Spider-Man and Lily Hollister: She’s My Best Friend’s Girl

Harry’s been a friend.  You know he’s been a good friend of mine.  But lately something’s changed, it’ ain’t hard to define.  Harry’s got himself a girl and I wanna make her mine.  It’s time for the latest installment in my series using only Spider-Man comics to examine the variety of romantic archetypes we find in literature (illustrating the variety of romantic experiences we find in life)!  Here we see Peter in a good place.  His best friend Harry Osborn is alive!  Harry’s returned from an extended stay in Europe where he got sober.  He’s in a new relationship with Lily Hollister, a girl he really likes.  He’s starting his own business out from under the cruel shadow of his infamous father.  He and Lily are trying to fix Peter up with her best friend, Carlie.  There’s so much to celebrate!!!  Oh, and Peter also kinda has a thing for Lily.  He thinks she’s cute.  In fact, he thinks she’s a “knockout.”  In fact, he kinda struggles with not thinking about her.  But it happens, right?  While the significant other of a best friend should set our Bad Idea Sense tingling, sometimes we can’t help but be drawn to them anyway.  Oh Peter, tread carefully here…     

My Brand New Perspective on Spider-Man’s Brand New Day

My first Spider-Man comic was Web of Spider-Man #12.  It came out in March of 1986 when I was just three-years-old.  I got it from the spinny rack at the grocery store and I read it so many times the pages eventually ripped away from its tattered cover.  Always one to encourage reading, Mom regularly let me get comic books when we were at the grocery store, drug store, or gas station.  When I was seven-years-old, my parents got me a membership to our local comic shop (perks included a 20% discount off the cover price and a pull list).  Weekly trips to Books Galore were a part of my life until I turned sixteen.  All of a sudden things like gas money and the outings driving fostered began to make demands of my budget so, with conflicting emotions, I decided to stop collecting comics.  My last was Peter Parker: Spider-Man #98.  Released in November of 1998, it was the “end” of Peter and Mary Jane’s story (until the next month’s reboot) so it felt like a fitting end.