Publisher: Marvel
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #3
Written and Drawn by: Terry Moore and Craig Rosseau
On stands: 10/8/2008

One of the amazing perks of this job is getting to enjoy Marvel Comics before they come out…just so you can ramble about them online! It’s a dream life.

So I get to see SMLMJ before all you lowly readers, and I’m glad I can give you a mostly positive review.

Spiderman Loves Mary Jane is an out-of-continuity series told through the point of view of Mary Jane Watson, and is aimed mostly towards girls, though if any male thinks that automatically means they won’t enjoy it, they are sexist pigs and I curse them to the bowels of Hades.

I have enjoyed the series mostly. It gets a little to fluffy for my tastes at times, but most of the time it’s a fun, low pressure read that doesn’t condescend to the assumed “girl” reader. It’s always a good idea to enjoy a book that’s not all tangled up in continuity and the need to be X-TREME.

This miniseries has kept up the same tone in continuing the zany teenage antics of MJ and friends, with a little snarky Spidey action on the side in this particular issue. There’s nothing ground breaking or “deep” here, but it’s like sipping a foamy milkshake- sweet and fun.

That’s not to say I didn’t find some overused cliches here (Uh oh, Flash is jealous of Peter tutoring Liz! That dumb jock and his temper!) but they didn’t irk me to badly. If you’re allergic to cute, I’d avoid the series, but I think everyone, even guys, can benefit from reading something a little cute.

The art isn’t bad, though MJ’s constant anime blush is starting to grate on me. It’s obviously cartoony and I’ve always been a fan of that.

So, though I don’t claim it’s a great comic, I recommend it for anyone who wants to relax their brain for a few minutes and enjoy Spiderman and MJ deal-with-the-devil-free.

Also, according to MJ’s dialogue, something called a “punk-goth emo-bot” dwells in her world. If that thing ever finds me, we’ll have a robot war on our hands.