Thanks to Eric for the usual tip! I did miss a character from the new season of The Boys, and quite a major addition. In the first episode Department of Dirty Tricks, The Homelander looks for new recruits for The Seven, and the first one he comes up with is Sister Sage, the world’s smartest person, who immediately starts to prove how formidable an asset she can be. Portrayed by Susan Heyward, she doesn’t seem to have any comicbook counterpart… until her real name is revealed: Jessica Bradley. In the comics, Bradley is not a Supe at all, and much of her character has already been incorporated into Ashley Barrett… and, as you can imagine, this doesn’t promise well for Sage’s future. Let’s take a look.
Jessica Bradley was nothing if not ambitious, and to make a name for herself in the private sector there was nothing better than Vought-American, one of the world’s biggest conglomerates that held an absolute monopoly over superheroes and the industry around them. Brilliant and talented, she slowly but steadily climbed the ranks, becoming one of the company’s best officers. The chance of her life came when she met James Stillwell in person: he was not the CEO, that was a seat for Mr. Stan 
Edgar, but everybody knew he had the real power and was the one truly in charge. Against the advises of her superiors, she made some remarks on V-A’s policy towards superheroes… and she received the most unexpected reaction: she got promoted. Stillwell told her that she had been noticed years before thanks to her work, and that he was only waiting for her to be ready enough to speak to him directly for giving her the responsibilities and status she deserved. This was the fulfillment of a dream for Jessica, as she was made part of all the secrets in the Superhero Division, and was entrusted almost immediately with a number of delicate responsibilities. Despite having to swallow much of her principles to be where she was, Bradley never ceased to insist that V-A changed their management of Supes, as they were causing too many casualties, creating as a direct reaction serious threats to the company such as The Boys, a black ops team formed by people with a grudge against V-A’s “heroes”. She even programmed a software to foresee who, between The Boys and The Seven, would have come out on top in case of direct conflict, one of the many initiatives Stillwell appreciated.
Unlike all her coworkers and colleagues, Bradley felt safe around Stillwell, enough to speak freely when she disagreed on something, and apparently the man liked it from her. She personally witnessed the umpteenth attempt to teach to Black Noir how to fly a plane, half a disaster that ended with the mute hero crashing the plane and murdering the instructor. With the man’s blood all over 
herself, Bradley reminded herself to be strong as Stillwell was, but then she went to him to tell him that it was useless to try and teach Black Noir to fly due to his unpredictability… and Stillwell actually accepted the suggestion, canceling the project effect immediate. The two grew closer, and Stillwell went as far as telling Bradley that she was vital to V-A’s future, and that he felt he could relax around her. She became his personal assistant, then his confidante, and eventually his lover. She felt like she was ruling V-A side by side with Stillwell, and now she openly spoke against all the Supes’ violence coming from the reports. She had total freedom of action, and she used it to kick Jack of Jupiter out of the team when photos of him with transsexual prostitutes were leaked to the press. Then, things escalated very quickly, and The Homelander rallied all Supes from all around the country to attempt a coup against the American government. Even in such an occasion, Stillwell appeared calm and cold as ice, also when he was personally threatened by Homelander or when Butcher, leader of The Boys, refused to cooperate with him to stop the coup. Then, the crisis was solved, Homelander and Black Noir killed each other, the coup failed, and V-A was called to testify before the Congress. Bradley and Stillwell were summoned one after the other, and only then Jessica would have realized just how wrong she had been in judging James’ character…
Brilliant, ambitious and determined, Jessica Bradley is the perfect woman to be one of the top executives in Vought-American, and she knows it: albeit she still sympathizes with the victims of the reckless policy of her predecessors in managing Supes, she’s ready and willing to swallow her ethics for the good of the company… and of her career, of course. As smart as she is, though, she is still all too naive, and swimming with sharks like James Stillwell may turn out fatal even for someone as resourceful as she is.
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