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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 5 years ago

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The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 20: Is ‘Danger’ really her middle name?*

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Last time I established that Mary Jane, whilst a gifted civilian, was not a super hero. This time I am going to examine the extent to which those ‘gifts’ can keep her and others safe. Specifically, I’m going to be examining MJ’s combat record!

Towards the end of AMJ #1 Peter suggests to MJ a dangerous scenario she could find herself in whilst making her movie; namely surrounded by villains. MJ deflates this idea by citing the time she defeated a criminal with a baseball bat and they joke about how that wasn’t an isolated incident.

The point of the scene was to convey that MJ has in fact defeated criminal threats in the past. And so Peter (and by extension the readers) shouldn’t be worried about the fact that MJ really is surrounded by villains.

At face value this seems simple enough right?

MJ is at risk from villains in AMJ. But she’s defeated a super villain(s) before armed with a very simple weapon. Therefore she’ll be fine right?

Well…not exactly no.

Apart from how the conversation doesn’t at all address MJ protecting other people , the circumstances of that encounter were rather different to the situation in AMJ. In fact every circumstance wherein Mary Jane has had to defend herself has been rather different. And that applies to situations where she has physically overpowered or outsmarted her assailants.

To illuminate this point we’re going to dive into some of MJ’s successes in dangerous situations. There are way too many to be definitive about this so I will admit I might’ve missed something, but I’m endeavouring to give you an overview nevertheless.

Hobgoblin

For starters we have ASM #260, where Mary Jane found herself abducted by crooks in the employ of the Rose and the Hobgoblin. The crooks were actually targeting a pregnant Liz Allan Osborn, but MJ was with her when they struck so she was taken too. The crooks had the element of surprise and outnumbered MJ two to one. However, they didn’t use weapons and lacked any super powers.

MJ tried to fight back here, but was ultimately helpless. So, MJ lost to two normal unarmed crooks, albeit they surprised her.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t bode well for her in AMJ.

In ASM #261 Hobgoblin (who has comparable strength to Spider-Man) shows up and threatens Liz, which angers MJ enough to charge at him. He very easily swats her aside.

Hobgoblin’s ability to do this so casually demonstrates just how much more powerful he is than Mary Jane, and the fact that she (at worst) scratched her chin a little also proves how little of his power he was even using in the first place. MJ on on one was never going to beat him even if he refrained from using his extensive arsenal.

Later in the same issue Harry is taken prisoner too. He tries to use a gun to threaten the guard into letting them all go but can’t pull the trigger. MJ knocks the guard out with a shovel whilst he is distracted.

It’s highly unlikely the guard lacked a firearm so even with the shovel Mary Jane wouldn’t have won without the element of surprise on her side.

After escaping the trio are accosted by Hobgoblin, but Spidey is there to intervene. Mary Jane is thankful for his presence, which all but confirms that she believe she or the others could save themselves without him.

In fact, earlier on when Harry first showed up MJ asked him if Peter knew what was going on. Obviously she was hoping he was on his way to help them, further proving how she was aware of how disadvantaged they were.

During the course of the battle Liz goes into labour and she and MJ find themselves surrounded by flames. Mentally MJ is desperate for Peter to find and help them.

Harry comes to help Liz and Mj but soon all three of them are trapped by the inferno and yell for Spider-Man to help them. Mary Jane even says that they will ‘never survive’ without his help.

The adventure demonstrates that whilst MJ is good in a crisis her ability to liberate, protect and rescue herself and others has clear limits.

There is nothing in the story to indicate she had the natural ability to defeat the guard on her own, to defend Liz and Harry from Hobgoblin or get them away from the fire. She does take advantages of resources (like the shovel) and opportunities that come her way, but they occurred purely by chance.

Based upon this experience, Mary Jane would know that if a similar situation occurred she shouldn’t be passive but nor should she presume she could survive off of her own abilities alone. She would be outmatched and it’d be ridiculous to simply presume that there’d be a potential weapon around, that the chance to surprise her opponent would crop up. And if there was a super villain like Hobgoblin involved she’d have no defence beyond relying upon a super hero to intervene.

Basically she was impressive here but her talents could only take her so far, even with luck on her side.

Alastair Smythe

Not too long after the Hobgoblin incident MJ found herself in another tricky spot in ASM Annual #19. The story entailed Alastair Smythe mistakenly believing Mary Jane was Spider-Man. He consequently abducted her and her Aunt Anna with one of his Spider Slayers.

Intelligent, resourceful and quick witted as ever, MJ saved herself and Aunt Anna. However, this relied heavily upon Smythe’s gullibility, luck and Spider-Man’s intervention, something MJ actively sought out.

First she got Aunt Anna out of danger by admitting she was Spider-Man.

Then she convinced Smythe that he ought to record his victory and persuaded him to break into a camera store to that end. She hoped that the store’s alarm would summon help; another example of her relying upon the intervention of others.

Whilst in the store she left a note for people to find before Smythe whisked her off again. At the same time Spidey was independantly on the trail of the Watson women. He found Smythe’s hideout and rescued Anna, overcoming Smythe’s deadly traps in the process.

Taking Anna to a police officer Spidey learns about MJ’s note. It informed the police of Anna’s location and instructed Spidey that she’d try to get Smythe to the Daily Bugle building.

By chance Smythe flew MJ over Peter’s apartment building, which had a skylight. Tricking Smythe into posing for a photograph, MJ removed her boot an dropped it through Peter’s window, hoping he was home and could come rescue her. Once again MJ was desperately banking on luck and reliant upon the help of a third party to save herself.

MJ managed to get Smythe to the Bugle, again hoping that Peter was there. Unfortunately he wasn’t there but the Bugle staff recognized MJ and called the cops.

