Jean DeWolff

Jean DeWolff
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Marvel Team-Up #48 (August 1976)
Created by	Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema
In-story information
Full name	Captain Jean DeWolff
Supporting character of	Spider-Man

Jean DeWolff is a fictional police detective who functions as a supporting character in books published by Marvel Comics, in particular those featuring Spider-Man. She was murdered in "The Death of Jean DeWolff", a storyline that is notable for being the first professional comics work of writer Peter David, and for containing story threads that were later used by writer David Michelinie in the development of the villain Venom.

Publication history

Jean DeWolff first appeared in Marvel Team-Up #48-51 (August-November 1976), and was created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema.

The character subsequently appeared in Marvel Team-Up #60-62 (August-October 1977), #65-66 (January-February 1978), #72 (August 1978), #88 (December 1979), Ms. Marvel #6-7 (June-July 1977), The Amazing Spider-Man #226 (March-April 1982), #239 (April 1983), The Spectacular Spider-Man #103 (June 1985), and #107 (October 1985). The character made posthumous appearances in The Sensational She-Hulk #53 (July 1993), Venom Super Special #1 (August 1995), and Spider-Man/Human Torch #4 (June 2005).

Jean DeWolff received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #17, and The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man #1 (2005) and The Official Handbook of the Ultimate Marvel Universe: Fantastic Four and Spider-Man #1 (2005).

Fictional character biography

Having experienced a problematic childhood, Jean became a tough, unrelenting police captain for the NYPD. She notably preferred clothing and cars from the 1930s era. In the course of her work she became acquainted with Spider-Man,^{[volume & issue needed]} and became one of his staunchest admirers and allies in the NYPD force, who had previously been hostile to him, thanks to the antagonistic editiorials of Daily Bugle's J. Jonah Jameson.

Jean was killed by her ex-lover Stan Carter, aka Sin-Eater, in the story arc named "The Death of Jean DeWolff".^{[volume & issue needed]} After she was killed, Spider-Man discovered that she had kept a collection of photographs of him and of the two of them together (one of them originally featuring the Black Cat, had been altered to remove the Cat from the image).^{[volume & issue needed]} This implied that her feelings towards him were warmer than she generally indicated, leaving Spider-Man somewhat dejected.

Jean's brother Brian is also known as the Wraith. Upon her death, Brian went insane, blaming the NYPD for her death. But before he could commence his attack, he was killed by the Scourge of the Underworld.^{[volume & issue needed]} Brian was later resurrected by the Hood, who told him that Punisher killed him and that he would die again in thirty days if he didn't help the Hood kill Punisher. Brian ultimately was killed by the Punisher after he began killing drug dealers, in order to draw Punisher out of hiding and alert him to the Hood's scheme. He then thanked Frank for rekilling him, before he died.

In The Amazing Spider-Man #663, a new Wraith appears, targeting Mister Negative's criminal syndicate. During one such attack, the Wraith unmasks to reveal the face of Jean Dewolff.^[1] In the next issue, it is revealed that the new Wraith is in fact Police Captain Yuri Watanabe, who was a close friend of Jean. To make it look like she was Jean, Watanabe grabbed a mask fabricated by Mysterio to pose as her.^[2]

Other versions

Spider-Man Noir

Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without A Face features Federal Agent Jean De Wolfe, who is trying to track down The Crime Master, and is skeptical of Spider-Man's motives in crimefighting. In keeping with the 1930s setting, this version of De Wolfe is male.^[3]

Ultimate Jeanne De Wolfe

In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, while still tough and unrelenting, her morality is in question, and she is a supporting character in Ultimate Spider-Man. Writer Brian Michael Bendis changed her name to Jeanne De Wolfe.

In Captain Jeanne De Wolfe's first appearance she is shown outside a bank being robbed by an impersonator Spider-Man, though her name was written as it was in the regular Marvel Universe (Jean DeWolff). It is this impersonator who killed Captain Stacy, Gwen Stacy's father. Spider-Man arrives and attacks the man, nearly killing the imposter in his rage. However, Spider-Man comes to his senses and instead webs up the imposter and leaves him for the police.^[4]

Her next appearance is following a fight between Spider-Man and Gladiator. It is this appearance where the spelling used for this version of the character is introduced (Jeanne DeWolfe). She is the first police officer not to shoot Spider-Man on sight, and orders others in her squad not to arrest him.^[5] Spider-Man is pleased to have an ally in official law enforcement, and she continues to help him during the "Hobgoblin" and "Warriors" storylines.^{[volume & issue needed]} However, it is later revealed that Jeanne De Wolfe is employed by Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin, as a spy to obtain insider information about the actions of the police, Spider-Man and other superheroes.^[6]

Jeanne De Wolfe was shot and killed by the Punisher. Afterwards Spider-Man was told that she was in Kingpin's employ, and the rumour was that she was the Kingpin's lover. Fisk was later seen mourning her death, indicating this may indeed be true.^[7]

In other media

Television

• The character Lt. Terri Lee from the Spider Man animated series is supposedly based on Jean DeWolff.

• Jean DeWolff appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man voiced by Irene Bedard.^[8] She is Native American and shown to be partnered with Stan Carter - they are uniformed patrol officers sharing a squad car. Unlike Carter, DeWolff doesn't share her enthusiasm for Spider-Man, and believes him to be a criminal.

Video games

• In the Spider-Man 3 video game (on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions), DeWolff (now spelled as DeWolfe and voiced by Vanessa Marshall) appears as a detective who enlists Spider-Man to help crack down on gun running and crooked cops, although she also shares information with him about the 'Mad Bomber' case. The nature of these missions tend to include Spidey taking evidence photos for DeWolfe before fighting. The climax of the DeWolfe arc hints at the building friendship between the two, although she gruffly makes it clear that they're not friends. In the Nintendo DS version, she tells Spider-Man about events involving gangs, including the Apocalypse Gang and the Dragon-tail Brotherhood.

References

1. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #663
2. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #664
3. ^ Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without A Face #1-4
4. ^ Ultimate Spider-Man #31-32
5. ^ Ultimate Spider-Man #60
6. ^ Ultimate Spider-Man #85
7. ^ Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #2
8. ^ Comics Continuum by Rob Allstetter: Tuesday, January 29, 2008

External links

• A short biography
• Jean DeWolff at Marvel.com