Comics / Comic Reviews / Marvel Comics

Sensational Spider-Man Annual 1

By Josh Hechinger
May 9, 2007 - 19:50

It’s a romance comic.

Oh, Spider-Man has to save his wife from the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who are using her as bait to trap his currently-a-fugitive self, sure.  But that’s more or less toward the end, which leaves most of the issue for both Peter and Mary Jane Parker to examine their unique marriage. (Which, for once, is a positive thing; it’s a statement of why they’re in the relationship as opposed to the usual questioning of it.)

Marvel and romance comics have a history; a long relationship, if you want to get punny. Not just that romance comic event months ago, where Marvel put out a series of love-related one-shots. That event was simply giving tribute to the long line of post-war/pre-superhero romance comics where Jack Kirby was drawing stories that were less “This Man, This Monster!” and more “Our Love Was The Town’s Secret Shame!”

So Marvel’s an old hand at romance comics. But, in all fairness…most of them weren’t nearly as good as this one.

Put it this way: this comic gives the upside-down kiss from the first Spider-Man film a serious run for the title of Most Romantic Spider-Man Thing Ever.

And as nice as Salvador Larroca’s art is (and it is, and we’ll get back to it), this is really Matt Fraction’s show. It’s Fraction’s show because he completely sells the Peter/Mary Jane romance, the whys and wherefores of it. And he sells it by writing good people, not just good characters.

You probably know Peter and Mary Jane Parker, or someone close enough to how they come across under Fraction’s writing. There’s a good chance you’ve even been one of them, at some point, and dated the other.

The details are probably different, sure. You’ve never been bitten by a radioactive spider, you’re not a supermodel, you’ve never been on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. Hey, whatever, no worries.

But there’s a good chance you’ve met someone who’s fascinated you by completely and utterly confusing you.

There’s a good chance you’ve loved a dork, or been a dork in love, or been a dork in love with a dork.  You’ve probably paced the inside of your brain debating whether or not to kiss them. Or (and this rings wonderfully/painfully true) you’ve been sick to your stomach with worry over whether or not they’ll get what you’re trying to say with that particular mix-tape.

And while Larroca’s photorealistic art style makes Fraction’s characters come to life on the page, it’s his wistful, almost dreamlike flashback sequences that shine here. In a nice touch, Larroca deliberately ties the sequences to artists from Spider-Man’s past, (namely John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru) while still making the pages unmistakably his.

So. It’s 32 pages of excellent writing and top-notch art. It doesn’t require a doctorate in Spider-Man lore to follow, and it’s a stand-alone story.

It’s a romance comic. You’ll love it.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12