerning Freedom of Speech and of the Press). As for how Painkiller Jane is involved within this comic, she’s only shown at the very end of the first issue. Needless to say, it’s in a more provocatively sexy pose where only the Comics Code Authority logo and some “Mature Readers Only” bandage wrappings are covering up the more naughty bits of her body. As for who it is exactly that brought us this drawing, why it’s none other that Amanda Conner herself! While only limited to this single splash page, she sure knew how to express herself in more ways than one.
Getting back to the single-issue crossovers, we have Vasko getting involved in another otherworldly outing and she’ll get herself paired up with a familiar agent who’s gone up against various shades of the supernatural & occult. With all that in mind, we have the veteran writing, penciling and inking team of Augstyn, Leonari and Palmiotti returning to help bring this venture to the masses called “Painkiller Jane/Hellboy”, released in August 1998. So, what kind of sinister spirit will bring these two comic legends together in order to stop it? Let’s take aim and find out.
We open in front of the New York Museum of Antiquities as Jane narrates about “the foundation for yet another Manhattan Temple of Commerce” that has recently excavated “an ancient Native America artifact”. Believed by archaeologists to be the lone surviving trace of a near-mythical tribe called the Maniskeet, its trip to the museum has been brought under fire and protest by several Native American groups who believe that another piece of their heritage has been co-opted by the “White Man”. At this moment, Jane is about to escort Dr. Nanda Perhan, an old friend who identified the artifact, past the opposing mob. Fortunately, Vasko won’t be protecting her by herself as Fonti’s main bodyguards themselves, Sean & Pauly, will be offering their services. As the group approaches the museum, they’re soon met upon by the Indian protesters as their leader demands for them to hand over the artifact. Dr. Perhan then recognizes them as members of the Maniskeet and asks them why they think that this historical trinket is significant to them. However, he doesn’t offer an explanation before he and his fellow protestors begin to make a forceful play for the item. Pauly responds by taking out his handgun and warns them to cease their struggle or else. Jane then tries to get the situation under control and says that she doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. While she tells the protesters how she understands that they’re fighting for a cause that they believe is right, her group must get inside the museum. However, the leader reveals his own handgun and points it right at Vasko’s head. Pauly gets into a standoff with the opposing Indian and demands for him to let Jane go.
Suddenly, they’re met upon by Gregory Two Bears who’s also been invited to the museum. He then tells the protesters to disperse, or else his “large friend” will deal with them. As the opposing group flees, Gregory then introduces his colleges to Jane’s group: his nephew Arthur and B.P.R.D. agent Anung un Rama a.k.a. Hellboy. After Vasko, Sean & Pauly get their proper introductions, they all proceed to head inside. Ultimately, Nanda presents the artifact to Dr. Sampon, Dr. Brock and Dr. Kilgore. She tells Gregory that it’s at least 10,000 years old and was around before the existence of the Iroquois tribe. He confirms with her that it is from the Maniskeet Tribe, but he also warns them that they must not open it, no matter what could possibly be inside. However, the head scientist says that they must open it, especially since it’s from a little-known tribe. Hellboy essentially says that it never goes well for those who’ve opened various kinds of Pandora’s Boxes, to which Dr. Perhan agrees, especially since Gregory is the leading expert on his people & culture and thus should act as the main voice. Unfortunately, the head scientist says that while he doesn’t condone recklessness, it’s still worth taking the risk to know what could possibly be inside the artifact. As he taps the item, it suddenly opens up and accidentally releases a dark spirit.
It introduces itself as N’Korik, the Devil God of the Maniskeet who’s been confined in the artifact over the past several centuries, but is now freed “and ready to get back to nasty business”. Pauly & Sean draw their guns at it and fire a few rounds, but they’re completely ineffective as the devious spirit smacks them away. Gregory takes out a pendant and attempts to cast a binding spell on it, but N’Korik tells him that his magic “isn’t old enough to affect him”. He then senses “a delicious reservoir of power” right outside the building, especially since it’s fueled with “raw anger and aggression”. It turns out to be coming from the Indian protesters as he proceeds to suck their life forces.
