Graphic Novel Review - 'The Amazing Mary Jane, Vol. 1: Down In Flames, Up In Smoke' by Leah Williams (Writer), Carlos Gómez (Artist), Lucas Werneck (Artist), Carlos Lopez (Colours)

I wanted to read this title mainly because of Mary Jane Watson, and 'The Amazing Mary Jane, Vol 1: Down In Flames, Up In Smoke' gloriously, gleefully highlights what a confident, funny, sassy, smart, self-aware, sexually-aware and comfortable, opportunistic and optimistic lady she has always had the potential to be. She is an actress doing so many parts for a blockbuster superhero/supervillain movie, and make no mistake, she is the star.

Nothing will get in her way. Absolutely nothing.

This Mary Jane solo comic is bizarre, goofy and nonsensical. Basically, the plot is that Mary Jane is starring as the love interest in a movie which aims to be high art for a supervillain/antihero redemption piece. It's a biopic for Mysterio - which she discovers is directed by Mysterio himself!

It's his take on his own life story - it's the "'Breaking Bad' of super hero movies", as MJ puts it - made for the express goal of making people sympathise with him, and see him as an auteur. A real artist. No illusions, no tricks, no schemes (though it is funded through fraud, and D-list villains are involved in its production), no hidden agendas. Everything in the film, with its troubled and often destructive and bankrupt production, must be as authentic as possible, according to Mysterio.

Of course MJ agrees to help him realise his dream, under certain conditions; like giving her character actual development not related to the male lead.

(Maybe it's because I'd barely heard of Mysterio beforehand that I'm okay with him having a redemption arc of sorts to begin with.)

Then there is the Savage Six, a group of villains who are not happy with how they are being portrayed in Mysterio's movie, and they will sabotage it in every way they can. Destruction of sets and locations, parasitic paparazzi, and threatening actors, are up their nefarious sleeves...

Not every plot element and character, with or without an arc, is followed up on in 'The Amazing Mary Jane, Vol. 1', and some elements and themes are forgotten about entirely by the end of the volume. Said ending is also a little rushed and feels incomplete, but maybe it's setting up for the sequel.

The comic isn't as meta as it could have been. It might be commenting on the Hollywood film industry, such as how the MCU movies are made, as we know it today. But it doesn't go any deeper than how sexist the female leads are portrayed. It's surface level criticism; much like how toxic work conditions in filming being alluded to doesn't go beyond surface level titbits. #MeToo allusions might as well not exist for the zero impact they serve; it's half-arsed lip service at best. There is social commentary on how sexist and misogynistic the media is in how it treats famous women who are rumoured to be "difficult" and a nightmare to work with; thus they are immediately blacklisted, whilst their male counterparts never receive nearly as much backlash and punishment for doing far, far worse. But this is only present in a few panels. Many themes and issues are included but go nowhere; another example is the misogynistic "women sleeping their way to the top" mentality, which in this context serves Mysterio's development, not MJ's, because he is a "genius" who isn't "deceived by womanly wiles". WTF? Talk about taking it in the entirely wrong direction! 'The Amazing Mary Jane' is also very vague on who or what it might be parodying, as if Marvel comics is afraid of getting sued by somebody.

We go through the whole comic barely knowing anything that happens in Mysterio's movie, which is a missed opportunity. Behind-the-scenes action takes precedence.

Where the hell is the visible LBGTQ rep? It's Hollywood, for crying out loud!

And yet... 'The Amazing Mary Jane, Vol. 1: Down In Flames, Up In Smoke' is infectious in its optimism. Mary Jane herself is infectious; all smiles and wits and taking everything in stride and taking crap from no one. She and by extension the comic don't take themselves seriously, and just have fun with what they've got. A deeper look into Hollywood's scummy-ness and its toxic working environments reflecting real life cases might have been too jarring a tonal shift.

MJ shares sweet, funny and sexy phone calls with Peter Parker, as a civilian, a scientist, and as Spider-Man (they are a couple and not married here). MJ is friends with production crewmember Mallorie, who is a POC, and is in charge of pretty much everything in the filmmaking process, like set managing, scheduling, and financing.

Oh and did I mention? Mary Jane Watson puts on a Spider-Man outfit later on in her movie, for last minute stunts. Then she, an ordinary person without powers or any real hero training, manages to take on the Savage Six all by herself! Well, almost - the badass production crew help out, too!

How can you not love this woman after that?!

Nothing would get done for Mysterio's movie - nothing would happen in this comic - without Mary Jane and her determination, spirit, and humour. She's given a producer credit by Mysterio, too, so her efforts are not unappreciated. Years spent as a superhero's girlfriend has made her fearless and daring, able to hold her own and take care of herself. She's worthy of respect as her own person and not an extension of Spider-Man's character. She's clearly confident in her sexuality, as well!

Looks are not everything for this actress, and her personality and talent are no illusions.

'The Amazing Mary Jane' - star-studded, silly, wacky fun!

Final Score: 3.5/5