In If Her Hair Was Still Red, I take a look at all of Mary Jane Watson's comic book appearances in chronological order (by date of publication). Mary Jane's progression as a character fascinates me.

When last we left off with our two not-so-lovebirds (which was early in Len Wein's new stint as the writer on Amazing Spider-Man, working with artists Ross Andru and Mike Esposito), Mary Jane Watson was getting irritated on a regular basis by Peter Parker ditching her during their dates to go off and take some photographs (interestingly, with the later reveal that Mary Jane knew that Peter Parker was Spider-Man, this makes the whole thing read still pretty much the same, as she is irritated that he is crimefighting over spending time with her, as well).

MJ actually takes three issues off before we see her again in Amazing Spider-Man #156, which is Ned Leeds and Betty Brant's wedding. The two have a heart-to-heart about their relationship before heading to the wedding together and Mary Jane apologizes for being possessive...

Odd, I wouldn't say "don't keep ditching me to go take photos" is being possessive, really.

Interestingly enough, Mary Jane is Betty Brant's Maid of Honor...

Does Betty Brant seriously have no other friends?

During the wedding, everyone is attacked by the villainous Mirage, and Peter disappears again, but MJ handles it okay this time....

What is Peter going on about Betty and Ned? Doesn't that sound super suspicious? It's like, "They are a solid couple. Trust me, I've tried desperately to break them up."

There is an odd little scene in Amazing Spider-Man #158 where Mary Janes seems to walk in on Peter spending his time with another woman and MJ doesn't seem to care.

If she doesn't care, though, why is the scene in the comic? It doesn't seem to move anything tie-in for the story going forward, really.

After another issue off, MJ is back as she and Peter go to visit Aunt May and Mary Jane makes sure to complain the whole time...

In a quick bit in the Howard the Duck Treasury Edition (in the story by Steve Gerber, Sal Buscema and Klaus Janson), we see Mary Jane be jealous...

While he is traveling through time, Spider-Man is exposed to a hallucinogen in Marvel Team-Up #45 (by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito) and he thinks about letting Mary Jane down and her leaving him....

Mary Jane calls Peter about a volcano in the middle of New York City in Marvel Two-in-One #17 (by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito )...

Now we come to a pivotal issue (for this period, at least). In Amazing Spider-Man #161, Spider-Man blows Mary Jane to follow a "story" one time too many...

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In the following issue, Mary Jane plays it a bit TOO cool by essentially suggesting that she doesn't want to be a "one man" woman anymore...

Peter goes to her place to talk about their relationship, but she is actually at HIS place helping plan a surprise apartment-warming party with all of Peter's friends!

Check out how awkward this scene is...

In classic Peter Parker fashion, he goes out and sees someone else having a good time (Harry and Liz are now a couple) and he automatically assumes that he will never have that...

That dude's poor self-esteem.

Will Peter and Mary Jane get through this rough patch? Find out next time!

If you have any thoughts about Mary Jane's comic book history or any of the issues that are coming up (we're up to the end of Amazing Spider-Man #163 now), feel free to drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com, I'll be sure to include your thoughts in my next column...well, "be sure" is a stretch. It depends on what your thoughts are!