Welcome to yet another, Marvelous Mary Jane. In this edition, we give you Fight Club. MJ (the 616 version) throughout the years have proven that she doesn’t always need to be rescued. Sure, she’s played the damsel in distress card, but more often than not she has been able to hold on her own. Let’s look at a few examples of fights she’s gotten herself into.
The Chameleon: In Spectacular Spider-Man #245, written by J. M. DeMatteis with art by Luke Ross and John Stanisci, the Chameleon captured Spider-Man, Dr. Kafka, and John Jameson. During this time, Chameleon knew who Spider-Man was and taunted him in a classic villain scheme. He was going after Mary Jane to make Peter suffer. Typical villain, right? Go after the girl.
While Chameleon planned on making this the damsel in distress, he was unprepared for a few things.
- Mary Jane is an actress. Chameleon disguised himself as Peter to enter their home, however MJ played the part as his lovely wife, but she knew that it wasn’t Peter all along once she mentioned they had to be careful going upstairs and not wake Aunt Anna. (Peter KNEW that Aunt Anna was out of town).
- A baseball bat. While MJ continued to act out the part, Chameleon let his guard down which gave MJ enough time to grab a baseball bat. The charade was up. Chameleon thought a mere woman would not get the best of him, little did he know who he was dealing with.
Much of the fight wasn’t seen as Spider-Man escaped and tailed his red and blue butt back home to get to his wife. No rescuing was needed, since MJ had beaten Chameleon to the floor with a baseball bat. Embarrassed that a “common woman” beat him, he ran away. Peter questioned MJ if she actually did beat The Chameleon. To which she responded. “Yeah, I guess I did.” Laughter was shared afterwards.
Winner: Mary Jane.
Jonathan Caesar: Owner and resident of the spacious Manhattan apartment building Bedford Towers, this guy was obsessed with Mary Jane and would go to great lengths to make her his and “his only”. Caesar arranged for Peter and MJ to move into Bedford Towers and then he later kidnapped her. He even hired the supervillains Styx and Stone to oppose anyone that bothered to investigate and you can bet Spider-Man got involved with those two. While Spidey fought Styx and Stone, Mary Jane handled Caesar all by herself. Cracked a lamp right across his face allowing her to escape.
Winner: Mary Jane (Round 1)
Unfortunately, I wasn’t the last time Caesar went after MJ. While serving time in prison, Caesar made sure the Peter and MJ were evicted from Bedford Towers. He used his business connections to also blacklist MJ from fashion companies, thus denying her modelling work. Caesar was on a vendetta to kill MJ when he got out of jail, but his attempt was foiled by Hal Goldman, another obsessive stalker who also wanted to possess Mary Jane. Killing Caesar in cold blood, Goldman turned his gun to MJ, only for MJ to outsmart him. Using hair spray and a THWOK with her purse, she was able to knock him out and call the authorities. Events were covered in The Amazing Spider-Man #304 to #339 written by David Michelinie and art by Todd McFarlane & Erik Larsen.
Winner: Mary Jane (Round 2)
Venom: Symbiobro’s favorite villain that tormented Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the 90’s. Venom made his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 that continued in issue #300 written by David Michelinie and art by Todd McFarlane. Both Eddie Brock and the symbiote didn’t want to physically harm Mary Jane, nor Aunt May for that matter as they considered them “innocent”. However, he did make Mary Jane feel helpless and scared when he surprised her, showing her that there was nothing she could do to defend herself. Of course this was just an attempt to send a message to Peter/Spider-Man, which worked. Through out issue appearances of Venom, Peter always sent MJ out of town to keep her safe. The amount of fear that Venom introduced to Mary Jane emotionally made her a wreck whenever Peter fought him. So much in fact, that she forbid Peter to ever wear the black costume again.
Winner: Venom
The Black Cat: Don’t you hate it when the “EX” gets in the way? That’s what happened in The Amazing Spider-Man #331 written by David Michelinie and art by Erik Larsen. Felica Hardy has come back to confess her love for Peter Parker/Spider-Man but then Venom showed up. It was a no contest during that fight, Brock breaking her nose and giving away that Peter was now married. Felica couldn’t handle the fact that her “Spider” was now someone else’s “Tiger”. She made is very clear to Mary Jane that Peter and her relationship would be rekindled. She went as far to date Flash Thompson just to get under Peter’s skin. The awkward double dates both annoyed Peter and MJ, but later Felicia fell for Flash and the charade halted. So much in fact the later on, Felicia and MJ became really good trusting friends over the years. To make a long story continuity story short, Felicia and Mary Jane both have respect for each other. Felicia respects and obliges that Peter rather be with Mary Jane than her, but she does get annoyed with “redheads” easily. Mary Jane trusts Peter when partnered up with Felicia, but rather have her move on.
