Things have gotten a bit deeper and more involved on the set for Ms. Watson. It’s a film with a respectable budget, but she IS working for an actual super-villain director, and things are bound to get more complicated in the second issue of The Amazing Mary Jane. With the introduction out of the way, writer Leah Williams has the opportunity to get a bit deeper into the story drawn by Carlos Gomez. Mary Jane comes across very appealingly as a star in the second issue of her own series. Williams’ story of life as a Hollywood actress in the Marvel Universe is starting to gain some traction in its second issue.

Mary Jane has the opportunity to actually make something with a major Hollywood film director. Granted: producers only THINK he’s a major director. The guy’s actually super-villain Mysterio in disguise, but she has an opportunity nonetheless. Funding for the movie is in question, prompting Mary Jane to try to keep Mysterio firmly planted in the director’s chair to keep his more maniacal urges at bay. She’s a savvy professional, but is she savvy enough to stop a madman from sabotaging himself and her chances at a major motion picture?

Williams has a real opportunity for something unique here, and she DOES seem to be leading off in a direction that might take advantage of that opportunity. Superheroes are typically introduced to villains in the midst of doing something awful that they have to deal with. Mary Jane isn’t a superhero, though. She’s just a really, really sharp person who has been mixed-up in heroism. Here she’s given that rare opportunity to keep a villain from doing something awful in favor of producing something constructive that might pull him away from his more villainous urges. The solution Williams allows Mary Jane to find to the sudden disappearance of the male lead in the Mysterio movie shows an astute eye for plot construction. Williams’ unique angle on life in the Marvel Universe seems to be developing in a way that might embrace the universe from a rarely-seen civilian perspective that could be a refreshing alternative to the slugfests so often found elsewhere.

Gomez’s art has a refreshingly compassionate emotionality about it that embraces the drama Williams is bringing to the page. In particular, his approach to Mary Jane gives her a cool stylishness that is remarkably stylish and expressive in every panel. There’s no exaggeration in the emotions playing out on her face. It feels very natural. As does her body language, which clearly seems to be showing a genuine concern for Mysterio. There’s a complexity of emotion in Mary Jane that Gomez is doing an excellent job of bringing to the page. This contrasts with the more traditional megalomania that Gomez plays within Mysterio’s ravings. 

Williams and Gomez are playing with a really unique series that might have a charming opportunity for success in the current era. With entertainment news traveling as quickly as it does, the average movie fan knows a lot more about filmmaking now than ever before. Superhero films are some of the most successful movies there are. A comic book about a super-villain movie inside the Marvel Universe just might be interesting enough to gather readers as the story gains momentum.

Grade: A