The Pulse, Vol. 2: Secret War

The Pulse

by Brian Michael Bendis, Brent Anderson (Illustrator)

Jessica Jones and Luke Cage's lives have been destroyed by the events of the Secret War, so what is Jessica going to do about it? Fans of Secret War - feel The Pulse as it pounds out more gritty intrigue even as it welcomes a new award-winning comics superstar Brent Anderson (Rising Stars, Astro City)! Captain America, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Nick Fury, and more!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Superheroes, Fantasy

96 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2005

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Secret Wars. Never read it. What a cluster****.

Okay. So now I've read a bit of it and I'm utterly confused.

BUT. The bits where Jessica Jones freaks the hell out while looking for her Luke, freaking the hell out of her baby's father?

Well, that was gold. The rest was just backdrop.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something blows up, then something else blows, then there's a fight at the docks that we don't see, then a confrontation with Wolverine. It's Jessica Jones following in the footsteps of Secret War, but it's not a particularly satisfying story, and it's not a particularly coherent one if you haven't read Secret War already.

Which is a pity, because the premise is great. Having Secret War notably affect the lives of Luke and Jessica, and then seeing the repercussions of that in Pulse is a great model for a crossover. But this is so interwoven with Secret War that it just doesn't stand on its own.

And, the other threads of story in this volume of Pulse just don't hold the story together. There's a bit with Hydra that comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere, then the whole hunt for Luke anticlimaxes when someone says, "Oh, I know where he's been this whole time". That's not a mystery, that an oversight.

There's nice characterization. It's great to see Jessica and Ben and Luke and Danny. But the story beyond that is pretty mediocre. (Definitely Alias/Pulse at its lowest ebb, and no shock, a crossover was the cause.)

[Elfo-oscuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bendis pocas veces decepciona y si encima 3 grapas las dibuja Michael Lark y sale el hombre púrpura pues ya está casi hecha la historia. Muy disfrutable con Jessica Jones en su papel de enfadada con el mundo pero velando x su hijo en la tripa

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh Marvel *shakes head* This book was such a colossal disappointment. After the great set up in the first volume of Pulse, to have this devolve into some kinda Secret War tie in mess is unfortunate. Gone are the sassy newsroom antics that made Pulse an interesting concept and also Jessica Jones character seems to have flown the coop as well. She spends this entire volume injured, unconscious, or a raving hysteric. Yes, it is understandable that she would be upset over Luke Cage's disappearance but Bendis is really taking this hysterical pregnant lady thing to the extreme and this character bears no resemblance to the one back in Alias. In the end I'm not sure what we're left with. It certainly isn't a story that makes much sense, though it does wrap up with a happy(ish) ending.

[Valentin Derevlean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hm, ciudat ratingul acesta, dar mie personal mi-a plăcut povestea mult. Are minusurile ei, clar, dar e o perspectivă care completează excelent story-ul din Secret War. Și da, e drept, fără să citești story-ul principal, numerele astea de aici par aruncate în aer. Nu înțelegi contextul, nu înțelegi reacțiile personajelor, mai nimic. De altfel, așa cum începe și cum se termină, povestea de aici pare incompletă. Și tocmai ptr că e gândită ca o altă fațetă a poveștii principale.

Povestea e în continuare despre ziar și Jessica Jones, atacată în apartamentul ei și a lui Luke Cage de cineva necunoscut. Luke e rănit grav, în încercarea de a o salva pe ea. Apoi spitalul în care e dus e atacat și Luke alături de alți supereroi dispar fără urmă. Se pare că totul are legătură cu o misiune de-a lui Nick Fury (așa cum știm și noi), iar Jessica e dărâmată psihic și fizic. Intervine S.H.I.E.L.D., apoi H.I.D.R.A. și tot așa. Unii sunt revoltați că Jessica e portretizată că o femeie isterică, slabă de înger și neputincioasă, uitând de fapt că e o femeie însărcinată al cărei iubit e rănit grav și e dispărut. Mie tocmai perspectiva asta umană mi-a plăcut mai mult. A, și avem câțiva desenatori noi, care fără să fie geniali, sunt totuși rezonabili cu portretele. Așa că 4 stele.

[Sergio Del Valle Buzón · Rating 3 out of 5]

El complemento perfecto para profundizar mejor en la Secret War, que por sí sola queda un poco corta. Incluso me ha gustado más que Secret War. Y el What If de J.J. maravilloso.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I seriously dislike Bendis, hate big crossovers and never read a single issue of Alias, why do I enjoy the Pulse so much?

Maybe, because it doesn't matter if you read Secret War or not, this story stands on it's own. The whole point is the heroes are caught up in something they don;t understand, and the story makes that work.
and despite my not being a big fan of gangsta rap Luke Cage, he and Jessica are a nice, well written couple.

My only gripes are Iron Fist was written as a bit of a dick and I liked the first story, when the newspaper staff all got equal time in the spotlight. As the series went on it became pretty much the Luke and Jessica show.

