The Marvel Rundown: Celebrating 60 years of Mary Jane Watson with FACE IT TIGER #1

This week’s column looks at Mary Jane: Face It Tiger #1, plus Marvel Tokon: First Strike #1as well as What if Captain America Wasn’t Revived Until 2099?

Mary Jane: Face it Tiger #1

Writers: J.M. DeMatteis, Ann Nocenti, J.Michael Straczynski, Ashley Allen

Artists: Andrea Broccardo, Alina Yerofieieva, Luigi Zagaria, Phil Noto

Colorists: Andrew Dalhouse,  Marte Gracia, Erick Arciniega

Cover Artist: Jim Cheung & Jay David Ramos
Letterer:  VC’s Joe Caramanga

There probably isn’t a Marvel fan alive who doesn’t know who Mary Jane Watson is. First teased inAmazing Spider-Man #25 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, she graced the comic pages with her famous “Face it, tiger… you just hit the jackpot!” in Amazing Spider-Man#42 and, since then, has been a whirlwind of fun, adventure, style, and heart that Spidey fans found themselves obsessed with all the way back in 1965. She’s had two theatrical appearances with Kirsten Dunst and Zendaya, was so monumental that the devil had to get in her way, and is now running around as Venom. Whether you hate or love her, Mary Jane Watson is here to stay. And I’m extremely excited this week to coverMary Jane: Face It Tiger #1,a celebration of the 60 years for the character.

Mary Jane: Face It Tiger #1 is split into four separate stories, so this review will be broken up for easier reading. 

The first story is “Faces in the Crowd,” which takes place after Spectacular Spider-Man #245. In that issue, Mary Jane faces off with the Chameleon, who invaded her home and masqueraded as Peter Parker. This ended with Mary Jane beating him unconscious with a bat.DeMatteistakes that horrific event and dives into what makes Mary Jane such a compelling character by having their section of the story revolve around how that event affected Mary Jane. Her distrust of people in the crowd, the fear that came from when she got violent, and how she’s still not accustomed to the world of Spider-Man. This is a great character study of Mary Jane as she’s forced to reconcile with the event on her own, while also being a great showcase of how her and Peter’s relationship works.

It’d be easy to shove this event off as nothing. However,DeMatteisdoes a great job of reminding us that Mary Jane is just a normal human in a world of maniacs, and that she’s so popular because, in that world, she remains true to herself and her desires. Artist Andrea Broccardodoes a great job with Peter and MJ’s design as well, while playing with Chameleon’s skill set in a unique way. A great mini-story overall. 

The next story is “Vamp #9,” written by Ann Nocenti and with art by Alina Yerofieieva and colors by Fabi Marques. This story takes place at the lowest point of Mary Jane’s acting career and her encounter with the villain Haze. Lots of encounters with Mary Jane and a villain make sure not to paint her as a damsel in distress, and Nocentidoes a fantastic job in following through with that while also making the side characters, the crew and director, enjoyable in their own way as Mary Jane bounces off of them. I do think the action in this section is a bit confusing, blocking-wise: how can Haze not hear the crew discuss a plan to defeat them? That really isn’t the overall point (and the final punch against Haze looks great). The point is to show how Mary Jane is always adapting and, for better or worse, always keeping secrets even from Peter. This is a story that left me wondering if Nocentiwould ever do a full Mary Jane run in the future, as I really like how they write from her mindset. And hopefully that same run hasYerofieievaas an artist, because the way they draw the characters is extremely appealing to me; Mary Jane’s expressions, in particular, are a lot to love.  

Story number three, “Soft Words at Sunset,” is written by J.Michael Straczynskiand has art by Luigi Zagariawith colors by Matt Milla. If the other two stories were light-hearted affairs that showed some of the cute and wonderful moments of MJ and Peter’s relationship, this shows the heartbreak of it all. Taking place far in the future, seemingly in the Last Stand universe- for those unaware, that is the universe of an older and grittier Peter Parker created byStraczynski. That universe doesn’t end well for Peter as the NYPD eventually guns him down, so you can imagine the sadness that comes with this issue as Mary Jane reflects on life and visits his grave. The wayStraczynskicharacterizes Mary Jane and Peter’s relationship as true love despite meeting other people is great, and the combination with the Hamilton lyrics nearly made me choke up. Combined with Luigi Zagaria‘s art and panel layout, there’s a lot to love and get emotional to. Easily the most emotional of the material so far, I will be remembering the third page for a few days after reading.

