#on issue 32 of Ultimate Spider-man

[starlightshadowsworld]

Headcanon: Why Katai left the Agency.

It was fun when they were kids. You could even say it was cool.

Katai cowering in the back as Kunikuda lectured his bullies. Wrapping bruised knuckles and shaking his head with an amused smile because seriously man you didn’t think did you?

Kunikida had always had a heart bigger then he knew what to do with. He was always calling out injustice standing atop the canteen’s tables.

Katai would listen and make sure he didn’t accidentally step on their trays.

They were a team.

Back then the worse thing this could happen was suspension. Scolded by their parents until they could recite the words back at them.

Now Katai wonders if they had a point.

“If Kunikida jumped off a cliff would you jump too?”

Back then Katai would’ve looked at them strangely and nodded without a second thought.

Now he hesitated.

The bruised knuckles became broken bones. Smouldering clothes that no matter how well they were cleaned still smelled vaguely of smoke.

The calls out against injustice among other things neatly written in a green notebook. The “ideal” symbol seemed to follow Katai like another set of eyes.

His reason for anything and everything he did. It always had been but the stakes had never been so high.

And Katai couldn’t follow him anymore. Couldn’t stand idly by watching his best friend burn like a candle from both ends. To watch him throw his life away so casually.

And for what?! The benefit of others?! Katai wasn’t selfless. He knew that. He was fine with that. Saving people was nice but it wasn’t his life’s calling. He only joined because Kunikida asked it of him.

And Katai could never refuse him so he agreed.

Katai laughed because really nothing had changed had it? He was still the coward and Kunikida the brave hero. That’s who they were down to their core. It’s just that Katai in couldn’t stand to watch Kunikida destroy himself anymore.

“Quitting the Agency?! What are you saying?”

“Doppo…You’re going to die doing this. You’re going to die for those stupid ideals.”

“Stupid?!”

“And I know that there is nothing I can say to stop you from doing it. But I never in a million years imagined that I’d have to watch you get blown up. Or or that I’d have to wipe your gunshot blood off my clothes.”

He stared at him, begging.

“Someone is going to kill you. And I…I can’t do this.”

Kunikida’s eyes were alight with anger, hurt and maybe even betrayal. “Then leave!” It was the hurt talking and he’d regret it a second later.

But by that point Katai had walked out the doors never to return.

It’s not like he could ever refuse Kunikida.

[the-shinysnorlax]

Miguel O’Hara: A comprehensive reading guide

I honestly don’t know if this has been done yet, and considering that there are multiple different main canons for Miguel, it’s even more confusing on where to start.

To clarify, there is 3 different “Mainstream” universes for Miguel. Earth 928 (The main universe for most Miguel media), Earth-2099, and Earth-6375 (The universe where he’s part of the exiles)

I’m gonna be starting with

Earth-928

(Note: I’ll try to put these in order as much as possible, but due to retcons and other things like Spiderverse it may not be 100% accurate)

Important reads are in bold

-Amazing Spider-Man #365 (Not really important, it’s just a preview of the first issue, but it’s counted as Miguel’s very first appearance so.)

-Spiderman 2099 vol 1 #1-10 (VERY important reads, they set up the universe and Miguel’s origin story)

-2099 unlimited #1-3 (Not really important to the lore, but they’re silly little stories that I have to mention them)

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #11-15

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #16, Ravage 2099 #15, X-men 2099 #5, Doom 2099 #14, Punisher 2099 #13 (VERY important reads, highlights the fall of the hammer arc and shows Miguel’s relationships with other 2099 characters, especially Jake Gallows. Read in the exact order listed)

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #17-22

-2099 unlimited #8

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #23-34

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 annual

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #35-38 (Venom 2099 arc, important read as it introduces Kron Stone properly)

-Spider-Man 2099 special

-Spider-Man 2099 meets Spider-Man (First introduction of Miguel to Peter)

-2099 unlimited 9-10

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #39-43

-Symbiote Spider-Man 2099 #1-5

The following issues have been mostly retconned and are no longer canon. I’m listing them still for sake of continuity (Plus they’re interesting) but they are NOT canon to E-928

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 1 #44-46

-2099: World of tomorrow #1-8

-2099: Manifest Destiny

End of retconned comics

-Captain Marvel vol 4 #27-30

-Superior Spider-Man #17-19

-Amazing Spider-Man vol 3 #1

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 2 #1-12

Note during this time is the Spiderverse event and Miguel is featured in multiple comics that tie into it. I will not be listing them all due to time, plus he was mostly featured in his own comic for it anyways

-Secret wars 2099 #1-5

-Amazing Spider-Man vol 4 #1

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 3 #1-10

-Spiderman 2099 vol 3 #11-16 (I list them separately because this takes place during Civil War 2 and that also has a lot of tie in comics that I will not be listing due to time. But yeah. That’s a thing)

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 3 #17-25

-Amazing Spider-Man vol 5 #32-36

Earth 2099

-2099 Alpha

-Spider-Man 2099 vol 4

-2099 Omega (This and vol 4 are E-2099 Miguel’s origin story. I’m not personally a fan of the writing but it is essential to read if you want to understand the universe)

-Spider-Man 2099 Exodus Alpha, #1-5, and Omega

-Spider-Man 2099 Dark Genesis #1-5

-Miguel O’Hara, Spider-Man 2099 #1-5 (The best series we’ve gotten so far of this earth, not really important to the Miguel lore. I just like it lol)

Earth-6375

Note that this is optional to read and I’ve heard some very mixed opinions about how Miguel is written here. If you want to read it, be my guest.

-Exiles #72

-Exiles #75-99

-Exiles annual 1

Honorable mention: Timesplitters 2009-2099 #1-4, Spider-Man, and X Men.

These technically take place in a separate continuity to all 3, but they are important enough that I listed them anyways.

Honorable mention 2: Edge of Spiderverse vol 2

Idk what continuity it takes place in. it is currently ongoing.

Other non comic media

The following is a list of media that Miguel is featured in extensively (Not counting all the mobile games because I mean those are just gacha games and aren’t important to the Miguel lore)

-Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse and Spider-Man across the Spiderverse

-Ultimate Spider-Man S3EP9 and 12

-Spider-Man Edge of time (Personal favorite adaptation of Miguel in media)

-Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions

-Araña and Spiderman 2099: Dark Tomorrow (Not confirmed but likely takes place in E-928 5 years after series ends)

And that’s about it! If there’s any appearances I missed, please don’t hesitate to say something and I’ll fix it as soon as possible.

