Mary Jane: Husband?

I can't escape the second panel. I know Maria Lopez is simply asking Mary Jane if Peter is her husband. However, the syntax of the dialog makes me think that the name "Mary Jane" is referring to the husband. If this was the case, then we'd be getting some catfight action for sure. This is not the case, however, and so we'll six more weeks of Mary Jane looking alternately smug and outraged. Tomorrow: What the heck is that thing around Mary Jane's neck?

TIL: Maria Lopez is just sort of holding her face in panel one. I think that's kind of funny.

More Malarky

07/24:Today, Peter realizes that Mary Jane is going to become a movie star and there's not a blasted thing he can do about it. He also realizes that he should not stand in the way of his wife's dream, and in fact, he should support her decision. This is what we call "personal growth" and "maturity": it's something we haven't seen from Peter from a long time, but here's hoping it's making a return.

TIL: Mary Jane in panel three.

07/25:I hope Maria Lopez either blacks out or dies from exhaustion. Anything that'll put an end to her. I do like that she's willing to hire guys with cameras from the early nineties, though.

TIL: I hope Mary Jane and Maria Lopez fight each other. That is a thing I would like.

Wobbly to Whiny

Sorry for the lack of updates, AGAIN. Once summer is over (about a month), things should be back on a daily schedule.

07/18:It's a one-time sum, Mary Jane. It's not like he can continually make millions of dollars revealing his identity to Jameson. Of course, revealing his identity may allow him to finally cash in on all the Spider-merchandise, so there's that.

TIL: It looks like Peter is stopping his head from wobbling in panel one.

07/19:"In the meantime, I'll try to get in Maria Lopez's pants but will be foiled by a super-villain or random thug! Chances are he'll only be holding Maria and I hostage to lure Spider-Man into a poorly though-out trap, where I'll be humiliated by being saved by Spider-Man and Maria will love him even more! IT'S A GREAT PLAN. SHUT UP."

TIL: Jameson is mistaken: he's forgetting about the lonely cameraman.

07/20:Mary Jane really wants to be attacked by criminals, it would seem. That's what would happen if Spider-Man revealed his identity, after all. Heck, Dara Dorset just claimed to be married to Spider-Man and she was nearly killed for her efforts. Granted, she'll probably become ten times more famous, but still...

TIL: I think Peter is drinking coffee from a tea kettle.

07/21:
Spider-Man may now be forced to fight pirates and gypsies. All misgivings I had about this storyline are gone.

TIL: I like to think that the pirate is just going to go around, yelling to random people that he's looking for Spider-Man.

07/22:
I'd like to think the pirate did not see Spider-Man, but some other costumed character who'll appear and force Spider-Man out of semi-retirement. It's not like Spider-Man is going to have anything to do at home, with his wife gone.

TIL: Not the coloring for the pirate and gypsy. I do like the next box, though. The possibilities are endless.

07/23:
WHINE WHINE WHINE I AM PETER PARKER AND I WHINE ALL THE TIME AND EVERYTHING GOES WRONG. MY WIFE IS A MOVIE STAR WHO MAKES LOTS OF MONEY BUT SHE IS NEVER HOME SO I WHINE WHINE WHINE. SHE WAS SO GOOD IN HER MOVIE THEY WANT TO MAKE A SEQUEL EVEN BEFORE ANYONE SEES IT WHINE WHINE WHINE. I COULD GO WITH HER BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE I AM SPIDER-MAN WHINE WHINE WHINE... what? Semi-retirement? I have no reason to whine about that, as I can go with her with a clean conscious, and protect my secret identity at the same time? YOU ARE BEING LOGICAL WHINE WHINE WHINE.

TIL: Peter being extra-mopey in panel one.

Sandwich and Hyphens

Jameson doesn't actually want to know who Spider-Man is. He does, however, want to cause as much trouble as possible for the web-slinger, and what could be more trouble than a money-hungry mob on the look-out for his secret identity? You know, other than a super-villain? This works out, because Peter doesn't really want to tell Jameson anyway.

TIL: The interactions with the sandwich.

Mary Jane is Looking at You

After two days of this, I'm beginning to think Peter doesn't know the meaning of the word "retire". It makes one think that Peter is hanging up the webs forever, where Peter is pretty much acknowledging that this is a short-term thing. I do find it rather odd that Peter has become so flippant about the whole thing after his grave performance on Saturday, remarking that he'll never leave Mary Jane's side again. Also, the television set has become an amalgamation of the two sets we've seen since Peter came home. For my part, I'm looking forward to what this television set is going to do next!

TIL: It looks like Mary Jane is talking directly to us during the comic.

Metathing: My web-comic just hit two-hundred comics! You can read it here!

Numbered Lists: YES!

07/14:Peter is certainly over-reacting here. Listen, being clingy won't keep your secret identity safe! You have several options here, Peter:
1) Go into semi-retirement until the initial shock wears off and everyone stops caring
2) Take on another identity. What about that "Justice Guy" thing you had like a year ago? You could bring him back. Maybe even something new.
3) Go about business as usual, as it's unlikely anyone would be able to catch you unmasking. If I recall correctly, your spider-sense prevents that.
4) Unmask yourself and get the million.

Numbers one and three are the most likely options to be pursued, with number two coming in at a close second and number four probably being unlikely as heck.

TIL: Mary Jane's smirk in panel three. It's nice that Peter can make his wife smile by insulting Jonah.

07/15:It looks like we're going with option one here. I see a lot of split-mask angst in our future. I'm willing to overlook that the television went from being an older model to a flat-screen over a fireplace.

