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The new Mary Jane Vol.2: Homecoming Digest is teen drama at its finest. The Mary Jane series have been garnering tremendous support from fans and critics, with Vol.1: Circle of Friends making it onto Entertainment Weekly’s Must List. Now look for that drama to continue this December as Mary Jane gets her own ongoing series, tentatively titled Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane.
Teen drama? “Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane”? Say it ain’t so, Spidey! I really must’ve been out of the loop lately or something because I wasn’t aware of this current crap. Sure it made Entertainment Weekly’s Must List, but so did Being Bobby Brown. Obviously the Must List can’t be trusted.
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane will star Spider-Man’s “girlfriend,†Mary Jane Watson, and will chronicle her high school escapades and misadventures. As fans of the movies or comic series know, MJ is a big part of Spider-Man’s life.
I would review this comic if only Marvel were able to send out review issues… but I’m not buying it. Not until it hits the $1.00 bargain bin that is.
By the way: notice the small sweat drop on Spider-Man’s forehead. Seem like something out of a Japanese manga? That’s because Takeshi Miyazawa is working on this series. I’m not opposed to manga, or other art styles. However I believe that they should not mix with American art. I don’t mean that in a patriotic or xenophobic way. I just think that distinctly Japanese art styles should stay with Japanese art. Mixing it with American art could be confusing to the reader, or at least turn them off from a series.
Recently I reviewed The sensational Spider-Man #41 (One More Day part 3). A few days ago I finally had the chance to sit down and read the final part of One More Day and much like everyone else on the internet, I'm not very happy with the outcome.
When last I…
The interwebs are all abuzz about the Mary Jane Comiquette statue. I don't know what the big deal is though. Marvel is obviously just trying to outdo the DC Supergirl statue. At least Mary Jane is of legal age... Supergirl is SIXTEEN... let's not forget that. Oh, what's that you…
One More Day, at it's roots is a simple story: Aunt May is on the verge of death, Peter Parker is trying to find a way to save her, but keeps running in to dead ends. The background behind One More Day is a bit more complicated.
A War and a…
I don’t agree with what you say about mixing styles. US-Style Comics mix quite well with Manga Style effects and storytelling. It give comics something fresh and new. Sure it may turn off some readers who dislike such effects (like sweatdrops). However it will also attract readers, simply because it’s different. It’s not the same style as seen everywhere. New techniques are employed and tested well.
Just look at the way how storytelling changed in US comics over the last 10 years. There has been a heavy influence by the often more cinematic japanese way of storytelling in mangas. This especially becomes obvious, when looking at “american mangas” like for example Darkminds (if you know that series).
Now, I have to admit I have been quite a manga freak for a few years of my life, basically consuming everything that appeared (over here in germany - and german manga market was or is still booming), but over time I started being picky here, too. Nowadays I only read one manga, but again many US-comics.
I like to see how the style changes, adapts popular elements from other styles and fuses into something new.
‘Maybe I should be more specific:
Mixing Japanese styles in to an already well established American style comic book is a bad idea. I don’t want to see Spider-Man drawn in manga style. Maybe this title would go over well in Japan, but to an American fan that has followed Spider-Man since before the anime invasion… no thanks.
Then again, it might be a brilliant move by Marvel. After all, the comic is obviously meant to appeal to a younger audience (teen drama) and that same younger audience is more in to anime.