Tired of her tricks Smythe simply dropped MJ mid-air. Luckily Spidey had caught up with them and rescued her.

Once again, MJ’s victory here couldn’t have occurred without an assist and and a lot of luck; indeed, she was outright banking on the latter. These are things nobody can truly rely upon in any given crisis. The probability of help showing up just in time or miracles occurring at just the right time are very low.

Inferno Demons

Next up we come to the tie-in issues to the (mostly X-Men centric) crossover event Inferno.

Inferno was weird, but all you need to know is that demonic activity throughout New York causes a variety of strange phenomenon. The most common of these involved inanimate objects coming to life and attacking people.

This happened during one of Mary Jane’s modelling shoots where gold jewellery came to life and attacked her and the crew on the shoot. Using quick thinking (and her knowledge of jewellery) MJ remembered that gold was a soft metal and used a fire-axe to chop up the demonic bling, inspiring the crewmembers to do the same.

When we catch up to MJ again it’s implied she’s instructed the others to build a barricade to keep the demon hordes out. She also defends a co-worker by using a makeshift weapon to attacks one of the demons. She orders everyone to rebuild the barricade but privately wonders what they could possibly do next, wishing Peter was there to help.

MJ, using yet more of her impressive smarts, leads the group into the sewers, correctly deducing them to be the safest place in the city. However, that safety is merely relative because the gang are then attacked by demonically possessed water.

Luckily the water is vulnerable to the flash of a camera, which even more luckily went off during the attack. The camera was owned by one of the crewmembers named Hal.

The camera’s battery life is limited though, but thankfully MJ gets a bright idea. Whilst Hal stalls the demons with his camera the other crewmembers break the gas pipes. She then instructs Hal to hold off the demons whilst they all retreat. She proceeds to use the lighter to make a torch, intent on setting the gas alight and hopefully killing the demons.

Her plan doesn’t quite pan out as intended though. She comes across Spidey duelling the Hobgoblin. Instinctively she threw the torch at Hobby to help out Peter, giving him the chance to throw him into the tunnel, inadvertently igniting the gas.

Spidey swings MJ away from the explosion, the art arguably implying that she would’ve been harmed without his help.

The whole adventure is a tour de force for Mary Jane. Her bravery, smarts, resourcefulness and resolve are on full display here.

Nevertheless, for most of the encounter she needed to retreat and get her companions to do the same as they were still grossly outmatched. The times they won fights were against either a singular opponent or against a group of small and comparatively weak opponents their greater strength and numbers could overwhelm. And had Hal not accompanied her, had his camera not gone off and had her opponents not had a very particular weakness they’d have been a goners.

It’s also arguable that had Spider-Man not shown up she might’ve been severely injured as well because he swung her away from the explosion. However, I will admit since her companions were uninjured it’s plausible that she might’ve been fine without him.

Nevertheless, the story showcases that MJ could only win physical encounters and survive dangerous situations when she went up against weaker opponents, had back up and luck was on her side again.

Terrorists

Jumping forward we enter the Clone Saga where there are actually a few dangerous encounters to look at, though we’re just going to focus upon two; one where MJ is more passive and one where she is more assertive.

The first is from Spider-Man Unlimited #8. I don’t exactly believe in trigger warning people, but for the record this might touch a nerve if you were affected by 9/11.

Initially, MJ and her friend Carly are at a restaurant situated in one of the Twin Towers. Suddenly sadistic terrorists in high tech armour break in guns blazing, killing at least one person.

They are so sadistic in fact that one of them needs to restrain the other so that they have live hostages to bargain with. MJ to her credit tells her friend to not rush to the exit as it will get congested, demonstrating smarts in a crisis. She also has the common sense to keep calm so as to not risk the terrorists harming her.

For greater context MJ is unarmed and pregnant at this point and lacks any means of communicating with Spider-Man or anyone else for that matter.

The terrorists are heavily armed. The exact capabilities of their tech is unknown but they can clearly fly, move modestly quickly, have a degree of protection from their armour and have very powerful wrist mounted projectiles that are easy to fire and have plenty of ammunition.

They also seem to have regular firearms too, as evidenced when one of them casually shoots a hostage for annoying him.

MJ tries to help the injured man and even confronts one of the terrorists to provide aid. He dismisses her but equally casually murders his comrade who shot the man.

Mary Jane is unhappy with this but keeps a cool head. She admits that she’s lucky she wasn’t shot herself. When she notices ‘Spider-Man’ (actually Peter’s clone Ben Reilly/the Scarlet Spider) she decides to leave things to him and focus upon helping the wounded man.

Whilst I hesitate to call this ��luck’ (because it’s more than likely he’d have heard the news regardless) Peter himself learns of the situation over the radio and heads out to deal with it.

Spidey slips into the room where the hostages are and, with MJ’s help, quietly moves them towards the elevators, MJ looking after the wounded man’s son.

The rest of the story is irrelevant for our purposes.

The issue doesn’t paint MJ in the most flattering light. She is much more passive than in any other examples we’ve looked at so far (or indeed will look at going forward). However the story does give her moments that display her intelligence and bravery. More importantly it justifies why Mary Jane’s best bet isn’t to try and engage the aggressors in this situation.

She is an unarmed woman with no super powers and at best rather basic self-defence skills. Even if she had a gun or was a black belt that’d be have little use here. Her opponents’ armour and technology render hand-to-hand fighting basically pointless and a gun would be of very little use as well.

