Bought this out of curiosity more than anything else. I wanted to see how a Spider-Man story told from the point of view of his ordinary would-be girlfriend would fare - in this case, it's Mary-Jane Watson's story. And it's by a male writer, in 2006.
As it turns out, 'Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane, Volume 1' is a sweet, understated and quite charming high school drama comic that happens to be set in the world and city of Spidey. It's about Mary-Jane and the growing relationships she has with her group of friends - Liz Allen the cheerleader, Flash Thompson (that is such a jock character name, isn't it?) the quarterback, and Harry Osborn the rich boy. Oh, and Peter Parker will slowly but surely get involved in her life as well. He's a bit sneaky like that.
Starting out as best friends from childhood, towards homecoming, things between MJ and co become very complicated. Heartbreaking, even. So many feelings clashing and then changing. It truly is like the worst aspects of the cursed transitional period into adulthood that is high school.
If I were an insecure teenage boy, I'd call this 'Friendzone: the comic'.
Amid all the love and friendship drama, kind and caring popular girl Mary-Jane goes job-hunting, and tutors her friends (with PG-rated benefits). She also wishes to avoid a depressing domestic existence.
What makes MJ happiest of all: She has a big crush on Spider-Man.
The web-slinger in the red and blue PJ's is her fantasy guy - her literal hero; many times she seems to get in the way whenever he is fighting crime. Yep, even when she's the leading lady, Mary-Jane Watson is still pretty much a damsel in distress. But at least here she's assertive, determined, and knows what she wants and will get it. And what she wants more than anything is for Spidey to be her homecoming prom date. Or her regular date, whichever.
But will that seemingly-impossible dream come true? And if it does, will the fantasy live up to the reality? Will the mystery of the masked hero lose its allure for her, a changeable teen?
Like I said, there is a lot of high school teen drama happening in 'Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane'. There are connecting story and character threads in each issue, whilst being completely different from the previous one. Some characters you start out liking can turn into dicks - like the selfish, insecure Harry, and the bully Flash, and especially the jealous secret mean girl Lindsay - and some you start out disliking but suddenly end up really liking; Liz, who despite leaning towards the obnoxious and overbearing, is the only person who remains a loyal and supportive friend to poor Mary-Jane.
Female friendships in comics = excellent.
Though since this is an early-to-mid-2000's high school story, there are a few instances of unchecked slut-shaming and girl-on-girl hating. But 'Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane' manages to avoid some high school drama cliches by having the characters actually talk to each other about their problems and feelings, and calling one another out on occasion. It does happen, thank whatever-you-believe-in.
In a way, it is realistic, or as realistic as I'd expect it to be. Teenagers are selfish, ungrateful and superficial; on differing levels. So while there ended up being some annoying parts in the comic, near the end, I could deal with it. 'Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane' is, ahem, dealistic. Not so idealistic.
The idea of a teen crush on a superhero is deconstructed, if in a simple way that's accessible to children and young adults (because this is YA marketing for comic books, as was intended). Mary-Jane Watson is pretty and a sweetheart, but not a pushover. She's not a total saint, either. She's the kind of girl most teenage girls - myself included, way back - would want to be like: popular but not mean, and who won't sell her soul for the price of popularity in the survivalist hell that is high school.
MJ is not that popular, however, as she gets picked on a lot and jealous girls will delight in making her suffer. On top of that, she has low self-esteem and confidence issues, due to a home life she tells no one about (which is hardly touched upon at this stage).
Mary-Jane is stronger than she thinks she is, and is able to rise above it all. Mary Sue, my foot.
She doesn't even need Spider-Man for her character growth; only as a wake-up call of sorts. The nice, attractive redhead is an aspiring actress, and she may at a snail's pace be developing feelings for her nerdy tutor and friend Peter Parker, who along with every other guy in school is clearly smitten with her, and who keeps disappearing whenever there's criminal trouble...
The slightly-manga-style aesthetic artwork is gorgeous, too. Can't forget about that. It's colourful and nicely done, managing not to feel gimmicky for its time.
'Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane, Volume 1' - Recommended. It is less about superheroics - though those action moments are gleeful and fun when they arrive, since they contain the quippy Spidey fighting ridiculous costumed supervillains - and more about high school characters. Never mind; they are good characters the reader will grow to care about, but not all are decent and caring. Girls are its target demographic, and despite its romantic melodrama angle, I don't feel insulted by it.
It's a product of its time, sure, but it's cute and well-written. It was a mid-2000's experiment from Marvel Comics in attracting new audiences, and I give it high marks for having effort put into it, in terms of art, character, and slice-of-life/superhero world storytelling.
It might be lovely to have a friend like MJ. Or complex. Or dangerous, depending on what continuity/timeline this path takes.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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