I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight Variant Cover

This is a plain, variant cover without logos from MARVEL of my original artwork "I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight." I based this piece upon the image of Michelangelo's Pieta where Mary is holding Christ. The idea behind it is that the piece would be part of a storyline where the Green Goblin (in the form of Harry Osborne) has just interrupted the wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. As M.J. waits at the front of the church, wondering where Peter is, Spiderman has to fight the Green Goblin on the roof of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Holding a vial of a deadly biological weapon, the Green Goblin gives Peter the choice - sacrifice yourself OR all of the people below. Spidey looks down upon the inhabitants of New York City and chooses to sacrifice himself. The Green Goblin crams the vial in Spidey's mouth and tosses him to the ground as Spidey convulses.

The cover is thus a representation of the last scene. Mary Jane exits the church to find Spiderman. As he dies in her arms, she hugs him to her with one hand while offering him up with the other (just like Michelangelo's statue of Mary and Christ). All the while, leaflets saying, "I (Heart) New York" rain down around them, signifying Spidey's self-sacrifice for the people of NY. The final idea is that this would precede an issue of my creation called, "Mary Jane: The Rise of the White Widow."

I made the final piece into a FAKE cover which is also available, complete with Photoshopped Marvel logos, in order to present it to Marvel recruiters at Comic Con San Diego (2011).