Mary Jane Watson/Parker Appreciation 2019

[Vortex85]

Reread my edit. Obviously she'd be hurting, but instead of dealing with the grief herself she decided to share the grief with Peter.

I just fundamentally disagree with the notion this piece gave out. It's a weak attempt to retell what the original scene already did.

Yeah I see now what you wrote. I don’t think it’s a retelling necessary . I think it was a little of both, she stayed for Gwen and Peter. Maybe the piece should have said it a little differently since you don’t want to lose the fact that MJ did stay at n Peters behalf too and not JUST for Gwen.

Although if it had not been Gwen who died, I don’t think MJ would have stayed in that scene. I think that’s the point it makes which is worth showing.

[Vortex85]

One thing I just realized is the Conway piece makes Gwen’s death an Uncle Ben moment for MJ, which is kind of a beautiful thing.

[Vortex85]

What bugged me in Marvel Comics 1000 was 1987 Spidey story was not about the wedding but a team up with Wolverine. Then 2010 is chosen for MJ which is one of the worst times for her in Spidey history and it tells you do go read OMIT for why MJ did NOT marry Peter. God I hate OMIT. Of all the MJ books they could have advertised THATS the one they choose? Something tells me Brevoort influenced this.

To me it’s like choosing the year Sins Past came out for Gwen and telling readers to go read that for why she is not Peters true love, instead of her death in 1973.

[KangMiRae]

The only optimistic thing they could be selling with that could be (and I say this with very little faith) would be that they're talking about all of it and plan to have them married again sometime soon.

[Spider-Tiger]

To me, Conway's page read like another attempt at romanticizing Gwen and her relationships with the other characters. This type of thing has been done ad nauseam. Like the idea that Gwen would have said "we're going to be best friends!!!" or MJ stayed because Gwen "showed me how!!" is just too cringeworthy for me to take seriously.

[KangMiRae]

To me, Conway's page read like another attempt at romanticizing Gwen and her relationships with the other characters. This type of thing has been done ad nauseam. Like the idea that Gwen would have said "we're going to be best friends!!!" or MJ stayed because Gwen "showed me how!!" is just too cringeworthy for me to take seriously.

Adding things to dead characters is always a risky move (and in my case unneeded), but with Gwen Stacy it feels strange since they've essentially remade her as some angsty teen and gave her powers and have her sometimes flirting with Peter's protege. It feels like the least they could do after all that is leave 616 Gwen the hell alone. Was Sin's Past not big enough of a hint? They literally had JMS talk about it in this very freaking book. You know they're never gonna. I'm just waiting for the inevitable return of 616 Gwen which I'll bitch and moan about here. Clone Conspiracy was already too close for comfort.

[Vortex85]

Maybe it’s Conways way of showing just because he killed her doesn’t mean he hated her.

[millernumber1]

I guess insulting is a bit of a overstatement. I did however felt disappointed that a area designed for MJ and her 50+ years in comics I felt compared to other characters felt lacking. That is If I gave this to a new reader or kid to be a quick introduction and see in history of the MArvel 80 years represented when it gets to the MJ representation of herself part the overall visual and message the new reader might get about her I feel falls into a territory that is a bit worrying. If this is your overall 'MJ' introduction is from this page then what would you assume of her just reading this page only and her characterization displayed?

As I said - I have no problem with the jokes not landing for everyone, just as I have no problem with not liking the Conway piece myself but others enjoying it. I think that a celebratory piece like Marvel 1000 should strike a nice balance between jokes and sincerity, and I thought that the JSC and Conway pieces were good negotiations of that (despite my general frustration with the entire concept of MC1000 in the first place, but that's completely off topic).

I think the idea that it's a good introduction for new readers is not really realistic. It reads very much as a "greatest hits of the MU" not "Here's a guide to new characters." There's a couple of pieces, like the Simonson Iron Man piece, that can be seen that way, but the vast majority of them really are not functioning that way. Instead, most of them are in-jokes - which I think is a nice way to celebrate, but not an introduction.

I thought I was the only one so I kept my mouth shut, but I didn't like that Conway piece at all. It just seemed to diminish how much MJ cared for Peter in an effort to show how much MJ and Gwen were friends. I don't know, I disliked it a lot. "I didn't stay for him" just seems wrong.

I don't think it necessarily diminishes her love for Peter, but it felt awkwardly handled, and didn't land emotionally for me at all. But it did have nice art, and it was cool to see the door closing moment honored in the celebration.