Not only that, but he gains their knowledge as well and acquires their belief that the Native Americans were forced from their lands by “repulsive foreigners”. Hellboy tries to tell him that times have changed and that there’s been enacted laws passed down over the years that prevent it from happening, but he’s unable to sway N’Korik as he and Jane are forced to dodge an opposing blast of demonic magic. The dark spirit then says that he has no interest in ruling “this filthy world of outsiders”, but he does want to take charge over “the primordial land” that it used to be. From there, he resurrects several deceased Indian warriors as Hellboy realizes that these opposing figures are based on the stored memories of those whose life essences he’s already drained. From there, he, Jane and Arthur proceed to fight the undead Native Americans. Meanwhile, Gregory decides to attack N’Korik with his “great medicine spear” called the Minwinin. He throws his holy weapon at the devious spirit and hits him, but it barely did anything to him as he attempts to crush the life out of Gregory’s body. Jane intervenes by firing her gun at N’Korik and succeeds in drawing his attention away, but he retaliates by manifesting a tree onto her before she gets stabbed by its branches. During all of this commotion, the scientists are fleeing from the scene in an attempt to warn the populace. However, Gregory says that N’Korik must be stopped soon, or else there won’t be anyone strong enough to contact. Soon after Hellboy takes care of the undead Indians with a grenade, he then helps Jane out of the supernatural tree before she assures him that she’ll “Heal” from this.
As our heroes try to figure out how they’ll be able to stop N’Korik, Gregory tells them that it must be contained and according to his research of the Maniskeet tribe, there was only a single group that had the power to take down “the evil ones”: the Thunderers. He goes on to explain that they were “benevolent god-beings” who defeated their foes with “ear-splitting sound”. Not only that, but it’s their lone weakness. Jane remembers that the protesters had their own sound system on their truck. Thanks to a convenient museum map, the entire group makes their way through the magically-created forest before they ultimately reach one of the front windows. Hellboy warns her that they’re a couple of floors above ground level, but Vasko assures him that she’ll “Heal”. As such, he proceeds to throw her through the frontal panes. Afterwards, Anung heads over to distract N’Korik from her. Meanwhile, Painkiller Jane manages to get behind the wheel of the protesters’ van and drives towards the front entrance. She soon discovers an audio cassette containing the Chumbawamba song “Tubthumping”. After crashing into the building, she cranks up the vehicle’s speakers.
This actually paralyzes the evil spirit, while Gregory uses a containment spell in order to trap N’Korik within the artifact. Later on, Jane and Hellboy place it upon themselves to make sure that the world never faces this terror ever again. They arrive at the construction for a brand-new building as Anung throws the artifact into the building’s foundation before it sinks into the liquid cement. Afterwards, the comic ends with them heading out to celebrate with some much-deserved drinks.
As we shift from the supernatural to the mystical, Vasko will now find herself in a masculine-fueled nightmare where the only way she’ll be able to escape is by joining forces with a teenage girl who has her own dream-related skill. Published in October 1998, “Painkiller Jane/Darkchylde” sees Augstyn once again in the writer’s chair, while J.G. Jones handles both the pencils and inking duties. So, what kind of dread will these ladies discover within this mindscape? Let’s get “Lost In A Dream” and find out.
We begin within a vast wasteland as a young woman named Amy Keegan finds herself being chased by “some unknown terror”, while the narration mentions how she’s had this dream before. Ultimately, the creature catches up and grabs her by her hair as she realizes that she’s unable to wake up from this nightmare. Afterwards, the demon named Shard brings her back to the castle and presents her to his master named V’Ark, a barbarian fiend who already has plenty of enslaved women to call his own. From there, the self-proclaimed “Master of the Nightmare Realm” tells Amy that she’s never leaving this place and will serve to his “every pleasure”.
