Broken Frontier

Broken Frontier: Mary Jane is traditionally a supporting cast member in the Spider-Man titles. What is it about the character that is so appealing?

Sean McKeever: Essentially, while MJ is outgoing and personable and gorgeous, she has the same inner frailty that all of us do. She has a tendency to run away from her problems by either surrounding herself in social trivialities or... well, by literally running away. So what appeals to me - and I think to readers - is to see that inner MJ and also to see her sometimes try and overcome that aversion tendency and confront her problems.

BF: Are there plans for Mary Jane to continue in some form after the conclusion of the Homecoming mini-series?

SMK: Not at this point, no, but a third mini-series is being considered. The decision is pretty much dependent on the digest sales, so I probably won't know until the end of the year at the earliest.

BF: What is your new series, Gravity, about? 

SMK: Greg Willis is a newly-minted college student with the ability to manipulate a personal field that can amplify and counteract the force of gravity. He's moved from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to New York City, where he plans to become the latest, greatest super hero sensation. It's a comic book about that time in our lives when we think we have life figured out and how we become disillusioned in some ways and enlightened or enriched in others because of our naiveté.

It's also a fun super hero comic, with lots of action and little cameos from Marvel characters. I think Marvel zombies are really going to dig this one, and the great thing is that since it's a look at the MU through a fresh pair of eyes it'll appeal to the wider mainstream audience, too.

BF: Gravity re-teams you with penciller Mike Norton, who worked on your independent title, The Waiting Place. What differences will people who have read TWP see in both your and Mike’s work?

SMK: They'll see that Mike has become wonderfully polished, whereas I have become a cynical hack.

Well, okay, maybe that second part isn't true. I'm just no kind of judge of my own work. But, really, I think that fans of TWP are going to feel right at home with Gravity.

BF: Why do you think your stories seem to find such a favorable response among the elusive younger reader and female demographics? 

SMK:  You know, I get asked this a lot, and I always have some jokey response about arrested development or hanging out in playgrounds, but it's really hard to say. It's a great question, and I'm always asking it of myself.

As far as "younger readers" goes, I suppose that part of it is that I'm always hyper aware of my own shortcomings and mistakes, and making mistakes and self-esteem issues are hallmarks of our teens. The other, I guess, is that I'm 33... but I just don't feel old, you know? I'm still 22 in my mind in some ways. I play video games all the time and I still get a charge out of spotting an arcade. I'm always geeked for new comics Wednesday. I wear Simpsons t-shirts. I love watching cartoons. Just young at heart, you know?

Oh, and I still can't talk to a girl to save my life.

Which makes me wonder as much as anyone else how my work tends to connect so well with the opposite sex. That one, all I can say - at the risk of making a clichéd generalization - is that I tend to write about characters' feelings a lot, and in fact much of my story plotting is about how characters react to things on an emotional level and exploring what that does to them and where that takes them. So maybe that's why?

I dunno, I guess a female who reads my work would be better equipped to answer than me.

Mary Jane: Homecoming #4 and Gravity #1 are both due in comic book shops June 8th, 2005.

- Fletch Adams