Still a series and one of the few Bendis written stories that I enjoyed.

[Christopher Mclean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well this was interesting, but not necessarily in a good way. This volume has a much darker, gritter vibe than very vibrant, happy, light first volume. This tone seems much more fitting with Jessica and the corner of the Marvel universe she inhabits. Unfortunately the story itself is so tightly tied in with the secret wars event that I didn't feel like I got even a small portion of a complete story in this arc.

It a real shame too because the story itself does seem interesting. I like the idea of seeing these street level players drawn into a much, much bigger event, with Ben their providing the reports view on everything. Unfortunately what we actually get Ben and Jessica running all over the state, with nothing by vague hints on what is actually going on.

[Chantal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me ha parecido bastante flojo, se nota que es tie-in. Y por favor, no me gusta nada cómo representan a Jessica en este volumen. Obviamente está preocupada por Luke pero es que simplemente la representan como una loca embarazada histérica, literal, y es algo que me ha hecho para atrás. Lo mejor, la aparición de Lobezno. Pero con lo que me gustó el primer volumen de The Pulse, es una pena que esté hayan decidido entremezclarlo con Secret War.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really like Micheal Larks art here. He's an artist who's better when he's not drawing too many characters in capes and costumes. It's a shame he couldn't do the full arc, because Brent Andersons art looks to clumsy and muddy.

[Lionel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tie-In crossover... what could I expect ? Well, the art got better

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprints The Pulse #6-9 (January 2005-July 2005). Something has happened. Jessica and Luke find themselves attacked by a mysterious woman in their apartment. Now, Luke is fighting for his life and his powers could literally be the death of him. When Jessica discovers that the attack is somehow tied to Nick Fury, Jessica discovers how deep and powerful Fury’s control can be. Jessica finds herself in a race against time, and Luke Cage’s time could be running out.

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, The Pulse Volume 2: Secret War is a Marvel Comics superhero comic book collection. Following The Pulse Volume 1: Thin Air, the series is a tie-in title to Secret War and features the art of Bret Anderson and Michael Lark. Issues in this collection were also collected as part of Jessica Jones: The Pulse—The Complete Collection.

Alias was a great title. It was edgy, dark and featured a “superhero” so fractured and broken that she seemed more vulnerable than any human…and then it got turned into The Pulse. The Pulse really ruined Jessica Jones and the momentum being built by Alias. The Pulse 2: Secret War shows an intersection between two bad takes by Brian Michael Bendis.

Secret War was a mess. Not only was it a bad story, but the release of the comic dragged. If you did care about the story to begin with, you really didn’t by the time the last part was released. This means that tying Secret War into The Pulse gets all the baggage of Secret War on top of the problems that are in the writing of The Pulse.

The comic book has little substance. Bendis made a career through segments of silence. While this worked in some of his titles, it doesn’t work here. The Pulse has little meat. It starts with a bang…literally. Unfortunately, if you read Secret War, this title didn’t really add much to what you read in that series (which is the point of a tie-in title). In this four issue collection, Jessica walks around pretty much two issues (the HYDRA encounter goes nowhere) and then there is a kind of significant interaction between Jessica and Danny. Most of the time four issues isn’t long enough to explore aspects of a story…here, four issues is too much for a series that feels flimsy.

The Pulse really was a downer. I was excited for more Jessica Jones, but the neutered Jessica Jones isn’t Jessica Jones. The decisions in this series took away most of my interest in the character and this combined with Brian Michael Bendis’s New Avengers title which removed a lot of interest in The Avengers as well. The Pulse 2: Secret War was followed by the final volume of the series The Pulse 3: Fear.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Bendis's "Alias," I went into "The Pulse" really wanting to like it - and for the most part, I do. However, it isn't quite what I expected in some regards.

Generally, the art worked for me better in this volume than in vol. 1, though there wasn't a significant change in style. Jessica also has a little more attitude in this installment, which I appreciated. And overall, Bendis continues to display his ability to tell a compelling, entertaining, and nuanced story. There is a lot to like here.

That being said, the scope of this volume explodes far beyond the original scope of The Pulse section of the newspaper. The paper is still central, but much of the story here takes place in relation to the larger Marvel universe. For one, this change in scope felt rushed; we lost the central dynamics of Jessica being an investigative consultant too quickly. That dynamic is overshadowed here by everything else that is going on. It's a change that could have worked more effectively had there been a longer lead-up to it.

Secondly, so much of the action of this volume is dependent on knowledge of Marvel's Secret War storyline involving Nick Fury, that it makes it more difficult to fully appreciate what is happening here. Bendis makes enough clear to follow the events of this volume, but it's obvious that there is a lot of backstory implied outside of The Pulse storyline.

So, no regrets about reading this - it's well told and there is a lot to like, but there are also things that might have worked better had the story been more self-contained, perhaps saving the large-scale crossover until later in the series.

