No, Waid and Van Lente, you and Marvel still can't fool us
Marvel is once again trying to fool pro-marriage fans of Spider-Man, by bringing back Mary Jane Watson into ASM with issue 601...but still not married in their current depiction. In this interview Newsarama did with Mark Waid and co-writer Fred Van Lente (via Spider-Man Crawl Space), they talk about how they're bringing back Mary Jane into the mix, but, there's problems, such as:NRAMA: What are things going to be like between Peter and MJ now?Oooooohhh, I see. So it's still the same old act. At least it tells why there's no reason to waste time on the 600th issue, which probably furthers that shock tactic affair between Aunt May and JJJ's father. Interesting how Van Lente just says "ex" and not ex-girlfriend/wife; the ambiguity must be deliberate. But if they're still going by what they established with One More Day, which they practically hint at there, that's reason enough to continue a firm boycott.
FVL: Mary Jane returns to Peter's life as the ex. They've had this long-term relationship, they were very close and intimate, but then they broke up for reasons that remain mysterious. But now MJ is back and she's back in New York permanently.
NRAMA: So she's permanently part of Spider-Man's life? Even past this storyline?
FVL: She's permanently part of the Spider-Man cast again, but she's got a very different role than she's ever had before. She's the ex, and while she still cares about Peter a lot, like most exes, she's acutely aware of all his flaws. And so it's a really unique way to use Mary Jane and to have a really different Mary Jane/Peter dynamic. As somebody who has read Spider-Man for years – and obviously I'm biased – but I think it's a really interesting way to use the character.
I wish I could say that I at least like the J. Scott Campbell cover for ASM 601, but when I realized what it implies, it lost all appeal.
Labels: dreadful writers, marvel comics, Spider-Man
