Marvel has sent out preview pages of the “One Moment in time” storyline by Joe Quesada and Paolo Rivera, and since we’re big fans of Rivera we thought we’d pass them along. Plus, you don’t need balloons to see how THIS marriage plays out. And talk about supervillains — MJ’s smiling, eager face might just be the scariest thing most single men will ever see in their lives.

1 COMMENT

  1. For some reason I thought the art on this was going to be done by Paulo, not Joe Quesada? These are TOTALLY Quesada pages. Either that, or Mary Jane has poured me one glass of wine too many…

  5. As a big pro-Peter/MJ marriage guy, I haven’t really been looking forward to this story. BUT, then back in March (when I got married myself), I finally got around to reading ASM Annual #21 and not only was it terrible, it was one of the least romantic wedding issues I’ve ever read. So yeah, MJ, I’m kinda surprised you didn’t have the look from that last page on your face through the entire fiasco.

  6. @MarkEngblom:

    I completely agree with you. It’s not very often that comic book artists depict a female lead character’s body realistically, but in these panels, Mary-Jane has never looked better.

    But of course I’m not referring to that creepy-ass face she’s giving in that full-page shot.

  7. Is Quesada doing all four issues? I love his artwork. And, yeah, from the way the project was announced I thought that Paolo was handling all the art.

  8. Here is the credits that came along with this preview:

    Written by JOE QUESADA
    Penciled by PAOLO MANUEL RIVERA & JOE QUESADA
    Spidey Sundays backup by STAN LEE & MARCOS MARTIN
    Cover by PAOLO RIVERA
    Variant Cover by JOE QUESADA
    Sketch Variant Cover by JOE QUESADA

  10. The crazy thing being, Mary Jane is actually SUPPOSED to look like/be a supermodel. LOL Ah well… Joe draws all his characters a little “pudgy” though (I mean, look at Peter.)

  11. My guess is this is an alternate reality somewhere down the line where they have gotten a little older and settled down. Makes sense, with perhaps Quesada handling those passages.

  12. What, flat-chested and coke-addled?

    Mary Jane was never a Supermodel, really. Magazine spreads, sure. Adverts on the telly, sure. Home shopping catalogues, defo. But that word means something. Mary Jane isn’t Kate Moss. She isn’t Linda Evangelista. She isn’t Naomi Campbell, and she certainly isn’t Cindy Crawford.

    The art’s great. Sure, that’s Joe Quesada playing Peter Parker, and MJ’s hair isn’t red enough, but that aside, it’s great. The apartment, the emotion. Great.

    What’s not great is the wine. Peter Parker doesn’t drink, and he’d better not start here.

    //Oo/\

  13. Peter Parker does drink, as previously established in ASM. That said, this looks incredibly boring, which is sad because ASM has been awesome for the last year. Can’t see why they feel the need to revisit this now.

  14. I think what ruined this marriage was Peter’s constant attempts to grab MJ’s chest only to be denied, leaving him sad.

  15. eter Parker does drink, as previously established in ASM

    Which ASM would that be? Aunt May’s wedding? Becuase they went back on that pretty sharpish, and had his crazy roommate confess to slipping him apple juice.

    Peter Parker doesn’t drink.

    //Oo/\

  17. This drink/doesn’t drink debate is completly silly. Whether we have seen him drinking some vine or not before doesn’t matter at all, it doesn’t mean he can’t be shown drinking a glass of vine or really has to.
    To show him drinking a glass of wine is not gonna make him the devil or what…

  18. It is silly. It is.

    But he doesn’t drink, hasn’t drunk, and shouldn’t start.

    I’m perfectly wiilling to admit some degree of bias on this score, as a teetotaller (though the crazy thing is, I have zero problem with alcohol in general. Dunno what’s going on here :) ).

    But I think it’s kind of an important, if largely unspoken part of the character (c.f. J.M. DeMatteis/John Romita jr., Lost Years #0). I mean, you could wave a hand at it, and say it has something to do with the whole Power & Responsibility thing. You could point to all sorts of hilarious science on the effects of stimulants, alcohol and other drugs on spiders. You could wag a finger at Joe Quesada and accuse him of a double standard, viz. smoking, if you wanted to be pedantic (and a little cruel) about it. I mean, look at all the smokers who can’t smoke now. Alcohol is also a drug, and potentially harmful in a number of ways, not least of which is terrible disco dancing. You could even go all 1950’s on the thing and say that a clean-cut, square-jawed superhero (and Peter Parker is at least one of those three things) shpouldn’t drink because it sets a bad example.

    …hh. Look. It is absolutely okay for an adult to enjoy the occasional drink.