Winner: Tie
Alistair Smythe: In The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 written by Louise Simonson and art by Mary Wilshire we find Mary Jane being mistaken for…get this, Spider-Man! Evil genius(?) Alystaire Smythe theorizes that Aunt Anna is Spider-Man’s aunt, so when he hears Anna refer to MJ as her niece, he concludes that MJ has an exoskeleton and is really Spider-Man. Mary Jane plays along, admits that she is Spider-Man and offers to show Alistair where she keeps her “exoskeleton” if he promises to let Aunt Anna go. Now Alistair grabs MJ in his flying robot and flies off.
When they pass by Peter Parker’s Chelsea Apartment, Mary Jane shakes loose one of her boots, sending it plummeting into his skylight in the hopes that Peter is home. Seeing this, Smythe demands to know where the “suit” is and she tells him the Daily Bugle. Spider-Man eventually catches up with Smythe and rescues Mary Jane from his clutches. Spider-Man’s battle with Smythe’s Spider-Slayer, comes to an abrupt end when Spider-Man lures him to the nearby Amtrack yard and Smythe flies his craft into some electrical wires. It was MJ’s fast thinking and brave nature that won this fight. She lured Smythe to all the spots Peter could be in order for him to stop Symthe.
Winner: Mary Jane (Round 1)
In Amazing Spider-Man #292 written by David Michelinie and art by Alex Saviuk. Mary Jane ran into Alistair again when she was in Pittsburgh dealing with family troubles. While forcing Spider-Man to the ground to finish him off in his new Spider-Slayer, MJ rushes to hit the new bot on the leg with a baseball bat that would give Spidey enough time to spring back up. It worked, but Smythe remembered MJ from last time and the bot grabbed her, Spidey gathering enough strength and will power to save the woman he loved once he saw her in danger. Don’t mess with his woman. MJ gave the distraction Spidey needed to win the fight.
Winner: Mary Jane (Round 2)
The Green Goblin: Norman Osborn has been a thorn in Peter’s side from day one. The most notable thing that Norman did that all Spider-Fans remember is that he kidnapped Gwen Stacy (Peter’s gf at the time) and took her to the George Washington Bridge, which lead to her death. Both Mary Jane and Norman have come to verbal confrontations over the years (she even slapped him in a flashback during Sins Pasts & and fought again goblins in Goblin Nation), she dated his son Harry, while Peter was with Gwen. Since Mary Jane has been commented as the true love of Peter Parker, that does put a target on her that Norman can take advantage of a few times, take Marvel Knight’s Spider-Man #12 written by Mark Millar and art done by Terry Dodson for instance. Although it came close, a repeat bridge accident was not in the cards and even Mary Jane got to shoot Norman.
Recently in Amazing Spider-Man #52LR written by Nick Spencer with art done by Federico Vicentini, MJ went to her “go to weapon” and nailed Osborn with a lamp. Through out the years Norman has been a pest that MJ wishes would just go away, but she has always used her wits to get out of jams that Osborn has constructed.
Winner: Mary Jane.
Morlun: The totem magical spider chomping vampire that could clone itself once defeated. Think of him as one of those ghost from Pac-Man. Once defeated they go back to get a new body. An unstoppable foe once introduced, he made another appearance during The Other arc and actually beat Spider-Man. Skipping the gruesome details in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #3 written by J. Michael Straczynski and art done by Mike Wieringo , Peter was “recovering” in the hospital and Morlun came in to finish his meal. MJ in a fit of rage, lunged at him in order to stop him. Morlun swatted her away as if it were nothing and quickly snapped her wrist, which quickly woke up “The Spider” within Peter during the commotion. It wasn’t pretty but Morlun was defeated. The fight eventually end with Peter’s “death” which broke MJ heart.
Winner: Morlun
Nick Katzenberg: The sleazebag photographer that was competition and a constant thorn in Peter’s side. Always referring to Mary Jane as “legs”, he also made constant and annoying advances towards her. In Web of Spider-Man #85 written by Howard Mackie and art done by Alex Saviuk, during the aftermath that involved a fight with the Triad Brothers, Nick confronts Mary Jane and Spider-Man. He blames Peter for “cowardly running away” during the fight. MJ shows him her left hook.