[jooheons]

spider-man 2099 / miguel o’hara reading guide 

miguel o’hara was a young genetics genius employed at mega corporation alchemax, in the future city of nueva york of the year 2099 (a future universe where all superheroes got wiped out). he became spider-man when one of his experiments to replicate the powers of spider-man is used against him, his dna is rewritten and became fifty percent spider. 

essential reading:

spider-man 2099 (1992), #1-10

spider-man 2099, #11-14

spider-man 2099 annual, #1

2099 unlimited #1-3 *

spider-man 2099, #15

ravage 2099, #15 *

x-men 2099, #5 *

doom 2099 (1993), #14 *

punisher 2099 (1993), #13 *

spider-man 2099, #16-22

spider-man 2099, #23-33

2099 unlimited #8 *

ghost rider 2099 #7 *

spider-man 2099, #34-38

spider-man 2099 special #1

spider-man 2099 meets spider-man #1

2099 unlimited #9-10 *

spider-man 2099, #39-46 *

2099: world of tomorrow (1996), #1-8 *

2099: manifest destiny *

* in early 1996, editor joey cavalieri was fired. it led to the cancellation of the 2099 titles. for spider-man 2099′s case, peter david (creator and writer) chose to resign in solidarity with his editor, finishing his run with issue #44. the last two issues of spider-man 2099 were done without his input and the series ended with issue #46.

* cross-overs are optional reading, they’re grouped together with the original spider-man 2099 issues because it’s part of their collection. 

non-essential reading (crossovers):

fantastic four 2099 (1996), #4, #6, #8

captain marvel (2000) #27-30

exiles (2001-2008), #72 *

exiles #75-99 

exiles annual #1

timestorm 2009-2099 (2009),  #1–4 *

* exiles!miguel is a variant (not the same from his 1992 run), he’s from earth-6375 here. 

* timestorm!miguel is a variant, he’s from earth-96099 here.

semi-essential reading (main marvel universe):

superior spider-man (2013),  #17-21

superior spider-man #22-26

superior spider-man annual #1

superior spider-man #27-31

superior spider-man annual #2 

essential reading (spider-verse event):

spider-man 2099 (2014) #1-5

amazing spider-man (2014) #1

amazing spider-man (2014) #9-15

spider-man 2099 (2014), #6-12

spider-man 2099 (2015), #1-5

spider-man 2099 (2015), #6-10

spider-man 2099 (2015), #11-16

spider-man 2099 (2015), #17-21

spider-man 2099 (2015), #22-25

spider-man 2099 meets spider-man (1995)

amazing spider-man (2018), #32-36

semi-essential reading (back to 2099):

spider-man 2099 (2019)

spider-man 2099: exodus alpha (2022)

spider-man 2099: exodus #1-5

spider-man 2099: exodus omega

spider-man 2099: dark genesis #1-5

other media:

spider-man: shattered dimensions (2010, video game)

spider-man: edge of time (2011, video game)

ultimate spider-man, the spider-verse: part 1 (2015, animated series)

spider-man: into the spider-verse (2018, film)

spider-man: across the spider-verse (2023, film)

this reading guide will be updated should any upcoming projects arise! 

[din-skywalker]

miguel o'hara/spider man 2099 media appearances

this is a list of everything (that i'm aware of- if i missed anything let me know!) miggy has appeared in!

comics:

-spider man 2099 (1992) volumes 1-3

-ultimate 2099 (1993) issues 1-10

-spider man 2099 (2015)

-superior spider man issues 17-19 and 29

-the amazing spider man issues 32 and 33

-timestorm 2009/2099 issues 1-3

-exiles issue 98

-spider meets spider man 2099

books:

-araña and spider man 2099: dark tomorrow

shows:

-ultimate spider-man season 4 episodes 17 and 18

games:

-spider man: edge of tomorrow

-spider man: shattered dimensions

-spider man ps4 (hardly counts. only his suit makes an appearance)

-marvel super hero squad

-spider man unlimited

-lego marvel super heroes 2

movies:

-spider man: into the spider-verse

-spider man: across the spider-verse

[heckcareoxytwit]

A preview of Blood Hunters #3

BLOOD HUNTERS #3

The BLOODCOVEN strikes! It’s an all-out action issue as the super-vamp villains finally descend upon the BLOOD HUNTERS. Will a vampirized SPIDER-MAN on their side be enough to push back the darkness? Marvel’s newest – and bloodiest – team faces their ultimate challenge!

Written by: Erica Schultz Art by: Robert Gill Cover by: Emanuela Lupacchino Page Count: 32 Pages Release Date: October 16, 2024

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Action #1071 seems to have been delayed a week simply because Amazon didn’t feel like releasing it. USM #10 too but since that leaked elsewhere I was able to read it.

World’s Finest #32 - Maybe I’m less grumpy this time but I enjoyed this part more than the opening. Glad we didn’t drag out Batman and Superman being mind controlled for longer than an issue. Gutiérrez on art remains the star attraction.

Jenny Sparks #3 - Not only does Atom not blow up, he actually wins a fight! Wish he did that more often as a good guy though... I have to admit the whole bit with Superman and Jenny in Iraq went over my head. It sure seemed like a test for Superman despite what Jenny says. Felt like one he failed imo, he saved the Americans from the Iraqis but he won't save the Iraqis from the Americans. This cuts to the core of my qualms about King. I believe he could be one of the greatest Superman writers ever, he’s willing to put Superman in tough moral quandaries in a way that someone like Waid is too chickenshit to do. If he did a Superman run that tackled something like this, that kicked off with Superman as the cowardly hands-off liberal who doesn’t have the balls to get involved, and transformed him into someone willing to fight against America when it is the aggressor/“villain”, then he would go down as the second best Superman writer after Morrison for me. A Superman run that rebukes both Byrne’s super patriot jingoism and Waid’s comfort character nostalgia, a Superman run that actually has something to say? Folks, that is what Superman desperately needs. My fear however, based on what King has said in interviews, is that not only would he not do that, he would try to justify this pathetic hypocrisy that Superman demonstrates here as somehow admirable or heroic.

Wonder Woman #14 - I am happy that Lizzie will at least be a Diana/Steve clay baby, even if I'm not thrilled at Steve getting killed off like that. For those who asked, yes I do think Lizzie seemingly set to be Diana and Steve’s “biological” (for whatever that’s worth when it comes to magical clay babies brought to life) daughter will cement her existence as a permanent addition to the Wonders. King's stilted dialogue hurts my ability to empathize often, but I did love the scene at the end where Diana prays to her mother to bring her own child to life. For some reason that really connected with me. I'm going to guess that it won't be that easy however, and that Emelie's child will still play a role in Lizzie's creation. Perhaps the child is a stillborn and Hippolyta is able to recycle the child's soul into the clay body? Unless that was merely a red herring. I also think Steve won’t stay dead, I can see Lizzie going on a quest to the Underworld to bring him back.

Ultimate Spider-Man #10 - Are Ben and Jonah brain damaged? Do they really think Kingpin is going to be fooled by them going “Haha it wasn't us, it was Ben Reilly not Ben Parker! Why yes Reilly is my late wife's maiden name but that is merely a coincidence :^)”. For their sake I hope this just some legal maneuvering to avoid getting sued, not that suing is the worst thing Kingpin can do to them... Otherwise I love the Ben/Jonah team-up, I can see future adaptions of Spider-Man taking from this even if they don't take anything else from USM. They were so damn funny this issue, especially with how they kept trying Harry's patience. We badly need an MJ/Gwen focused issue, I want to see those two interact next. MJ doesn't consider Gwen a friend yet and I'd like to see those two grow closer the way Peter and Harry have. Speaking of Harry he continues to get dangerously close to crossing the moral line with how he openly states he was considering killing Ben and Jonah if he had to.

