Preview: Jackpot #1

[Sr. Bungle]

Here we go

https://aiptcomics.com/2024/01/12/ma...iew-jackpot-1/

[Bitterman]

Thank God in Heaven that there is USM now, for this not only is terrible but managed to be even worse than the ASM preview.

[twobit]

Looks and sounds like garbage…

[ImOctavius]

Now he's her husband again...

[MisterTorgo]

It makes me want to paraphrase Goyer's first thoughts about a Batman vs. Superman movie: Mary Jane Watson as a superhero named Jackpot is where you go when you realize you've run all out of ideas.

[Bitterman]

It makes me want to paraphrase Goyer's first thoughts about a Batman vs. Superman movie: Mary Jane Watson as a superhero named Jackpot is where you go when you realize you've run all out of ideas.

Garth Ennis was right, unironically.

[Frontier]

I just have to laugh at them doing the "so you're probably wondering how I got here..." intro and having Francine so easily make fun of her within the opening pages.

Also too much Paul. Wayyyy too much Paul.

[Coop]

Thanks I hate it. I wouldn't comment because I have USM now but the amount of Paul right after getting USM is so agitating. Get this character into the garbage, on the truck and to the dump.

I feel bad for the creative team but nobody can spin this Paul and MJ crap into anything worth reading. It's embarrassing to get this guy and his make believe relationship with MJ on the heels of Ultimate Spider-Man going above and beyond.

That's hopefully all I will care to say about whatever this nonsense over in Lowe's corner of the Marvel Universe. But seeing him front and center in the preview is like getting a dessert made of shoe leather after a three Michelin star dinner and it made me gag.

[Frontier]

Thanks I hate it. I wouldn't comment because I have USM now but the amount of Paul right after getting USM is so agitating. Get this character into the garbage, on the truck and to the dump.

I feel bad for the creative team but nobody can spin this Paul and MJ crap into anything worth reading. It's embarrassing to get this guy and his make believe relationship with MJ on the heels of Ultimate Spider-Man going above and beyond.

That's hopefully all I will care to say about whatever this nonsense over in Lowe's corner of the Marvel Universe. But seeing him front and center in the preview is like getting a dessert made of shoe leather after a three Michelin star dinner and it made me gag.

Really the only reason they have to keep Paul around is to keep MJ occupied and away from Peter and because they feel like she needs a "guy in the chair."

[Lifetap]

Of what we have seen of her powers she does need a guy in the chair as she apparently has no idea on what her powers are after she rolls them.

[stillanerd]

And this preview (aside from being a mediocre tie-in to a mediocre story) underscores why Marvel did this.

1. As long as Mary Jane is a regular supporting character in Amazing Spider-Man, the question fans will always ask is, "When are you going to undo One More Day?" And it's been clear for years--even before Nick Spencer's run almost undid it--that the higher up at Marvel do not want it undone. Thus they need a reason for her not to appear in Amazing as often.

2. Because MJ is popular with Spider-Man fans, they know they'll have a riot on their hands if they get rid of her entirely. So they decided to give her the Flash Thompson treatment, i.e. make her into a superhero while still being Spider-Man adjacent, and thereby satisfying reason 1. On top of which Marvel can also claim this is "empowering" her as a character compared to her "always waiting by the window for her man to come home." And what's funny is they may actually believe this.

3. And this where it could get really conspiratorial: What if the other reason Marvel is keeping Peter and MJ at arms length like this was in case they lost the Steve Ditko copyright lawsuit? Even though Marvel had already trademarked the name Spider-Man, the Steve Ditko estate sued Marvel for Copyright in 2021, basically saying that, since Ditko was the co-creator of Amazing Fantasy #15 along with Stan Lee, the copyright of those characters belonged to him and his descendants. Marvel and the Ditko estate just came to a settlement in December of 2023. But If the Ditko estate had actually won that lawsuit, it would've meant Marvel would've had to have paid royalties for any character that was created in the pages of Amazing Fantasy #15, which includes Peter Parker. Which means you can't have MJ be too associated with a Spider-Man who is Peter Parker because any time Peter Parker as Spider-Man appeared under this scenario, they would've had to pay the Ditko estate a cut.

Yes, I know MJ was also a co-creation of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko as well, since she first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #25, but keep in mind Ditko didn't come up with her character design. That was all John Romita Sr.

[Frontier]

And this preview (aside from being a mediocre tie-in to a mediocre story) underscores why Marvel did this.

1. As long as Mary Jane is a regular supporting character in Amazing Spider-Man, the question fans will always ask is, "When are you going to undo One More Day?" And it's been clear for years--even before Nick Spencer's run almost undid it--that the higher up at Marvel do not want it undone. Thus they need a reason for her not to appear in Amazing as often.

2. Because MJ is popular with Spider-Man fans, they know they'll have a riot on their hands if they get rid of her entirely. So they decided to give her the Flash Thompson treatment, i.e. make her into a superhero while still being Spider-Man adjacent, and thereby satisfying reason 1. On top of which Marvel can also claim this is "empowering" her as a character compared to her "always waiting by the window for her man to come home." And what's funny is they may actually believe this.

3. And this where it could get really conspiratorial: What if the other reason Marvel is keeping Peter and MJ at arms length like this was in case they lost the Steve Ditko copyright lawsuit? Even though Marvel had already trademarked the name Spider-Man, the Steve Ditko estate sued Marvel for Copyright in 2021, basically saying that, since Ditko was the co-creator of Amazing Fantasy #15 along with Stan Lee, the copyright of those characters belonged to him and his descendants. Marvel and the Ditko estate just came to a settlement in December of 2023. But If the Ditko estate had actually won that lawsuit, it would've meant Marvel would've had to have paid royalties for any character that was created in the pages of Amazing Fantasy #15, which includes Peter Parker. Which means you can't have MJ be too associated with a Spider-Man who is Peter Parker because any time Peter Parker as Spider-Man appeared under this scenario, they would've had to pay the Ditko estate a cut.

Yes, I know MJ was also a co-creation of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko as well, since she first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #25, but keep in mind Ditko didn't come up with her character design. That was all John Romita Sr.

I think a good portion of this can be attributed to the current editorial/writing just not wanting to to deal with MJ or Peter/MJ together and the only thing they can think to do is make her a Superhero and try to spin her as her own thing.

Even if they've gone about it in the most clunky and haphazard way possible.

[Batman Begins 2005]

Thank God for Ultimate Spider-Man.

[t-spider]

Truthfully, I can't stand 616 MJ anymore... send her out west, let her be Jackpot or whatever and give her a book... don't know, don't care, the character is just damaged goods at this point. And Paul? Bleh, personality of a doorknob.

[Batman Begins 2005]

Truthfully, I can't stand 616 MJ anymore... send her out west, let her be Jackpot or whatever and give her a book... don't know, don't care, the character is just damaged goods at this point. And Paul? Bleh, personality of a doorknob.

Fixed that for you.