Review: Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (2016) #15

The family-centric premise in Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows continues to produce consistently good material.

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Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Nick Roche
Colorist: Ruth Redmond
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist: Ryan Stegman & Brian Reber

The third and final issue of the “8 Years Later” story arc lets Annie May Parker take the spotlight. Giving her, Peter, and Mary Jane each one issue as narrator has been a great way to catch readers up on what’s going on for each member of the Parker family while still telling a cohesive tale.

In this issue, a repentant (but still wild) Lizard aides the Parkers against his captor. Annie is understandably skeptical of the creature, but his intentions are found to be pure. The antagonist of this short arc is revealed to be Dr. Krikos, some steampunk-garbed villain interested in genetics. The final page reveals his true identity as a certain classic Marvel villain, who I imagine will be back before too long.

Jody Houser writes such a fun Spider-Man adventure. The Faith and Mother Panic writer is the fourth to tackle this alternate reality, but the series remains consistent. Whether helmed by Houser, Gerry Conway, Ryan Stegman, or Dan Slott, this family dynamic brings the best out of Spider-Man. Between this series and DC’s current Superman status quo, companies have no excuse pretending superheroes can’t have families. Truthfully, I can’t imagine why 616 Peter can’t have this status quo, especially since they now have Miles Morales covering the teenage Spidey territory.

Nick Roche’s art is bursting with a kind of cartoony energy befitting of this series’ tone. I don’t personally love every single panel, but when his style clicks, it really clicks. Annie May’s teenage expressions certainly benefit from the cartoony stylings. The classic Spider-Man costume also looks perfect in a very Saturday morning kind of way. Ruth Redmond’s candy-coated coloring certainly contributes a lot to that dynamic.

. Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #15. B+. . Jody Houser, Nick Roche, Ruth Redmond

Must Read: Review: Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #299

I don’t know how much longer we’ll have this series, but I’m certainly loving it while I can. Seeing Peter and MJ as a married couple again has itself been reason enough to read it every month. If you haven’t been reading it, and you’re a long time Marvel fan, you’re truly missing out on something special.

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