[dw-flagler]

okay, so:

back in the 70s, Spider-Man's Clone Saga was a thing. A lot happened, but the long and short of it was this: Gwen Stacy was killed by the green goblin in Amazing Spider-Man 121. A while later, she seemingly comes back to life. This is revealed to be a plot of the supervillain The Jackal, who created clones of peter and gwen because he could just do that. Peter fights the clone, one of them dies, and they assume that the surviving peter is the original. There's another clone saga, which was widely panned, but the important thing for my post here is Ultimate Spider-Man (2000-2009).

We have to establish a couple things first, though. So in USM issue 31, Gwen Stacy's dad, John Stacy, is killed by a spider-man impersonator (for honestly some really stupid reasons but whatever), and Gwen is formally adopted by May, moving in with her and Peter in issue 32.

Now, shortly after this, the venom saga happens. It differs from most versions in that the symbiotes, in the ultimate universe, are not aliens, but instead human-made living organisms. They were made by Edward Brock Sr. and Richard Parker, and peter's parents are killed because Richard refuses to make the suits weapons. Eddie Brock Jr. (Peter's childhood friend, current college student, and pedophile) recreates one of the symbiotes, and eventually it bonds with Eddie to become Venom in issue 37.

Anyway, some other stuff happens, and then in Issue 57, Gwen finds out that Peter is Spider-Man. She confronts him in Issue 59, and eventually decides she's cool with him being spider-man. She calls him her "super hero little brother" in a conversation with Mary Jane.

Later, in issue 60, Curt Conners, the guy whose lab Eddie was working in, takes a sample of Peter's blood, and, working with a guy named Ben Reilly, creates another symbiote, Carnage.

Carnage, a symbiote cloned from peter, breaks out of the lab, killing a bunch of people, including Gwen, in issue 62. Peter, furious at this, tracks down the Carnage symbiote (which never actually has a host in this universe) and throws it in a fire, killing it. Later, in Issue 64, that other guy, Ben Reilly, steals a sample of the Carnage symbiote from Connors' lab, for unknown purposes.

Cut to issue 97, the start of Ultimate's Clone Saga. So Peter encounters this supervillain called the scorpion, who turns out to be a clone of him. He also encounters Jessica Drew(!), who is also a clone of him. Then, after jessica whooped his ass, he sees Gwen, who has miraculously come back to life!

So, the particular details of the ultimate clone saga aren't important for this post, but I'll describe them in brief anyway. The clones, including Scorpion, Jessica, and the others who i'm not mentioning, were made by Otto Octavius and Ben Reilly together, working to recreate Spider-Man for the CIA. Ben, as he already had a failed attempt to clone spider-man just sitting in his pocket or something, decided to do some fucky stuff to the carnage sample he had on him. He tries to recreate the full Carnage, but it doesn't work quite right, and it ends up kind of becoming Gwen Stacy. It's still carnage, but it's also her.

Anyway, Peter and Jessica beat the hell out of Doc Ock, who was responsible for this, all the clones other than Jessica and Gwen die, Peter gets back together with Mary Jane and breaks up with Kitty Pryde (who he was dating at the time), everything goes back to normal. More or less. Eventually, carnage Gwen gets attacked by Eddie "Pedophile" Brock and he steals her symbiote (despite the fact that she is a symbiote) and becomes Venom again, and she is completely normal now.

Anyway, by Vol. 2 Issue 1 (about 30 issues later), we're in a new status-quo. The important part is this: Peter has broken up with Mary Jane (again) off screen, and is now dating Gwen Stacy for some reason.

So, as I have exhaustively laid out, peter is, in fact, dating his own clone.

What's even weirder about this is that a few issues later, in Vol. 2 Issue 9, Johnny Storm (who was there during the whole clone saga but I guess he wasn't paying attention) goes and kisses Jessica Drew, who is also a clone of peter, and peter finds this extremely gross.

I don't really have a moral or anything to this. I just sort of recognized that gwen is technically a clone of peter and felt like i had to explain this to someone.

[garretthoughtsvol3]

Garrett's Comic Book Reviews:

Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1 #1 #2 #38

Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 6 ASM #31 ASM #32 ASM #44

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (Mini) #1

Spider-Girl (1998) What If? #105 #41

Spider-Verse Unlimited Infinity Comics #26

Spider-Man Unlimited Infinity Comics #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18

Spidey Super Stories #1 #2

Spider-Man: Chapter One #1

Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #0 #1 #2 #3 #4

Love Unlimited Infinity Comics #67 #68 #69

Ultimate Invasion #1

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 FCBD Issue

Adventures of Spider-Man #1

Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars: Battleworld #1 #2 #3 #4

Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) #1 #2 #3 #4 #5

Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6

Jackpot (2024) #1

Edge of the Spider-Verse (2024) #1 #2 #3

Women of Marvel (2024) #1

Spectacular Spider-Men #1 #2

Spider-Gwen: Smash #1 #2 #3 #4 Giant Sized Spider-Gwen

Spider-Woman (2023) #5 #6 #7

Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #1 #2 #3

Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt / X-Men #1

Free Comic Book Day 2024: Ultimate Universe / Spider-Man #1

Spider-Man 3 Prequel Comic (2007) #1

[birgittesilverbae]

tell the people! 32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 1 Issue #160

I think it all goes back to my affinity for meatshields, for people who will without question throw themselves between their loved ones and a threat again and again and again because they're selfless to a fault and they can't imagine being anything else

"But I saved you. I did it. I did..." has absolutely wormed its way into my brain and every couple of months I have to revisit the issue

(say what you want about Ultimates - and I will too because a lot of it is edgelord yikes - but I grew up with Ultimate!Spidey and I'm always gonna have the softest spot for him

[scienceninjaturtle]

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #14

JONATHAN HICKMAN (W) • MARCO CHECCHETTO (A/C)

ULTIMATE SPECIAL VARIANT COVER BY GERARDO SANDOVAL

VARIANT COVER BY CARMEN CARNERO • VARIANT COVER BY MAHMUD ASRAR

SPIDER-MAN VERSUS KRAVEN!

After the horrors Peter and Harry endured during KRAVEN’S HUNT in the last issue, Spider-Man and Green Goblin turn the HUNTER into the HUNTED! But are they still prey in someone else’s game?

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

[dispatchdcu]

Blood Hunters #3 Preview

Blood Hunters #3 Preview #BloodHunters #bloodhunt #bloodhunters #MARVEL #marvelcomics #comics #comicbooks #news #mcu #art #info #NCBD #comicbooknews #previews #reviews

Blood Hunters #3 Preview: The BLOODCOVEN strikes! It’s an all-out action issue as the super-vamp villains finally descend upon the BLOOD HUNTERS. Will a vampirized SPIDER-MAN on their side be enough to push back the darkness? Marvel’s newest – and bloodiest – team faces their ultimate challenge! ERICA SCHULTZ • ROBERT GILL (A) • Cover by EMA LUPACCHINO VARIANT COVER BY DAVID MESSINA 32 PGS./Rated…

[destinyc1020]

FYI Laura mentioned Zendaya in her cosmopolitan interview

Speaking of collabs, you and Zendaya became friends after meeting on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming. What would people be surprised to learn about her?