The final story, “Redux,” has a trickier place for me. Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of Mary Jane as Venom, so this one had a lot to prove. And it certainly tried its best. Writer Ashley Allendoes a great job continuing the Haze storyline while also showcasing how Mary Jane acts as a hero alongside Venom. And the art by Phil Noto, while a bit awkward at times, does have a lot of great action moments. But if one already wasn’t enjoying Mary Jane as Venom, this story isn’t going to change your mind. The encounter with Haze doesn’t say anything interesting about MJ’s character, outside of the fact that Venom is here now. The situation also has some strange writing choices, as Mary Jane doesn’t even attempt to hide her identity or powers from onlookers, who all treat her as unimportant. All in all, it is a weak story to end the 60 years on, but it’d be impossible to celebrate Mary Jane’s 60 years if even the shakier parts of her history weren’t included. 

At the end of the day, Mary Jane is one of my favorite characters, so this was always going to be an IMMEDIATE BUYfor me, and I think the fact that 3/4 of the stories are excellent makes it worthwhile. Mary Jane makes it so easy to love her, and I will be here in 60 years to cover her 120th celebration.

Rapid Rundown!

• Marvel Tokon: First Strike #1

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    In anticipation of Arc System Works’ fighting game, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, Marvel creatives decided to explain what went down on Earth-358 before the fighting began. WriterSteve Orlandoand artistBruno Bullshowcase the villain who holds Earth-358 in the palm of their hand in “Cosmic Contendor”.Tom WaltzandAthlia Fabbiodetail what broke up the “Fighting Avengers,” and writerJosh Trujilloand artistRyusei Yamadashow the origin of the current X-Men after their defeat at the hands of a new villain. These short stories are fine, and some have great character moments that took me by surprise, considering they exist only to explain why Captain America and the Hulk are fighting each other. Overall, the issue feels dull and lacks excitement or a sense of uniqueness, with only the X-Men story standing out. Interestingly enough, I do find it strange that some of the characters straight up do not match their gaming counterparts’ design, especially Iron Man and Captain America. That could be something to expand on when the actual game comes out, but as of right now, it’s just strange. Overall, a nice issue but nothing too exciting, especially if you have no interest in the fighting game, and I’d argue that even if you were interested in the fighting game, this issue doesn’t really feel like a worthwhile companion piece.

• What if…? Captain America #1

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    This What Ifrun has been an interesting one with fun concepts and solid, compelling mashups of important events and distinct eras. The problem with Cap emerging from the ice in the 2099 era is that it ends up on a gigantic soapbox. Writer Marc Guggenheim is definitely getting a lot off his chest in terms of what’s going on today, the need for heroes who don’t wear masks, and the horrific path this country/world is on. And all that is commendable, but it’s a story that in comedic terms is “hat on hat.” We get the obvious Red Skull as the villain, but since we’re in this world of Cap staying in the ice, What If his absence creates bigger villains? Sam doesn’t become the Falcon and stays under Red Skull’s control, or Bucky is still the Winter Soldier in 2099, a weapon for these corporate overlords, and would there even be an Avengers team without Cap to pick up the torch in the very early days of the team when the original five members left? Would the world of 2099 even care about a relic from an almost forgotten era? ArtistRon Limdoes some fun work creating Cap’s uniform, it somehow has a retro-futuristic vibe that works for this book. And while color artistAndrew Dalhouse adds the usual level of skill and expertise to this book, a draftsman like Lim needs an inker to shore up the line work and fill the black areas. There was an idea here that needed to be told, but this misses its mark. – GC3

Read past installments of the Marvel Rundown here!

Next Week? Miles Morales returns to shelves in MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #1 and Star Wars shows the fall of Kylo Ren in STAR WARS: THE FALL OF KYLO REN #1