Comics The Real Possibility of MJ... *spoilers*

[James"007"Bond]

Marvel has been licensing it's characters for ages. Back when Toy Biz wasn't owned by Marvel...back when they used to license their characters to things like Pez. In fact, Marvel's income from licensing hasn't been too fantastic. Sony and other studios, reap more of the benifits of Marvel movie success stories, than Marvel themselves. Marvel gets paid a small royalty and a one time up front free, but the rest of the profit all goes to the studio in question. In fact, that is the exact reason why Marvel opened up their own studio and took out a loan as of earlier this year. They got tired of other studios getting the bulk of the money. So now they are only relying on studios as distributors, rather than creators.

Yeah but despite that, the sad part is, all the highly profitable characters are licensed to other studios although, I think Hulk is back with marvel.

 

[Screenscribe]

Joe Q wasn't even Marvel's EIC at the time of Marvel's bankruptcy. It was Bob Harras. Marvel's bankruptcy happened between 1994-1997 where as Joe Q took over in the year 2000. I'm the first guy on the "Joe Q has to go" bandwagon, but don't inaccurately contribute problems to him, that he isn't responsible for. Otherwise, I share the general sentiment of this thread.

I guess my statement was unclear... I never said he CAUSED it. I just said WHAT caused it. which was bad story decisions and handling of major characters. Of course there was also lots of legal mess about character rights too, but I degress... the editors, no matter who they are, need to learn from the past. Joe Q is a talented artist, but that seems to be it. I think he got in too far over his head and now we are paying for his mistake.

 

[Dangerous]

I honestly think this decade will be looked back on as the worst of times (creative decisions wise) in the history of Spider-man. Look at what has been transpired so far- Sins Past, The Other, Spidey unmasking and I don't think they are done w/ wrecking Spider-man yet.
I won't be surprised at all if very soon they kill MJ.

 

[ragdus]

I guess my statement was unclear... I never said he CAUSED it. I just said WHAT caused it. which was bad story decisions and handling of major characters. Of course there was also lots of legal mess about character rights too, but I degress... the editors, no matter who they are, need to learn from the past. Joe Q is a talented artist, but that seems to be it. I think he got in too far over his head and now we are paying for his mistake.

No, your original post was pretty clear. He just completely misread it.

 

[shinlyle]

Well, looks like I can finally comment on this.

I don't care.

Joey Q is going to do whatever the hell he wants to whatever the hell charater he wants under the Marvel banner, and no one can do anything about it. He's the boss, and we can't change that short of not buying Marvel books altogether...something which would not just cost Joey Q his job, but several other hard-working creators who actually churn out great stories month after month.

I understand that the editorial staff isn't always going to do what the fans want, and that's fine, as we would never really stir up the pot, but there gets to be a point where these "drastic changes" are being made just for the sake of making "drastic changes". This is my problem with Joe Q.

He's stirred thigns up, and that's fine and dandy, but now, it seems like he is making sure to so things that the fans not only disagree with, but fervently hate...and it's all simply to keep Marvel, and himself, in the spotlight.

Did Spidey's unmasking progress Civil War in anyway whatsoever? Nope. It added about 3 pages to issue 2 and a page to issue 3. It's created some interesting stories...sure, but what happens after a year of "Spider-Man Unmasked"? We will get a Spidey that cannot have anyone in his supporting cast aside from other heroes and villians...simply because anyone else will be killed off almost instantly...that's what we'll get. Kind of ruins the appeal of the "everyman" that was once Peter Parker, huh?

Now, Joey Q has the idea that killing off Mary Jane and making Peter A bitter widower will make him more relatable? Argh.

If this comes to fruition, we'll now have a hero who is:

-A widower (whatever issue in which they kill MJ)
-A desciple of the Spider-God(The Other)
-Lives a life of 24/7/365 superheroics, seeing as how he can't live a normal life after revealing his scret identity.
-Can't be around anyone withotu superpowers or they will now be killed thank sto him revealing his secret ID.
-An Avenger (he'll probably quit after his life is ruined...too little too late)
-Has gone back to wearing a costume of a renowned supervillian (as seen in preview art)

Oh yeah...way to NOT age him and keep him as a relatable character for the masses....