Unbeknownst to him, another young woman oversees the castle as she wonders why she’s here. She then narrates that she used to dream about this horrid place back when she was a child. As she grew up, she learned that her Darkchylde curse is directly connected to the Nightmare Realm. As such, she would be able to transform into any creature that lurks upon this land. However, she has to be awake in order for her transforming power to work. Because she’s asleep and within their world, she wants to know how and why she was “drawn into someone else’s nightmare”. Back in reality, Jane has made her way to the Arkadin Clinic after a “friend’s daughter” went there due to her sleeping disorder, only to wind up in a coma. Not only that, but several other women have found themselves in the same predicament. As such, Vasko visits the facility and meets its head medical man named Dr. Victor Arkadin. After being let into her office, Jane narrates that she’s here on an undercover assignment as a patient where she tells about her recurring dream of being caught in an explosion and being badly burned as a result. Victor says that this “nocturnal distress” is mentally forcing her to confront this fear, but that he can help her with a radical version of hypno-therapy. As Vasko ultimately agrees, Dr. Arkadin places her into a contraption that manages to put her into an hypnotic trance. From there, she falls into a deep sleep and finds herself within the nightmare realm. Suddenly, she gets grabbed by Shard who’s about to take her back to his master. Jane retaliates by kicking his nose and managing to free herself, only to be approached by another demonic creature named Natter. Thankfully, she grabs the being by its tail and throws it into Shard’s nose.
Unfortunately, he breaks off a tree branch and hurls it at her with enough force to impale her. Thankfully, her Healing Factor still works within this realm. Meanwhile, the young woman watches the conflict from afar and wonders if she’s the reason that she was drawn to this world in the first place. Back with Vasko, she pulls the branch out of her body before she hits Shard with it. Suddenly, she’s met upon by V’Ark who leaps down to strike. Despite kicking him in the groin, Jane gets hit in the head by the hilt of his sword and winds up knocked out. Afterwards, the young woman charges in to intervene, but he’s easily able to capture her through his fierce grip. As Shard picks up Vasko’s unconscious body, they proceed to make their way back to the castle as the lady narrates how she wishes to access her curse at this very moment to mutilate this sexist scumbag. Alas, she’s nothing more that Ariel Chylde. While V’Ark takes his new hostages back to his base, he’s being discreetly watched from afar by a devil-looking being who unconvincingly thinks that he could cross over from Earth and properly rule this realm. Knowing that the opposing barbarian is able to travel between the two realms, the demonic being plans on taking advantage of his ability and ultimately rule both worlds.
Back within the castle, Ariel and Jane are imprisoned alongside the rest of the captured women. Chylde then narrates how it makes complete sense that the scrawny Dr. Victor Arkadin was able to transfer all of these ladies into this dream world where he can be a physical presence and get some sadistic joy against them “for ignoring him in the real world”. Painkiller Jane even yells out to him that she knows about his twisted scheme, but V’Ark ignores her and say that she & every woman that’s under his terrorizing might are able to be controlled by him. As he mentions this to Ariel, he tells her that he can sense an intoxicating fear coming from her. From there, he makes his way over to Amy and tortures her with her own crippling & slithering dread: Ophidiophobia (Fear of Snakes). Painkiller Jane then yells out for him to leave Keegan alone and instead go after someone who can face his kind of terror. V’Ark ultimately complies as he forces her to relieve the fierce burning from the explosion that she initially endured en route to become a somewhat-superpowered vigilante. Despite the searing pain, she’s able to withstand it and tells him that just like in the real world, he has no control over her. V’Ark hits her in denial before Ariel also calls him out for the scum that he is. With his attention now drawn towards the rest of his imprisoned women, Vasko discovers that he left his sword within decent range of her.