If she had either the most she could do is blindside or even kill maybe one of the terrorists by targeting their eyes (their only really exposed area). This in turn would also have to distract all the other trigger-happy terrorists (which isn’t a guarantee at all) and give the hostages enough time to escape. However it’s also likely MJ would need to spread the word to enough of the hostages ahead of time (which wouldn’t be easy right under the guards’ noses) so they’d be ready to make a break for it.

Between fear, stress and shock it’s not at all a guarantee even one of the hostages will have the instincts to make a run for it, and that’s presuming they are all physically fit enough to do that. Children, elderly, disabled people, etc., might not be in a position to move quickly at all. Not to mention the location of the stairs is never specified meaning the hostages would be reliant upon the elevators showing up quickly and having enough room for them all.

Even if the stairs were nearby, even if the elevators were as merciful as possible…they’re at the top of the World Trade Center!

My research informed me that the closest real life equivalent to the restaurant depicted in the story would have been on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower. Given how the terrorists could fly and had other technology at their disposal they could’ve easily intercepted the hostages on their way down or on the ground floor itself.

We should also consider that were MJ to initiate this hypothetical plan it almost certainly would’ve resulted in her being harmed or killed. Mary Jane is a heroic and self-sacrificing person who understands Peter’s moral message about responsibility.

But she was also pregnant at the time, and very much wished to keep the baby. Regardless on anyone’s views on pregnancy, family planning, abortion, etc., is it really selfish to argue that Mary Jane wouldn’t have engaged in what would likely have been a suicide mission with very slim odds if it also meant the death of her unborn child? Is that truly an act of selfishness, or of irresponsibility that goes against Peter’s underlying mission? I certainly don’t think so.

Basically what I’m getting at is that Mary Jane in this situation lacked the skills and resources to realistically do all that much and trying to do anything would’ve risked the lives of others, including her own child.

Kaine

The second Clone Saga story to look at is in the ‘Mark of Kaine’, where Mary Jane is abducted by Peter’s clone Kaine.

Kaine’s speed and agility are comparable to Spider-Man’s, if not superior. His strength though is a notch greater and as a clone of Peter he is very intelligent, both scientifically and in terms of strategy. He also has years of experience as a mercenary and is in a state of constant agony due to an illness he has. MJ (pregnant and mentally/emotionally distressed at the time anyway) couldn’t prevent her abduction into the sewers.

But MJ was able to briefly get away from him by opening up a high-pressure water pipe whilst Kaine was up close to her and distracted.

Immediately upon escaping the sewers she came across yet another clone of Peter’s (who later went by the name Spidercide). Although she was confused and uncertain she quickly persuaded ‘Spidercide’ to fight Kaine (who was hot on her heels), giving her a chance to get away again.

She managed to make it home where she armed herself with her gun. Initially she confronted the new Peter clone but was unable to shoot him. It is unclear if this was because she missed on purpose or accidentally. The shock of firing the shot caused her to drop the fun in horror.

When Kaine caught up to her though she wasn’t fast enough to get into a position to use it. He very quickly crossed the room, disarmed and consequently abducted her again.

I should note that because Kaine has comparable speed to Spider-Man it’s extremely likely that he is physically capable of moving faster than gunshots. Spider-Man himself is fast enough that he can evade rapid machine gun fire (even without his spider sense), which is obviously much faster than the shots from a revolver like MJ’s. Spider-Man has also been shown to be able to still fight with bullet wounds. Because Spider-Man is capable of these feats then Kaine would be too.

What I am trying to convey is that MJ’s initial escapes from Kaine were once more due to luck and her ability to quickly take advantage of whatever limited resources were around her; be they a water pipe, distraction or someone else she can get to fight for her.

When she was in a situation where she in fact had use a weapon to defend herself from a super powered assailant though she failed. And she would’ve failed even if she were better positioned to use her weapon.

The Chameleon

Now we come to MJ’s most famous battle, the one where she defeated the Chameleon. This is an undeniable victory for Mary Jane, no two ways about it. But it’s important that we fully contextualize the experience.

Putting aside how MJ had had dozens of encounters with villains by this point, this was a rare instance where she was forewarned and forearmed. In Spec #244 Peter returned home and informed Mary Jane that the Chameleon had attacked him and learned his secret identity.

On some level Mary Jane was unnerved by this and frightened that the Russian mercenary might target her in her home, even having nightmares about him. Awaking from one such nightmare Mary Jane arms herself with a baseball bat and goes back to bed, although she prays Peter catches him before he gets anywhere near her.

In the next issue, she is still clearly anxious about the Chameleon, being unable to sleep until Peter catches him.

Chameleon, disguised as Peter, actually does go to the Parker residence, specifically to attack Mary Jane. Mary Jane deduces Chammy’s real identity and lures him to the bedroom, consequently surprising him with the baseball bat and threatening him to leave her alone. Chameleon however advances on her.

When Spider-Man arrives on the scene Chammy is on the floor, having been beaten by MJ.

He escapes minutes later whilst the Parkers are distracted, which could arguably mean he was playing possum. However this doesn’t change the fact that Mary Jane kicked his ass, he even laments his humiliation whilst fleeing.

This is one of MJ’s shining moments and the closest thing to luck she had was that Chameleon wasn’t armed and Peter warned her ahead of time. Personally though I wouldn’t call either of those things luck. Chameleon has at best a sporadic history with using weapons, even whilst fighting super powered beings.

And whilst Peter did warn her ahead of time she already knew about the Chameleon’s existence and has in her time been assaulted by multiple criminals, including those who didn’t know Peter’s identity. Additionally Peter simply informing her is less luck and just more something he’d logically do out of common sense in this or any such similar situation. MJ couldn’t have known Chameleon was definitely going to strike that very same night.

