The Amazing Mary Jane #1 // Review
Hollywood actress Mary Jane Watson is delighted to be working on a new film for a respected director. The only catch: she’s not working on a new film for a respected director. Things prove to be considerably surreal as the longtime supporting woman in Peter Parker’s life gets her own series: The Amazing Mary Jane. The first issue is written by Leah Williams with art by Carlos Gomez. Though the first issue doesn’t quite live up to its potential, there are interesting little bits of promise emerging from an intriguing concept. With some outstanding artwork that centers itself quite squarely on one of Spider-Man’s most enduring supporting characters.
Mary Jane Watson is working on this film. She’s familiar with the subject matter...in fact, the central character of the film is a longtime enemy of her boyfriend: Mysterio. The script frames him as a hero, which Mary Jane is actually kind of okay with. What she ISN’T okay with is the fact that the dialogue is bad, and her character is weak. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that the acclaimed director of the film is actually Mysterio in disguise. Everyone working on the film seems to be a minor super-villain. What’s worse: she’s actually thinking about working on the movie in spite of all of this.
Williams’ premise is a lot more clever than her execution of it in the first issue. Mary Jane working on a film about a Spider-Man villain that is secretly directed by the villain in question, is a remarkably clever premise. Still, the finer points of working on a significant budget Hollywood motion picture are fudged in favor of a briskly moving script that is, nevertheless, bogged down in (admittedly rather well-written) dialogue. It’s a fun journey on the whole. All of the right elements are there, and the most critical thing here is that Williams makes Mary Jane seem every bit as interesting as she should be. Given the right momentum, this could get really, really good.
Gomez draws a very, very appealing Mary Jane. She exudes confidence and assertiveness. She’s a normal human actress on a Hollywood set run by a master of deception who is using a super-powered crew, but she looks very much like the leading lady here with a steely gaze. Thanks to Gomez’s beautifully-rendered art, Mary Jane manages to look very capable in the center of the page. Even with all of the dialogue that Williams weighs down the page with, Gomez might have had the opportunity to play with perceptions and expectations much more fluidly in an issue that is primarily set on a Hollywood film set. The setting and background feel kind of flat next to the drama of Mary Jane and Mysterio, but the emotional weight of the comic is clearly there, which is often the most challenging thing for ANY artist to bring to the page.
Mary Jane is an actress. Mysterio is a filmmaker. They have a mutual acquaintance. It makes sense that they would work together...kind of surprising that it hadn’t happened earlier actually. It’s a delicious set-up for a slightly off-center superhero comic. Given the right momentum, Williams and Gomez could really turn Mary Jane into a major leading lady.
