You are desperately needed back at Stark Headquarters – FRIDAY to Mary Jane
On the road to CIVIL WAR II!
• It is Tony against some of his closest and dearest friends as the portents of civil war rock Tony and his status quo to its very foundation. We can’t tell you anything else without spoiling Civil War II, but you will NOT want to miss this emotional and explosive chapter.
WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
ARTIST: Mike Deodato Jr
PENCILER: Mike Deodato Jr
INKER: Mike Deodato Jr
COLORIST: Frank Martin
COVER ARTIST: Kate Niemczyk,
EDITORS: Tom Brevoort, Alanna Smith
The Story: Weeks after declining the job offer from Tony Stark, Mary Jane has moved back to New York where we find her trying to get a hold of a former agent (I’m assuming it’s a Modelling Agent) of hers with no success. After a couple of panels which I will get to in my thoughts, she comes across a box that she finds at her apartment, and being the ever curious, presses a button that says “Push Me” and after doing so FRIDAY appears, who not only goes on to try and convince Mary Jane to return, and accept the job that was originally offered to her (which we know she does) in order to save Tony’s company from being taken over by the board of directors, but also informs Mary Jane that Tony is alive, to which Mary Jane asks the question “FRIDAY? Where is he?” but in such a way that I will explain in my thoughts below.
My Thoughts: Overall I didn’t get as emotional as I did with previous issues, which I did expect would happen. What I didn’t expect was to feel 
brokenhearted with what I saw and read. what I felt was a Mary who showed more concern over the rumoured death of Tony Stark and the trouble his company is in, than the fact that Peter made his way back to New York Safely, so much that I went onto Bendis’s Tumblr and sent him a message stating my feelings about her role in the issue, for which I have received no reply, and nor do I expect one. As a Matter of fact when Peter swung by, she was the only one that didn’t look up, actually she did, but when she found it was Peter she straight away averted her gaze downwards and starting walking away, showing that she is clearly trying to avoid any form of contact with him. Whether or not this is an indication that she still has feelings for him, but simply refuses to acknowledge them considering their recent history, I guess we’ll have to wait and see, if we ever do.
So, after the initial heartbreak that I felt with those panels, we move onto what happened at her apartment, where we find Mary Jane picking the box containing the device that allows FRIDAY to appear, you get a Mary Jane who is not too happy with having her home “invaded”, even though she opened the door by pressing the button that allowed said “invasion”, after which FRIDAY goes on to try and persuade her to come back to Stark Headquarters and save Tony’s company, and the response we get, is a Mary Jane that wants nothing to do with it, since she feels it is non of her concern and she also takes a jab at FRIDAY about being a computer program, which FRIDAY did not take well, and after FRIDAY informs MJ that the rumour about Tony’s death is false, May Jane actually becomes angry at Tony for not being there to try and save the company he built, so much so you could swear that she might as well have accused Tony of not caring about his company. Now some might see this as someone who’s grown up and taking care of themselves first, to me this not who I think Mary Jane is, Mary Jane to me is someone who is kindhearted, open to new ideas and would not just dismiss someone just because she didn’t want to get involved, be them human or A.I., this Mary Jane is a stranger to me, this is someone who seems to have lost something within her, a fire that shone so bright that where ever she went people would smile, but I digress, given what she’s been through, thanks to a certain writer and I’m not saying who, I can see why she turned out this way, I can only hope her run under Bendis will go far into bringing back that fire all of us Mary Jane fans grew to love.
Now this might be a little far-fetched.
Regarding what I said about her being angry at Tony, what if the anger isn’t really about Tony, but about Peter and how he prioritises being Spider-Man over her and other responsibilities, and what happened to Tony is actually actually giving her way to vent her frustrations towards someone who is not Peter. What’s the saying, it’s much easier to tell a stranger things than it is to tell a loved one.
The Art: What can I say about the art that I haven’t said in previous reviews, nothing much really, what improvements he’s made has remain consistent and the emotions from Mary Jane do come through nicely, so much so that you actually feel the emotions, maybe not at the level of David Marquez but close.
MY GRADES:
Portrayal: B Art: B+
Be sure to keep an eye out for Invincible Iron Man #11, scheduled for July 6th, 2016
He’s Gone. – Mary Jane.
IT’S HERE!
The explosive first chapter in the comic event EVERYONE will be talking about. And we come out swinging with a blistering double-sized first issue from the creative team behind last year’s best-selling debut of INVINCIBLE IRON MAN and Miles Morales. A new Inhuman, with the ability to profile the future, emerges and the ramifications ripple into every corner of the Marvel Universe. Lines are drawn, bodies fall, and the Marvel Universe will be rocked to it’s very core. The action starts here!
