Superior Spider-Man has done a huge disservice to MJ’s character. I can accept that Mary Jane, even with all the superhero weirdness she’s experienced, wouldn’t immediately jump from “Peter is acting like a jerk” to “Peter is actually Otto Octavius in Peter’s body.” But the passivity with which MJ accepts Peter’s disrespect–addressing her as “woman” to her face, throwing a fit when she turns down having sex with him, stringing her along emotionally–is not only screamingly out of character, but uncomfortable to read. She thinks “Peter” is “stressed”–that’s not an excuse she would have accepted from the real Peter, so why she’s putting up with it from Ock is beyond me.

The elephant in the comic store is that MJ isn’t capable of consenting to sex or sexual contact with Otto, and his attempted seduction of her is actually an attempt at rape by fraud. At no point over five issues of this subplot is this acknowledged; you can practically hear the Benny Hill theme playing while Ock tries to get into MJ’s pants. Evil genius Doctor Octopus, foiled by the unspoken codes of the dating scene! Tune in next issue to find out if he succeeds! And hey, here’s a cover of MJ in a short, tight dress, being manhandled into a kiss while you can see her tits and her ass!