Just how she is a fun, down-to-earth person, despite being stunningly gorgeous and good at everything and stupidly talented and one of those people that you almost want to hate but you can’t because they’re just cool and nice.2 She’s a special person for sure.

Folks on Twitter were recently discussing Zendaya and Keke Palmer and the role that colorism has played in their respective careers. Some argued that Zendaya has enjoyed more mainstream success than Keke because she’s closer to a Eurocentric ideal of beauty. Do you think colorism is still an issue in Hollywood? Do you think that lighter-skinned actresses have an advantage?

Some of the most successful actresses of color tend to be on the lighter side and that’s definitely not okay. There are so many facets to the Black experience. There are so many ways that Black people look, and only having one narrow view is something that I think is ultimately putting everybody at a disadvantage—we’re only shortchanging ourselves when we don’t show a diverse range of stories and a diverse range of people onscreen. I do think it’s something that’s slowly starting to change, but even when we were doing Spider-Man, I would get called “Zendaya” all the time. People wouldn’t even take the time to differentiate us.

You don’t look anything alike.

No, not at all. It got to the point where we would joke about it a lot. What else are you going to do but laugh because it’s so completely ridiculous.

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a41118637/laura-harrier-mental-health-politics/

Wow!!

I loved this interview Anon. Thanks so much for sharing! 😃😊👍🏾

I love what she says here. And my gosh.. the fact that ppl wouldn't even take the time to differentiate btwn her and Zendaya on set. Smh 🤦🏾‍♀️

Anyway, great interview!! 😃 What she says about colorism in Hollywood is so on point. 👍🏾

Very very interesting!

She also confirmed what we already know... that Zendaya is such a sweet-heart! 🥰❤🥺

No wonder everyone falls in love with her lol 😆 😂

[shamemp3]

can ihave a peter parker reading list?

yes! there’s obv a lot of peter comics so i’ll try to only include important/good storylines (but sometimes the important stories are not good). also im so sorry if this got messy i am not the best with organization. and if i miss anyth important someone let me know!!!

his first appearance is in amazing fantasy #15! 

amazing spider-man volume 1, tbh it is good and very fun but also incredibly long so if you don’t want to read the whole thing you should look for specific arcs/characters you want to see. if you need help singling out issues you need then let me know and i can make a specific list for characters/arc but i’ll just list some issues that i think are important: 

#1-6: first appearance of some major spidey villains like the chameleon, vulture, doctor octopus, sandman, lizard. you also see spidey’s first interaction with the f4.

#9, 13-16, annual #1, 17-21, 24-25, 31-33: first appearance of electro, mysterio, green goblin, kraven the hunter, scorpion, mj watson, harry osborn, and gwen stacy. spidey and dd also team up for the first time

#39-42, annual #3, 46, 50-56, annual #5, 77-79, 88-90: first appearance of shocker and the prowler, as well as some really important spidey arcs.

#95-98, 119-122, 129-131, 136-137, 142-151: first appearances of the punisher and the jackal. some important doc ock and green goblin arcs. the original clone saga

#182-183, 194-200, 204-205, 238-245, 248-251: first appearance of the black cat and the hobgoblin. some important petermj issues, and aunt may issues. for issue 248, just read the second story (the kid who collects spider-man)

#252, 257, 258-261, 275-277, 279, 290-292, annual #21: first appearance of the symbiote suit, petermj comics

#299-300: first venom appearance

kraven’s last hunt

the clone saga

the spectacular spider-man (1976): #107-110, 134-136 (the death of jean dewolff arc)

the spectacular spider-man (1976): 178-184, 189-190, 199-200 (harry osborn storyline)

amazing spider-man volume 2: okay the best part of vol 2 is definitely straczynski’s run, which i recommend you read all of it, but if you don’t want to do that i’ll recommend just a few issues down below. warning, this is also where sins past and one more day happen but yeah:

#30-35, 37-39, 49-50, 55-56: first appearances of ezekiel and morlun. important aunt may and mj storylines, also shows peter as a teacher.

(starting here, we are still in stracynski’s run, but the issue numbers start at #500 instead, which means you would probably find these issues in the original 1963 run) #501, 505: not incredibly important to the overall plot, but still meaningful issues.

sins past: #509-514 (u rly dont have to read this lol im just putting it here cuz it’s considered important but it’s rly shitty and def can be skipped)

#519-524: peter, mj, and may living with the avengers

spider-man/human torch (2005) (one of my all time fav comics)

the other: evolve or die

#532-545: the war at home, back in black, and one more day. these events are all connected to each other and also to the civil war event so it would be helpful if you have knowledge of what that event is about. this is a really really crappy storyline but also crucially important. this is where stracyznski’s run ends

#587, 590-592, 600, 606-607: petermatt teamup, fantastic four teamup, return of mj and the black cat.

#648-656, fantastic four #588, asm #657-662, 665: peter working at horizon labs, and other important arcs.

spider-island: #666-673 (also not that great but a big spidey event)

#680-681, 698-700: spideytorch issues, and then the beginning of superior spiderman (you dont have to read 699.1)

superior spider-man: hnnnnergh this run got annoyingly long and otto was in peter’s body for a while and i understand if you dont want to read every issue of this so here are a few:

superior spider-man #1-2, 4-5, 9-10, 13-14, 20, 30-31

amazing spider-man volume 3 (if you want to skip over superior spidey come here): tbh a lot of this is just peter fixing his life after all the issues doc ock caused, but it’s not that bad. there are only 20 issues so you can probably read all of them. this run features the debut of cindy moon and also the spiderverse event!

amazing spider-man volume 4: okay tbh probably my least favorite asm run. it’s boring and treats mj badly and aside from a few issues i really do not care for it at all. it’s only 32 issues, so it’s also short enough that you can read it on your own, but yea :’). if u want just completely skip over clone conspiracy there is no point to it

amazing spider-man volume 5 (current run) this run is still ongoing and tbh it’s not that great but it seems to be leading up to something big and it does have nice petermj moments so!!

friendly neighborhood spider-man (2019): my favorite spidey run of all time it is so good in every way you can imagine. if you were to read one spidey run i would definitely recommend it to be this one

spider-man: blue (it focuses on gwen so!!! it’s very emotional)

spider-men (2012): this is when peter and miles meet! i think it’s rly cute and i do like it a lot

you can also check out the gauntlet and grim hunt arcs but i dont care much for them tbh so i didnt rly include them earlier

these aren’t in 616 but i also definitely recommend ultimate spider-man (2000) and (2009). they’re definitely long so if u need a reading guide for them let me know!!

also just bc i Need everyone to love spideytorch here is a spideytorch reading guide bc i included some of their issues but def not all of them so! this is a small list but it links the like Major list with every spideytorch issue so!!

also bc i love petermj here is a reading guide for them as well!

ALSO bc i love peter and matt’s friendship here is a guide for them as well!

i think im done but if u need any specific recommendations for peter regarding relationships/arcs/anything really let me know!! i hope this helps!! 

