The amazing Mary Jane Watson

If you’ve read the most recent issue of Superior Spider-Man #28, written by Dan Slott and drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli — and you really should be reading that series — you noticed once again, Spider-Man’s ex-girlfriend/demonic pact maker being a total badass:

Despite her only superpower being super good looking, her years and years at Peter Parker’s side has pretty much scattered any remaining fear she could once feel.  How many times has she been thrown off buildings?  Chased by supervillains?  Been kidnapped and held hostage?  Nothing can scare this woman anymore.

Today, we’ll take a look at the most recent time she’s been totally awesome in Amazing Spider-Man #670-672, written by Slott and drawn by Humberto Ramos.  Remember the Marvel event Spider Island where everyone in the city gains Spider-Man’s powers?  Then they turn into giant spider monsters? We jump halfway into the event, where only one solitary New Yorker remains unaffected by all these spider enhancements.

And her current outfit still covers far more skin than most female superheroes’ costumes.  Look, I know so many comic book readers rose up in anger after Mephisto dissolved Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage.  But c’mon, we’re all intelligent people, right?  The status quo always returns, just like superheroes when they die.  It may take another five years, a decade, maybe even longer, but the two are destined to get back together.  We all know they’ll end up married again, so can’t we just enjoy a single Spider-Man for a while?  Seriously, after my friends and family, there’s nothing I love more than superheroes, and we must trust that the writers know what they’re doing — negativity only drains creativity and passion.  From everyone.  Stop the angry YouTube rants.

Oh, and Mary Jane punches spider monsters:

Darn tootin’ she is.  And the reason she spawned those powers so late in the arc?  Spoiler alert: it’s a gross reason.

So like most Spider-Man stories, our hero can’t win the day on muscles alone.  He has to use all that scientific genius he possesses when he’s not chucking around trucks.  But you know a delicate procedure like reversing and halting the mass extinction of a city can’t be disturbed and distracted by an army of man-spiders.  Spider-Man needs a bodyguard.

Gorgeous last panel.  Mary Jane singlehandedly holds off the oncoming horde as Spider-Man saves the city/brags about it.  Even though Superior Spider-Man ends in five issues, hopefully that’ll still be plenty of pages to have Mary Jane take on some more goblin baddies.  Plus, now we can see Doctor Octopus re-learn the lesson he’s realized so many times before: there’s always someone smarter than him.  And just like Breaking Bad, no matter how awful a person Otto Octavius reveals himself to be in the next few issues, I really want him to win.