Nevertheless though, she was forewarned and literally forearmed herself so she was definitely prepared to a large degree for anything to go down.

She was also aided by the fact that the Chameleon seriously underestimated her.

More importantly though Chameleon, unlike everyone else we’ve looked at so far, was unarmed and lacked any abilities that gave him greater physical might than a normal human being. Even so MJ’s main goal was to scare him away not subdue him, signifying she was at least unsure if she could defeat him. This is supported by the dialogue from both Peter and herself in the aftermath, which heavily implies that they were both taken aback by her victory.

Basically, MJ was in a position where she was prepared for any tricks that might be pulled. She had immediate access to a resource to increase her power and that resource put her at a physical advantage over her opponent. An opponent who underestimated her and was tricked themself.

Green Goblin

We jump forward again now into Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #11-12, circa 2005.

Mary Jane was taken by surprise by Norman Osborn/the Green Goblin when he showed up at her home and drugged her with knockout gas, consequently abducting her.

MJ knew that Norman might be on the loose that night by the way.

When she awoke she found Spidey and the Goblin were battling atop the Queensboro bridge, with Peter losing. She pulled out her gun (a different one from during the Clone Saga) and fired (what seems to be two rounds) into the Goblin’s chest.

Given the rain, the darkness, the angle and I’m sure the overall stress of the situation this feat is very impressive.

However, the recoil did hurt her to some degree (not seriously) and caused her to lose her balance and fall off the bridge, needing to be saved by Peter.

More poignantly her shots neither defeated the Goblin nor seriously injured him.

For context, the Goblin’s super powers offer him a degree of durability comparable to Spider-Man’s. He also possesses a healing factor that healed a far more severe chest wound and was wearing armour that offered further protection.

As such he attempted to attack the Parkers just a few minutes later.

This incident demonstrates MJ’s toughness, her willingness and ability to attack. But it also showcases her relative inexperience with weapons and how she was still outmatched in this instance. She saved Spider-Man for the moment but it resulted in him needing to save her. And of course, it did not actually deafat the Goblin.

Swarm

We’re jumping forward now to 2006 when Peter’s identity was public knowledge.

As you would expect super villains decided this was the time to target his loved ones. In Sensational Spider-Man v2 #29-30 Swarm (an animated Nazi skeleton covered in bees and wasps under his control) targeted Mary Jane and her co-stars.

In Sen v2 #29 Peter suspects some of his villains might’ve organized a co-ordinated attack on him and his loved ones and asks MJ to return home. MJ refuses, but it should be noted that there were bodyguards protecting the theatre she was rehearsing in.

In the first panel we can see an armoured person with green lights hovering outside of MJ’s theatre.

And in the next issue Aunt May’s bodyguards are also armoured and have green lights.

This implies MJ’s guards have the same arsenal as May’s.

Peter was working closely with Iron Man at this time and the Parkers were living with him. Additionally, the guards are under orders from Iron Man and their armour resembles his Iron Man designs.

As such it can be presumed the guard’s weapons are similar to Iron Man’s. This would at the very least offer them high defences beyond real life body armour. And it’d mean they’d have heavy fire power through repulsor technology. Plus of course they can fly.

These guards might not be super heroes per se but they are in the same league as them in terms of raw power. They aren’t merely muscle men with guns.

Anyway, Swarm infiltrates MJ’s theatre spies on her for a while before initiating his attack.

It should be noted that MJ was unfamiliar with Swarm and his abilities; at least to my knowledge.

MJ orders everyone to run (which they barely do) but one of the actors attacks Swarm and slows him down slightly.

MJ (correctly) presumes Swarm will follow her and leads him towards a curtain that she then uses to further slow him down before activating the sprinklers.

This deals with most of the insects but Swarm’s reanimated skeleton still comes after her.

Thankfully MJ’s co-star smashes its head in saving her. They depart to find MJ’s bodyguards because Swarm is already starting to reconstitute himself.

Unlike most of the other examples we’ve looked at so far, Mary Jane was totally surprised by this attack, had no knowledge about her opponent to draw from, no immediate weapons to use and given little time to react.

Under these circumstances her actions are undeniably remarkable, showcasing her experience, quick wits and resourcefulness.

However she still required assistance from her co-star, bodyguards and was lucky enough to be near enough to useful resources to draw upon. If there was no curtain, no sprinkler system or water she would’ve been unable to fight back successfully.

H.Y.D.R.A.

There are many more instances after this of Mary Jane defending her self and others. Most of them occur in stories that for various reasons are just generally problem riddled and illogical. Although that doesn’t necessarily apply to whenever MJ kicks butt within them.

These range from examples similar to the above, instances where MJ has temporary super powers, access to higher technology (like web-shooters or Iron Man style tech) or contacts within the super hero community she can call upon as back up.

An example of the latter can be found in Invincible Iron Man #600 where MJ and Tony Stark’s mother find themselves invaded by HYDRA soldiers. Mary Jane however had pre-emptively contacted several super heroes to help her. These included Ironheart/Riri Williams and Miles Morales/Spider-Man

I will concede the latter example is a questionable source to cite given how it is not a Spider-Man comic book, To my knowledge, at the time of this writing the events from it have yet to be referenced in any comic book under the control of the Spider-Man editorial office. However at the time it was the title Mary Jane predominantly appeared in, so we could perhaps call it food for thought.

Subway Troll

The other examples from this era are mostly redundant for various reasons so I shall just skip ahead to something more recent.

In Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man v2 #11 MJ has one of her finest hours. The story begins with MJ helping an exhausted and injured Spider-Man to bed, affirming that she will make sure the city won’t need him that day.

