Spider-Man/Mary Jane: ...You Just Hit The Jackpot (Spider-Man (Graphic Novels)) [Paperback]

Stan Lee (Author), Kurt Busiek (Author), Tom Defalco (Author), Louise Simonson (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Spider-Man (Graphic Novels)

Fans know her as Spider-Man's girlfriend, wife and confidante - but Mary Jane Watson won't stand in ANYONE'S shadow! This red-headed knockout has plenty of her own stories to tell! Learn about MJ's tragic upbringing - witness her reconcile with her family by making the hardest decisions she ever made, stand up to an obsessed stalker, and fight for her life against a madman who thinks SHE'S Spider-Man! Plus: When did she learn Spider-Man's secret identity? What did they do on their first date? And how tightly do her and Peter's lives entwine? Get the full scoop here, Tiger! Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #43, #259, #291-292, #309, and Annual #19; Untold Tales Of Spider-Man #16; The Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives Graphic Novel; and Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #50.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (September 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785141855
• ISBN-13: 978-0785141853
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #604,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars IF you're a fan of the Spider-man marriage, then buy this book..., October 3, 2009

By 

Marcus B. Martin - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spider-Man/Mary Jane: ...You Just Hit The Jackpot (Spider-Man (Graphic Novels)) (Paperback)

Ever since the so-call "epic" story arc entitled "One More Day," I swore off buy into Amazing Spider-man, with a few expectional writers of Fred Van Lente and Dan Slott.

Any how this book collects all of the moments of Peter Parker and his former wife/lover Mary Jane before they were married and a few bits after they were married.

This story also includes the hard to find Spidey Graphic Novel "Parallel Lives," and a short tale for JMS's time on Amazing Spider-man.

Some say this is Marvel's way of showing that they still care about Spider-man's relationship with Mary Jane, but I refuse to believe into it.

However, if you're a fan of the former Spider-man marriage, then you may as well buy it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Marvel presents the couple fans love but Quesada hates with a passion!, March 6, 2011

By 

Jesse Baker (Wise, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spider-Man/Mary Jane: ...You Just Hit The Jackpot (Spider-Man (Graphic Novels)) (Paperback)

Given Joe Quesada's utter and complete disdain for the Spider-Man/Mary Jane marriage, I'm kind of shocked that Marvel put out this TPB. But then you look at it's contents and you can see why it managed to sneak through the cracks: the book omits the famous and much loved wedding of Peter and MJ from "Amazing Spider-Man" Annual #20. The lack of the issue is made even more notable given that the lead-up to the wedding is reprinted in full here.

Luckily, the wedding is featured (in flashback) in "Parallel Lives", a rarely seen graphic novel written by master Spider-Man writer Tom DeFalco. This story recounts in full, the previously established retcon that Mary Jane knew all along that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. But of course, this leads to another omission from this trade paperback, as MJ's tearful reveal that she's known all along that Peter's alter ego is not included in this volume.

Which in turn leads to a running problem with this volume; most of the issues collected are MJ recounting the early days of her live and those years before she and Peter first met. Case in point, "Untold Tales of Spider-Man" #16 and "Amazing Spider-Man" #259, both of which are kind of redundent when you consider the inclusion of "Parallel Lives" retells all of those bits in greater detail.

Adding to the confusion and poorly compiled nature of this volume, is that we are given the final chapter of the Jonathan Caeser saga without any real recap of the previous bits of this arc. Which is weird because get a recap at the very start of the book of all of MJ's earlier appearances leading up to her famed first meeting with her future husband.

Finally, the book ends with "Amazing Spider-Man #50, another issue that requires some setting up. Long story short, Bob Harras ordered killed MJ off in a plane explosion and got fired as Editor-In-Chief when MJ's death caused already collapsing sales for the book to get even worse. J. Michael Straczynski takes over for the god-awful Howard Mackie, who wrote MJ out of the book when he revealed that MJ didn't die and simply was being held prisoner by another stalker and left Peter and their marriage, for no good reason after being rescued. Straczynski decides not to reunite the two lovebirds, which turns out to be a good thing as Quesada is scheming to bribe Kevin Smith to write Amazing Spider-Man, provided Smith breaks up MJ and Peter once and for all. Smith turns Quesada down and Straczynski decides to bring MJ back, when it becomes apparent that he isn't going to be kicked off the book. Which leads to their reunion in said issue, amid a humorous B-Plot involving Doctor Doom being targetted by assassins at a local airport.

In conclusion, the book is worth picking up (especially if you have never read "Parallel Lives") but what could have been a killer collection recounting MJ and Peter's falls flat with the repetitive stories and the glaring omission of the couple's wedding.