 

[Doc Destruction]

I honestly think this decade will be looked back on as the worst of times (creative decisions wise) in the history of Spider-man. Look at what has been transpired so far- Sins Past, The Other, Spidey unmasking and I don't think they are done w/ wrecking Spider-man yet.
I won't be surprised at all if very soon they kill MJ.

I couldn't agree more. This decade makes the 90's look like classic literature for Spidey.

 

[fangrl06]

I honestly think this decade will be looked back on as the worst of times (creative decisions wise) in the history of Spider-man. Look at what has been transpired so far- Sins Past, The Other, Spidey unmasking and I don't think they are done w/ wrecking Spider-man yet.
I won't be surprised at all if very soon they kill MJ.

You should add a pole to this thread asking everyone if they think MJ is going to die.

 

[gliderpilotgirl]

Hey..you guys ever heard of a writer named Tom Beland? He did the Spidey/MJ Web of Romance, and made a little post over at the Bendis boards:
He wrote:
"Regarding Spidey/MJ:

People can talk about whether or not Peter and MJ should've been married all they want, but the fact is... they are. And they've been together for far too long to simply divorce and get rid of her. More than any other female character, aside from, say, Sue Storm... MJ has a significant role in the Marvel Universe as Spider-Man's muse. She is the main reason he does what he does.

Get rid of MJ and you lose the heart and soul to Spider-Man. Period. You can bring up all the "What If" scenarios you want, it won't change the fact that when you think of one, you instantly think of the other. They have been created to now fit together.

I think the main problem is, nobody wants to take MJ and create her own personality. In the years she's been around, all she's been used for has been nothing more than a hot chick in a nightie waking up to console Peter in the middle of the night... or a hot chick in a nightie waiting up for Peter to return from a fight. Or someone who has to be saved.

Sean McKeever is the only writer trying to get to the actual heart of MJ.

My take on MJ is a simple one... she digs Peter and Spider-Man. She's lived with this for most of her life and they are both like a drug to her. She rarely gets overly worried about him and, truth be told, she sort of gets off on seeing him in battle. When he returns, she asks him about what he did to defeat the bad guy... she'd even know all his favorite moves.

What are her outside interests?

To me, she'd be a bit of a chocoholic. She never lets anyone have the last piece of chocolate and if someone gets there before she does, it bugs her to no end.

She loves those Macy's Day Parade balloons. She also loves morning cartoons on Saturday.

She'd take up cooking with Jarvis and find out she's very good at it. The kitchen in the Avengers Tower is where the heroes hang out. I think it's like that in everyone's home.

She loves to embarrass men in line at the grocery store by holding up a box of tampons and saying "Mind if I go before you? I need to pay for these." It makes her laugh to no end the way men are freaked out by a tiny box of hygene products. Which makes Peter roll his eyes when he sees her come home laughing.

She can't lie to people. Nobody tells her about surprise parties.

In high school, she beat the crap out of Flash Thompson. They've never discussed it since... but each of them knows it happened.

Words about bodily function make her giggle like a child. "Crap" "Crappola" "****" "Pissed".... all of them. And she can't help it.

When she tells someone in the grocery store that you can use salt/pepper/garlic powder on some chicken legs (the cheapest, but best part of the chicken) pan fry skin side down in some olive oil and baked when turned for 40 minutes... and you'll have the greatest first date meal of your lives... she feels like she's Spider-Man.

She loves to carve her initials in wet cement. She's done it all her life and, according to her log book, has 11,015 "MJW's" and 7,342 "MJWP's" across the streets of New York. It's an obsession.

She's afraid to get close to children... because they make her curious about parenthood. And those thoughts make her worry about what type of child you conceive with a man who has radioactive blood. So she stays back, keeping just enough distance to keep safe.

She thinks Bonds did it. He knew it. And she also knows that if steriods could win you a title... and they're willing to do it... do it. Nobody is with her on that point of view.

She sponsors two children via mail. Nobody knows.

Soooooo, maybe some of those work for you, maybe they don't. But I think the more you put into a character, the more endearing that character becomes to the reader. And let's face it, though we don't MIND seeing MJ in lingerie, it's now like.... "okay, she's in a nightie... get to the story." You have to have more than the physical.

