Dustin Gebel
Marvel reveals Mary Jane Watson’s new superhero moniker and costume, set to be make its first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #31. The issue, Marvel confirms, will be an oversized issue with multiple creative teams, joining ASM mainstays Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr. The rotating talent joins to help lay the track for the second year of stories for the current run, including the introduction of MJ as Jackpot, written by Celeste Bronfman and drawn by Alba Glez. Humberto Ramos provides the design for the new Jackpot costume, which can be seen below.
The decision comes off the heels of the revelation that the family Mary Jane built with Paul during their time in another dimension was a lie, and the unmaking of the children spurs MJ to help others. Armed with the jackpot powers introduced in Mary Jane & Black Cat during Dark Web (Jed MacKay and Vincenzo Carratu), Mary Jane joins the ever expanding superheroes of the Marvel Universe to fight the good fight.
This marks the third person to use the mantle of Jackpot, after Sara Ehret, who first appeared in Spider-Man: Swing Shift in 2007, taking part of the Initiative in New York after Civil War. A year later, Alana Jobson would go on to buy the mantle in Amazing Spider-Man #545 and use a cocktail of drugs, including MGH to fight crime. After Alana dies fighting Commanda and Blindside, and Sara retakes the mantle before having to go on the run with her daughter due to a conflict with the Rose.
Both Sara and Alana were created by writer Dan Slott and artist Phil Jimenez in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man, and the characters would get a limited solo series from writer Marc Guggenheim and artists Adriana Melo & Mariah Benes. Neither version of the character has made an appearance since the limited series in 2010, and offers a fresh slate for Mary Jane to take up the mantle this August.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #31
Written by ZEB WELLS & MORE
Art by JOHN ROMITA JR., ZÉ CARLOS, DAVID LÓPEZ, MARK BAGLEY, ALBA GLEZ, PACO MEDINA, ALBERT MONTEYS & PATRICK GLEASON
Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.
On Sale 8/9
Stay tuned to Comic Watch for more coverage of Amazing Spider-Man’s year two.