[multiverseforger]

Christopher Powell was born in Queens, New York. While witnessing his policeman father accept a bribe from a crime boss at an abandoned amusement park, teenager Chris Powell discovered a mysterious amulet. This amulet allowed him to switch places with a powerful android that his mind controlled. Powell vowed to use the amulet as "an edge against crime." In this role, he worked with other superheroes and battled a number of costumed villains.[8]

Darkhawk soon encountered his first supervillain, the Hobgoblin, and battled him alongside Spider-Man.[8][9] He next fought Savage Steel,[10] and then Portal.[11] He next battled the U-Foes alongside Captain America.[12] He battled the villain Lodestone, who attempted to remove his amulet.[13] He battled Savage Steel again, this time alongside the Punisher.[14] Darkhawk battled the cyborg Midnight, Thunderball, and the Secret Empire alongside Spider-Man, the Punisher, Night Thrasher, Nova, and Moon Knight.[15] Darkhawk then battled assassins from the Foreigner's 1400 Club.[16] He battled Tombstone, who successfully removed his amulet from his chest.[17]

Darkhawk occasionally worked with the New Warriors and was a provisional member of the West Coast Avengers. Darkhawk also battled a number of costumed villains, including the Brotherhood of Mutants.



Darkhawk's second android body. Art by Ron Lim.

Powell discovered that the android was stored and repaired aboard a starship in a dimension called Null Space. When he used the amulet to access the android body, his human body switched places with it. Five Darkhawk amulets were commissioned by an alien crime lord named Dargin Bokk. The scientists who created the technology eventually used them to assault Bokk. After Bokk destroyed the other scientists two of the scientists beamed their minds to Earth and merged with two Earth scientists there. Byron/Ned Dobbs and Mondu/John Trane created a sixth amulet which is the one that turned Christopher Powell into Darkhawk.[18]

However, the events of War of Kings: Ascension cast doubt on how much of this—even the existence of Bokk himself—was real.[19]

Later, Powell and Darkhawk were split into two separate beings, each with Powell's memories.[20] The Darkhawk body was then transformed into a new shape when it accidentally downloaded data from the ship,[21] later re-emerging so that Powell could change back and forth between the two without teleporting to Null Space.[22]

Excelsior (the Loners)Edit

Powell later joined a group of former teenage superheroes who were struggling with their current lot in life called the Loners (formerly known as Excelsior). Members of this group included Phil Urich (a former Green Goblin), Turbo from the New Warriors, Lightspeed from Power Pack, and Ricochet from the Slingers. The group was hired by a mysterious benefactor – later revealed to be former Avengers sidekick and Captain Marvel and Hulk partner Rick Jones – to track down the Runaways in Los Angeles.[23]

Powell displayed trouble controlling his anger in his Darkhawk persona, leading to a short skirmish with Turbo. Dismayed with himself, Powell admits to his teammates that he suffered a nervous breakdown.[24] Powell decided to never turn into Darkhawk again, but this decision did not last long, as shortly thereafter the group battled the notorious Avengers villain, Ultron. Darkhawk delivered the final blow, using a darkforce blast at point blank range to blow Ultron to pieces. Following the battle and the revelation of Jones' involvement, Excelsior opted to remain together and act as a more traditional superhero team.[25]

Excelsior eventually change their minds about being superheroes and instead become a 'superhero support group' due to the events of the superhuman Civil War rendering moot their original purpose to dissuade and/or help young superheroes cope with their powers/superhuman identities, as this role was now being officially fulfilled by the U.S. government[26] (though Excelsior's new group mission was also fulfilled by the U.S. government). However, a new addition to the group, Mattie Franklin convinces Powell to use his powers in order to help her take down the MGH dealers that moved to Los Angeles. Powell inconsistently displays his rage issues during this time, mostly acting as a peacemaker between Mattie and Ricochet after the three team up to battle crime.[27]

Secret InvasionEdit

Deciding to register with the government, Darkhawk is assigned to the position of Security Chief at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.. During the Skrull invasion, he teams up with his old team-mate Nova[28] for two issues of that character's own title, but is also seen in the background of several issues thereafter.

War of KingsEdit

Darkhawk is involved with the War of Kings event in a four-issue series written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning called War Of Kings: Ascension.[29] With the Loners series ending with low sales and unlikely to be followed with a sequel series, series writer CB Cebulski was assigned to write a two-issue War of Kings: Darkhawk series, with Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning co-scripting the second issue to ensure it tied into their own 'Ascension' series.[30][31]

A second Darkhawk armor appears near the Powell family home, and the unknown occupant of the armor forces Powell to transform to his own armored form shortly before an explosion rocks the immediate area.

Powell's family survives the blast, but his mother is critically injured. The new Darkhawk introduces himself as "Talon" and claims to be part of "The Fraternity of Raptors", an order created as "the curators of history, and the custodians of the future," of which he and Powell are the last two members. He also explains that Powell's anger issues are a direct result of the amulet not being designed to work with humans. Talon offers to assist Powell with the amulet, and after some deliberation he opts to do so; the two then retreat to the Negative Zone.

The story picks up in War of Kings: Ascension. Powell and Talon are fighting a group of Chitinauts, bug troops that serve Catastrophus, a lieutenant of Annihilus, where Talon's brutal techniques horrify Powell. Later, Powell reveals that he wanted to be just like his friend Nova. Talon explains to him that the Nova Corps are nothing compared to the Fraternity of Raptors, referring to themselves as "architects of fate". Eventually, after being tricked by Talon into fighting just as lethally, Powell manages to connect to the Datasong of the Null Source, which gives him visions of the true past of the Fraternity—a history of kidnappings and assassinations which lead Powell to conclude that the Fraternity are "the bad guys." At this point, Talon attacks him, purging Powell's consciousness from the armor, which manifests a new persona: Razor.[32]

Talon and Razor then recover the Cosmic Control Rod from Catastrophus, Talon stopping briefly to implant a suggestion in the gestating Annihilus, and proceed onward. Powell's personality is revealed not to have been wholly destroyed yet, and a vision of his father tells him that much of what he believed about the armor was false; the prior history, even Evilhawk himself, was a lie made up by his own mind, the other armor a second configuration that took control to cover earlier anger issues. Horrified, Powell's psyche breaks free of the prison it was locked in, only for Powell to find himself on a great tree adorned with thousands of amulets like his own, where he encounters gargoyle-like creatures that urge him to return to the one which he has just emerged from. Meanwhile, in the Negative Zone, Talon and Razor offer Blastaar the Cosmic Control Rod, in exchange for his assistance influencing the outcome of the War of Kings.[33]

Powell encounters a Skrull on the tree mentioned earlier, who has a relationship with Talon much as Razor has with him. However, the Skrull also confides that humanity, as a newer race, cannot be wholly accounted for or controlled by the Raptors, and that Powell's own outbursts of rage have been growing pains in his own control. With this understanding, Powell is able to reassert control over the Darkhawk armor, but not before Razor shoots several Shi'ar and kills Lilandra.[34]

