Painkiller Jane

Painkiller Jane
Painkiller Jane #1. Art by Rick Leonardi and Jimmy Palmiotti.
Publication information
Publisher	Event Comics
First appearance	22 Brides #1 (1996)
Created by	Jimmy Palmiotti Joe Quesada
In-story information
Full name	Jane Vasko, Jane Browning
Abilities	Healing Factor, Expert Fighter & Marksman

Painkiller Jane is a fictional character, a comic book heroine created by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada for Event Comics in 1995. Originally a five-issue mini-series, the character went on to star in numerous crossover titles with the likes of the Punisher, Vampirella, and Hellboy. Recently, the series relaunched at Dynamite Entertainment with the first issue selling out. The comics have been the basis for a film and television series.

Jane Vasko begins as an undercover police officer attempting to infiltrate the Fonti Mob. After gaining the trust of mob boss Joey Fonti, she is given the assignment of passing a message on to rival gang member Adam, not realizing that an explosive device has been planted on her. As she meets her target, the explosion causes significant injuries, but Adam is uninjured. Through mysterious means, he manages to revive Jane, giving her superhuman regenerative powers in the process. Leaving her life as a police officer behind, she becomes the vigilante Painkiller Jane.

The validity of this origin is unclear, as a completely different origin has been presented in the first Painkiller Jane miniseries, and the Dynamite Comics' miniseries contain references to both versions of the characters' origin.

Jane Vasko is virtually indestructible. With Jane's exceptional regenerative abilities, minor injuries heal in seconds, and do not even slow her down; more major ones tend to take a few minutes. She has recovered from multiple gunshot wounds, explosions, chemical weapons assault, axes buried in her spine, even a shotgun blast to the face (which simply knocked her off her feet for a bit). However, the healing power does not stop the injuries from hurting, which is where her new name came from. On the offensive side, she has no real powers except being a tough woman to kill. Other than that, she is a skilled fighter and master of undefined martial arts, as well as a master marksman with her weapons of choice; a pair of handguns.