Sorry, but I disagree to all these points, especially #2. Her staying for Peter doesn't mean she saw it as a way to make her move now that Gwen was dead. That in itself contradicts your first point, if it were even true. To me, she knew how much Gwen meant to Peter and her death left him hurt, so she stayed to comfort him because that's what friends do. Love or no love, she wanted to be there for someone who was hurt. And I'm sure her death was hurting her, too and being with the ones you care about helps.

This isn't even mentioning the dialogue they had in that very scene which tells the story of MJ learning to break out of her walls better than this piece Conway did now. Her closing the door and staying after Peter said she's only good for caring about herself told everything Conway just wrote in this piece, but better.

Completely agreed.

What bugged me in Marvel Comics 1000 was 1987 Spidey story was not about the wedding but a team up with Wolverine. Then 2010 is chosen for MJ which is one of the worst times for her in Spidey history and it tells you do go read OMIT for why MJ did NOT marry Peter. God I hate OMIT. Of all the MJ books they could have advertised THATS the one they choose? Something tells me Brevoort influenced this.

To me it’s like choosing the year Sins Past came out for Gwen and telling readers to go read that for why she is not Peters true love, instead of her death in 1973.

As I said above, I don't think MC1000 should be read too seriously. It's a party. It's not terribly carefully crafted - even the Ewing parts are kind of "just another historical mystery leading into a present event" type of story - doesn't really give us something fascinating like the current Hickman X books are, or something really polished like the current run of ASM is. I appreciate it as a party, as a bunch of creators telling us stuff they love about Marvel, and I can get into that (mostly. I only like 50 or so of the 80 pages, and the remaining 30 ranged from "meh" to "this is incredibly stupid"). I think trying to boil down a full year of comics into one page isn't the goal - it's just a celebration of things that these creators loved and thought was fun.

Maybe it’s Conways way of showing just because he killed her doesn’t mean he hated her.

Fairly unnecessary, then, since I don't think most people think anyone hates Gwen. Even JMS.

[Frontier]

I hope Mary Jane can stop being a Ghost Spider supporting character in the Marvel cartoons. Between the recent Lego special and Marvel Rising, they could be doing so much more with her.

MJ is of course in Life Story #6 too.
spoilers:

She outlives Peter and gives Miles the classic Spider-Man costume.

end of spoilers

Went for the obvious ending, but not too surprising.

Makes me wonder what got Williams into the character, reading-wise, but the Gwen comment feels very appropriate.

Glad to see the acknowledgement that MJ is a hero in her own right and in her own way, and there will be plenty of sass to be had!

Also one of the few articles I've seen to reference the fact it's a limited series.

That's a really cute "abridged" take on MJ's history.

Attachment 86272

Nice.

What's that from? Very cute.

Also, in other news, Spider-Man: Velocity had some really great MJ in it. I know there's lots of folk who don't like MJ being a reporter, but I love it (from the Ultimate universe), and I think Hallum writes her and Peter really well. Art wasn't quite as good as the City at War stuff by Michele Bandini, but Emilio Laiso does a good job.

I definitely really enjoy PS4!MJ for her characterization and relationship with Peter, even if I could care less about her being a reporter and wish she had a bit more of that Mary Jane zest.

[Frontier]

Is she supposed to be playing Black Widow? Minus the gauntlets and belt that's exactly who she looks like in that costume.

[Vortex85]

Is she supposed to be playing Black Widow? Minus the gauntlets and belt that's exactly who she looks like in that costume.

I don’t know but that interior art looks great! Glad MJ’s book is being blessed with beautiful artwork!

[Ursalink]

Is she supposed to be playing Black Widow? Minus the gauntlets and belt that's exactly who she looks like in that costume.

MJ as the Black Widow.... Somehow, I'm not surprised. I was expecting this would happen from a long long time.

[Jman27]

Is she supposed to be playing Black Widow? Minus the gauntlets and belt that's exactly who she looks like in that costume.

it would be a miss opportunity to not make her Black Cat and can Hollywood make money off Spider-man name like that in the main 616 i know they did that in Ultimate Spider-man

[Inversed]

I am glad that Mysterio directing the film won't be some big secret and she'll know for the duration of it, not only is it much funnier but will be alot more interesting storewise to see how she deals with him head on.

[Ursalink]

it would be a miss opportunity to not make her Black Cat and can Hollywood make money off Spider-man name like that in the main 616 i know they did that in Ultimate Spider-man

Yeah, I remember that. Sadly it was just one panel, and MJ's version in that nightmare was actually switching between Elektra and Black Cat's outfits. I would have loved to see a clear image of her wearing Black Cat's suit.