To Jubilee's detractors

I've drawn my answers to the boneheaded bashing a lot of my favorite characters get. But hey, since we're in good mood let's get going with the undervalued Daffy Duck of X-men protagonists : Jubilation Lee . Bear in mind that the "you're just being nostalgic " or "rose tinted glasses" doesn't fly with me baybay !(I don't think 3 years really count as enough for being nostalgic. But it's more than enough to make your own opinion. Especially when you have read every
period in a row ! And I am giving you this as an aware adult that has a logic . )

Everytime I hear her detractors , they come with these nice arguments : she is still embarassingly dated, and from one of the worst periods in comic book history (this earns you a bullet to the brain especially where I live ...), she's a c-rate Kitty & Boom Boom rip-off (if only you knew...). That's not covering half the morons who want to slaughter her because.... well because ! They don't expand on that much (come on people , hatred is a precious gift , it is to be used better ! I can do better ! MY list actually has reasons !) or give you a satisfying explanation.

First of all I think her bad reputation comes from bloggers and comics snobs who , you know it by now, malign her along others (see Gambit, Jean Grey, Generation X , Cable ,Bishop... and they say that THIS www.amazon.com/New-X-Men-Omnib… or THIS kakutou.tatakae.eu/wp-content/… is genius... What a FUCKING load !) . More often than not, it's easier to follow a prejuidice and say that something sucks while having absolutely no idea what they are talking about or not even reading said thing ( you know, preaching to the choir...) .
The other problem is writers that don't get her at all thus they under-value Jubilee because they misunderstand how the character works or... might as far as to say they KNOW JACK SHIT about her ! They wasted too many opportunities (especially in the geeenius stuff I showed you earlier ) and squandered her potential. They let the characters who were supposedly closest to Jubilee ignore her and treat her like she doesn't matter (because that's the key of professional writing !) and most readers take their cues about her worth from the way characters interact with her...

Then again allow me , dear readers and fellow deviantart users to put a final end to this absolutely ridiculous and imbecillic backlash towards the Jubester.

First off , the concept . If you hate her because she's a bizarre rip-off of a precedent character then think again: Batman himself is a rip-off ! It's when time goes on that nuances and personality quirks start being engrained in the character , neither Jubes nor Bats are exception to that .(Batman will be a subject for another day BTW). I'll also add that in her case , her spunk was here from day one and she’s already a delightful middle finger for racial stereotype . She’s an asian girl who is bad at math . She’s both sarcastic and a wise-ass, but also kind-hearted and caring and since her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #244 she showed how gutsy she was.
Sure that after that , she saves Logan's life from the cross replacing Kitty as the sidekick. Now, a lot will say that she's the Jason Todd to Kitty's Dick Grayson . I strongly disagree (even though I think Jason gets way too much of a bad rap. I felt really sad to let him go and when you see a certain current little dipshit STILL LIVES! GAAAAHHHH !!!), if anything she's closer to Tim Drake in the way that she might be the best "sidekick" he's got, not to mention the deepest . Plus the funniest part is that SHE made Logan a good character , not the other way around...
This is where he finally has a supporting character that validated the fact that he does have humanity and in a way , he actually has a friend that truly admires him and emphasised his badassery (to me, a true badass is someone that has something concrete to fight for, not to mention someone he loves whether a wife or friends ). To anyone who thinks she immasculated, you are absolutely wrong . Jubes knew the absolute worst of what Wolverine was capable of, but just accepted it. That to me that's a concrete reason for Logan to fight his murderous impulses (you know, his most interesting side... that you don't see nowadays because he's been replaced by a murderous douchebag !)

When I started this essay, I used Daffy as an analogy, that's mostly because Jubes is also an underappreciated, relentless and stubborn struggler and has believable qualities and flaws since she can be vulnerable and crack but also tends to surpass that and add to that her bombast and impatience (as just shouting and making everyone know she was the X-Men's kid sister. I can see it as a way to fight her own insecurities and great pride in being on the team.) This is where we're going to see another characteristic that she has in spades: relatability.
Of course there's bound to be some differences between us since she has powers (M-day can fellate me . And no I won't take it back ...) and her but here's a funny variation I see when I relate to some characters . Anyone can relate to Jubilee mostly because the only major difference is that she's a mutant , aside from that she can be anyone (proving that relatability knows no gender !). I mean it people , she can be anyone and her "moments" actually count due to how
believable she is.

