Mary Jane: Face It, Tiger #1 Celebrates Spider-Man’s Greatest Character (Review)

Superhero comics have been around for a very long time, and for good reason. They’ve captured the hearts and minds of fans for decades, demonstrating the unlimited strength of will and hope that these extraordinary warriors use to save the day. However, the heroes aren’t the only fan favorites. Sometimes, the best character in a superhero comic isn’t the hero, villain, or even super at all. A strong supporting cast can elevate a good comic to greatness. Often, the normal characters are the glue that holds the stories together, grounding the fantastic elements with the human spirit that’s at the heart of all incredible stories. One of the greatest side characters in comics is Mary Jane Watson, and we’re celebrating sixty years of this jackpot character.

Marvel is showing their love for MJ with a very special one-shot that shows us everything we love about the character, put together by an incredible team of writers and artists who love MJ as much as we do. Mary Jane: Face It, Tiger focuses on different eras of MJ’s character, from her marriage to Peter, to her ongoing fights as Venom, to a potential final chapter. The only problem is that some stories give more than others, and some don’t give much at all. Of course, MJ is as entwined with Spider-Man as you can get, and the more this comic focuses on that, the more painful the fact that she isn’t with Peter becomes.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Pros	Cons
Love for MJ explicit as she headlis her own adventure	Each story could use more pages
Stories that tackle nearly every era of the character	So much focus on Peter reminds us that they’re not getting back together soon
A great team of awesome artists

A Celebration that Lands Marvel in Hot Water

Four different writers each tackled a different era of MJ’s storied career, focusing on different themes and aspects of her personality. There were some similarities among them, however, in what they chose to highlight. Two stories focused on MJ as an actress, her most famous and current job. Three of the four focused on her intense love for Peter, and how their relationship has made them both into incredible, storied characters. Two stories even introduced and dealt with a new villain, Haze, across multiple years. The first and third story, especially, were powerful, poignant celebrations of MJ’s history and character and were my personal favorites.

The weaknesses came in across the board, however, as while these stories all celebrated MJ and some even connected to each other, they were very uneven in quality. How MJ dealt with Haze the first time was just strange and unsatisfying, and the dialogue in the final entry seemed very manufactured. Also, the little detail of MJ and Venom breaking contact bothered me an unreasonable amount. They can’t be separated, and an issue dedicated specifically to MJ should know that basic fact about her new status quo. Some stories were fun, and some just felt empty. They all suffered from limited page count.

Then there’s the elephant in the room. Or rather, the spider. Three of the four stories feature MJ and Peter’s relationship as a major driving force, which just makes it clearer that Marvel doesn’t plan to get her back with Peter anytime soon. If anything, that just makes these stories feel like a slap in the face when they should be lovely trips down memory lane. Peter and MJ are connected throughout history, and Marvel’s repeated refusal to do anything about that while wanting to eat its cake too just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

A Great Array of Awesome Artists

The art is definitely a major highlight of this book. One of the best parts about this special is seeing how each artist draws Mary Jane. She’s never been shy about changing her look, and these stories give us a great look into all the different ways MJ might appear. Stories two and four gave us the most traditional look for our redhead hero, which is always welcome. The third entry gave us a window into the future to see MJ as a much older woman, which is always interesting, as we’ll never get that in the mainline comics. 

My personal favorite art and design came in the first story, drawn by Andrea Broccardo. His MJ design is definitely the furthest from the usual, with freckles and wavier hair, but it’s a true bombshell that I find adorable. The expression work in this section is genuinely fantastic. Chameleon has never looked creepier, and all of MJ’s looks are top tier. The biggest thing for me is that this MJ design is so far away from the norm, but still works so well. Every story that featured Peter made him look practically identical, but every MJ was at least a little distinct, showing how much more freedom artists have with her, which works both on an artistic and narrative level for Mary Jane.

There are some flaws, of course. Phil Noto’s work was the weakest for me, as much of it felt somewhat choppy and blocky. I’m also not a fan of how dramatically different Haze looks between his two appearances. It was definitely a bit jarring. Overall, the art was great, and the colors were spot on. MJ’s bright red hair popped in every panel, and that’s the number one thing you want with an issue dedicated to her. Overall, the art in this book was amazing, and I definitely enjoyed it.

Mary Jane: Face It, Tiger is on sale now!

Here’s to another sixty years of Mary Jane Watson! She’s always been Spider-Man’s best supporting character, and I look forward to seeing her headline her own adventures even more later this year!

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