Comments on: Contentious Curmudgeon says ...

By: stealthwise

stealthwise — Thu, 24 May 2007 20:35:23 +0000

I guess the answer here is that itâ€™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*

By: Bryan C

Bryan C — Thu, 24 May 2007 16:28:27 +0000

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

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 24 May 2007 16:05:19 +0000

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

Holy cow.

I can think of many, many worse books.

Last week alone.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 24 May 2007 16:03:40 +0000

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.

By: km

km — Thu, 24 May 2007 14:17:58 +0000

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.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Thu, 24 May 2007 13:07:19 +0000

Interesting point, Joe.

By: Joe Rice

Joe Rice — Thu, 24 May 2007 11:23:38 +0000

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.

By: J.C. Carandang

J.C. Carandang — Thu, 24 May 2007 02:14:16 +0000

Maybe it should be Spiderman Loves Mary Sue.

And she's a superhero now too? Seriously?

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 23 May 2007 22:07:16 +0000

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

Boy, I wish I could say that.

By: T.

T. — Wed, 23 May 2007 21:13:30 +0000

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...

By: M Bloom

M Bloom — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:54:59 +0000

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

By: Sleestak

Sleestak — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:52:51 +0000

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

By: MarkAndrew

MarkAndrew — Wed, 23 May 2007 18:46:36 +0000

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, sheâ€™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 â€¦ pretty much nothing. Every time her life has drama, itâ€™s because other people are acting like tools, not her. Itâ€™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.

By: JD

JD — Wed, 23 May 2007 17:38:44 +0000

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

By: The Dane

The Dane — Wed, 23 May 2007 17:28:07 +0000

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

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Wed, 23 May 2007 16:24:02 +0000

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.

By: Adam Jones

Adam Jones — Wed, 23 May 2007 16:13:56 +0000

Marsha Marsha Marsha!

By: MarkAndrew

MarkAndrew — Wed, 23 May 2007 15:55:24 +0000

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.

By: MarkAndrew

MarkAndrew — Wed, 23 May 2007 15:53:58 +0000

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.

By: Tally

Tally — Wed, 23 May 2007 15:49:45 +0000

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.