The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1 Review: Old, New, and AWESOME!

• Marc Buxton


• 14 Nov 2016

Gang, our The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1 review is a little SPOILER-Y, so…check back with us after you’ve read the issue. Oh? Still here? Thank you!

Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Ryan Stegman

If you’re one of those folks that haven’t been able to find Spider-Man love since the end of the marriage between Spider-Man and Mary Jane, then boy, does Marvel have a comic for you.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows is set in a world where Mephisto never ended the Spider marriage. It gets better, you lover of nuptials you, because Peter and MJ are not only married in this world, they have a kid named Annie May! Plus, MJ and Annie May have Spider-powers, so the whole thing is like a mid-2000s Spider-Man comic mashing up against The Incredibles.

Of course, it all takes place in an alternate universe (which the comic doesn’t really bother to explain, so right away there’s an obstacle here for new readers), but it reads like a classic “Spidey” comic. That’s probably because The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1 is written by Gerry Conway, one of the most storied scribes in the character’s rich history. So, it’s a brand new concept that reads like a classic Spider-book, and really, what else can a discerning classic Spider-Man fan ask for?

The one hiccup that jumps out is that the comic might be a little too classic. We’re in a whole new world here, but the book starts out like an average, everyday Spider-comic. It begins with Spidey battling the Scorpion, and yeah, Conway makes sure to show readers that the Spider marriage still exists, but perhaps it would behoove the creators to begin with the most exciting part of this new book — super-powered MJ and Annie May. Because those two ladies are the beating heart of this very fun book and it would have been nice to have them up front instead of a Spidey adventure fans have seen countless times before.

But that’s just a quibble because once everything gets going, Conway makes a reader feel like he or she has come home. The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows is the comfortable slippers of Marvel’s current output, returning fans to a simpler time. Don’t mistake simple for silly, as Conway also presents some new threats and a number of potential new directions. The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows can potentially survive as long as Spider-Girl did and have a Spider-Gwen-like ground swell.

The book reads like an old school Spider-Man comic, but artist Ryan Stegman makes everything look very contemporary. The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows combines the old with the new to create a very pleasant and comforting reading experience for old school fans. I think Conway is going to have to do some story gymnastics to bring people up to speed on the alternate timeline this book takes place in, but for now, if you greatly miss Peter and MJ being a married couple, the marriage is back and Mephisto be damned.