Review by Frank Plowright
If the whole idea of Mary Jane Watson as a superhero doesn’t sit well, then Jackpot & Black Cat isn’t the graphic novel for you. When last teamed with Black Cat in Mary Jane & Black Cat: Dark Web MJ was still without her Jackpot costume and committed to keeping her device delivering random super powers a secret. This content, all written by Celeste Bronfman, details the transition to costumed adventurer.
It’s via two solo stories, beginning with distressing circumstances of MJ’s Aunt Anna’s birthday party, where Spider-Man is needed. Bronfman’s working both with a limited page count and within the wider Spider-Man continuity, meaning there’s not really enough explanation of MJ’s current circumstances. It greatly diminishes the emotional impact, and although the second is where the Black Cat presents MJ with the Jackpot costume, the collection would have been stronger for their absence.
Spider-Man and She-Hulk co-star in Jackpot’s costumed début in which Electro proves troublesome, but it’s an ordinary story with weak art from Joey Vasquez. Someone, though, deserves credit for the Jackpot name, which not only reflects MJ’s powers, but is also a nice nod back to her first ever appearance.
Thankfully, on the four chapters of the title story Emilio Laiso is a class act. That’s apparent in his modifications to the Jackpot costume, which are slight, but result in greater visual impact. He’s a better technical artist than anyone else here apart from David Lopez on the opener, and his pages are more ambitious and more interesting.
Given more space to tell a story, Bronfman is also able to up her game, conceiving the threat of people being blackmailed by app. That wouldn’t usually affect Black Cat, you may point out, but Bronfman has seen that coming and neatly circumvented it. She then turns the screw in the first story here finally convincing that MJ has viable relationship with her husband.
Anyone looking to solve the mystery may be a jump ahead when it comes to identifying a culprit, but they’re revealed halfway through anyway, and the disclosure only serves to increase the tension for MJ. In places it might seem Felicia’s not entirely consistent with her known character, but deception is a key trait throughout, and it keeps us wondering where loyalties truly lie. Bronfman’s also good with Jackpot’s use of super powers. When a randomiser is involved, the easy option is to just have it supply what’s necessary to nullify the threat, but MJ the person is more important than Jackpot the superhero, so the powers are secondary, but effectively used for visual impact.
The title story is a treat all the way through, but the preceding material drags the overall ranking down.
