We take a break from Pope Francis coverage (because you can be certain that that topic isn’t over just yet, even if it feels like it’s been done to death) to cover the other half of our blog title.

Yes, Marvel fans, there’s now a teaser trailer for Jessica Jones. If you didn’t notice, it was released over the weekend and was probably buried under Facebook and Google Plus posts about how the true meaning of Catholicism is this, that, or the other. And that would be a shame, because it’s worth talking about.

This teaser is short, but a thing of beauty. It perfectly encapsulates the tone we can expect from the next installment in this Netflix series, especially in light of the cinematic genius that was Daredevil. (Not appropriate for all audiences, but genius.)

We’ve had a lot of new readers join up in the last couple of weeks, so if you’re not already aware, I have a separate blog called Novel Ninja where I’ve been posting about stories and storytelling for a few years, and with a few exceptions that part of my “geek” blogging career will remain there for the foreseeable future. I have a post up there today talking about the storytelling packed into this short clip.

I’m not normally in favor of stories where the hero is shown as unusually flawed. That doesn’t mean I want heroes without flaws; I just want them to be realistic. A hero who can’t function isn’t much of a hero, much less a believable character. It’s also very hard to get the audience to sympathize with and root for that character. The Byronic hero is difficult to do well.

But when you succeed? Ah, yes. When you succeed, it too is a thing of beauty. And with the success ofDaredevil, I have confidence that the show will deliver.

It’s a short post, but if you’re interested please feel free to click over and read the rest.