Powell later confronts Talon, and while he is able to force the other Raptor to release the Skrull temporarily, he is quick to begin asserting control again. The Skrull commits suicide to prevent Talon from manifesting, but not before he charges Powell with destroying the rest of the Raptor amulets before they can bring the Fraternity of Raptors back.[35]

Realm of KingsEdit

In Realm of Kings, the Shi'ar Imperium declares Darkhawk the "Galaxy's Most Wanted," making Powell an intergalactic fugitive. His old friend Nova, not willing to believe Powell could be a murderer, tracks him to the planet Shard, which is in danger of falling into a rift in space known as the Fault. Nova offers to help Powell clear his name, but they are interrupted by an attacking biomass from the Fault, and by the awakening of another Raptor, named Gyre. All three are trapped on the planet as it is disintegrated by the Fault.[36]

Darkhawk finds himself saved, alongside Nova, by Nova's old enemy the Sphinx, who seems unaware of Darkhawk's presence. Together, the two heroes join past versions of Reed Richards, Black Bolt, and Namorita in helping the Sphinx combat his younger self. The young Sphinx draws his own warriors, including Gyre, into the battle, and Darkhawk faces and defeats Gyre in single combat, exorcising him from the Kree archaeologist he had possessed. During the fight, Gyre reveals that many more Raptors are re-awakening. Ultimately, the elder Sphinx defeats his counterpart, and mentally controls Darkhawk into giving him his younger self's Ka Stone. Nevertheless, the heroes are able to defeat the double-powered Sphinx and return to their proper places in time (except Namorita, who is pulled into Darkhawk and Nova's time).[37]

Darkhawk returns to Earth and Project: Pegasus to help Nova fight the evil Quasar from the Cancerverse on the other side of the Fault. The evil Quasar damages Darkhawk so badly that his suit shuts down, leaving him alive but unable to accompany Nova as he goes to warn the universe about the threat posed by the Fault. Nova leaves Darkhawk in the care of Project:Pegasus' medical team.[38]

Avengers ArenaEdit

Darkhawk appears in Avengers Arena as part of the Marvel NOW! event. He is among the young superheroes that are abducted by Arcade and sent to Murderworld despite not being a teenager himself. Arcade expects his captives to fight to the death.[39] Darkhawk is later attacked by an unidentified cybernetic creature, which tears his transformation amulet from his chest.[40] The amulet is found by Chase Stein, who transforms into the new Darkhawk.[41] The attacker was later revealed to be Death Locket (who was in turn controlled by Apex).[volume & issue needed] When Death Locket stumbled into an underground facility, she comes across a room where Christopher Powell's body is alongside the others who have died in battle.[42] A few days later, when Death Locket and Apex raid the place, it is revealed Darkhawk is alive and Death Locket releases him. He then attacks and knocks out Arcade.[43] Arcade soon talks Apex into letting the war play out, and she controls Death Locket into shooting Darkhawk in the shoulder.[44] Once the series ended, Darkhawk was taken away to parts unknown, injured but reunited with his amulet.[45]

Infinity CountdownEdit

After the events of Avengers Arena as seen during the "Infinity Countdown" storyline, Powell is shown to have joined the New York Police Department and is engaged to a woman named Miranda, with whom he has shared his history as Darkhawk. He experiences frequent visions of the Tree of Shadows in Null Space despite the Darkhawk amulet being damaged and no longer allowing him to change form. One day, he is sent out to the Wonderland Amusement Park, the place where he first became Darkhawk, to investigate a disturbance. There, he is accosted by two dirty cops and almost attacked when he refuses their offer to take bribes. The group is soon attacked by two members of the Shi'ar Fraternity of Raptors, with one able to take Powell's amulet and use it to change into a heavily damaged Razor. The Razor personality asserts control, defeats the other Shi'ar, and teleports Powell to the Datasong in a place it calls "The Perch," where all of the android's memories of its time with Powell are stored. Razor, now calling itself Darkhawk, tells Powell that his compassion and dedication to justice have imprinted upon it, with it wants to rejoin with him in order to stop the Shi'ar Raptors from releasing the true Fraternity of Raptor androids from Null Space. Powell accepts and becomes Darkhawk once more, merging in both body and mind with the Darkhawk android and gaining a new, more powerful form.[46] Seeking a means to get to space, Darkhawk soon encounters Death's Head, who is on Earth to collect a bounty for Darkhawk's armor. After a brief scuffle, Darkhawk realizes that Death's Head would have a spaceship and moves to strike a deal.[47]

Before he goes, Powell says one last goodbye to Miranda, but upon arriving, the Raptors attack Death's Head and swarm Darkhawk to a secret Shi'ar outpost, easily overpowering him in his Darkhawk armor. The Raptors' leader Gyre (who escaped the Null Space along with his fellow Raptors) goes on to reveal to Powell that the amulet is really the key to unleashing the Ratha'kon or Dark Starhawk, which the Shi'ar intended to be a "predator" to the Phoenix Force. However, to bring it to life, two tributes were required, one who's willing and one who's forced. Gyre wanted Powell's amulet because of how special it was, since Powell actually convinced his amulet's persona, Razor, to break free from the Fraternity's stronghold, thus developing sentience. Gyre punches through Powell's chest, leaving him for dead, and then uses his amulet as the forced tribute to fuse with the willing tribute, who turns out to be none other than Robbie Rider, thus allowing Ratha'kon to possess the latter's body. Gyre then takes the Dark Starhawk and the Raptors to Earth — a place where the Phoenix loves to go — for a mysterious mission.[48]

As Powell dragged himself across the ground, he encountered his other half Razor who revealed to him the origins of the Tree of Shadows, a creation of the Gardner and of the first Raptor who was of primitive Shi'ar/Skrull descent. After some coaxing from Razor, Powell tapped into his hidden strength and emerged with a new Darkhawk body after fully fusing his mind with the armor. Powell then flew after the Raptors to stop them.[49]

Powell battled the Raptors with help from Death's Head and Nova Prime. Nova made it difficult to fight Dark Darkhawk as he preferred to reason with his brother Robbie than fight him. Dark Darkhawk then shockingly turned on Gyre and destroyed him while stating that he would bring order to the universe, not Gyre. The Raptors were eventually stopped when Death's Head rigged the power core of the Kree ship the Raptors stole to explode. Only Dark Starhawk survived the explosion, though stunned, allowing Powell to reclaim his Darkhawk Amulet. Dark Starhawk then disappeared in a flash of light after striking his Nega-Bands together. Grieving over the loss of Robbie, Nova angrily told Powell to stay on Earth or he would have him locked up. After Powell returned to Earth, he decided stay out of space for a while. Later that night, he was met by Sleepwalker while he dreamed, telling him that the influence of the Infinity Stones threatened the Mindscape and that the only way he could protect it was to become a Sleepwalker.[50]

Guardians of the GalaxyEdit

Chris would later turn up again at a meeting of great and powerful cosmic players set up by Starfox, brother to the Mad Titan Thanos. While going over the deceased cosmic brigand's last will and testament, this great congruence was attacked by the Cull Obsidian; The Black Order. Contracted by the death goddess Hela, to retrieve what was left of her former consort from their court. All while leaving the galaxian enclave to be sucked into an artificial black hole in order to cover their tracks.[51] Powell would later find himself stranded in the middle of deep space while being brought into the clutches of the Universal Church of Truth. They had him in a mental simulation where he believed himself to have been separated from Razor, run through and across time and space; seeing past, present and future iterations of himself while in the black hole, only to finally find release in the care of a ship piloted by the Kree, Shi'ar and Skrulls. Three races whom are known to be the bitterest enemies in the universe, his final hallucination stems to finding himself a child again while adorning his Raptor body. Something he confirms to his shock and horror when he takes off his helmet only to see his childlike visage staring back at him in the mirror.