The more interesting MJ is, the more interesting Peter and MJ are. So, I'd love to focus on her side of the equation. She'd be the one of the few females in the Marvel Universe who can handle a crisis and not freak out. She's lived with this **** for yeeeeeeears.

You may now bash me."
Seriously..we need to lobby Joe Q to let this guy write more Marvel..

 

[Venomfan]

i like that man

 

[Venomfan]

If this comes to fruition, we'll now have a hero who is:

-A widower (whatever issue in which they kill MJ)
-A desciple of the Spider-God(The Other)
-Lives a life of 24/7/365 superheroics, seeing as how he can't live a normal life after revealing his scret identity.
-Can't be around anyone withotu superpowers or they will now be killed thank sto him revealing his secret ID.
-An Avenger (he'll probably quit after his life is ruined...too little too late)
-Has gone back to wearing a costume of a renowned supervillian (as seen in preview art)

Oh yeah...way to NOT age him and keep him as a relatable character for the masses....

this guy owned Joe Q, i wish i could send this to him

 

[Spydernorbs]

In the long run, when everyone has forgotten about MJ, I think it will be for the best.

Just like they forgot about Gwen right.....if Marvel and Joey Q do this...I am offically dropping Marvel.

 

[Shadowknight]

I think Peter getting married was a mistake, but breaking them up or killing her of would be an even worse one. That'll knock his supporting cast to pretty much just Aunt May. Feh.

 

[Dragon]

Hey..you guys ever heard of a writer named Tom Beland? He did the Spidey/MJ Web of Romance, and made a little post over at the Bendis boards:
He wrote:
"Regarding Spidey/MJ:

People can talk about whether or not Peter and MJ should've been married all they want, but the fact is... they are. And they've been together for far too long to simply divorce and get rid of her. More than any other female character, aside from, say, Sue Storm... MJ has a significant role in the Marvel Universe as Spider-Man's muse. She is the main reason he does what he does.

That's a load of crap. Seriously. It's that type of approach that's virtually killed the marriage in the first place. Peter kicked ass and took names for 25 years before they married. MJ fell in love with that guy. To run with some BS that he can't do it without her is silly and takes away from both characters.

Get rid of MJ and you lose the heart and soul to Spider-Man. Period. You can bring up all the "What If" scenarios you want, it won't change the fact that when you think of one, you instantly think of the other. They have been created to now fit together.

Yeah you do think of one and the other. Like Tweedle Dee and Dum. and that's not a good thing. They're like a single cardboard standee, with just as much depth. They need to be strong individuals, which neither of them are.

I think the main problem is, nobody wants to take MJ and create her own personality. In the years she's been around, all she's been used for has been nothing more than a hot chick in a nightie waking up to console Peter in the middle of the night... or a hot chick in a nightie waiting up for Peter to return from a fight. Or someone who has to be saved.

I agree 100% there.

My take on MJ is a simple one... she digs Peter and Spider-Man. She's lived with this for most of her life and they are both like a drug to her. She rarely gets overly worried about him and, truth be told, she sort of gets off on seeing him in battle. When he returns, she asks him about what he did to defeat the bad guy... she'd even know all his favorite moves.

This is silly. This is COMIC BOOK WRITING. No woman who loves her man wants to see him in the middle of a dangerous situation where he could be killed- And MJ has seen enough death to know this isn't a game. I can see MJ being turned on by Pete's agility and power. I can see her getting icky-sticky after the battle is over- but when it's happening her stomach would have to be churning like strawberries in a frappe' mixer.

What are her outside interests?

To me, she'd be a bit of a chocoholic. She never lets anyone have the last piece of chocolate and if someone gets there before she does, it bugs her to no end.

She loves those Macy's Day Parade balloons. She also loves morning cartoons on Saturday.

She'd take up cooking with Jarvis and find out she's very good at it. The kitchen in the Avengers Tower is where the heroes hang out. I think it's like that in everyone's home.

She loves to embarrass men in line at the grocery store by holding up a box of tampons and saying "Mind if I go before you? I need to pay for these." It makes her laugh to no end the way men are freaked out by a tiny box of hygene products. Which makes Peter roll his eyes when he sees her come home laughing.

She can't lie to people. Nobody tells her about surprise parties.

Those are cute. I suppose regarding the last one, he didn't read Sins Past.

In high school, she beat the crap out of Flash Thompson. They've never discussed it since... but each of them knows it happened.

