#janice yanizeski

[why-i-love-comics]

Thunderbolts info page

art by Tom Grummett

[comic-book-ladies]

Joystick by Alex Horley

[chaoslordcrull]

I just think she’s neat.

[chaoslordcrull]

What Joystick’s backstory gets right about adverse childhood experiences

Two things about me: I am a superhero geek, and I work for an organization that provides mentors for juvenile delinquents.

To the latter point, a part of my training involved listening to lectures about how the traumas at-risk youth often face (called Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs) shape the chemistry of their developing brains. For example, my boss worked with a girl who had been removed from an abusive home. When she was placed in a genuinly nurturing second home, she acted out in a self-destructive way long after the shock of the tranfer had left. The girl had spent so much time in a disfunctional home that her mind now considered that chaos as normal. When put in a fuctional home, the girl had anxiety because safety was unfamilar to her mind. Her response was to lash out in an unconscious attempt to recreate that familiar chaos.

So what does this have to do with a C-list supervillain who hasn't done anything since 2006?

In Thunderbolts 102, Joystick gets a backstory. Her past had gotten cryptic hints a few times during the 2004-2006 New Thunderbolts run, but this was the issue that gave most of the details. Her dad was a gambler who blew so much money chasing the big score that he ended up borrowing from loan sharks to recuperate his losses. When he couldn't pay them back. . .

So Joystick was exposed to violence against a parent as a child. That's sad, but not unique for comic book backstories. What stuck out to me was how this trauma impacted her.

Over time, Joystick lost the ability to feel empathy for her father because she witnessed him get beaten over and over. I interpret this as her psyche's way of protecting itself. It would have been emotionally painful seeing a loved one get hurt constantly, so her subconscious protected itself from that trauma by numbing its capacity for empathy. What interested me is how Joystick rationalizes what happened to her family as just being the way things are. A lot of comic characters mull over how their tragic backstories hurt them, making them more pitiable and sad. While that is a perfectly valid response to trauma, I found it surprising to see an individual normalization of an ACE. It's like she doesn't even view what she went through as a bad thing. That half acceptance/half denial will be important later.

So what else? Joystick once confronted her dad about his gambling habit, and he had this to say:

He introduces her to the idea that self-destructive risks are rewarding. I've known kids who were gang-affiliated because their parents taught them the toxic values that led them to that lifestyle. While this isn't exactly the same, it is similar enough to the point where reading it really hit close to home. I also hated how shameless he was while explaining why he does things he knows leads to traumatizing his wife and daughter. Now, it could be argued that Walter likely has a gambling addiction, so giving it up for his family wouldn't be so easy. That's probably true, but. . .

He had a stash of emergency funds the whole time. If he really wanted to, he could have used that money to help pay his debts and get clean for his family's sake. Instead, he puts his thrill-seeking over the safety of the family he is supposed to care for. He may not be physically abusive like many other supervillain's parents, but his neglect and selfishness really hit something deep in me and made him one of my most hated comic book characters.

Flash forward to Joystick's college years. She becomes a basketball player. She starts taking stupid risks like her dad. She takes money from gangsters to win a game, but then bets a ton of money on her team losing. When she throws the game for a big payout, the gangsters confront her. . .

She betrays her dad. The gangsters take the stash and beat the shit out of Walter, leaving Joystick's mom to let her know what happened. Having been in so much danger yet getting away with it is implied to be the event that convinced Joystick to take bigger risks, putting her on the path to becoming a supervillain.

Most people I've met dismiss Joystick as a one-note addrenaline junkie, and I understand why. But I believe her backstory and the subtext in the comic give her depth that is not immediately obvious on a first reading. There are hints that Joystick feels more regret over betraying her family and her lot in life than she is willing to acknowledge. For example, this little snippit from a behind the scenes panel:

Plus, her inner monologue in her backstory comic has a large section about the importance of hiding the truth to beat other players in a game. It's spread out, so I'll summarize. She does not like being called by her first name, Janice, because it is too painful for her. Now why would that be? There isn't anything traumatic associated with her name in particular. But her T-Bolt teammates (at least the ones she gets along with), call her by her middle name, Olivia. Her parents are the only notable characters to call her Janice. Her monologue then turns from hiding the truth from opponents to hiding it from yourself. She says burying the truth from yourself, crushing your own spirit, is when you've really won. That is because one's toughest challenger is oneself. Now, what challenge is Joystick trying to beat herself at? What challenge could require hiding the truth from herself, and what is that truth? I believe there is a part of her deep down that feels guilt over betraying her parents, a part that knows there's something wrong with her self-destructive lifestyle.

Most Thunderbolts know they are carrying baggage. They either try to overcome it or acknowledge it without caring enough to change. But Joystick stands out in that she seems to be in denial that her entire gimmick is a trauma response. Why does Joystick feel a need to constantly seek danger? Because she is subconsciously trying to recreate the danger that was normalized by her upbringing. Why is she so uncaring towards her teammates? Because during childhood she was forced to stop caring for loved ones to cope.

Joystick's backstory accurately reflecting the impact of childhood exposure to violence may be coincidental. I have no idea how much Fabian Nicieza researched the different effects of ACEs before writing this issue. And my analysis is biased in that I saw bits of people I know in this story. Maybe she was just meant to be a one-dimensional bad guy. But just as Joystick hides the truth from herself, I think the depths of her character are similarly obscured from the reader if they don't look beyond the first glance.

[elgaberino-mcoc]

spreadsheet cleanup JOYSTICK

ComicVine: 69 issues Fandom: 43 appearances, 2 variants 1 video game*

Thunderbolts enemy, a super-competitive speedster mercenary with energy batons 

medium-low priority for @MCOCwishlist

- Other Gabe

Notes

*2007, Marvel Trading Card Game; deck cached here.

[elgaberino-mcoc]

Series: Characters Not Yet on the Wishlist Nor in a Tournament /sub-series: International Women’s Day/Women’s History Month /sub-series: Theme Day: Females Likely Too Obscure for Wishlist

Joystick

align: Villain class: Cosmic member: Masters of Evil, Thunderbolts

synergy: Green Goblin, Mister Fantastic, Namor super-melee, Evade, Auto-Intercept

Empowered by/agent of Grandmaster

Bio: https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Joystick

[femizons]

[comicbooktradingcards]

Women of Marvel - Series 1 (2008)

#29 Joystick