This affirms for the readers that whatever unfolds in the issue, Mary Jane is committed to not involving Peter for his own sake.*

Later, whilst riding the subway, MJ recognizes a doctor in her carriage, shortly before the train collides with a literal troll monster; it was something to do with Thor, don’t worry about it.

MJ immediately takes charge. She orders the doctor to tend to injured passengers. She checks on the driver and assesses the danger. She rallies passengers off the train, helps move the injured, guides them to safety in the tunnels and even goes back to try and distract the troll.

Noticeably Mary Jane recognizes her own limitations. She has no delusions about actually defeating the troll, her plan is to simply distract it then hide; she even implies doing anything else would be stupid (see above).

By chance, Miles Morales shows up to fight the troll.

MJ sidesteps one of the troll’s blows, one possibly intended to throw off Miles rather than aimed at her. Seeing the young Spider-Hero smacked around, MJ immediately tries to help him.

Asking him to keep the troll distracted she boards the train again, deduces the troll would be vulnerable to light and then ignites the train’s lamps. She proceeds to yell for Miles to attack whilst it’s blinded. This brings the creature down.

Once the troll is down MJ calls her old boss Tony Stark so he can arrange for the creature to be taken away.

As I said, it’s one of MJ’s finest hours. She’s smart, in control, resourceful, fearless and undeniably a protector figure. A hero for sure.

But not a super powered one.

By her own admission her best bet was to just hide and hope the creature wouldn’t find her. The resolution of the battle was dependent upon the lucky appearance of Miles Morales in tandem with her opponent having a very specific weakness and the presence of resource that happened to work against that weakness.

Limitations

I will admit that maybe I’ve overlooked something, and would be willing to be told otherwise. But it is my contention that between all the above examples we get a strong overview of how MJ can handle situations where she needs to protect herself or others.

And that overview reveals that Mary Jane has a truly heroic soul.

She’s brave, protective and selfless.

But she also has limits.

Whenever she finds herself (or others) under attack the instances where she outright wins are actually very few and far between.

Whilst they exist, instances like her defeat of the Chameleon are in fact the exception not the rule.

The overwhelming majority of the time MJ’s victories are earned via assists. Either she is assisting someone (she defeated Hobgoblin’s guard because Harry held his attention) or more typically she is herself being assisted (see every single time Spider-Man showed up).*

In any situation though Mary Jane’s abilities to protect herself and others is heavily reliant upon a large number of factors. The resources in her vicinity, how her opponent(s) view her, the skillset of the people around her, how many opponents she is up against, the strengths and weaknesses of said opponents and a heaping helping of sheer luck.

These factors are so significant that often in any of the scenarios listed above were any one of them removed or significantly altered against MJ’s favour she (or others) would almost certainly have been seriously harmed.

If Hal didn’t have his camera and it didn’t happen to go off and if the demons didn’t happen to be weak to light she and her companions would have died

If MJ wasn’t armed with the baseball bat she likely wouldn’t have defeated Chameleon.

If Swarm wasn’t vulnerable to a sprinkler system he would’ve likely killed MJ or her co-stars.

If Miles Morales didn’t show up she could never have helped bring down the troll.

Because of this Mary Jane cannot reliably come out on top of most dangerous encounters she might find herself in.

In Spec #245 she defeated someone with (functionally) no enhanced strength, speed, etc. but only when warned of him and armed. However, until given help she couldn’t defeat a regular armed criminal in ASM #261

She subdued a super powered assailant in Sensational v2 #30, but only by using both a nearby resource that happened to exploit his specific weakness, and she still needed an assist. However, with no such weaknesses resources or assistance, she was helpless against a group of normal people with high tech armour and weapons.

In Marvel Knights #12 she temporarily stunned the Green Goblin by surprise attacking him with a gun. However, even when armed, she could do nothing to stop Kaine abducting her

No matter how you slice it Mary Jane cannot justifiably go into the majority of dangerous situations unprepared, or even armed, and presume she will be fine based upon her personal skillset. Her history just doesn’t reflect that at all.

I’m not suggesting MJ is a helpless victim waiting to happen, someone who must be reliant upon luck or other people to save her.

But what I am saying is…she has limits

Limits that common sense and past experience would definitely inform her of.

Limits that in no way shape or form justify her or Peter treating potential threats to her lightly, or presuming she’ll be fine no matter what.

Limits that do not allow her to have a strong probability of keeping herself or anyone else safe in the overwhelming majority of situations.

The more pressing question for this essay series is if her Mysterio and his crew are within her limits?

That’s a question I will be getting to very soon. Because next time I want to take a brief tangent to address a counterpoint you might’ve considered.

Why don’t these limits apply to Spider-Man?

*Whilst this is somewhat reminiscent of ASM #286 (which we looked at in part 17), it should be noted that this time MJ is unaware of any immediate or impending crime/dangerous situation that might unfold.

**I do not care to discuss any social/political implications of this. For example I don’t want to start a debate about Mary Jane’s relationship with the damsel-in-distress trope.

All that is irrelevant in the face of the objective facts of these stories. Of the patterns of behaviour and skills they establish into the canon, and thereby define the characters in question.

Case in point I’d argue it’d be sexist to have She-Hulk fight the Purple Man and lose because he used his powers to compel her to kill herself. Sexist it may be, but that doesn’t change the fact that based upon their established abilities, behaviours and personalities that scenario is both possible and highly likely.

*If you don’t get the reference, MJ once claimed this in MTU #20.

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meghanamohan · 8 years ago

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A solo traveler once said, that an adventure may be worn as a muddy spot or it may be worn as a proud insignia. It is the woman wearing it who makes it the one thing or the other. What do you think?