Well, aside from the fact that she and Flash didn't know each other in High School, this is more lame comic booky ****. A woman's value and strength isn't in her ability to beat up men, let alone 6' 3" 190 lb football players.

Words about bodily function make her giggle like a child. "Crap" "Crappola" "****" "Pissed".... all of them. And she can't help it.

When she tells someone in the grocery store that you can use salt/pepper/garlic powder on some chicken legs (the cheapest, but best part of the chicken) pan fry skin side down in some olive oil and baked when turned for 40 minutes... and you'll have the greatest first date meal of your lives... she feels like she's Spider-Man.

She loves to carve her initials in wet cement. She's done it all her life and, according to her log book, has 11,015 "MJW's" and 7,342 "MJWP's" across the streets of New York. It's an obsession.

She's afraid to get close to children... because they make her curious about parenthood. And those thoughts make her worry about what type of child you conceive with a man who has radioactive blood. So she stays back, keeping just enough distance to keep safe.

She thinks Bonds did it. He knew it. And she also knows that if steriods could win you a title... and they're willing to do it... do it. Nobody is with her on that point of view.

She sponsors two children via mail. Nobody knows.

Soooooo, maybe some of those work for you, maybe they don't. But I think the more you put into a character, the more endearing that character becomes to the reader. And let's face it, though we don't MIND seeing MJ in lingerie, it's now like.... "okay, she's in a nightie... get to the story." You have to have more than the physical.

Again, agree wholeheartedly with the last point. The others are certainly reasonable, though I might not be inclined to use them all.

The more interesting MJ is, the more interesting Peter and MJ are. So, I'd love to focus on her side of the equation. She'd be the one of the few females in the Marvel Universe who can handle a crisis and not freak out. She's lived with this **** for yeeeeeeears.

You may now bash me."

Again more "strong woman" crap. It doesn't matter how long she's "lived" with this (And living with it and dealing with it are two very different things). Peter is still scared about all of this. MJ would be too. She's not superhuman. She's not battle-trained. She shouldn't fall to pieces. She should handle things effectively (Unlike how she handled things during The Other). But make her human.

 

[freemadison]

I don't agree with every one of his points but maaaan I want a Tom Beland Spidey title NOW!

 

[Narynan]

I was the first to tell you guys MJ is being killed but no one thought I was telling the truth now more and more people are coming out saying the same thing

And I'm still going to tell you your full of it.

That is an unrelated cover that Ms. Andrews did. And, well, if they do kill M.J. I'll eat a copy of ASM vol2 issue 50 and post it on the forum.

 

[Spydernorbs]

Joey Q wants to get rid of this?! His marriage must be failing big time!

 

[Dangerous]

Yeah well Joe Q could never get a chick like her no matter how rich he is.
So he prob just wants to wreck it for PP.
Sal Buscema rules.

 

[Dr. Fate]

Didn't they already like try to kill off Mary Jane once?!

 

[Arach Knight]

Joe Q said specifically that he is going to piss off fans. Well, that is what caused Marvel to go bankrupt.

The way that sentence is structured, is what led me to believe that you were refering to Joe Q, so you can't really blame me there. Those are your words verbatum. But I do agree with the sentiment that you are reaching for. Marvel truly has been making a series of bad choices over the past few years. Especially when it comes to Spider-Man

Yeah but despite that, the sad part is, all the highly profitable characters are licensed to other studios although, I think Hulk is back with marvel.

Marvel had to purchase back a portion of the rights to make a Hulk film. Universal is still distributing the Marvel version of the movie. here is a quote from an article from our very own hype

"The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier (the "Transporter" films, "Unleashed") stopped by the Superhero Hype! message boards to chat with fans about Marvel Studios' anticipated sequel, to be released by Universal Pictures. "

As for the posession of highly profitable characters...I think any Marvel character has that potential. Blade was practically unknown to most people. I don't even think the first Blade film had the Marvel mosaic/collage intro that you see in Marvel films these days. Most folks didn't and still don't know, that it is based on a comic book. Marvel has some colorful characters. With careful direction, nearly all of their properties could turn into profitable ventures.

if Marvel and Joey Q do this...I am offically dropping Marvel.

