Spider-man Loves Mary Jane Season 2 #5 Review

Interesting Tidbit Volume 3 #5: Again, taken from an interview with Terry Moore on Newsarama.com: “No, I don’t think it’s primarily a young girl book, but it IS very accessible to young girls.  I never lose sight of the fact that I want somebody Mary Jane’s age to be able to pick this up and enjoy it.  I mean, we’re writing a comic book series about a 15- or 16-year-old girl, so it’s important that a 12-year-old girl be able to pick this up and enjoy it.  But I think guys would really enjoy this too, because while it’s told through Mary Jane’s eyes, the things she’s looking at are primarily guys and their lives, so it’s pretty interesting to guys as well.  And I’ve been amazed at the fan group this title already has from Sean McKeever’s run.  They’re just hardcore, old-school male superhero fans. I’m pretty impressed with the variety of readers.”

SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE: SEASON 2

TITLE: hmm…, fluffy, chillin’, surprised, content…guess!

WRITER: Terry Moore

ARTIST: Craig Rousseau

COLORIST: Guillem Mari

PLOT:

Flash, Mary Jane, and Liz all meet up at a diner and share some fries and frustrations about school.  After a little argument between Flash and Liz concerning his “laziness” (which is actually his attempt at not limping around Liz in order to avoid suspicion) the group discusses the website that has been attacking MJ.  This website has begun to cause MJ more than a little emotional stress that she bears with her at home, work, and school.  This distress leads MJ to walk out of Drama class and question her life.

Flash and MJ have a brief moment outside of school where she chastises him for trying out for Varsity and getting hurt like Liz told him NOT to do.  Inadvertently, Flash offers her some great advice: “Heal yourself.”  This, Mary Jane decides to do.  Upon running into Harry, he tells her he had some of his techies investigate that website and that they found some valuable information for her.  She questions what is wrong with people that they would do such a thing and then asks what happened to them (ie. Harry and MJ).  He simply replies, “Peter Parker.  That’s what happened.”  While Mary Jane very much desires to still be friends with him, Harry tells her that “Friendship is not what a guy wants from a girl.”

As she contemplates this condemnation of friendship from Harry, MJ goes to the library to investigate who might be setting up the website.  Ta-daaaaa!  It’s Zoe!  Ita vero! the girl who displayed some emotional problems in the first issue and was cast as the Apple Troll turned vindictive and decided to take her anger and frustrations out on MJ… “perfect MJ.”  The girls reach an understanding and we conclude with MJ reaching the realization that she is not the only one who has problems.  At least she has great friends…great friends like Peter!

REVIEW:

A fitting end to Season 2 and an issue that gives me hope that the series will return, this final issue is not as good as the previous but it is a great one nonetheless.  Moore wrote great interactions between MJ and three of the four main characters.  Each of these interactions left Mary Jane with new knowledge, courage, or even perseverance.  The scenes where MJ is struggling with her life are poignant, albeit a little overdramatic.  As the heroine, we do feel for Mary Jane and all of her struggles but we want her to succeed and be strong, which she does in the end.

It was sad to see her walk away from Drama but she is not Limo Girl, nor should she be expected to carry that mantle with her.  Harry Osborn keeps surprising readers and becomes a three-dimensional character with many feelings rather than a flat character that has little personality.  I think he does the male race injustice when he says that boys do not want friendship from a girl.  However, I could be wrong, as I am on the same level as Mary Jane when she says “I swear, if I live to be a hundred, I’ll never understand boys.”  Zoe seems to be a perfect counterpart to Mary Jane.  Both have facades, but, while she lets loose her anger on MJ, MJ keeps her frustration on the inside.

As I said before, Moore creates a fitting ending for this series.  Mary Jane and Peter share a cute final panel as she realizes that, yes, she does have a troubled life, but at least she has great friends.  I think that Moore does what no one in the past has been able to do, with the exception of McKeever: he has written an heroine that mimics the characteristics of Spider-man/Peter Parker.  The fact she has a troubled life, that she has a dual identity and everyone sees someone that only exists on the surface, that she struggles day-in and day-out with burdens that many may not understand, are these not traits of Spider-man?  For this, I thank and applaud Mr. Moore!

RATING:

4.5 Webheads out of 5.  No, not as great as the previous issue, but that could be because of the different feel that emanates from the issue.  It was a thoughtful and poignant issue and once again I believe that the art is spot-on.  I must also say that the coloring creates multiple atmospheric experiences.  Good job!

To end this, I must implore you all, for the last time, to test this book out.  I have great faith that it will be well worth your time!

Reviewed by: Your Friendly Neighborhood, Spider-Girl!