Marvel and DC Comics are ageing up characters as part of their storylines, Mary Jane Watson is the latest. Is it all Jean-Luc Picard’s fault?
It seems to be an epidemic in comic books, characters suddenly ageing up, or having lost years, while those around them have not – and having a major impact rather than being shoved under the carpet. It has popped up before but there seems to be a preponderance around central Marvel Comics and DC Comics characters now.
Maybe it started with Star Trek, in which Picard lived out an entirely different life in a moment of seconds, that would continue to be referred to in a number of episodes up to the present day.
Or maybe it started at Marvel with Captain America. Not him going into the ice, that’s the opposite, but his trip to Dimension Z courtesy of Rick Remender and John Romita saw him return with a child after eleven years spent there. It had an impact on the character and recently, the child has returned as the new Nomad.
Then there was Brian Bendis‘ treatment of Jonathan Kent, having him leave the Earth with Jor-El, to be kept prisoner for five years by Ultraman, ageing from twelve to seventeen on Earth in a matter of weeks, which has become the status quo and currently has seen Kent confront Ultraman again today.
Batman and Superman have also had very similar stories, fighting alongside Wonder Woman for hundreds of years in another dimension before returning back again. Though neither span seemed to have as much impact on either man – or Wonder Woman – as the current series Superman: Lost, with a Superman who has had PTSD after being away for twenty years, but a blink of an eye for Lois Lane.
And now it seems, courtesy of Zeb Wells and, oh yes, Joh Romita again, that Mary Jane Watson is going down the same track. The Marvel promo for Amazing Spider-Man #25 reads “In this monumental issue, readers will discover what occurred to Mary Jane Watson in the alternate dimension she was trapped in for years. The issue will pack a heavy emotional punch and directly lead into AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #26, the most shocking issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN in 50 years.”
Trapped in another magical dimension with the scientific and supernatural researcher Paul, and will return after living years away from Peter Parker, and it seems that’s how she got kids with Paul. That is, as long as they are Paul’s kids and not Peter’s. But at least that explains how she suddenly turned up with them in the Amazing Spider-Man relaunch a year ago. Did that time apart cool Mary Jane on Peter significantly? Or are we going with the it’s-all-a-symbolic-act to keep the supernatural bad guys away – and will that also involve the appearance of a human sacrifice?
All to come on The Worst Days of Spider-Man’s Lives…
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