Let's start by the badass moments and by that I mean the shit she goes through while maintaining a positive outlook on life :

Her parents died and she was left to fend for herself. (I'll go back to that ...)
She had the courage to walk through Gateway's Portal.
She faced and insulted baddies 10 times her strength (2 of notes are Sabretooth and the Mandarin... If you know these guys , you do know what kind of monsters we're talking about!) despite being rightfully scared ( I think the best example a What If 87: Sabretooth screams in the night" where Jubilee manages to kill him... & trust me it's not funny at all. When you see him burnt, desperate & rabid , you know this is Sabretooth at his most terrifying. Then the issue ends with a really sad way , Jubes might have trapped & offed him but the way you see how she sits traumatised by that is about as real anyone would have if this ever happened to them .)
She helped a band of rebels who were being treated unfairly in Unlimited X-Men 5
She was the only one to escape Black Tom when he attacked Gen X.
Jubilee was held under torture from Bastion, saved Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, and Jean.( If we can give anything to OZT , it's tha fact that she and Bobbie got finally their moment to shine ...)
She went all by herself to oppose the man who led to her parents death ( check this out. This is her at her most serious...)
Saved the great Wolverine from death. ( In Yo faces ! HAH ! And bear in mind her life was also at risk at that point, so it takes more guts ...)

There's of course the really sad moments with her. If you remember well , I stated that Apocalypse is a far sadder and more tragic character than Magneto, or that even Sinister's predicament and losses were much more powerfully conveyed than the way Magneto's were . Well, it comes from the fact that they're rarely explicit, they're part of the characters but they're not shoved down your throat to make you feel bad for them (which is not the case with Erik, it only goes so far...) . Thus when it actually comes out , it's much more powerful and understandable.
With Jubilee , it happens rarely, But when it does, it's just so fucking strong . I think one of the most crucial moments is the death of Illyana by the legacy virus. When this happens it forces Jubilee to face her and her loved ones mortalities and helplessness to do anything against it , she finally breaks down crying. And to me, this the saddest fucking thing in all x-men comics. I identify a lot with that, not to mention that I am a thanatophobic and when a relative or friend was gone it's horrible to deal with even when you try to go on with everyday's life routine , and sometimes the same thing happened to me. All the tears , all the questions , all the regrets are wonderfully done in that . I felt for her and I wanted to see her bounce back from that. Eventually she did get over it (although no one really gets back from that . Not at 100%...)
Another moment that I find extremely compelling is in Generation X 72, where she spends a day with Monet (and you know that I love this rivalry ! One is that high-brow rich jerk that had everything on a plate (if we forget the psychotic brother ) , the other is the struggler who has very little . If you're like me, you root for the latter ) at the wake of Everett's demise. At first , it's pretty normal but you see a rather uncomfortable and quiet if not snooty M and her opposite the bombastic and openly energetic Jubilee.
Then the tone slowly shifts when Jubes mentions Synch. She tells M with a certain blunt sympathy that she gets her and understands her sadness, causing for Monet to literally yell at her. And when M sees that Jubilee was just as torn by that loss despite her cheerful demeanor , I think it leads to my favourite M moment where we see that she can stop being a jerk and show some heart (God knows it's rarer and rarer these days ... sad ain't it !)

Well That 's my opinion on Jubilation Lee and I'll tell you no matter what Marvel fucks up, the true X-men characters are the ones that were well-written , which is why I decided to portray the real deal . The last time we read about her is in Marjorie Liu's Dark Mirrors novel, and she makes a cameo disguised as a vampire in X-23 thanks to the same writer . I'll leave you with this song that defines her persona in the best way possible www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ECUtk… .


PS ;
1 To all the morons who want to kill her if they ever become writers, try and tell her! It's a tribute to her so she'll deal with you . But remember that 12 teeth in your pancreas are still painful...
2 Skin is LOOKING AT YOU !
3 About the other characters here try spotting, M, Gambit , Emma Frost, Logan , Tim Drake (since she had the best interactions with them !)
4 Since I follow my own canon , the mugshot at right and low is what she'll be as a full adult ( I'll make one about the future, it has to be a mix between MC2 and Youg Avengers.... WHAT ! I'll do it the way I please ! You ain't the boss of me ! And come on, writers fuck up canon for their own sake ,I can do the same ! )
5 Observe the details in the image there are a lot of them
6 thanks for checking out guys, from all my heart ! I hope all the fans on the site will take a gander at this .