While Ariel can only watch & narrate how helpless she feels in not being able to access her Darkchylde powers in order to protect the other ladies and Jane struggles to reach for the sword while having one of her arms chained up, V’Ark proceeds to torment the other women with their own fears. Back outside the castle, the devilish being known as Lord Gallowglass is slowing approaching the building alongside his demonic minions in order to take advantage of the ruthless barbarian’s dimension-hopping power. While Vasko is forced to bloodily strain her arm with the hopes of reaching his sword, V’Ark finally approaches Ariel and begins to tap into her fear, despite her warning him against bringing her nightmares to life. He finds it funny in thinking that she’s afraid of monsters, but he still intends on tormenting her with those beings. However, he accidentally taps into her Darkchylde power and allows her to transform into one of his realm’s creatures, breaking free of his imprisoning hold over her and finally being able to fight back. Meanwhile, Jane finally gets his sword and manages to slash her way to freedom as well. Back with Ariel, she keeps up her assault when Shard tries to attack her. V’Ark tries to take advantage of her distraction and strike back with a spear, but Vasko jumps in and rams his sword into his head. As a result however, it ended up shattering Victor’s fantasized self-image of himself as Ariel, Jane and the newly-freed women see the scrawny doctor for who he really is. Afterwards, he’s met upon by Lord Gallowglass who proceeds to jump towards him and begins to access his power in order make a connection into reality.
With his demonic allies quickly taken care off, Chylde and Vasko decide to join forces in order to prevent this devilish being from creating chaos upon their home realm. Ariel manages to grab onto Gallowglass’ legs, while Jane uses the sword to decapitate Victor, thus slicing the demonic being in half with the closed portal. After Chylde transforms back into her human self, they see this dream world beginning to fade away. After thanking her for her help, Vasko asks Ariel if she was one of Dr. Arkadin’s victims, to which she says that it was actually “the other way around” and it’s possible that it was the reason why she was drawn here in the first place. From there, everything within this dream realm fades away as Ariel awakens and finds herself back in her bed. Meanwhile, Jane wakes up back in the facility to find the doctor dead at his desk, while Gallowglass’ upper half was reduced to ashes. After being met upon by all of the previously-imprisoned women, she tells them that they’ll be able to sleep a whole lot better. And so, the comic ends with her narrating about her feeling sorry for Chylde, yet she compliments her for carrying “whatever cross she’d been stuck with well enough”.
For the last comic that we’ll look at for this section, we have a far-more grounded and street-level kind of tale for her as she crosses paths with the Big Red M’s signature slayer of criminals. With a self-described publication date of January 2001 (though it’s most likely that it actually came out in November 2000), “The Punisher/Painkiller Jane” sees the return of Garth Ennis to the writing desk as he handles the overall story. While Joe Jusko deals with the artwork for the first eleven pages, Dave Ross takes over for the second half. As for “Inks & Wash”, those duties would end up befalling upon Josef Rubinstein. So, what does the Marvel Knights imprint have in store for our gun-totting vigilantes? Let’s take aim and see for ourselves as someone will find themselves “Lovesick”.
We open with Frank Castle a.k.a. the Punisher gunning down a group of criminals. Unbeknownst to him, he’s being watched by Painkiller Jane who narrates about falling in love with him. It turns out that she first saw him when she was going to the restroom at her “favorite Little Italy Café”. She proceeds to observe him interrogating a lowlife named Mick and demands for the location of the Veronica brothers. Frank ultimately learns that Vinny Veronica has gone into hiding until a street war over on Mott Street cools down, possibly holding up on his yacht. As for Nigel, he’s still within the city and spending his nights over at a low-end dive called Bingo’s. Castle then tells Mick that he’ll return to learn the location of Vinny’s boat. Afterwards, Vasko emerges to interrogate Mick about the identity of his recent interrogator. After learning that he’s called the Punisher, she proceeds to discreetly follow him. During this, she narrates about why she has fallen head over heels for him. She then manages to evade his sight before resuming her subtle pursuit. The Punisher ultimately makes it to Smitty’s Bar where he proceeds to beat up some criminals inside (apparently including Nigel), while Jane watches through the window and continues to romantically admire him.
After she manages to learn where Frank is hiding out, she proceeds to watch from a nearby 24-hour diner. Eventually, the morning comes and he heads out. Jane manages to reach his base and notices a claymore-rigged trap hooked up to the adjacent window. After disarming it, she heads inside and admires his layout of weapons. She then narrates that her romantic feelings for Castle were legitimate, especially since she never thought that she would ever come across a man like him. She then finds his shirt containing his signature logo on it and proceeds to make several poses in it. From there, she goes on to fantasize about her future with him, comically filled with flying bullets.
