Mary Jane--Face It Tiger #1 // Review
She’d been mentioned for years. She took a while to show-up in the center of the frame. Since then, she’s kind of taken over her own corner of the Marvel Universe. And now Marvel is celebrating the 60th anniversary of her first appearance with Mary Jane--Face It Tiger #1. The big celebration features stories by writers J.M. DeMatteis, Ann Nocenti, J. Michael Straczynski and Ashley Allen. Artists included on the anniversary anthology are Andrea Broccardo, Alina Yerofieieva, Luigi Zagaria and Phil Noto. Color cascades across the anthology with the works of Java Tartaglia, Fabi Marques and Matt Milla.
It’s not an easy life for anyone in the Marvel Universe. Mary Jane is particularly close to the orbit of a particularly influential web-slinger. That relationship is explored in the DeMatteis opener. Then Mary Jane deals with a very real horror on a horror film set in a back alley in the Nocenti story. Then Straczynski imagines a world maintaining some semblance of the original continuity with MJ actually turning 60 years old. Finally, Ashley Allen sets-up a story in which MJ deals with the headaches of supernatural terror on a film set, which sets-up a whole new series for Mary Jane.
Though it is nice to see Straczynski’s long range story, imagining a full life for the character, the more interesting end of her distinct corner of the Marvel universe lies on a motion pictures. Some of the better stories in the anthology are taken from that perspective. Nocenti’s is particularly interesting to see how Nocenti tackles that sort of thing as she’s been involved in filmmaking. Nocenti’s script has a refreshingly inside feel. Allen’s opener to the new series shows a great deal of promise as well. The new direction for M.J. could be a lot of fun.
There’s a lot to appreciate in the anthology. Yerofieieva’s work on the Nocenti story has an enticing personality on the page that lends quite a bit of atmosphere to Nocenti’s script. Zagaria is called-upon to show Mary Jane throughout her life and well into her 60th birthday, which would be a real challenge for any artist. Zagaria manages it quite well with a solid emotional connection keeping all of the disparate elements together. Noto’s work with Allen on the lead-in to the new series feels like a good fit. Noto gives MJ the heroic stature that she’s always needed.
John Romita Senior based her appearance on that of Hollywood star Ann Margret. She’s evolved a lot ove the years through numerous different interpretations across a few different formats. She remains an enduring figure who just hasn’t quite gotten the right exposure necessary to really catapult her into her own title successfully. Hopefully Allen and Noto are able to find that illusive formula that’s going to fully allow her to meet her potential on the comic book page. She’s been quite a survivor over the years. Given the right dynamic, she could really shine.
