Marvel: Mary Jane: Inspired by the Best-Selling Ultimate Spider-Man Graphic Novels Hardcover – July 14, 2003

I am, as many other reviewers have mentioned, a huge Spider-Man fan (comics and film) and I'm female. I was looking for something different to read and was glad I stumbled across Mary Jane 1 & 2.I've been out of high school, for like a hundred years, but Judith O'Brien's writing transports you right back. I enjoyed the story, even though it was sometimes mundane, and I would have preferred more Spider-man... but you get some really sweet moments with Peter. Overall enjoyable.

I have to say I want the Spider-marriage back? why you ask because it created the greatest thing the SPIDER-MAN COMICS haven't had in six years great story development. With this book at least one can see a side of that missing development in Mary Jane's character for this doesn't take away her comic book roots but adds new and interesting detail to her and shows how she and Peter really are if they were real people. Yes I would highly consider recommending this book to person who loves the M.J. character!

So maybe the writing is not mindblowing, but I did enjoy this book while reading it. I finished it in two days and don`t regret buying it at all, though that`s partially because probably no one will buy it since the amount of female comic book fans out there is very slim, and I kind of feel sorry for the author because of that.I will get the bad out of the way before I give this book some of the praise it`s starved for. Admittedly the writing style is kind of primitive. O`Brien is not very good at "small talk" writing as I guess you could call it, and what I mean by that is the writing of less significant scenes that serve as transitions between the exciting parts. The important parts, however, are written fine. There are even a few very funny parts and smart descriptions.There are some parts of the story that are a little too predictable if you`re too familiar with the original story, especially if you`re like me and have read Ultimate Spider-Man, the comic that this is based on, and seen the movie which is based mostly on Ultimate. But there are plenty of original storylines to help the unpredicatbility as well.One thing I did like about this book was the cleverness in the adaptation. All of the characters that have always been in this story are here: Peter, Mary Jane, Uncle Ben and Aunt May, Harry and Norman Osborn, and Flash Thompson. The way Flash`s character was handled in this version was very amusing and hilarious. But I especially like the way the author did Peter. Peter Parker in this book is very quiet and awkward at school but is a nice and funny guy if you catch him in his spare time at home. This is exactly what Peter should be like. O`Brien also puts an interesting twist on things by having her Peter Parker swear a lot and do certain rebellious things after he goes through his spider-bite changes.This book also has very nice illustrations throughout the whole book, and for the nice cover art and everything this is really not a bad price for the book you`re getting.Overall, I thought this story was just cute. Don`t look too far into it and what it says about females and it`s just a nice story about two high school kids and what they`re going through.

Mary Jane, by Judith O'Brien, immediately caught my eye in the bookstore. Being a teenage female Spiderman fanatic, I bought this book right away. All in all, I enjoyed the book, and am hoping towards reading the next one soon.My first impression once I started reading was that the prologue of this book seemed to be a little bit childish, and immature. Thankfully, by the time Mary Jane started high school, it seemed to have redeemed itself. It didn't exactly follow what some fans would precede as the proper Spiderman storyline, but it was entertaining none the less. Mary Jane, who wants to be a ballet dancer, struggles with an eating disorder as she moves to a new place. To her surprise, Peter Parker, a child she knew from fourth grade is once again in her class. As she remembers their close relationship in the fourth grade, her feelings overwhelm her.The one part I loved about this book was the in-depth detail of Mary Jane and Peter's relationship, which isn't exactly shown in comics and movies. Although some of their dialogue was cheesy and made me laugh out loud, don't most things? I have to admit that after reading the prologue I wasn't suspecting to enjoy this novel as much as I did...I guess it comes from being a Spiderman freak.I'd recommend this book to anyone who has a day off and enjoys a good sappy romance, especially involving the man in spandex we all love.

This book isn't really a fantasy, like it says in my title, but it is a spider-man novel, which is fiction, so I guess it's a type of fantasy (chemically engineered spider-bite?? Fantasy). This isn't the story of Spider-Man or Peter Parker though, it is the story of Mary Jane Watson, who is not only struggling with her parents' divorce, and Anorexia, but love also. Should she date Harry Osborn and be popular, should she be friends with Wendy Gonzales and put up with her, ...should she date Peter Parker and be happy?All these decisions that seem obvious to us, but cause much confliction in real life.Very touching and meaningful, although most things in this book are not related to the Spider-Man movies, except for Peter getting bitten by the spider, and the characters, like Harry and Norman Osborn. A very interesting twist at the end with the sports drink, Oz. I enjoyed this book a lot, and so did my younger sister, who I would have thought wouldn't have liked it, just because of more mature issues, but she really did.I suggest this book to anyone who likes reality fiction with a hint of fantasy. It's very satisfying to read.