Suddenly, she’s approached by the Punisher who points his gun at her and thinks that she’s come here to kill him for Vinnie Veronica. She assures him that this isn’t a hit and that she’s “only here for love”. Following her entire explanation, she goes on to say that they have a lot in common. However, Frank tells her that since she’s found his hideout, there’s the risk of the opposing mob finding out where he’s based, thus he would have to move his own base of operations. Also, he doesn’t trust her and demands for her to leave. However, she only believes that he’s playing hard to get. Over the next several days, the Punisher is out on his massacre of several criminals, but Jane keeps popping up to let him know that she’s not giving up on him. Even when he holds a gun up to her face and says that he could simply kill her, she asks him if he takes out those who fall in love for him. Then one day, he picks her up and drives her to the airport. She learns that they’re going to take a trip and that where they’re going will be a surprise. She makes it onto the plane before she wonders where he could be, just before it’s scheduled to take off. Unbeknownst to her however, Frank has paid the pilot to fly her as far away from him as possible, specifically Anchorage.
She ultimately finds a way out of it as she narrates that it “was an adventure in itself”, mentioning that in order to get back to New York City, she came across “people who parachute for fun” and that she had to kill a polar bear in the process. She ultimately meets up with Mick in order to know where Frank currently is, mentioning that he’s located where Vinnie’s boat is docked. He does say that it’s located at Cape Cod, specifically in the town of Blueville, as Castle was informed about this back on the previous night. However, there’s something that he wasn’t informed about. Vasko learns that Mick has tipped Vinnie off about the Punisher’s arrival. As such, the lone surviving Veronica brother has about two dozen armed thugs waiting to gun the vigilante down. Jane tells Mick that there’s something he doesn’t know as she guns him down before she narrates that she had to book it over to Blueville as fast as possible. Over on the yacht, a massive shootout has erupted as Frank is gunning down as many of the opposing men as possible. During all of this, Vinnie tells his right-hand man Skinner that he wants Castle to be left alive, so that he can suffer. After taking some hits, the Punisher tries to jump overboard. However, Skinner manages to shoot a spearing hook into Frank’s leg and successfully captures him.
Meanwhile, Jane manages to swim her way over to the boat and takes out one of the thugs on board. Just as Vinnie is about to mutilate Castle with his knife, Vasko jumps in with guns blazing as she takes down several goons, along with Vinnie as well. However, she runs out of bullets before noticing Skinner who about to fire his spearing hook into a distracted Punisher. She manages to jump into the line of fire and take the hit as Frank is surprised by what she did for him before he proceeds to execute the fiend off-panel. He’s then surprised to find her alive and patching up her injury, to which she says that she’s survived much worse. After mentioning that he called out her name when she defended him from Skinner’s attempted kill shot, she realizes that he does care about her. However, he’s not willing to fully commit to a relationship with her, even though she saved his life twice. Still, he’s willing to give her what she wants, just as long as she never intervenes in his life ever again. After they share a passionate night aboard the yacht, the comic ends with Jane narrating about the Punisher taking his leave once the morning came around. Even though she knew that she would never see him again, she would always keep him in her heart. With the deceased thugs’ bodies floating within the water serving as “a testament to the night of magic” they shared, she concludes this tale by mentioning how “the .45 casings gleaming on the deck” will forever represent “a promise of undying love”.