We all have that one passion in varying degrees that makes us more than just live by making us feel alive. For me that passion is exploring places both on the surface and under the sea and capturing moments on my camera.

Here is one of my experience when things got just too real and a wish of mine came face to face with the world the way it is and not the way I imagined it to be.

When I was off to the Andamans for my deep diving certification in April 2016, I had managed to board the flight when it was just about to take off in 15 mins.. So much movie like drama at the airport and I was not going in for the same drama this time around. So, catching every drop of hope and befuddled by uncertainty I started my journey from Bangalore at 04:00 AM on the 29th of September 2016.. The cab I had booked the previous night didn’t turn up! I was stranded already and such was the start.. While I took another cab and head to the airport, I promised myself that whatever happens, I will take complete responsibility of it and will have no regrets what so ever!

My city was waking up and I was taking off against the wind, literally.. Hoping I would come back to the city that I call home.

As I settled down on my plane seat, a million thoughts were loosing track in my head while I was holding on to the seat belt and looking away from the people in the flight, gazing into the clouds.. The clouds somehow have the flair to hold my attention longer. We share a certain bond or maybe it’s just because that’s what my name means – Clouds. Whatever it is thank you for keeping me company dearest clouds.

I landed in Port Blair after a long layover in Chennai, to be greeted by the rains.. and all that I wanted to tell the rains was, *“Rains.. as much as I love you.. not today.. just not today and for the next few days.. please don’t rain on my parade to my Indira Point”* But then, all these thoughts went in vain! It poured cats and dogs the same evening and the next day too!!

In the mean time I managed to rush to the government office for my chopper tickets the same evening.. It was a little difficult for me to explain why I wanted that chopper ticket that bad.. I mean I really didn’t know how to explain this.. I was planning this for over a year now.. The insane number of phone calls that had to be made every other day to the protocol office on every other number I could get.. I was told, “Ma’m, we won’t be able to help much unless you are here in person” So.. there I was!

To my surprise, the officials there were very helpful.. they took notice of how eager I was of getting that that chopper ticket.. They said that the weather wasn’t good and the chopper for that day was cancelled in the morning and don’t think the chopper could fly the next day too.. Well, my heart sank.. right there! I mean.. no way!

I obviously had no chance for the 30th September’s chopper as it was really late in the evening and my only hope was the chopper on the 01st October as they don’t fly on Sundays..

The officials said that I can apply for the 03rd October’s ticket and they will see if it could be accommodated subject to availability of seats.. and I go.. Thank you so very much for considering my request.. but I honestly don’t have that kind of time, my return flight is on the 05th and I have to be on that chopper on the 01st October 2016.. What on earth was I supposed to do now.. :-/

Woke up at around 3:30 AM the next morning, it was still raining and I just couldn’t go back to sleep.. I whiled away time by reading and thinking.. thinking a lot!

Got ready and reached the Secretariat by 11:00 AM.. the same response.. “Ma’m please apply for the 03rd October’s ticket” and I wasn’t sure what to do.. All I knew was that there was no way I was getting back without my chopper ticket that day.. One of the officials, suggested that I can try talking to Rashmi Ma’m about it. And the next thing I know is that I was waiting outside her cabin without an appointment.. Her secretary took my visiting card inside and asked me to wait for sometime..

This was my only chance.. I could either make it or break it. Her secretary’s words still rings in my head “You can go meet her” she had said.. Gathered all my strength and knocked on the door and was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by Rashmi Mam’s warm smile. There was a pile of files on her table and I could see how occupied she was and yet she was kind enough to hear me out and I could sense that she somewhere understood where I was coming from.. This conversation will be cherished for long and it was an honour to meet a woman of her caliber.

The Chatham chase..

While I was walking down the Chatham Bridge in Port Blair, at around 06:30 in the evening and just when I was trying to catch a breath after being chased by two street dogs is when I get this call.. saying that my tickets are confirmed for the next morning..

I stood still, almost frozen not knowing how to react! This call will go down as one of the most consequential phone calls of my life.

I didn’t need an alarm that morning.. was up by 4:00 AM.. My first thought that morning.. “Just hope it’s not raining..” and the first thing I did even before I could open my eyes was reach out to the curtains.. As I drew the curtains, see that it wasn’t raining.. it was a pouring!! damn! How would the chopper fly in such horrible weather.. can’t tell how terrible it felt.. curled up in bed for a while, took a long shower and slipped into one of my favorite khaki shorts and a navy blue top and checked out of the hotel.

6:20 AM, 01st October, 2016 at the helipad and it was still raining.. I was going a little blank by now.. The chopper was cancelled on the previous two days and I could hear people murmuring about how they had waited the previous two days and the chopper hadn’t taken off..

This was my first ever chopper ride and I was extremely nervous about it.. First, wasn’t even sure if the chopper would take off that morning.. Second, how bad could a 3 and a half hour chopper ride with bad viz get.. well.. :-/ and apparently one could carry only 5 kilos of baggage in the chopper and I had 12.5 kilos! I had no clue about t 5 kilo restriction.. Damn.. extra 7.5 kilos! Where would I leave it.. the officials were very strict about it and said that I can carry only 5 kilos and no extra weight will be allowed, especially because of the bad weather.. So, had no choice but to leave it all at the Helipad office and hope to find my things when I get back..

So now, Ticket payment – check! Baggage weight – sorted! My weight – weighed! Security check – done! Boarding pass – check! All sorts of thoughts – Check! and all set for my 3 and a half hour Dauphin N3 ride, if at all we flew that day..

I could see the officials and the pilots converse at the far end alongside the orange and white Pawan Hans chopper.. The rains sort of subsided.. but it was still drizzling and everyone in the room had just one question! “Will we fly today?”… to which the officials kept saying.. “Can’t say..” ..which was fair, considering the weather.

