Writer: Leah Williams
Artist: Carlos Gomez
Colorist: Carlos Lopez
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist: Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado
Editor: Kathleen Wisneski
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Mary Jane Watson may be one of the most famous superhero love interests in all of comicbook history, but that doesn’t mean she has to be defined by her famous beau. This week’s Amazing Mary Jane #1 sends MJ on her own adventure away from Peter Parker, but the specter of his expansive rogues gallery isn’t far behind …
Spinning out of the pages of Nick Spencer’s Amazing Spider-Man, Amazing Mary Jane follows MJ on the West Coast to film a Mysterio movie with famed director Cage McKnight … who turns out to be the real Mysterio himself. Though initially resistant to working with one of Spider-Man’s most notorious rogues, MJ learns Mysterio is using the film as a last-ditch effort to redeem himself to somebody important to him before his impending death, and they reach an agreement that allows her a certain amount of creative control over the project. But for MJ to complete her job, she’ll have to survive an onslaught of the Sinister Six first.
(It should be noted that this is not MJ’s first solo series, despite the cover claiming such; there have actually been three before this one. It is, however, the first one set in the main Marvel Universe continuity.)
Amazing Mary Jane is not written by Spencer, instead handled by rising Marvel talent Leah Williams, currently of Gwenpool Strikes Back and an unspecified title in the Dawn of X relaunch. The humorous tone of this issue is a pretty good match for Williams’s sensibilities as a writer, and it allows her to make some appropriate commentary on the state of women in pop culture. With MJ acting in a superhero (or rather, supervillain) film as a “Strong Female Character,” who is actually written quite thinly, her confident persona makes quick work of the subpar material handed to her.
While her past solo series have incorporated Peter into the proceedings prominently, this one is unmistakably a Mary Jane story, and he only appears very briefly throughout. I will say Williams’s script borders on overly verbose at times, and some panels are rather dense with text, but it doesn’t ruin the reading experience enough for me to really complain about it.
Carlos Gomez’s art is expressive and playful, which is what you’d want from a Mary Jane comic. It’s also consistent with the aesthetic established by Ryan Ottley on Spencer’s Amazing Spider-Man, making a seamless transition between readers of the flagship title and this spinoff. I haven’t been following Amazing Spider-Man too closely, but based on what I know of that ongoing story (as well as Ottley’s art) this title feels like part of a whole with that one, which is a credit to Williams and Gomez.
Amazing Mary Jane #1
Credits
- Williams's humorous script captures the spirit of MJ
- Playful, expressive art feels right for the story
Credits (cont)
- Depends on how invested you are in Mysterio or the Sinister Six
- Feels a bit slight so far