    But it is not okay for a teetotaller to enjoy the occasional drink. Right? Because he wouldn’t be one, anymore. And whether you’re a hardcore Pledger or just someone who…doesn’t really do the whole alcohol thing…then that’s a promise you make, right? If only to yourself.

    And I think we can all agree that Peter Parker is a man who very occasionally keeps a promise.

    (And one day, I will learn not to get into pointless Spider-Man debates on the internet. Tomorrow: why drawing the mask with one spoke down the centre instead of two spokes down the side of the nose is tantamount to kicking a kitten in the toot-toot.)

    //Oo/\

  19. re: the taboo wine, Matthew, you have nothing to fear. Going by pictures alone, the scene here appears to be MJ bringing home a nice bottle of Red, Peter turning down a glass, feeling shamed at his teetotalliness, turning down a second offer of vino, compromising his values with caffeine and convincing MJ to make some tea, and finally MJ sullenly accepting her lot as a solo drinker. Peter seems to be hitting the darjeeling pretty hard — not how he empties his cup before MJ’s has finished steeping. Serious drama to be sure.

  25. Any idea who is pictured in that weird image _inside the teacup_, in the last panel on the second last page? It can’t be a reflection based on the angles, so I’m assuming it’s a reference to something else…

  29. Well, I drink a glass of wine every once in a while, cause I’m an adult. I’d like to hope that Peter is, also. I’m sorta tired of everyone playing up Peter like he’s still in high school, and has the morals of Mother Teresa or something, cause man, he doesn’t, and that’s what makes him human, just like us peoples. :)

    Furthermore, that take back from ASM 601 was one of the lamest attempts at “making finicky fans happy” I’ve ever seen. I was “fake drunk on ginger ale?” WTH?!

    And that’s my input into the Great Spiderman Wine War of 2010! :)

  30. It’s all so nicely staged and yet, I can’t help but think “who are those slightly lumpy, out of shape actors playing Peter and Mary Jane?” And all this talk has made me want a glass of wine!

  34. I was too harsh. This type of comic book art is super-boring to me. Boring is a better word. AND as always, too much color, if you’re drawing “real” then color real. the colors distract. I would enjoy the drawings more IF they were not so over colored.

  35. okay, the good lesson here is that there’s going to be one extra copy of this Spider-Man that I will be able to purchase. I’ll have Jeff’s copy.

    Oh my god, as a lover of the human body (pause), I find naturalistic drawings of the human figure SO EXCITING!

  37. So…um…Peter doesn’t want to get drunk and mess around with MJ? Is that what this is telling us? BTW love the look of MJ, my God, she looks like a real woman! And come on Peter, lighthen up! This is the best part of married life before the kids start showing up, geez.

  38. “Penciled by PAOLO MANUEL RIVERA & JOE QUESADA”

    So who did what? One guy does layout & figures while the other does backgrounds? And it’s only pencils?

    I *really* like this art so I’m curious to the process. I haven’t picked up ASM in a dog’s age, but this will push me. Regular proportion people are hawt to me. Sitting down casually and pouring drinks even better.

  39. I’m THINKING (but could be wrong) we’re only seeing Joe here. Cause this looks like all Joe. Perhaps Paolo does another part of the books we haven’t seen previews from as of yet…

  40. I’m THINKING (but could be wrong) we’re only seeing Joe here. Cause this looks like all Joe.

    I believe you’re right. The preview pages at Marvel.com name Quesada as the artist for all the pages.

    SRS

  41. I’m not sure what people are seeing in this… MJ’s face is off model throughout (though I’ll too give props to the figure work), and cross-eyed in the third panel of page four. The photo tracing/computer modeling makes for some weird perspective (dig the coffee cup in the last splash page and the background distortions on the first panel page). Drop in some stiff, photo traced actors hamming it up and a low angle shot of MJ as cocktail waitress in her own place and you get some of the most unnatural naturalism this side of the uncanny valley. Yuck.

  42. @ Nate A.

    I completely agree. What turns me off with most modern comics is the crutch of photo reference. Using photo reference isn’t the crime. Using it so stiffly is. I had an illustration teacher who would call this artwork “roommates doing stuff.”
    Constrast Joe’s work here (i assume it’s all his) to Paolo’s work. Paolo uses photoreferencing beautifully. He breathes life into his work and doesnt strain to make things look ‘realistic.’ If you visit his blog you see how he uses photos (all his btw) and how it just informs his work and not overpower it. I wish there were more Paolo’s out there with that mentality/talent.

  44. ummm…is MJ still a model, and if so was she retconned into a plus size model? I havent picked up a spidey comic since OMD…these panels arent bringing me back.