In Spectacular Spider-Man Vol 1 163 (my very first comic btw) by Gerry Conway with art done by Sal Buscema. Nick reveals to MJ that he has a photo of her and Peter where Peter is wearing his Spider-Man costume. When he threatens to expose Spider-Man’s secret identity unless she cuts a deal with him “upstairs”, MJ once again shows him how powerful her left hook is.
Winner: Mary Jane.
Madame Masque: So no one like Carlie Cooper being paired up with Peter Parker. Rightfully so. A creation by Dan Slott all in an attempt to score brownie points with his boss, by naming this character after the daughter of Marvel’s EIC at the time, Joe Quesada. Slott wasn’t happy that no one liked his idea, so he got his revenge by completely writing off Mary Jane out in volume four of The Amazing Spider-Man series cause he didn’t like her too much (only to bring her back at the end to which he wrote her completely out of character)…but I digress.
However, Bendis loved Mary Jane. Invincible Iron Man #5 written by Brian Michael Bendis and art done by David Marquez, Mary Jane opened a club in …Chicago?..(where the eff was I in this comic?!) Madame Masque busted in and started making trouble. MJ had just enough with super heroes that she let loose on Masque, by knocking her across the face with a microphone stand. Even though she was tossed around a bit. Iron Man locked Masque up in his armor and feeling bad about the destruction to MJ’s club, gave her a job. As Tony’s assistance, she took over the usual duties that Pepper Potts did and even shot Tony’s “Father” at the end of the Bendis’s run.
Winner: Mary Jane
Regent: Which brings us to Amazing Spider-Man (Volume 4) #15 written by Dan Slott & Christos Cage with art done by Giuseppe Camuncoli. In RYV the big baddie was Regent and now we have a 616 version of it. Both Iron Man and Spider-Man were arguing on who would be a better mentor to Miles Morales, which lead to all three of them being captured by Regent. Mary Jane dawned the Iron Spider costume (from Civil War Comic) and battled Regent, there by freeing Iron Man and Spidey. That in turned freed Miles, Regent’s power depowered and was defeated.
Winner: Mary Jane
The Savage Six: Mary Jane laid the smack down on a team of super villains! In The Amazing Mary Jane written by Leah Williams and art done by the very talented Carlos Gomez, MJ was finishing shooting a movie when the Savage Six came to destroy the set. Using her wits, courage, and a lot of movie props she was able to defeat, The Vulture, The Rhino, Stegron, King Cobra Scorpion, and Tarantula. Vulture was able to turn the tables around, but it was too late. MJ just needed to stall in order for the last scenes to finish. Once completed Mysterio, the film crew, and a few other super powered meta humans were able to come to her aid and defeat the six.
Winner: Mary Jane
Jackal: The dreaded and much hated (yet beloved by some people) Clone Saga. In Web of Spider-Man #129 by Tom DeFalco & Todd DeZago with art done by Steven Butler, our very own “Master Flour Chef” The Jackal, had one last trick up his sleeve before his “death”. He brainwashed Peter to kill Mary Jane! All though he fought it off as hard as he could, Peter couldn’t resist, but gave enough time for MJ to run. Mary Jane did escape with the help of The Scarlet Spider and The New Warriors. Peter was able to defeat them and arrive at his Queens home where MJ waited for him. She wasn’t going to run anymore or fight back. In a tearful speech, she reminded Peter of their love, their memories, who he was and who they are as a couple. How the jackal could never overcome that and those memories flooded Peter’s head and washed the Jackal out. That will was all he needed to fight off the programing. Peter was free from the Jackal’s control and both he and Mary Jane embraced each other. I was MJ’s wits, forgiveness, courage, support and love for Peter that conquered all.
Winner: Mary Jane
Spider-Island: In Amazing Spider-Man #670-672, written by Dan Slott with art by Humberto Ramos, Mary Jane obtained Spider powers. Everyone in New York was getting Spider powers that allowed Peter to actually be himself and swing through New York unmasked. Everyone, except Mary Jane. The reason was because Peter and Mary Jane “shared the same toothbrush” so the it took longer for her than expected. However, when she did finally obtained her powers, the rest of New York were turning into Spider-Creatures. So it’s good that she was a “late bloomer”. With the amount of time she had before she turned into a spider creature herself, she defends Peter long enough for him to use the antenna on the Empire State Building. That reversed the mutation of a large part of New York’s population which helped defeat the Queen.
