History:
MRS. JENKS
Real Name: Mimi Jenks
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Unrevealed
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Luke Cage, Big Ben Donovan, Phil Fox, Claire Temple
Enemies: Black Mariah, Flea, Albert Rackham, Senor Suerte (Ramon Garcia), Stiletto
Known Relatives: Frank Jenks (husband, deceased)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York, USA
First Appearance: Hero for Hire I#5 (January, 1973)
Powers/Abilities: Mrs. Jenks had no unusual abilities. She had a great personal interest in architecture and interior design.
Height: Unrevealed
(approximately 5'7")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 125 lbs.)
Eyes: Light brown
Hair: Brown
History:
(Hero for Hire I#10 (fb) - BTS) - Mimi was married to Frank Jenks, a man from the ghetto. She looked down on his use of slang and tried to improve his vocabulary. She also had a taste for fine architecture and interior design that wasn't shared by Frank.
(Hero for Hire I#11 (fb) - BTS) - As Mimi had expensive tastes, Frank took to gambling to support her. The crimeboss running the casino where he gambled was Senor Suerte but Mimi knew nothing of Frank's gambling.
(Hero for Hire I#5) - While waiting for Frank to return home so they could head to a party, Mimi received a telephone call from Luke Cage at the Gem Theater. Luke informed Mimi that Frank had been beaten to death in the theater. By the time Mimi arrived at the Gem she learned from Cage that her husband's body had been taken away by men disguised as ambulance drivers. Cage offered to get the bottom of Frank's death and disappearance for free but Mimi insisted on paying him. After Cage found Black Mariah with the help of his informant Flea (although Black Mariah was not involved in Frank's death, leaving the investigation unresolved), Flea accosted Mrs. Jenks to get his share of money that Cage promised him. Mimi was disgusted, thinking that Cage's earlier offer of working for free wasn't in earnest. She angrily threw $50 at Cage which Flea happily scooped up.
(Hero for Hire I#10 (fb) - BTS) - After Frank's funeral Mimi threw all of Frank's possessions out of her apartment.
(Hero for Hire I#10) - Some time later, Mrs. Jenks invited Cage to her apartment and apologized for becoming upset at him during their previous encounter. Cage revealed what little he had learned about Frank's death, having only learned that Black Mariah was not responsible. Cage asked if Frank had any enemies but Mimi insisted everyone loved him. Cage asked to see Frank's possessions but Mimi revealed she already thrown them out. However, Frank had a safe deposit box at the Security National Bank and she suggested they examine its contents together. As they went to the bank, Cage again emphasized that he didn't want to be paid and was motivated primarily because Frank had been seeking his help. Entering the bank they found a group of masked men robbing it. Cage defeated the bank robbers and they found the safe deposit box was untouched. Opening it, Cage found Frank's birth certificate, insurance papers, some cash and a matchbook. Cage noticed Spanish written inside the matchbook and wondered if Frank spoke Spanish but Mimi confirmed Frank didn't. Cage decided to investigate the restaurant from which the matchbook originated, leading him to confront the crimeboss Senor Suerte, who proved to be the man behind Frank's death.
(Hero for Hire I#11) - After Senor Suerte's death battling Luke Cage, Cage went to see Mimi to tell her the case was closed and found she was expecting another man for dinner, having already moved on from Frank. When he revealed to her that Frank had been gambling in Senor Suerte's casino Mimi responded unsympathically, "Frank was born common -- and I never could change him." Having looked into Frank's past, Cage realized that he had taken to gambling on her account and that had sent him into Senor Suerte's orbit.
(Hero for Hire I#14 (fb) - BTS) - Mrs. Jenks had a meeting with her attorney Ben Donovan to settle the last of Frank's affairs. Donovan invited Mimi to dinner with him, then afterwards took her to a play and then a discotheque. At first Mimi was enjoying herself but Donovan became drunk and propositioned her. Mimi walked out on him but he pursued her into the street. Finding she was near Luke Cage's office Mimi went to him for sanctuary.