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 19: MJ is NOT a super hero

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Master Post

Mary Jane is an incredibly gifted woman who you don’t want to mess with. But do those gifts really make her a hero, one who could take on Mysterio?

I was initially planning on looking at Mary Jane’s combat record in this post. However, before doing that there needs to be a dash more context to really put things into perspective.

I could simply cite Sen v2 #32 to prove my point. In this issue the Parker family are on the run since Peter unmasked and opposed the Super Human Registration Act. At her wits end MJ contacted Sue Richards for guidance.

During their conversation MJ opens up about how stressed she is. She even refers to Sue and other heroes as ‘you people’, clearly demarking a difference between them and herself.

Sue basically tells MJ to toughen up, referencing herself, Jessica Jones and Storm, the (then) wives of Reed Richards, Luke Cage and Black Panther respectively.

However, at the end of the conversation MJ points out the difference between herself those women was that she didn’t have powers to fall back on.

There you are. MJ herself acknowledging she has no powers and is not a super hero.

End of discussion.

Well no, because we can dive much deeper.

Let me start with this irrefutable statement: Mary Jane is a bad ass.

She truly is.

Mentally, emotionally, physically, she’s pulled off some truly impressive things.

But the thing is those things she’s pulled off…they wouldn’t be that impressive (if at all) if say, Wonder Woman did them. Or She Hulk. Or Mockingbird. Or Batgirl/Barbra Gordon. Or you know…Spider-Man himself.

So why do fans gravitate towards these things, these feats of heroism, self-defence and protection of others?

Because they are impressive considering Mary Jane is NOT a super hero.

You see it’s all a matter of scale.

The Chameleon is a trained and experienced mercenary but doesn’t possess any super human powers beyond the ability to change how he looks. In what has become one of her most iconic moments, Mary Jane defeated him with a mere baseball bat. This occurred when she knew what to expect, when Chameleon was underestimating her and when he was unarmed. That is  impressive no doubt.

But were the situation the same but Batgirl was substituted for Mary Jane it wouldn’t nearly be as impressive because Batgirl, even with just a baseball bat, is at worst on a similar power level as the Chameleon. But in all seriousness is almost certainly his superior in terms of combat proficiency. She’s thoroughly trained in various forms of hand-to-hand combat, strategy, thinking on the back foot and highly experienced.

And experienced against people who’re actually much more physically dangerous than the Chameleon, such as Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy or the Joker. When you remove Chameleon’s stealth and weapons you are left with someone who is highly violent and could kill the average civilian if given the chance…but ultimately not someone as dangerous as most of the famous super villains from Marvel or DC.

If anything arming Batgirl with a baseball bat would be needlessly excessive, she could defeat Chameleon with just some punches or kicks.

Now apply that same scenario but substitute in Mockingbird, who can dent steel with her bare hands and has an accelerated healing factor and arguably superior fighting skills to Batgirl. Or how about She-Hulk, someone with vastly more strength, an even better healing factor and immensely more durability. And as Wonder Woman…she is literally a millennia old demi-goddess with divinely empowered durability, strength and speed, fast enough in fact to easily deflect bullets. *

If you were told any of these  women defeated the Chameleon with ‘just a baseball bat’ would you  be impressed? Would you feel that’s a huge accomplishment for any of them?

Of course not.

Because on even an incredibly rudimentary power scale common sense would clearly define for you that Chameleon wouldn’t be a physical threat to any of them.

Because they are actual super heroes wit either physically enhanced physiologies or advanced equipment or highly practiced expert level combat training.

The reason MJ dispatching the Chameleon has been celebrated for over 20 years is because none of that applies to her.

Let’s unpack exactly  what MJ does and doesn’t have in her arsenal.

Mary Jane lacks any bona fide super human abilities or advanced combat training.

She has experienced being targeted directly by criminals or being caught up in criminal encounters. But these are intermittent experiences resulting from either her association with people the criminals have a grudge against (typically Spider-Man) or plain bad luck. She does not regularly  in her day-to-day life deal with such things nor does she even deal with them on a weekly basis in her life. If she does they are likely the result of simply living in Marvel’s version of New York city, which thereby means most of her experiences are the same as the average resident of the city.

Apart from these intermittent experiences (and exempting her seeking help from others) the traits she possesses that might (in one capacity or another) be applicable in a dangerous situation are as follows:

She is a physically fit woman approximately aged between 24 and her mid-30s. But nowhere close to being Olympic athlete levels of fitness. 

Excerpt from ‘The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man 2004’

In terms of conventional/stereotypical beauty standards she is generally considered to be stunningly attractive. She is 5’8” and weighs in at 120 lbs. Her outward appearance then could potentially be used to make her would-be assailants underestimate her or even be dazzled by her beauty as a distraction

Mary Jane is not blind to the harsher realities of life and has developed proficient street smarts. But it’s not like she knows where to find stool pigeons and how to go about shaking them down for information, nor the inner workings of the criminal underworld.

She is a skilled actress particular practiced at adopting the façade of a seemingly carefree and simple party girl

She is at worst rather experienced when it comes to flirtation. Arguably we could extrapolate this into her being decent at general seduction but that’s debatable

She has good at improvising

She is exceptionally skilled in social interactions

She has a pretty decent ability to read people’s personalities, but is not a fully trained psychologist or any similar field that’d make her an expert at reading people very quickly and taking advantage of them as a result

She has certain basic self-defence skills gleamed from classes most people can attend

She has had at exactly one basic training session with Captain America, where the focus was more upon mental discipline and focus. The session never implied he taught her any practical self-defence moves and the session was geared more to instructing Peter  not Mary Jane.

She has demonstrated/developed certain basic and unrefined (albeit often proficient) self-defence skill. These primarily consist of using melee weapons (typically objects not actually designed for such a purpose, like baseball bats) and to a lesser extent firearms, and to an even lesser extent hand-to-hand attacks. Mary Jane for instance has never been shown to practice using a handgun, although she does know how. She can slug someone in the jaw, but she’s never been shown to have trained how to do that, you see what I am getting at.

Technically speaking she possesses a pair of bracelets that are modified web-shooters, along with a set of regular web-shooters. 

The former have a limited amount of web-fluid and are designed to stall a target, with the aim being for Mary Jane to surprise her assailant and buy time to escape, not engage in an outright fight. She has been shown to rarely carry either of these on her person though and there is no implication she has them in Amazing Mary Jane #1. Additionally since she is on set it would be unlikely that she’d be allowed to wear them as they wouldn’t be part of her on outfit for the movie.