After a while, the officials hurried to us and said, “Get ready, and start boarding!” The atmosphere in the room lit up like a fire cracker! Phew! I couldn’t contain myself and spontaneously hugged my fellow traveler in joy and almost cried.. She held me tight, smiled and wished me luck.. She was a government officer who worked in Car Nicobar..

So, it was eight of us along with the pilot and the co-pilot on board.. One of the passenger was a patient, who had survived a road accident, he and his father were getting back to Car Nicobar, which was my pit stop. The chopper started picking up speed and even before we knew the clouds had gathered us. The lady who was sitting next to me very sweetly checked on my seat belt and offered me some cotton to plug into my ears to ease the whirring sound of the chopper.

We stopped at Car Nicobar and six out of eight passengers got off. So we were left with a government official I am guessing, the pilots and I. The ride was a surely a turbulent one but the blue and green chemistry that I could see from up there made it up for it. Just couldn’t take my eyes off it.. the blue ocean and the green islands..

Finally! the gorgeous runway of Cambell Bay! this was actually happening..

As soon as I land.. woah! two lady police officers along with a bunch of people gathered around me.. Two of them were there to collect envelopes from me that their colleagues/relatives had sent from Port Blair.. I forgot which pocket I had slipped those envelopes into looking at the way people had gathered!

It took a while for me to figure out the guest house and settle down. I hadn’t informed my folks that I had reached safely, how would I.. There was absolutely no network, and the landline of the guesthouse was dead. Somehow managed to make a call and inform my folks that I was safe.. It was a big relief.

All I had was roughly two and a half days there and I could afford to fall asleep, so took a quick nap after lunch and headed out with my sweetheart – my camera.

There was absolute silence everywhere and amidst the dense green forest and the enraged blue ocean lies this placid village called Campbell Bay in the Great Nicobar Island – a vicinage worth taking a plunge..

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The tropical forests so mystical and the lovely orchids like little ornaments adorned the lush dynasty..

Everything around was so raw and rustic and that sort of remoteness was very fascinating.. Felt like a Natgeo explorer except for exploring nothing in particular.. Spotted a few ‘non-vegetarian monkeys’ too, who apparently eat the giant robber crabs in the forest.. Had never heard of such monkeys before and it took a while for me to believe it.. the crab eating macaque, as they are called.

The Mangroove forests couldn’t get groovier with the salt water crocodile sign boards all over which creeped me out for a bit.. So much so that they crawled around in my dreams as much!

And then came the fireflies! It was like a twilight firefly party that i gate crashed into! so many of them and all over the place! I could sit and watch that kind of bio luminescence all night long.. the mystical land came alive like some magic dust was being sprinkled all over the tree ferns! oh what a mirage that sight created.. Loved every bit of that vivid moment and would love to go back again

I was back from the mystical tour and had to follow up and sort out a boat and a team of fishermen who could take me to Indira Point the next morning.. as early as possible. Nobody seemed to be available to begin with but later somehow by around 09:00 PM , had it all figured and was supposed to leave by 05:00 am the next morning.. This was a big relief..

I got back to the guesthouse but couldn’t wait to finish dinner and get out again.. for the gorgeous star lit sky! The starry sky was an absolute delight that I had to capture it but didn’t have my tripod with me.. Tried a couple of hacks and managed to get one of my favorite starry night photograph by far..

Had to call it a day and get few hours of sleep.. I don’t even remember how many alarms were fixed that night! Falling asleep and not making it on time would be like a day dream turning into a nightmare!

Managed to wake up by around 03:00 AM as I had to reach the Jetty by 05:00 AM, so left the guest house by 4:00 AM and was walking around taking photographs, it was still very magical and difficult to believe that I was actually there – walking the deserted streets of Campbell Bay by myself! While walking up to the Jetty, I see this cow.. there was something strange about it, it was walking straight towards me.. turn back and there was nobody! It was actually walking towards me and it came really close even before I could realize! It was charging at my dry sack bag.. I couldn’t understand what was happening, it was just too quick to register.. The temple priest nearby heard me scream and came to my rescue and got back my dry sack for me.. The cow seemed so harmless and I am still wondering what happened! Phew! and October 02nd 2016 started that way..

Just reached the entrance of the Jetty by around 05:15 AM and it started raining, out of nowhere! I mean.. why!!? It just wouldn’t stop, and my boat was not to be seen..

A lady who was collecting cowdung nearby came to me and asked me to stand under the tree with her until it stopped raining. She actually stood with me until the rains subsided. After she walked away and it started pouring again. She came back to me and very sweetly said that she lives close by and invited me home until it stopped raining but as I didn’t want to miss my boat so excused myself and stood under the tree. The rains got heavier and as I stood wondering what to do I saw Mr. Murugan walking with an umbrella towards me. He walked me to the stadium across the street. We were standing there waiting for the boat guys to call up when suddenly I see the same lady coming back with an umbrella looking for me! She spotted me standing in the stadium and said that she felt bad that I was alone and getting drenched in the rain so she came back looking for me to offer me an umbrella. I can’t imagine someone doing that back in the cities.

This was just one of the random act of kindness that the people of Campbell Bay bestowed on me and this made me feel truly blessed..

And in the meantime my boat and the fishermen were still not be seen, apparently the third fisherman was absconding and they were all looking for me. He was supposed to be the guide.. They said in their local accent that he is not to be seen, apparently he got drunk the previous night and nobody knew where he was.. And I went into my panic mode, hundreds of thoughts on my mind in a split second. Hope he is fine and now I don’t have a guide to walk for 24 kms back and forth in the jungle, there were crocodiles and pythons and god knows what not!