[Ronan Barradas · Rating 3 out of 5]

O segundo arco da boa série The Pulse, de Brian Michael Bendis. The Pulse nada mais é do que a coluna da detetive Jessica Jones no Clarím Diário, cujo o tema são os super-heróis. Forma que J. Jonah Jameson achou para dar uma visão menos parcial dos vigilantes em seu jornal.

Jessica Jones está grávida de seu namorado Luke Cage. A história começa com o casal sofrendo um atentado em seu apartamento. Uma explosão que deixa Jessica e Luke gravemente feridos. Ambos são encaminhados ao hospital que acaba recebendo visitas ilustres de Nick Fury e Capitão América, indicando que aquilo seria muito mais do que um atentado comum contra o herói de aluguel. Após o encontro e uma discussão entre Nick e Steve Rogers, o hospital também sofre um grave atentado e consequentemente Luke Cage desaparece.

A história é focada na busca de Jessica Jones, combalida fisicamente e emocionalmente tantos pelos ferimentos quanto pela gravidez, pelo seu namorado e em sua investigação nessa série de eventos estranhamente abafados pela imprensa. Um bom thriller que envolve grandes figurões da Marvel e uma boa dose de conspiração interna da S.H.I.E.L.D. porém um nível abaixo das histórias da própria Jessica Jones em Alias. A arte de Brent Anderson e Michael Lark é competente ao dar o clima tenso e investigativo presente nesse arco.

[Rick Ray · Rating 1 out of 5]

The once costumed Avenger and private investigator Jessica Jones now finds herself with a steady job working for the Daily Bugle newspaper, acting as a researcher for Ben Urich's "The Pulse" column. Though Jess' life has become more relaxed since her "Alias" days, things go awry quickly when an attack on her apartment leaves her boyfriend Luke Cage gravely injured. Jessica learns that Luke's sudden incapacitation leads back to the events detailed in Bendis' "Secret War", and that Nick Fury is to blame. This arc serves to present the idea of how the media can manipulate the public's view - in this case regarding superheroes. Though there are some solid ideas here, the story is utterly bland in execution and it is in no small part due to the excess verbiage employed by Bendis. When the story is strong, the quippy dialogue can be a fun bit of added texture, but here it is mostly grating. This arc was super padded and could have been resolved in half the number of issues.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story, but this is far removed from PULSE's original overall premise. Docking a star because this volume clearly takes place during some event called Secret War (not to be confused with either version of Secret Wars) and I felt a little lost as to what SW was all about because I'd never heard reference to it before.

[Anto Tilio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este volumen fue medio confuso.
Me sentí tan perdida y frustrada como Jessica al no saber qué mierda estaba pasando y como supongo la historia se conecta con otros comics no tengo idea qué pasó.
Adoro a Jessica y más de una vez me da pena que la vivan agarrando de boluda.
Veremos cómo sigue en el próximo vol.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series has been good so far. Luke and Jessica were attacked at there home and Luke was put in a coma. Then the hospital where he was at was attacked and the docks. We haven’t been shown who yet but there is also another lurking mystery with Nick Fury. Really curious to get the answers. Plus also now I want to read Secret War by Bendis.

[Gad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aquí tenemos una nueva visión de los eventos de Secret War. En este caso desde la visión de Jessica Jones. Si te gusta la historia principal, vas a disfrutar con esta ampliación. Le doy apenas tres estrellas porque aporta muy pocas cosas nuevas y el dibujo no es de mis favoritos. Pero repito, si te gustó Secret War, no puedes perderte este cómic a modo de Spin Off.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pulse continues to be an interesting, if toned down, continuation of Alias Omnibus. Less swearing, more mainstream ideas and definitely more of Jessica being pregnant, I'm really enjoying how they thread Jessica Jones into the Marvel Universe.

[Miguel · Rating 2 out of 5]

La acción de este tomo corre paralela a Secret war y so esta ya me pareció bastante floja este volumen no mejora. Los hechos narrados aquí son totalmente circustanciales y el final muy previsible. Lo mejor del volumen James Jameson y sus silencios 😉

[Agustín · Rating 3 out of 5]

Está en la misma tónica que Secret War. Un cómic muy serio, con muy poca novedad de información en esta saga. Lo que le da más vida al cómic es el what if...? donde se narra la historia imaginando que Jessica Jones es miembro de los vengadores.

[Just Villanueva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts out as a good mystery/thriller but falls flat in the end due to its tie-in nature.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

¡Me gustaron mucho las historias! Pero los dibujos de Anderson y Lark no tanto.

[Isabel Q · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me ha encantado! Tanto el volumen 1 como este. De hecho el dibujo de este volumen es realmente espectacular! 😊😊

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Pulse continues in this issue. Even though Luke Cage and Jessica Jones are key, Spiderman and other journalists look into the Osbourne industry and the Green Goblin.

[Taryn Robinson-Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can’t really explain this one. I just wasn’t satisfied with it

[Ekenedilichukwu Ikegwuani · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing how they took one part of secret war, and turned it into a really interesting small story arc. really good

[Chris Miskimins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling good storyline.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tie-in to Secret War was much more effective than the actual Secret War comic was.