For months now, Marvel has promised that Amazing Spider-Man #25 and #26 would be “heartbreaking” and “shocking”. After reading the issue, out in comic shops today, I can safely say “heartbreaking” is a word many will use to describe it. In the extra-sized issue, writer Zeb Wells reveals what Mary Jane has been up to in another dimension as Spider-Man races to save her.
Once you crack this book open, you’ll see it’s fairly easy to start reading this story arc here, as it recaps what happened the last time Spider-Man and Mary Jane were together and even reprints pages from the last issue of their first moments once Spidey makes it back to her. But first, we get to see Mary Jane’s life starting from the moment Spider-Man blipped away, as drawn by Kaare Andrews.
Considering how time passes quicker where Mary Jane is, expect a years-long epic adventure as she tries to survive with only Paul by her side. They are in danger nearly every moment, and we see what they must do to stay alive. Wells makes a case for why Mary Jane would end up with Paul in this story and how she went from loving Peter to slowly losing that love over time. Since we already know she’s with Paul and seems to be angry at Peter Parker in the future, there isn’t a lot here that’s surprising, but at least the work is put in to show how someone can stray from their lover over many years. That’s aided by Paul and Mary Jane being parents together and saving each other’s lives as the godly threat attacks left and right.
Essentially this issue is an ongoing montage of moments Mary Jane experiences. Along the way, we get some sciencey stuff Paul is up to, although it’s mostly nonsense sci-fi stuff. Mary Jane gets to do her best G.I. Joe impression with big guns and badass headbands.
I found it hard to care about the villain.
Credit: Marvel
The villain also pops in but is rather basic, with very little character work done. He’s an evil threat driven to gain godly powers, and it’s not clear why or what his end goal is in the grand scheme of things. His nonsensical rage-fueled dialogue does not help that. Something like “I will plunge the blade of decay into your heart. And I will become Wayep” is overtly dramatic and doesn’t make much sense. Villains talking out loud is also a bit passe and serves as forced exposition rather than natural dialogue.
The midpoint of the issue is a reprinting of pages from the last issue, which is a bit disappointing. They’re charging an extra three dollars for the issue; five pages have already been seen. If you’re jumping on the story arc with this issue, however, it’s helpful to see and helps piece it all together. Once that’s over, John Romita Jr. takes over on art for the last ten pages of the main story.
These ten pages show Spider-Man acting out of character, throwing punches at his friends and refusing to explain himself. Given he was calmly talking to Mary Jane and hearing from her what happened, it’s a bit of a shock that he’d continue to be so enraged. If you’ve ever been broken up with or pined for someone who doesn’t want to be with you anymore, I could see how you might relate to this section of the book. After all, days earlier Spider-Man and Mary Jane were going to be together forever and deeply in love. Unfortunately for Peter, it seems Mary Jane has had years to grow apart and fall out of love with Peter. That’s a tough pill to swallow.
The last ten pages of this issue are a fun backup by Rainbow Rowell and Alvaro Lopez. It features Peter Parker and Black Cat attending a wedding outside of the city. Considering the state of Mary Jane and Spider-Man, one can imagine this story is more confirmation Peter and MJ are done. This story is quite fun, leaning into the difficulty of being Spider-Man in a rural setting lacking tall buildings to swing from. It also highlights Black Cat and Spider-Man’s cute relationship outside of their costumes. They seem good together, and Black Cat has a nice sense of humor for Peter to riff off of.
Break out the tissues if you’re a fan of Mary Jane and Peter Parker being together, as Amazing Spider-Man #25 makes it abundantly clear they’re finished with each other, at least for now. This issue does the work to show how people can grow apart with distance and time between them, but it also handles certain elements in a clunky way. The villain is not very interesting and acts like a cliched villain who is evil simply because, making the story feel trite and boring. The adopted children are also half-baked. Still, if we’re going to embark on a new era for Spider-Man, this is a good place to start if you’re interested in something new and bold.
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