(Hero for Hire I#14) - Mrs. Jenks entered Cage's office to get his help but Cage immediately took umbrage at her presence, assuming that she was there to complain about his previous investigation for her. Insulted, Jenks explained what had happened just as Donovan came charging into the office, accusing Mrs. Jenks of leaving him for another man. Donovan and Cage began fighting, during which Mrs. Jenks left the building. She was trailed and then scooped up by Arthur Rackham who meant to kidnap Cage's girlfriend Claire Temple to use as a hostage in a plot to blackmail Cage. When Rackham summoned his ally Phil Fox, Phil immediately recognized Mimi wasn't Claire and that Cage wouldn't care what happened to her. Rackham disagreed and started to beat Mimi over Fox's objections. As Fox tried to defend Mimi, Rackham drew a gun and shot him to death. Rackham fled with Mimi still his hostage. Claire Temple entered the murder scene just after they left and was accused of Fox's murder.
(Hero for Hire I#15) - Mimi was bound and gagged inside Rackham's car as he fled to his hideout in New Jersey.
(Hero for Hire I#16) - In New Jersey, Mimi remained bound in Rackham's hideout as Cage finally caught up to Rackham, aided by his uneasy allies Flea, Comanche and Shades. Rackham held a gun to Mimi's head, telling the intruders the two of them were the only ones who could prove Fox's death was an accident and that without their testimony Claire Temple would be convicted. Just then the house was blasted apart by the vigilante Stiletto. Mrs. Jenks was freed during the building's collapse but Rackham, mostly pinned under debris, fired his gun at her, fatally wounding her. Rackham fled the wreckage and was struck dead by an ambulance arriving at the scene. The police soon arrived along with Big Ben Donovan. In the ambulance, Mrs. Jenks held on to life long enough to confess to the murder of Phil Fox, knowing that by doing so she would save Claire Temple's life. Donovan eulogized her to Cage: "She was a lot more woman than either of us ever gave her credit for, Luke."
Comments: Created by Steve Englehart, George Tuska and Billy Graham.
Her first name was revealed in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z I#2.
Mrs. Jenks never actually met Claire Temple but since her dying act was to save Claire from prison I think she earned a posthumous affiliation!
I do like that Mrs. Jenks fluctuated from being judgemental of Cage to Cage judging her but that ultimately she wasn't just a femme fatale - she was, as Donovan noted, a noble woman.
At the start of Hero for Hire I#10, Luke told Mimi that some men tried to kill him and one of them made mention that someone else was involved in Frank's death. This seems to be a reference to Hero for Hire I#6 where a group of men tried to kill Cage for no apparent motive - but no mention of Frank was made in that issue.
This profile was completed on 11/24/2025 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Mrs. Jenks should not be confused with:
Frank Jenks was Mimi's husband. Frank started out as a stock boy but over time developed into a successful career as a senior accountant. Frank came from the ghetto and was less sophisticated than his wife. Mimi was especially irritated by Frank's use of slang and tried to make him improve his speech. Needing more money to support his wife's expensive tastes, Frank took to gambling in the casino run by Senor Suerte and began losing a great deal of money. Angry at his losses, Frank threatened to bring in a private detective to expose Senor Suerte's criminal dealings and hidden money. He headed to the Gem Theater to meet Luke Cage, Hero for Hire.
While in the Gem Theater to meet with Luke Cage, Frank was beaten to death by two thugs (sent by Senor Suerte). Luke arrived too late to save Frank's life but found one of his business cards on Frank's body, identifying him as a would-be client. Agents of Black Mariah disguised as paramedics took Frank's body away in an ambulance, knowing nothing about why Frank had been killed but simply so they could loot his corpse for valuables. After Mimi learned of Frank's death she hired Luke to investigate her husband's murder.
--Hero for Hire I#5 (10 (fb), 5d
images: (without ads)
Hero for Hire I#10, page 1 (main)
Hero for Hire I#5, page 4, panel 6 (face)
Hero for Hire I#5, page 1 (Frank)
Appearances:
Hero for Hire I#5 (January, 1973) - Steve Englehart (writer), George
Tuska (pencils), Billy Graham (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Hero for Hire I#10-11 (June-July, 1973) - Steve Englehart (writer),
George Tuska (penciler), Billy Graham (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Hero for Hire I#14 (October, 1973) - Steve Englehart (writer), Billy
Graham (co-plot, artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Hero for Hire I#15 (November, 1973) - Tony Isabella (writer), Billy
Graham (co-plot, artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Hero for Hire I#16 (December, 1973) - Tony Isabella (writer), Billy
Graham (penciler), Frank McLaughlin (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
First posted: 09/02/2026
Last updated:
11/24/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel
Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to http://www.g-mart.com/ for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!