I myself have already dropped Marvel books. Even though there were quite a few good books outside of Spider-Man, that I was picking up on a regular basis, including Brubakers recent run on Uncanny, Whedon's Astonishing, and Bendis' New Avengers. But you know the old saying. One bad apple spoils the bunch. I truly think the best way for Marvel stories to get better as a whole, and for Spidey in particular, is to just start dropping books. That's the only way a corporate entity notices its consumer public. When their money starts to slide downhill. Take SEGA for example. The 32X, the Sega CD, the Sega Saturn. Mediocre machines with mediocre games (with the exemption of 2D fighters and RPG's on the Saturn). It took a tremendous slide in profit and debt, in order for SEGA to put out the Dreamcast, but by then, folks had enough of SEGA's crap. I don't view this situation with Marvel, any differently. Why put up with inferior grade story telling, when you can just put your money into better investments. i'll return to Marvel books, when Marvel returns to actually writing for the fans, and not themselves.

 

[Dangerous]

Lets not go off topic but I'm gonna have to stop you right there Arach Knight w/ your Sega rant.
Saturn while over priced, was a killer machine w/ killer titles.
Sure it died out early because of bad managment by Sega and the rise of the PSX, but I consider it's library of games easily the equal (and infact more potent) of its competition N64 & PSX.

Sega Rally- Best racing game of that gen
Virtua Fighter 2- Best fighting game of that gen
Panzer Dragoon RPG- Better than FFVII
Marvel Vs Streetfighter- Best 2D beat em up of that gen
Radiant Silvergun- Best shoot em up of that gen

See whut am sayin?

 

[Arach Knight]

You are right, we shouldn't get off topic :P I'm not saying that I didn't like the Saturn. It was my favorite machine of that era. I used to import heavilyi for it. But, there is no denying that it's run tapered off quickly. It was released in 1995, and had it's last game released in the middle of 1998. It lasted all of two and a half years here. And it wasn't completely because the Saturn was that bad (though it did have a horrible starting price of $400). It failed because two previous efforts were pretty crappy. The comparison is still relavent. SEGA had a run of three machines that utterly failed in the market. This forced them out of the industries hardware sector. Indicating, that when fans used their best power in the consumer market (their dollars) that fans won out at the end of the day. Now we get a SEGA that puts out some pretty great games, for all platforms. The Marvel scenario is really no different. They'll either keep putting out crappy books and return to dismal numbers when people get smart enough to stop buying them. Or like SEGA, they will leave an aspect of the industry, to focus on another aspect. In Marvel's case, they may abandon comic books for licensing ventures with their properties (toys, movies, games, candy, clothes etc).

 

[Dangerous]

Well the difference is in 2001 after the DC failed Sega were in financial ruin, and had to seriously restructure how the company ran and become a multi platform games company.
I suppose in 98 Marvel was in a similar situation although I’m not that clued in on exactly how bad of shape they were in.
Today in 06 after the films, Marvel is very financially strong and many of the comics they put out are quality. It's just that SM has been getting a raw deal now for quite a few years creatively speaking.
It's not quite the same as when Sega was about to go bust back in 2001, Marvel are doing great business.

 

[Arach Knight]

That is a valid point. Marvel is on a better note in the financial area, than SEGA was at the time in which they left the market.

 

[Dangerous]

Incidently, I believe that after big sales of new multi platform Sonic titles and the Merger w/ Sammy, that Sega are doing good bussiness again and keeping their heads well above the water mark.

 

[freemadison]

Lets not go off topic but I'm gonna have to stop you right there Arach Knight w/ your Sega rant.
Saturn while over priced, was a killer machine w/ killer titles.
Sure it died out early because of bad managment by Sega and the rise of the PSX, but I consider it's library of games easily the equal (and infact more potent) of its competition N64 & PSX.

Sega Rally- Best racing game of that gen
Virtua Fighter 2- Best fighting game of that gen
Panzer Dragoon RPG- Better than FFVII
Marvel Vs Streetfighter- Best 2D beat em up of that gen
Radiant Silvergun- Best shoot em up of that gen

See whut am sayin?

Heh, nice to see some people who actually LIKE the saturn.

I have a multi tap, 7 controllers, and Saturn Bomberman sitting in my living room (which 4 of my highly truant roommates are playing right now). Good system.