TIL: There are four things I like today! Hooray!
1) Maniacal Jonah (second panel, second row)
2) The guy on top of the building (first panel, third row)
3) Spider-Man clinging to a wall, shaking his fist. (third panel, second row)
4) Peter Parker's explanation of why Jonah is doing this. This is even better because it's true.

One MILLION Dollars

Thank God, something is happening! Granted, I've been waiting for this since the middle of June, but at least it's finally here. If we're lucky, a bunch of crazies and whatnot will come out to try and unmask Spider-Man. In any case, this might actually have a bit of excitement in it. Tune in three months from now when I bemoan the lack of excitement in this storyline.

TIL: It looks like Jameson's head is in a microwave. Larry Lieber has no idea how to draw modern television sets.

The Week in Review

Sorry about not posting! First, I was too busy. Then, I was too sick. Then, I was too apathetic about what was going on in the storyline. I'm back now, though, and like NOTHING has happened in the past week.

07/06:
It's certainly not for the ratings, Jonah, since readership is most likely at an all-time low and will continue to be until something happens.

TIL: I like to think that Jameson is listening to a radio rather than watching a television in panel three.

07/07:Spider-Man should be well aware that his is watching, since she knew about this. With each passing day, my distaste for Maria Lopez becomes stronger.

TIL: Spider-Man is panel three, as he looks like he's having convulsions.

07/08:At least the art in the Sunday strip is better than average, and I actually found this strip kind of funny. Not only does Spider-Man reference the previous storyline, but someone actually thought it would be a good idea to capture Spider-Man's facial expression in the first panel in the bottom row. They tried to capture the facial expression of a man wearing a face-concealing mask. Which brings up the point that Spider-Man, as far as Maria knows, is ugly as sin underneath that mask. We know it's not true (he only looks like David Hasslehoff), but Maria doesn't.

TIL: The first panel in the bottom row.

07/09:Indeed, it WOULD be interesting to see how Peter answered...

TIL: It looks like Spider-Man is mentally contacting Mary Jane in panel three.

07/10:...if Peter actually answered and didn't just up and run away. That's not suspicious at all, Spider-Man.

TIL: Jonah's magic changing television. Either that, or he smashed it and had to buy a new one.

07/11:Now we're talking! Jonah Jameson is going to take Larry King on to see who gets to preside over the rest of the show! It's go-time! Not to mention the fact that it looks like someone is pointing a laser-gun at them. I'm sure all this mildly interesting stuff will be gone tomorrow.

Also, Spider-Man, she's a TV hostess... just take her down with some Hostess Fruit pies. (Link suggested for readers unaffected by abundant curse words.)

TIL: Old TV show host fights. OH YEAH.

Maria Lopez: Spider-Fan

Mary Jane pretty much stole what I was going to say. So instead, I'll put out two things which are much more than a fan that Maria Lopez could be:
1) Stalker
2) Air Conditioner
I apologize for the lameness of tonight's post.

TIL: Spider-Man in panel two. He looks like he's going into convulsions.

Oh, I also just found out Marvel used a snippet of a review I wrote for "Civil War Front Line" in one of their press releases. It happened nearly a year ago and I'm just finding out now. Kind of wish I hadn't been so redundant, though...
Message Board Version
IGN Version

Indepence Day Post 2007

07/03/2007:Eh, so he made it to the interview. We've had no inkling that any super-villains or ne'er-do-wells are in the studio, so we've nothing to look forward to. Perhaps Stan Lee thinks no one will be reading this week due to the holiday, and things will pick up after this week.

TIL: Spider-Man's pose in panel two.

07/04/2007:We have gone from things happening, to things happening very slowly, to people talking about things that happened weeks ago. Yes, you read that right: the strip is moving backwards. Soon, we'll be hearing about the fight with Doctor Octopus then murderous butlers and Kraven the Hunter, working our way backwards until Peter Parker is getting bitten by a radioactive spider. Oddly enough, I would actually like a recap of things past. It would be interesting to see which villains comic strip Spider-Man has faced, and which ones are still alive. Not that such a thing will happen, of course.

TIL: Spider-Man in panel one. Do you think the cameramen are cursing him right now because he can't stay in one place for more than a minute?

Also two things:
One, my new blog is up and going! Please go give it a look and tell me what you think, maybe? You can find it here.

Second, happy Independence Day to those of you living in the United States.

Hawaii

Would people in Hawaii really be able to see Maria's show? I realize the guy is probably just exaggerating, but I'm honestly curious as to how far Maria's show reaches. Is it a city-wide, maybe region-wide deal? I doubt we will ever see the answer to such a question. There's also the possibility that, given the syntax of the statement, people will be changing the channel from Maria's show to Hawaii, meaning a program about Hawaii or perhaps the state itself. Which would make things a bit more interesting, but is not something we should hold out hope for.

Also, we have a Spider-cameo in "Quigmans":
That is the oddest position I've ever seen Spider-Man in, and it looks like maybe he was drawn upside-down.

Larry King and Other Thing

06/30/2007: Is that supposed to be Larry King? Why on Earth would Larry King, a national celebrity, fill in for Jonah Jameson on a public access talk show? The thin thread suspending my disbelief has just snapped, and it's all Larry King's fault.

TIL: Well, at least it's not Jay Leno.

07/01/2007:Ah, I see where this is going! If I'm right, this whole "storyline" will actually be over pretty quickly. At least this segment of it. Spider-Man will arrive too late to actually do any sort of interview with Lopez, and everyone will have flipped to Jonah's show where Larry King is filling in. Maria Lopez will be scorned, and since Hell hath no fury, she'll go after Spider-Man. Maybe becoming a psychotic murderer, taking down everyone in her way. At least, I hope so.

TIL: It looks like Spider-Man is saying "Yeah, right" in the last panel there.