We had to come up with a backup plan, they said that can still go if I am okay going without a guide. There was no time to think as much.. I see the boat and two fishermen in front of me and vague images of Indira Point in my heart… and.. decided! Cant back off now, no way! let’s just head straight to the light house, regardless of whatever happens. They said that they will go provided I don’t jump off the boat and swim to the lighthouse.. We will go, see the light house as close as possible and get back. So, that was the plan.

Said a little prayer and set sail..

The weather just didn’t seem to get better. The monsoon rains and the strong wind was maddening! We were headed against the wind, which made the ride even more horrifying. Besides, it was a fishing boat with no shelter. To top it all, I was sitting right next to the double engine and after listening to the deafening noise for six hours straight, it took me another six hours to get that noise out of my head!

the six hour boat ride..

The waves seemed to grow in all shapes and sizes.. the boat was loosing control and was tossed in all possible directions.. and the life jackets were not to be seen.. If not for the dry sack, my camera and phone wouldn’t have survived .. This was by far the scariest boat ride ever..

At one point the fishermen asked me if I want to go back.. wait, what? go back? no way! absolutely not!

After about three hours of sailing, holding my life in my hands I was finally in front of my beloved Indira Point Light House – No amount of rain, sailing against the wind, the third fisherman absconding, the loose screw of the engine, the fierce ocean, six hour boat ride, the deafening noise of the double engine, fear of the unknown, being chased by dogs, being charged by a cow, feet gone numb, all the permissions that i had to take, all the officials i had to meet, the turbulent chopper ride, being creeped out by crocodiles, not being reachable by family and friends… Nothing, absolutely nothing could stop me from being there at that place on that very day.

Indira Point Lighthouse

Will never forget that moment when I closed my eyes in the pouring rain, in the middle of the ocean and hoped that I wasn’t dreaming. Find it difficult to believe that I was actually there – right in front of the legendary lighthouse which felt like it looked straight at me and said, “Meghana, glad to see you here and I knew you would come..” *Sigh.. happy tears, holding on to my camera*

Those waves..

It took another three hours to get back.. Getting back was comparatively less insane, we did get see a dash of sunshine on our way back. The fierce ocean, that insane wind and rain had made the six hour simple boat ride a rather daunting task.. *phew!*

Co-Incidentally, 18th of October, the day when Pygmalion Point was renamed to Indira Point happens to be my birthday too and this was my birthday gift to me.

I share a special love for lighthouses because of the way they stand tall and lead the light unnerved by the circumstances. My love for lighthouses goes way back to when I was in school. The lighthouse was the emblem of my school with ‘lead kindly light’ written on it; a badge that we wore proudly on our chest. Having grown up in a coastal town called Karwar, the ocean and lighthouses are something that I deeply connect with and gather my strength from. So well, my love for lighthouses is beyond explanation and this fueled my determination to witness the legend called Indira Point on my own, all by myself.

While it is not a problem for Indians to visit Campbell Bay but it is still not easy to undertake a journey to such a remote corner of my country. Telephone connectivity is still next to nothing there with only BSNL working scarcely.

It takes time and persistence to go all the way, not to forget the connectivity issues and hence I must have been easily branded as some sort of a crazy person or someone with a hidden intention.. So much so, that I was interrogated by the officials of the Investigation Bureau on my arrival in Campbell Bay and by the officials of coast guard on the day of my departure! I was taken a back with the interrogation and will need some more time to get over it, even more so because I wanted to join the defence and serve the nation, but couldn’t make it due to some reasons.

Just because someone travels alone to a remote location, doesn’t mean that they have a hidden agenda around it or they are some sort of a spy or a terrorist.. I was being referred to as ‘that girl in yellow dress, with a camera’..

Sometimes, we are just passionate about certain things we do and the way we want to live our lives and can’t explain reasons for the things we do. We have nothing to prove to the world, it’s just a way of life, nothing more, nothing less. And this I say on behalf of all my fellow solo travellers.

Having said that, I see from where the officials were coming too, especially with our country’s then situation. They were doing their duty and rather well and I wasn’t mistreated during the interrogation.

Campbell Bay is full of interesting stories.. was randomly talking to two security officials of the guest house that i stayed in about their life experiences with the Jarawa tribe and a plantation drive at Indira Point.. It was just amazing to sit and listen to how one of them was invited to a Jarawa hut and the other official took pride in telling me that he had climbed the Indira Point Lighthouse and had planted saplings about 35 odd years ago.. and the happiness on his face while he was talking about it was worth going ‘aawww..’

I also happened to meet this bunch of enthusiastic kids who play football in the stadium at 04:00 am everyday. Manu and team as i called them, wanted me to take pictures of theirs, and since i had to rush, promised to meet them the next day.. same time – same place. I was pleasantly surprised by their punctuality. It was a delight taking pictures of these kids.. Now i ask them, how do i share the pictures with you guys..? Do i print and post them? and one of them instantly says “Didi, you can whatsapp it to me!” and i go.. of course!

I stayed in the Andaman and Nicobar for seven days and Campbell Bay for about two and a half days and it turned out to be once in a lifetime sort of an experience and will always stay thankful to everyone who were immensely supportive in this journey of mine.

Campbell Bay and Indira Point – You have left me mesmerized and I am smitten for life! hope to come back with another adventure! until then, much love to you.

Thank you for this amazing experience of a lifetime!

Cheers!

Meghana

Solo Tripping to the Southernmost Tip of India – Indira Point A solo traveler once said, that an adventure may be worn as a muddy spot or it may be worn as a proud insignia.

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