Didja Know... Merry Marvel's Mary Jane

Didja Know digs into the fun facts, strange stories, and divine details that helped build the hallowed halls of the House of Ideas!

Hey, True Believers! Didja know that red ranks as the rarest of all human natural hair colors, racking up only one to two percent of the population? And furthermore, that the vibrant visual’s caused by a recessive kind of gene known as an allele? How 'bout that!

We think it's cause for celebration, specifically since the red-haired superstar we all rave about is getting her very own series this week, starting with the appropriately accredited AMAZING MARY JANE #1!

Face it, Tiger; you hit the jackpot with this incredible installment of Didja Know!

Didja Know… Mary Jane Watson took more than two years to appear?

Every comic book creator knows the value of the slow-burn, that tantalizing tease that signals a significant surprise awaiting readers at the end of the tunnel…and Mary Jane delivered the dynamite in spades, sport!

First mentioned in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #15 in mid-1964 as a girl his Aunt May wanted him to meet and greet—the niece of her best friend—writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko held off on revealing Mary Jane to an anxious audience for two full years until neither creators nor comic book crowd could stand the suspense any longer!

Following a near-appearance in 1965’S AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #25—Ditko hid her behind a potted plant, of all things—the time finally arrived to reveal the redhead in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #42. We all had to face it then, tigers every one of us, that artist John Romita knew how to knock us for a loop with Mary Jane’s jaunty, jazzy joie de vivre…and how!

Didja Know… Mary Jane was connected to the revoltin' return of the Green Goblin?

Now, lissen, before you get your super tights in a twist, let us explain, wouldja? This is one of those train of thought things, and we want to lay it on the line for you with singular simplification so you’ll be satisfied, kapeesh?

Stan Lee stated his surprise that Mary Jane swiftly rose to prominence with fans, even at the expense of Peter Parker’s then-girlfriend, Gwen Stacy. That’s as it is, can’t do nuthin’ ‘bout it now, Nancy, but it did cause Lee and Romita to escort Peter and MJ on a few dates, though ultimately Petey fast-footed it back to Gwen. Then, as fate would have it, Mary Jane started going out with Harry Osborn.

Ah-ha, you say! So, in the infamous AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #96-98, Harry, on the skids after breaking up with MJ, sadly suffered an awful overdose. This led to his pugnacious pop, Norman Osborn, to suffer his own slings-and-arrows and relapse back into his gruesome guise as the Green Goblin. And that as they say, is the Rest of the Story.

Didja Know… Spidey and Mary Jane got married in the real world, too?

First things first, oh Frantic Ones—lets’ not get into that whole argument of married-or-not-married, ‘kay? That’s a wormhole of epic proportions for a cavortin’ column such as this innocent one. Suffice to say, the 1987 wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson was so big—how big was it?—it spilled over into the waking world of real life.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #21 told the tale of the nuclear nuptials, but prior to it a fashionable facsimile played out on the pitcher’s mound. What? It’s true! A few days before the comic hit the stands, none other than the world-famous Shea Stadium in New York played honorable host to the wedding of Spider-Man and Mary Jane.

Here are the deets: Actors portraying Spidey and MJ waltzed out before 45,000 fans to say their “I do’s,” directed by the Man himself, Smilin’ Stan Lee and willingly witnessed by Captain America, the Hulk, Iceman, Firestar, and ol’ Doc Doom, too! Mary Jane’s dazzling dress was designed by real world fashion guru Willi Smith—and why Shea Stadium, you inquire? Well, see, seems Peter Parker’s a fan of the merry Metropolitans, natch! And so it goes!

Peruse these eye-poppin' publications with Marvel Unlimited right now! Then visit your local comic shop to pick up AMAZING MARY JANE #1 this Wednesday, October 23!