Traincat, my friend is PeterFel lover, but everytime MJ comes in the Spider-Man game that I’ve been streaming, she starts booing MJ. When I asked, she said she doesn’t like MJ because she’s a pick-me girl and it upsets me. She only knows of MJ from the Raimi films and the MCU films. Traincat, what comics can I show my friend to help her not dislike MJ, because I think MJ is really cool :(
I can definitely get you some good MJ comics that prove she's the furthest thing from a "pick-me" type. MJ does not care if you pick her. MJ will leave. She will leave first. It's one of my favorite things about her! She's a leaver! She's a survivalist!
That being said, if your friend is anti-MJ for shipping reasons, unfortunately there's a good chance I can throw every good comic in the world at you and it's not really going to make much of a difference. Just as a fair warning here -- it's not you, it's not MJ, it's probably not even your friend, it's toxic shipping culture. This is coming from someone who ships PeterMJ and PeterFelicia and PeterGwen and wow that's been fun this whole time. So try not to take it too personally, anon. I hope your friend likes these comics and changes her mind, but that ultimately has to be on her willingness to embrace a new character despite shipping preferences.
So normally with a character list, I'd go in chronological order, but I think we're going to take a slightly different approach here, not in the least because Mary Jane is, initially, an enigma. She's confusing to Peter. She doesn't open up. She drops hints that there's more going on with her than her party girl image, but she doesn't open that door. So I'm going to kind of theme some recs instead and jump around a little. Our goal is to introduce who MJ is as a character as quickly as possible. For right now, we're gonna take you up through the marriage -- if you want later recs, I can grab those, too, but I think these are good comics to start with if the goal is understand Mary Jane as a character.
Amazing Spider-Man #42-43: This is Mary Jane's first "official" appearance -- she had previously been on panel in Amazing Spider-Man #25, but her face was hidden from the reader and Peter never sees her. This is the origin of the famous "face it, tiger, you just hit the jackpot" line. You could also check out Spider-Man: Blue, a miniseries retelling those days, if your friend struggles with 60s comics. Bonus: ASM #59, the first cover appearance of MJ, featuring danger at the club where she's working.
In general, I think the MJ's over the top 60s dialogue is a distraction. People get too caught up on how she talks and ignore how she acts. There's a fun dynamic that emerges with Peter here where he's put off by her party girl act and she knows it. She flirts with him to annoy him, to put on a show, and to reenforce to Harry, who she was seeing at the time, that she's her own girl and she can do whatever she wants. Mary Jane is very much a free agent at this point.
She gets to be the commitment-phobe. It's fun to watch her struggling with that as the relationship between her and Peter becomes closer after Gwen's death: See ASM #122, ASM #127, ASM #131.
"This is going to sound like a cop-out... but I don' want to love him. Can you dig it? I like the guy too much for that kind of scene." (ASM #131)
And their first kiss in Amazing Spider-Man #143.
Case in point, Amazing Spider-Man #182-183. In ASM #182, Peter proposes for the first time.
"Gulp!" And in ASM #183, MJ gives the ring back and leaves his ass. She's a leaver! I love that about her! Someone is going to get mad at me probably for saying she's a leaver, and it's true that once she and Peter are in a committed relationship and they've faced their own demons, there are a million times she's stayed when the going gets tough. But I think there's something very valuable in a major female character who will leave. A character who can and has prioritized her own safety and wellbeing, and who isn't afraid to get the hell out of there when the ship is sinking. It's an interesting and admirable trait, and it makes sense for her as a character.
And we know why she's such a commitment-phobe. Normally, I'm in favor of the slow approach when it comes to discovering Mary Jane's background, but we're trying to woo your friend here. So let's skip to her backstory issue.
Amazing Spider-Man #257-259: In ASM #257, MJ reveals that she's known Peter is Spider-Man the whole time. In ASM #259, we learn her full backstory for the first time.
If I had to toss one issue at someone to get them to understand Mary Jane Watson, it would be ASM #259. I'll be honest, I think this backstory reveal works much better if you've been reading her previous appearances, because it's one of those stories that throws everything we previously knew about a character into stark relief. But even if you're skipping ahead, it's still a very good issue, and I think it's hard to read it and not feel something for Mary Jane and her situation.
Cheater's edition: Read Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives, a graphic novel by Gerry Conway that condenses a lot of this information and continues through Peter and Mary Jane's marriage.
This period has some really good Mary Jane stories. With Peter's secret out in the open, MJ begins to take on more of a confidante role, while at the same time you watch her struggle with the danger of Peter's identity. Some good issues: Spectacular Spider-Man #113, Spectacular Spider-Man #121, Web of Spider-Man #12, Amazing Spider-Man #286, and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19.
Amazing Spider-Man #261 is a great issue where Mary Jane is taken captive along with Harry Osborn and a very pregnant Liz Allan. It's great for highlighting key things about Harry and MJ both -- that Harry is, essentially, at his core, not a violent person, and that he resents himself for it, and that MJ is not afraid to hit anyone with anything blunt and heavy.
The second proposal arc and the wedding are really good, too. In Amazing Spider-Man #290, Peter proposes for the second time. In ASM #291, MJ turns him down again. In ASM #292, they face her family and she decides to marry him.
The actual wedding takes place in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, following by the honeymoon in Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #7. Both of these are really fun issues, but they're also good looks at Mary Jane's side of the struggles, of what she's giving up to marry Peter and how it effects her life.
So those are really abridged recs, but I think they're a good showcase of who Mary Jane is as a character at her core. I also think One Moment in Time (Amazing Spider-Man #638-641) offers some really interesting insights into the character, a look at the current altered timeline where she and Peter didn't get married.
One more recommendation, since your friend is a fan of Felicia: Web of Spider-Man (2009) #11-12, where Felicia and Mary Jane team up after Peter's deal with the devil wiped almost everyone's memories. It's not a perfect team up, but it's not bogged down in a whole lot of related canon, like their more recent interactions.
I hope this helps a little! Good luck! ❤️