Winner: Mary Jane and Friends.
Electro: In Amazing Spider-Man (Volume 5) #25 written by Nick Spencer with art done by Ryan Ottley, Mary Jane is waiting for Peter on date night outside the theater. Unfortunately, Peter is being Spider-Man so Carlie Cooper (UGH) becomes her plus one. The star of the play is Melanie Daniels who replaced MJ back during the Secret Hospital Days, invites them backstage. Electro (Francine Frye) shows up to kill Melanie. Mary Jane comes to the rescue with a little help from Cooper and the Stage Manager. While Electro is distracted, she switches places with Melanie and goes on a speech on how much she admires and misses acting. MJ surprises Electro by revealing who she really is and defeats her by getting her dunked by a giant water tank.
Winner: Mary Jane.
Spider-Man: So…this is awkward. In Marvel Team-UP (Suck it JR)(considered continuity with 616 Mary Jane) written by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, with art done by John Byrne, Mary Jane accompanies Robbie Robertson and Peter to Metropolitan Museum of Art where some trouble going on. Trouble is found and in an assist to help Spidey, Mary Jane grasps a sword from one of the exhibit cases, and the weapon begins to glow. As she removes it and holds it upraised in her hand, the glow surrounds her, and suddenly she vanishes, to be replaced by the Hyrkanian heroine, Red Sonja. There is a miscommunication fight between her and Spidey, which it all get sorted out in the end. Once the mission is completed, Mary Jane returns.
Oops, she did it again. Spider-Man / Red Sonja Vol 1 written by Michael Avon Oeming with art done by Mel Rubi, the imprisoned spirit of the sorcerer Kulan Gath, didn’t like that Spider-Man and Red Sonja defeated his plans the first time, so he hypnotizes MJ and calls out to her to turn into Red Sonja again to fight Spider-Man in order to keep those two busy while he makes New York his little play ground. The plan worked, and this time there was no miscommunication, Red Sonja goes straight for Spider-Man. The fight is almost won by Red Sonja when Mary Jane communicates with the chainmail bikini heroine and inform her that Spider-Man is a friend and not to kill him. Once again they team up to defeat Kulan Gath and even Venom joins in on the fun. In the end, the mission is completed and Mary Jane and Spider-Man share a kiss to celebrate.
Winner: Mary Jane (Both Rounds)
Kindred: In Amazing Spider-Man written by Nick Spencer, he introduces us to a new villain by the name of Kindred, who turns out to be Harry Osborn! Now, Harry and MJ used to date and they became good friends afterwards. Kindred’s grudge is with Peter. He just wants Pete and his father to suffer and goes to lengths to keep loved ones away. Sending MJ to California to shoot a movie with Mysterio as the director for example. MJ does come back and helps Peter get through all this Kindred stuff by teaming up with Norman Osborn in a act to distract Kindred and get Peter to safety. According to Kindred, it’s Peter that turned him into this demon and MJ pleas that she is as guilty as Peter is. She admits that she wasn’t a good friend that she should have been. The charade works, but Kindred does believe her and curses her for being correct. Even though MJ used her acting skills to get Peter and The Order to safety, she just marked herself on Kindred’s “Who to Blame List” when she was first considered faultless.
Winner: Mary Jane (…so far.)
Oooooo, boy, that last entry just gives me the chills! I just want OMD resolved and with Peter and Mary Jane living married, as happily as they can.
There you have it Crawlspacers, just a handful of fights that Mary Jane found herself into. Whether she’s normal and super, she manages to show everyone just how POWERFUL and IMPORTANT of a character she really is. Now I’m sure there are a few that I’m missing, so be sure to comment below if you know where to find them so that the rest of the readers can research and read if interested. Remember, this is just the 616 version of Mary Jane.
These physical fights are just my opinion based on what was written, but you can make your own judgement call on that. Will these fights ever make it into George’s Friday Night Fights podcast, maybe. Until then, see ya next time!
** Special Thanks to Nicole Bandit for being our “Cover Girl” to this editorial **
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Pandora
Amazon Music
iHeartRadio
Podbean
Amazon Alexa
Player.fm
Listen Notes
Stitcher
In your face, Lois Lane.
B-b-but… MJ can only be a damsel in distress and a dead weight for Peter!
Great exploration of a character that showed time and again that when she is well written, she can be just as badass and charismatic as Peter!