This is from issue 156 of “Amazing Spider-Man”. The retcon in “Parallel Lives” said MJ knew from the start. If she knew from the start, then she is being a massive jerk here.
Bertone
View articlesYou might be interested in …
Spidey Memories#55
by Bertone
From “Amazing Spider-Man” issue 345. If this was published now Sable would’ve used Craigslist or Facebook.
Spidey Memories#51
by Bertone
I’m a big fan of the early issues of “Marvel Knights: Spider-Man”, but this was one of the odd moments of that arc. In issue 8, Peter tricks Jonah into believing his son John is […]
Spidey Memories#103
by Bertone
Before Roderick Kingsley’s death in “Amazing Spider-Man” issue 649, he actually had a demise decades earlier. In “Web of Spider-Man” issue 29, Kingsley was shot and left for dead. When he reappeared in the 90’s […]
6 Comments
Leave a Reply
Crawlspace Discord

Social
Recent Comments
Hornacek on MARCO SPEAKS SPIDEY: Amazing Spider-Man/Venom: Death Spiral – Body Count #1 REVIEW: “Yeah, the entire Death Spiral hinted that there was a connection between Torment and Venom (and Spidey). I read 9…” May 15, 06:01
Bill Slattery III on Spider-Tracer: Top Ten Spider-Man Characters Co-Created by Gerry Conway: “@Hornacek Fixed the apartment complex issue; thanks!” May 14, 20:51
Evan Berry on MARCO SPEAKS SPIDEY: Amazing Spider-Man/Venom: Death Spiral – Body Count #1 REVIEW: “It seems weird to me that in Venom #255 (Death Spiral #3), upon being approached by Eddie Brock after killing…” May 14, 08:25
Faiz on Read’s Reads Amazing Spider-Man #28/992: “I was sad to read in the letters page about John Romita JR stepping away from ASM. It did seem…” May 12, 11:01
Hornacek on Spider-Tracer: Top Ten Spider-Man Characters Co-Created by Gerry Conway: ““Glory Grant was J. Jonah Jameson’s secretary for years, and even lived in the same apartment as Peter Parker for…” May 12, 06:11
Treyvon Williams on Spider-Variants of the Week 5/13/26: “I love that avengers variant cover homage to avengers: age of ultron 2015 movie poster.” May 11, 20:20
Hornacek on Read’s Reads Amazing Spider-Man FCBD 2026 Review: “When I saw The Answer I thought at first he’d be treated like a joke, when Slott brought back F.A.C.A.D.E.…” May 7, 12:58
Evan Berry on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #27 (Legacy #991): “The Real Torment Was The Ending” or “MJ Lets Torment Go”: “@Hornacek – I definitely remember that story. It was The Last Temptation of Eddie Brock from 2007, part of the…” May 7, 07:27
adam coppola on MARCO SPEAKS SPIDEY- Marvel/DC: Spider-Man/Superman #1 REVIEW: “Just bought this book, the first comic i’ve actually bought in a while, and yes the first story was very…” May 6, 21:12
Hornacek on Craig’s Critique: Amazing Spider-Man #27 (Legacy #991): “The Real Torment Was The Ending” or “MJ Lets Torment Go”: “@Aqu@: I read all of the 90s Venom mini-series and I don’t remember it ever being said there that Eddie…” May 5, 10:22



I interpreted Parallel Lives as she ‘suspected’ and not that she was 1,000% certain. Seeing Spider-Man crawling out of someone’s window can mean anything. I’m sure she was 99% certain but there was always room for doubt. Not that this is all official or anything but just my take on it to give me less comic book related headaches. 😛
There are LOTS of situations like that… one that I remember personally as a younger fan was the original Marvel Team-Up #19 & 20.
In issue #20, Stegron, the Dinosaur Man, brings a bunch of dinosaurs into NYC from the Savage Land, and MJ crosses the police lines looking for Peter because she thinks he’s in the barricaded area taking pictures of Spider-Man battling the dinosaurs…
D’uh…
People can complain about the marriage retcon, and how they have to “edit” their last 20 years of comics to not say “married”, but the MJ knowing all along retcon makes me have to edit over 22 years of Spider-Stories as well… like the aforementioned MTU #20 and now ASM #156… even in ASM #127 & 128, her reaction towards Peter should be different if she really knew he was Spider-Man… I guess I need to edit that issue as well… lulz…
Actually I chalk this one up to Len Wein having the writing style of many 1970 Saturday Morning cartoons….lame.
So in the context of the story, it could be argued that MJ was trying to calm Aunt May down so she would not worry about him, since MJ notes later when Peter returns that “she was coming apart at the seams”, even though Aunt May is not even shown exhibiting that behavior.
OR
Since her word balloon is first, it could be explained she has not seen Spider-Man yet, and was simply worried where he was after the lights came back on…
OR
On retrospect, I stick with my original claim. This is just another example on how cheesy ASM was during the Len Wein run…especially this entire issue.
LOL Good catch Bertone!
Not contradicting myself Matt. For the most part MJ knowing can fit seamlessly. This is just one of the those fun moments where it doesn’t and it’s fun to point out.
NO NOT at all, (I never had this issue in my comic collection that I recall of…) Mary Jane can know back then I ‘m guessing because Stan Lee hinted waaay Back in 1967 with a fight with Kraven that she may have known Peter was Spider-Man. Look at your own “Finding GWEN” series here Bertone because in part three of that said series it seems to me that M.J. was pretending to wade other of what she knew to be true? That she had known all the time. I’m hoping that is your series please but take a look at it all the same for I think here she saw Jameson and acted the very part we see in that panel….But then again I could just as well be wrong as well?