Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #20 Review: Something Sinister
By Alex Widen
Image by Marvel Comics
Villains Named after Latin Words Are Always Tough!
The story involved Peter grappling with the loss of identity by the Jackal hinting that he was a clone, and by making legions of clones. Yet Peter was hardly the only one who suffered; Mary Jane suffered perhaps the greatest loss of all — the death of her newborn daughter. One line from Peter reveals that in this alternate universe, not only did the Clone Saga happen, but that MJ’s loss likely did too. That would make Annie May their second child, and that adds so much weight as to why Peter ditched the Avengers to retire with his family for years in the original Renew Your Vows.
Image by Marvel Comics
Annie May, meanwhile, is still having visions about her “double.” Rather than haunt her dreams, now the visions are happening during broad daylight, and school hours! Breaking her parental probation to investigate as Spiderling, Annie comes face to face with her double. Dubbing herself Chelicera (named after the mouth parts of arthropods), it seems like she has all of Annie’s powers. Furthermore, they also share each other’s memories, and Chelicera starts playing with her mind!
Image by Marvel Comics
Spiderling puts up a valiant fight, and much like her father, gets in a quip or two. Yet she’s never fought someone who was a dark mirror of herself, and it shows. Chelicera manages to escape cleanly, and regroup back to her lair. While the Jackal may be the usual “clone master” of this franchise, for this saga Mister Sinister is at the helm. Having obtained Spiderling’s DNA in Jody Houser’s first arc, he’s decided to meddle with the offspring of another hero and his red-headed wife.