Marvel Two For

Rogue #1- I must really be hard up to want to read comics these days, as when I saw this comic on the stands I decided to give it a try. I'll say up front that I've never been a huge fan of the character, she seemed too stereotypically southern to the point where she got on my nerves.

So imagine by surprise by being fairly pleased by this first issue. It is mainly setup as we got insights of Rogue's life from three different viewpoints. Yet it is interesting setup so far, with one side being the look at her love life, another being her job as an X-Man(or is that X-Person?), and finally a new part dealing with a mystery with ties to her family's past.

I'm not sure if it is artistic choice or editorial decree, but the character is portrayed and drawns quite a bit younger than she used to be. She looks much more like her movie counterpart, though slightly older, and quite different from the "skunkish" older adult version. Whichever it is, I like it though, so hope it is something that continues.

Mary Jane #1-2- I want to like this book, the dialogue is crisp, the art is nice to look at and all but one of the characters is fun to read about. Yet that one character, Spider-Man, ruins the entire series for me.

This book would be so wonderful as just a straight ahead teen soap opera type deal, but the connections with Spider-Man character and mythos just makes the entire thing meaningless. Just as I start getting into the lives of these teens, I'm knocked out of the story as Peter Parker/Spider-Man comes walking through. Reminding me of where this story can't possibly go, or have happen.

Just making the series more of an annoyance rather than something I see myself following any more of. Which is too bad as I want a series from Marvel that isn't a superhero tied book. Yet it doesn't seem like Marvel is interested in persuing pure diverse comics, preferring to stick close to the vest with proven superhero characters in slightly different roles.