Reviews

Spider-Man/Mary Jane: ...You Just Hit The Jackpot by Pat Olliffe, Gerry Conway, David Michelinie, Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, Mary Wilshire, Todd McFarlane, Kurt Busiek, John Romita Sr., Stan Lee, Louise Simonson, J. Michael Straczynski, Alex Saviuk, John Romita Jr.

luthien3720's review

4.0

Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson will always be married to me. No matter what idiocy Marvel foists upon its readers. For me, only two couples in superhero comics have truly stood the test of time to define "true love": Lois and Clark, and Peter and MJ. This collection brings together some of the best stories featuring the two, and traces their relationship from the famous first meeting (from whence comes the book's title) all the way to J. Michael Strazynski's excellent reunion comic. There is some repetition in stories, mostly due to the inclusion of "Parallel Lives" which retells some of the early Mary Jane stories, but it's such a great story and so well-told and drawn that it doesn't detract from the book's flow. The only glaring omission is the Spider-wedding itself, but it can be found in "Marvel Weddings", if you can get your hands on a copy. As the stories progress, readers follow Peter and Mary Jane's growth into mature characters, which feels much more real and believable than the "reset" button Marvel tried to push, and failed, with One More Day. This is the real Spider-Man.

squidbag's review

3.0

When you look back at media regarding long-term romances, it's easy to be critical; we notice the big hair and the huge shoulder pads before we notice the love affair. That's even easier to do here - Mary Jane in her first appearance was hipper than Maynard Krebs and talked like James Dean, when MacFarlane drew her she was hyper-sexualized, and there's a host of problems with the Spider-Slayer / Smythe era. The throughline here is meant to be Peter and MJ's relationship over time and that MJ stands up as a character in her own right, which is mostly true. Repetitive and uneven, though these are both meant to be expected here, and worth it for those who are specifically curious about any timeline specific to MJ's narrative. I am amused, in retrospect, at how obvious a lampoon of Archie Peter's love life was at first; blonde Liz and brunette Betty are completely derailed by fun, red-headed Mary Jane. This was fun.