In terms of the character’s early days, it makes for an interesting collection of stories. From her debut within the four-issue series “22 Brides” until the end of her initial solo series, it was surprising to discover that there was some kind of a shared universe that included her, the familiar group of female assassins, the superhero Ash and even the villainous/reformed crime boss Don Joe Fonti. In some way, shape and form, these entities interacted with each other in different kinds of combinations, depending on the stories that they’re given. Early on, Painkiller Jane is more in the background, especially since her initial outings were in another team’s book. It does lay the groundwork for the initial origin of her Healing Factor, as well as the antagonistic relationship that she & the Brides would originally have with Fonti. Those were little details that would get developed over the next few years and, in my opinion, helped in building a dedicated audience for the character. As for the several-years later prelude that provides more of a fleshed-out origin, it does a nice job in explaining her police training, her friendship with Maureen, establishing a doctor who would become a recurring character for the initial series (as well as being her somewhat love interest) and even how she got her Healing Factor. At first glance, this seems to somewhat contradict her initial event within 22 Brides, since one would automatically assume that’s how she acquired her abnormal healing. Upon closer examination, Issue Zero does say that she goes on to the events of that series following her confrontation with the Blanco brothers, so maybe one could argue that Fonti’s use of her as a suicide bomber pushed her drug-fueled Healing Factor to its absolute limit before Adam’s Healing Chamber helped strengthen it to near-immortal levels. Moving on to her first solo series, I appreciate how there’s something of an overflowing narrative structure, since a villainous element would pop up in one issue before becoming the main obstacle in the next. Starting from its beginning, it was an interesting choice for Fonti to go through a humbling moment where the kidnapping of his baby girl forces him to forgo his villainous stance against Jane (and ultimately, the Brides as well) and he becomes more of a humble ally, especially since his bodyguards Sean & Pauly would garner some prominence in further adventures. They essentially became vital helpers to both Jane and the Brides, especially once Vasko gets placed within the hospital following the rescue of Joe’s daughter. During this run, it also trims up the Brides’ roster from their initial series in order for the more prevalent members to become the true faces of the group. As for the villain of this series, Dr. David Sheridan mostly handles that role. Having the deadly foresight of whoever he touches is a neat power that works within this comic book confines and although he becomes mentally warped by his questionable morals, he still felt reprehensible for what he thought that he had to do. Although he does somewhat redeem himself to Jane by saving her from a murderous crime boss and goes on to use his medical knowledge to create a new serum, his overhearing of some nearby employees does make him realize that he can’t save everyone from their pain. As for the rest of the villains within this initial series, they both take advantage of children within their own ways. With Deke and his insane clown posse, they’re basically kidnappers with a decent set-up in order to take some financial advantage over Fonti. As for Caliban, having his own army of homeless children & young adults at his command while having the knowledge of New York City’s entire underground system makes him more of a hidden evil. He is a manipulator, but he prefers to operate from the shadows and tries to avoid any unwanted attention. Instead, he uses the city’s rejected youth to make subtle moves on his behalf. Finally, there’s the five times that she’s teamed up with another comic book character. While a psychotic woman who literally tears the skin off of her victims does seems like an out-of-place fiend for someone with access to supernatural demonic powers like Jackie Estacado, the crime & mob connections that he shares with Jane is what helps this story become engaging enough throughout. Thankfully, Vasko’s venturing into the otherworldly does start to get better handled during her pairing with Vampirella. Jane’s able to handle the vampiric adversaries and allows this kind of occult overtone to naturally function within her world. As for the time that she pairs up with Hellboy, their brief partnership made them feel utterly confident with each other and showed them dealing with a spiritual crisis in great fashion. Her pairing with Darkchylde took a while for them to finally join forces, but it was still an empowering fantasy romp. Seeing them go up against some impossible odds in terms of dreams and a perverted enslaver does help make their ultimate triumph feel satisying by the end. Finally, Vasko’s street-level venture with the Punisher does have a nice blend of action and dark comedy. It’s also interesting to see her become romantically attracted to someone who’s a gun-totting vigilante like her, especially since she did mention in a previous adventure that it wasn’t likely that she would find herself in a meaningful relationship. While the ultimate villains in that tale were only decent at best, the interactions between her and Frank is what ultimately helps the book hit its target. Well, that about does it for her humble beginnings. As we delve further into the 21st Century, what kind of criminal scum will she be forced to go up against and put down in bloody fashion? Check back in for Part 2 as we switch publishers, reload and heal up for more to come.
Painkiller Jane (created by Jimmy Palmiott & Joe Quesada) is owned by PaperFilms.