STORY BY Brian Michael Bendis
ART BY David Marquez
COVER BY Marko Djurdjevic, David Marquez, Steve McNiven,
The Story: She only appeared in 3 panels of the issue, 2 of which are very significant and why. That’s because she broke the news to Tony about Rhodey.
My Thoughts: Best I tell about is what I believe her appearance could mean for her regarding her involvement in Civil War II. Being the personal Assistant to To Tony, who you all know started his war again Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) and the Inhumans in response to the death of Rhodey, come mean that she get caught in the middle of it and being said PA to Tony might even put her at odds with Peter, which I am hoping it won’t come to.
The way I see it it, having appeared in this the 1st Civil War II issue of the event and being the Personal Assistant to Tony Stark, there are many avenues Mary Jane could take
For Mary Jane
- Her appearance in Civil War II #1 was it and we won’t be seeing her again during the event.
- She might feel she needs to stay in order to try and persuade Tony to stop him from going down this path
- Seeing where this could be heading she decides to quit her job in order to not get involved in the Civil War.
- Tony knowing what he’s doing, decides to fire Mary Jane in order to protect her, or simply try and not get her involved.
- If the following were to happen, and I really hope they don’t, it could result in the rift between Mary Jane and Peter becoming even furthered widened.
- She agrees with Tony and decides to help him, in which case it would put her at odds with Peter, which might also be influenced by her current feelings regarding Peter.
- She tries to convince Peter that Tony is right in what he’s doing and tries to get him to join up with Tony.
For Peter
- He goes to Mary Jane and tries to convince her to quit, as he knows how things like this can end up.
- Wanting to keep Mary Jane away from danger, and seeing the road Tony is taking, might feel it necessary to side with Carol. He might even join Tony for the same reason.
- Something happens to Mary Jane, which results in Peter joining Carol.
The Art: What can I say about art, as always David Marquez hits it out of the park, even though she only appeared in a small cameo 
role, it was an important role, the way Marquez draw her was simply beautiful, you can actually see the sadness coming from Mary Jane, even from her eyes. But if I was to say anything negative, it’s a very small negative, and it is that he didn’t draw her with her signature long hair, while some might feel this to be a small thing and they could reason that her tying it up in a bun, is so she looks more professional given her job, they might be right, unfortunately to me, it shows that it could mean that Mary Jane is trying to move away from what she was, thereby taking the steps that could make her take on an even more permanent role within the Iron Man book than she already might be, and to be honest, if it happens, it’s something I’m not really looking forward to.
MY GRADES:
Portrayal: A Art: A
Be sure to keep an eye out for Civil War II #2, scheduled for June 15th, 2016
Author: Mohammed << Head here for my previous posts
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I didn’t consider MJ being OOC in not wanting to help Tony. I feel mixed. On the one hand if this was a general situation then the MJ who’s matured since the 1980s wouldn’t do this. But because it’s Stark that’s different.
However I don’t hold to her acting this way because of what she’s been through under Slott. When a character is OOC then their ‘development’s during that time period shouldn’t really count. Unless MJ is reluctant to get involved because she’s scared about being written OOC in another superhero comic.
“Regarding what I said about her being angry at Tony, what if the anger isn’t really about Tony, but about Peter and how he prioritises being Spider-Man over her and other responsibilities, and what happened to Tony is actually actually giving her way to vent her frustrations towards someone who is not Peter.”
But MJ knew and accepted Peter’s responsibilities as Spider-Man. Plus in this status quo she left him in OMIT and then again in Superior so he’s not prioritized her over anything.
Thanks Friendly Reminder,
I try to write my review based on not my impression but my emotions as I read, because I find that doing it that way is the most honest of my interpretation of the book. and I do try to be objective when the it’s needed.
Erm..Enigma, nobody died in the movie…Rhodes was crippled…unless you meant his parents, which seemed to just remind everyone there was still one more battle from the trailer left to go and it felt really tacked on…
On another note, this is a good review. I never came away with MJ being angry at Tony when FRIDAY told her about his absence, so that was a unique observation…her years of history with Peter embittering her is sad to see since she is usually so optimistic and supportful. This age of deconstruction she’s endured over the last several years has steadily turned ever her most devoted fans against the version of the character we’ve long been attached to, which is sad to see…and the recent Mephisto reveal in Spidey/Deadpool pretty much was Marvel’s way of caving in and saying every story still counts so you can’t dismiss it as another alternate universe.
… so just like in the movie, they resort to killing off someone Tony cares about to gain sympathy for his side?