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Who knows, Peter might even end up doing her laundry for her!

If ya really wanna be contentious...praise Harlan Ellison's new volume of Dream Corridor...which deserves it in spades. The art is awesome and the stories are some of the best from a master of the form. I really don't care about SM Loves MJ...sorry.

I'm not seeing the problem here, really. She's the best she is at what she does. Doesn't sound that much more outrageous than, say, Batman's skill set.

I'm not seeing the problem here, really. She's the best she is at what she does. Doesn't sound that much more outrageous than, say, Batman's skill set. It's a comic aimed at young'ns with an idealized fantasy figure as protagonist. This ain't 'zactly uncommon.

Marsha Marsha Marsha!

See, I disagree with you, MarkAndrew. Most teenagers reading this, I think, would side with Liz and really hate Mary Jane occasionally. Not only is she perfect, she's also so very humble about it. In the young adult fiction I used to read (when I was a young adult), the protagonists always had plenty of flaws they had to overcome. MJ has to overcome ... pretty much nothing. Every time her life has drama, it's because other people are acting like tools, not her. It's odd how perfect she is, because it seems to make her far less relatable.

Correction Greg: MJ has to overcome a world that's not good enough to bear her presence.

Actually, in further volumes, MJ behaves like an utter asshole, and suffers the consequences.

See, I disagree with you, MarkAndrew. Most teenagers reading this, I think, would side with Liz and really hate Mary Jane occasionally. Not only is she perfect, she’s also so very humble about it. In the young adult fiction I used to read (when I was a young adult), the protagonists always had plenty of flaws they had to overcome. MJ has to overcome … pretty much nothing. Every time her life has drama, it’s because other people are acting like tools, not her. It’s odd how perfect she is, because it seems to make her far less relatable.

Oh, OK. That makes sense. I didn't immediately think unflawed = unrelatable. But that's a good point.

Spidey loves MJ is the worst comic I ever, ever read.

Maybe it should be retitled "The Universe Loves Mary Jane".

Curmudgeon, you just summed up the reason why I loathed the 90s sitcom "Felicity," without even completing a single episode. Everyone would meet this girl and fall in love with her, every girl would want to be her friend, only jerks hated her...

"Spidey loves MJ is the worst comic I ever, ever read."

Boy, I wish I could say that.

Maybe it should be Spiderman Loves Mary Sue.

And she's a superhero now too? Seriously?

I think this is aimed more at pre-teens than teens . . .and in my experience pre-teens want to look up to a perfect teen. The kids I've given this comic to have all LOVED it. For some girls, this was the only comic they liked at all.

Interesting point, Joe.

It is. I've never seen Spidey Loves MJ specifically, but there's a whole lot of precedent in that demographic. It's a form of escapism and not just for preteen girls - no drugstore romance novel ever featured a homely heroine. Not a particularly imaginative trope, no, but prevalent.

Take the long-running Sweet Valley High book series, for instance. Featuring the ongoing adventures of beautiful, wealthy, uber-popular California-blonde twin sisters. Even insisted on recapping *exactly* how beautiful and popular they were at the start of every book.

Yeah... all the girls I know who read it love it.

It sells as well as the Friendly Neighborhood or Sensational, actually.

The MARY JANE digests outsell the trades of the other Spidey books, now that I think about it.

I guess the answer here is that it's clearly not marketed to or meant for middle-aged dudes.

Which is not a bad thing.

"Spidey loves MJ is the worst comic I ever, ever read."

Holy cow.

I can think of many, many worse books.

Last week alone.

Sounds like this Mary Jane is more like a Mary Sue.

I guess the answer here is that it’s clearly not marketed to or meant for middle-aged dudes.
Which is not a bad thing.

Ahem

*Morgan Freeman voice*

It was a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

*end Morgan Freeman voice*