Along with most of New York she has possessed identical powers to Spider-Man (in addition to organic based web-shooters) for less than 24 hours, during which time she displayed a proficiency in using them (due to bad writing, literally no one struggled to adjust to the use of Spider-Man’s powers). She has never possessed these powers again since, and this includes in AMJ.

On a handful of occasions she has piloted various different advanced armoured suits designed by Tony Stark. These have chiefly included his rudimentary MKII armour and the Iron Spider armour originally designed for Peter’s use. 

In both she demonstrated proficient defence skills. It is not clear how easy the armours are to use so whether MJ’s proficiency was due to a natural skill or due to the armour’s design is debatable. Regardless there is no indication she regularly has access to this technology and certainly not in AMJ.

MJ possesses incredibly strong willpower and understands the need for self-sacrifice, demonstrating in her time a willingness to give something of her self for the good of others. This could be important in regards to protecting other people.

As you can see MJ’s skillset is impressive for a civilian.

But some instances (like the Stark armours she’s donned) make the depths of her skills unclear. The most advanced equipment she has access to are her web-shooters but she is shown to only use or even carry them on occasion. In both cases she is not shown to have access to either in AMJ. Her other skills are things anyone in real life could hypothetically possess and in fact several other civilians in the Marvel universe either do possess or could possess.

What I'm saying is Mary Jane is, by any metric, a civilian.

A civilian who knows how to use a gun, has had cause to defend her self dozens of times and is very good at thinking on her feet. But a civilian nevertheless.

She has the spirit to cut it as a superhero but not without powers, training or access to advanced equipment like Iron Man’s armour. None of which she currently possesses or has access to in AMJ.

When you get right down to it the reason we fans celebrate whenever Mary Jane triumphs or survives or even just pulls off some good moves against a criminal or super villain is because we understand she is ultimately the underdog.

We grasp that it’s innately more impressive for someone in the featherweight division to even hold their own for a little while against someone in the heavyweight division because normally they wouldn’t stand a chance and we are naturally inclined to be sympathetic towards them.**

This isn’t exclusive to Mary Jane by any means, underdog stories date back to the Bible itself with the classic tale of David and Goliath.

To use an example closer to home though, in ASM #229-230 Spider-Man had to stop the Juggernaut, a villain whose strength and durability had given him a reputation as unstoppable. He regularly tangled with the Hulk and was over all far beyond Spider-Man’s weight class. The story is widely regarded as one of the all time best in Spider-Man history, primarily because  it is such a shining example of an underdog story.

Such stories are fairly common in super hero comic books, but so too is the popularity of civilian supporting characters that contend with outright super villains and criminals.

Alfred Pennyworth is utterly beloved within the Batman fandom with his attempts and successes at dealing with Batman’s infamous rogues celebrated. The same goes for Edwin Jarvis, sometimes celebrated as the bravest of all the Avengers. Jarvis’ popularity is such he was in fact the main character of the milestone 400th issue of the Avengers. And to use a closer equivalent to MJ, Lois Lane’s moments of skill, toughness and bravery in the face of danger are celebrated within Superman circles.

NONE of these characters are super heroes. Even Alfred, who (in most modern incarnations) has some military history, is still a more elderly gentleman thereby accentuating his vulnerability and making his victories all the larger.

With that out of the way, we now have the appropriate context to start examining some instances of MJ defending herself.

* And what about Spider-Man himself? Has he not tangled with Chameleon often? Is it not usually impressive whenever he defeats him? Indeed it is…but rarely whenever Spider-Man physically  over powers him. 

Because we readers are very aware that Spider-Man is physically stronger and faster than the Chameleon and his other powers give him yet more physical advantage over him. 

In fact a poignant Chameleon storyline entailed Chameleon (in disguise) tricking Spider-Man into removing  his powers and thereby rendering him vulnerable.

Even then, the Chameleon opted to hire muscle (mainly muscle with super powers) to take on Spider-Man rather than fight him personally.

Chameleon’s awareness of Spidey’s superior might is arguably the reason he recruited physically powerful Kraven the Hunter in ASM v1 #15 (Kraven’s debut and Chammy’s second outing). 

Spidey’s victories over Chameleon are impressive or cathartic not because Peter overpowers him physically, but does so mentally. This is in fact showcased in the very same storyline that Mary Jane famously took a bat to Chammy’s cranium; specifically Spec #243.

In this story, Chameleon (in the guise of Doctor Kafka) uses drugs and makeup to trick Spider-Man into believing he is someone else. However, drawing upon his will power and affection for his loved ones Peter breaks free of Chameleon’s trap.

**And I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that a part of that for at least some fans is the fact that Mary Jane is a woman doing such things, and a female love interest to boot.

Stereotypically women aren’t superheroes or action heroes, and stereotypically love interests are the ones in need of saving, not the ones saving themselves or others.

For some fans this appreciation of stereotypes being subverted can come from a bad place. “Mary Jane just beat a super villain even though she’s a chick!”

For others the appreciation can be viewed as empowering. To perhaps reveal a stereotypical view of my own, I imagine female readers would constitute the majority of this category, although in theory anyone who feels like an underdog or perhaps vulnerable could resonant with MJ’s victories.

Finally there are definitely some readers who appreciate these examples because they are just plain refreshing.

And of course some people might just like Mary Jane in general so seeing her shine in some capacity could do it for them.

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Master Post

[hellyeahheroes]

MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #10 SALADIN AHMED (W) • JAVIER GARRON (A) • Cover by MAHMUD ASRAR VARIANT COVER BY JAVIER GARRON VARIANT COVER BY ED MCGUINNESS IMMORTAL WRAPAROUND VARIANT COVER BY TBA SPIDER-SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL OR BIG 250th ANNIVERSARY ISSUE? That’s right, it’s our 250th issue and it’s Miles Morales’ birthday! But YOU’RE getting all the gifts! A mystery dating back to Miles’ first appearance? Answered! A terrifying villain destined to become one of Miles’ greatest adversaries? Revealed! Special guests, like maybe Peter Parker: Spider-Man? YOU KNOW IT! All busting out of 25 pages by main series storytellers Saladin Ahmed and Javier Garrón, PLUS a bonus back-up by Ahmed and a special guest artist delving into the history of your new favorite character, STARLING! Your FOMO is well-founded! DON’T MISS IT! 40 PGS./Rated T …$4.99

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #11 CHRISTOS GAGE (W) • MIKE HAWTHORNE (A/C) • Otto Octavius, the Superior Spider-Man, saved San Francisco several times, defeated Terrax and Master Pandemonium and has built quite a life for himself. • Sadly, the Spider-Powered Norman Osborn from SPIDER-GEDDON has arrived to destroy it all. • Does Otto stand a chance of stopping him? Does he stand a chance at LIVING THROUGH this?! 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

I’m only posting solicits for Superior to highlight the fact that between Spider-Osborn and confirmed resurrection of Ultimate Goblin we’re now gonna have THREE NORMANS OSBORNS in the same Universe. I smell a crossover. Into the Osbornverse!

- Admin