Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #14

Background

Finally getting to her breaking point, Gwen can no longer stand how Peter ditches her all of the time with his lame excuses that are obviously lies. After talking to MJ about it, Gwen comes to the decision that she's going to give Pete an ultimatu; either he tells her why or it's over between them.

While Pete is telling Gwen his "big secret", which we never find out what it is by the way Mary Jane is at home elated because she thinks Gwen and Peter are about to break up and she can finally have her shot with him.

Story 'The Secret Thing'

It's a fresh new day for Mary Jane, in which she can finally drop her whole fake phase she's been going through to distance herself from anyone or anything that could ultimately hurt her. With Peter single again there's nothing to stop her from finally telling him how she really feels for him.

Hanging out at her locker at school, Gwen approaches MJ and says to her, "Bet I know who you're looking for." I have no idea what this means at all, but maybe it has something to do with what Peter and Gwen talked about between last issue and this one. As MJ is about to console Gwen about breaking up with Peter, Gwen tells her that they didn't break up, but that she did what MJ and her talked about the other day. She told him that there wasn't going to be anymore disappearing acts without him being honest with her about why he's ditching her. And he told her.

MJ can't believe what she's hearing but she does manage to ask Gwen why was it that Peter was always lying to her and splitting on her all the time. Gwen looks at MJ and tells her that she can't say anything. That's it's a secret. By the look in MJ's eyes you can tell that this completely crushes her.

Later in the girls' locker room, Liz Allen finds MJ sitting alone and crying. MJ says how close she was to finally being able to drop this plastic act and be herself. She's be able to be with Peter, and, it might not be perfect between them, but it would be close. Liz tries to calm her down saying that even if they didn't break up, life will still go on. But MJ reveals what's really bothering her. It's that Peter actually told Gwen some big secret, something he never felt he could tell her. It hurts her so badly because she thought that she and Peter were really close before, but maybe they weren't as close as she believed.

This is enough for Liz to take, listening to how much her friend is hurting all because of some guy, so she does the usual Liz thing and gets mad at him even though it's not Peter's fault for being your typical, oblivious teenage boy. But Liz still wants to strangle him anyway. Mary Jane, being the level- headed one, tells Liz she's to leave Peter alone. Liz gets mad at MJ for trying to avoid what's bothering her instead of doing something about it, which causes the two girls to get into a fight that leads to MJ storming out of the locker room.

At his own locker, Peter is grabbing his books for class when Gwen shows up. He tells her he has to rush to get to calc class but Gwen lets him know that she covered for him and told his teacher that he was off cleaning test tubes or something. She then asks him about why he was late. Was it a robbery or something? Pete freaks telling her to keep her voice down because someone could overhear them talking. He only wants to talk about his secret with her when he's sure they're absolutely alone. Gwen makes a comment about them being alone together which makes Pete blush and then she leaves.

After Gwen is gone Harry approaches Peter at his locker. They make some small talk but what Harry really wants to talk about is MJ. Peter tells him that they haven't really been all that close, what with MJ being so busy with her acting and all. Harry, even though he's not dating her anymore, tells Peter that he still worries about her. Sounds more like he's just trying to get back together with her because she's now The It Girl at Midtown High. Harry starts to take off once he realizes he's not going to get any info out of Pete, when he asks Pete what's up with his Big secret. Before he can answer, harry apologizes and leaves.

On the subway, Mary Jane sits contemplating the direction her life has taken when, out of no where, she is surrounded by a bright light. Turning to see what is causing this, she sees Spider-Man doing battle with some guy who happens to be glowing. MJ jumps off at the station to watch, where she, as well as us, the readers, learn that the villains name is the Lightmaster, who happens to be giving Spider-Man a good beating. Finally getting him to the point where he can't fight back, the Lightmaster is just about to remove Spidey's mask, when the police show up and actually help save Peter's secret identity. The Lightmaster makes a quick retreat leaving a dejected Spider- Man to the police. They ask if he's alright, when Spidey looks up and sees MJ watching. Spider-Man yells that he's fine and takes off.

After the fight, MJ feels the need to call up Liz and apologize for the argument they had earlier. During the conversation Liz says that she'll leave Parker alone. After the call, Flash asks Liz about what she said and Liz tells him she already told him about MJ and Peter at lunch. The only problem is that Flash wasn't at lunch today. It must have been Harry Liz was with. Liz, in the matter of a day, has already told two people that Peter told Gwen some huge secret. I don't think MJ is going to be too happy with Liz's big mouth.

It appears MJ isn't the only one that's going to be pissed. Outside of school Gwen stops Peter and walks over to him. He grabs her and asks if they could talk somewhere private, where Peter lays into her about how everyone knows he has a secret now. Gwen doesn't seem to know what the big deal is. So people know he has a secret. It's not like they know what the secret actually is. Peter isn't convinced saying that once people know he has this secret they're going to start digging around to try to find out what it is. Gwen then reveals that she only told Mary Jane and that was because she wouldn't stop pressuring her after Gwen told MJ that her and Peter didn't break up. Peter takes off saying that he really has to talk to Mary Jane. Looks like someone's in trouble.

General Comments

So MJ is getting back to her old self just because she's under the impression that Peter and Gwen broke up. Man, when I was in High School, I wish I had cute girls falling all over me. Anyway, MJ's happiness is short lived after finding out from Gwen that she's still with Peter. And to make matters worst, Peter actually told Gwen why it is that he keeps vanishing on her, something he never told MJ about. And when Mary Jane asks Gwen what that reason is, Gwen tells her that she promised Peter that she wouldn't tell anyone, even her.

So now MJ is all upset again, not only are they not broken up, but now their relationship is stronger because Pete's sharing big secrets with her. Confiding in Liz about her problem probably isn't the best idea, but MJ does it anyway and within one day, Liz manages to tell Harry and Flash that Peter Parker has some huge secret.

It gets back to Peter that all kinds of people in school now know that he has a secret and he goes right for who he thinks is the source of this gossip, his girlfriend, only Gwen tells him that the only person she told was MJ and that was because she wouldn't stop pestering him about it. Looks like Peter and Mary Jane are going to have a falling out or at least a conversation filled with loud words.

Overall Rating

I do love Sean McKeever's character driven storylines but I'm starting to feel like he's dragging them out just to fill issues. Last issue's ending was great with Gwen telling Peter that he has to come clean with her, and with Peter about to tell her something. So I get this issue thinking that I'm going to find out what it was that Peter told Gwen. Was it that he's Spider- Man (I doubt it), did he come up with some other excuse, this time a much better one, etc. And what do we find out? Nothing. Just that it's something big and something Pete doesn't even want anyone to know about, let alone what it actually is.

The storytelling is great, and so is the character development, but at this point, I just want something to happen already.