Renew Your Vows: The Spider-Man story we needed after One More Day

Spider-Man has had some of the most divisive comics runs in all of comics. It's been that way for years, and its no different today. Suffice to say, when fans discuss the worst that Spider-Man comics have had to offer, they'd look no further than the storyline that has been widely regarded as one of the absolute worst: One More Day.

The repercussions of this infamous storyline are still being felt today in Spider-Man comics. Fans still regard it as a low point today and that likely won't change anytime soon. But what if I were to tell you there's a run of Spider-Man comics that alleviates the effects of One More Day - or at least it presents an alternate take on Spider-Man and his mythos that would make fans happy?

Grab a seat true believers, and enter the world of The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows.

One More Day, explained

For those of you unaware of the infamous storyline, Spider-Man: One More Day was the last storyline in J. Michael Straczynski's divisive run on Amazing Spider-Man which ran from 2007 to 2008.

The story follows Peter after the events of the major crossover event Civil War, and the ramifications of revealing his secret identity to the world in said event. The first part has the Kingpin sending out assassins to kill Peter, but the assassination was botched when Aunt May was caught in the crossfire and was later hospitalized. The rest of the story deals with Peter's mistakes past and present, all the while trying to find some way to heal Aunt May. At one point, he even visits Doctor Strange to get mystical aid for Aunt May, but Strange denies Peter.

Eventually, it all culminates in Peter coming face-to-face with the demon Mephisto, where the latter assures Peter that he'll heal Aunt May - but for a price. And that price being the marriage between Peter and MJ - or, more specifically, erasing their marriage. The pair are conflicted, having to choose between letting Aunt May die or letting their marriage (and all the history they shared since they were married) to be wiped away, but they obviously chose the former, saving Aunt May and giving Mephisto their marriage.

The story and the run end with Peter getting a clean slate, where Aunt May was cured, Peter was no longer married to MJ, and the revelation of his secret identity to the world in Civil War was also erased from everyone minds. ANd with that, Peter began his renewed life as Spider-Man.

There are plot points and moments that I skipped over, but I wanted to give the bear essentials in regard to One More Day, and since this article is about Renew Your Vows, that just made the most sense. Plus, if any of you are curious you can read the comic yourself (which I don't fully recommend) or watch a breakdown of the whole story on YouTube (there's plenty of YouTubers with a lot to say on the subject).

Renew Your Vows, Explained

Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows was initially a 5-issue limited series that came out and was a part of the universe-spanning crossover event Secret Wars, back in 2015. It was written by Dan Slott with art by Adam Kubert and Scott Hana. This series was one of a variety of stories that tied into Secret Wars, but fortunately for casual and hardcore fans, it had very little to do with the crossover, so you can read it without having to read every other title in the line.

Before getting into the story, I must explain that it doesn't follow the main continuity Peter Parker and his cast, rather it's an alternate universe Peter where the events of One More Day never happened, where Peter and MJ remained married and even had a daughter together, Annie. The story follows Peter as one of the last surviving heroes after a villain named Regent captured and/or killed many of the Marvel Universe's characters, absorbed their powers and made them his own. After the fall of the heroes and the rise of Regent as the ruler of the world, Peter quits being Spider-Man in order to protect his family from Regent's wrath.

Years later, Peter acquired a normal job and Annie began developing powers like her father. Naturally, Peter became concerned that Annie would be taken by Regent to absorb her powers and eventually kill her. Unfortunately, Annie's powers become known, and Peter had no choice but to become Spider-Man once again. After meeting up with the resistance to Regent (which is led by Hawkeye), they mount a defense to defeat the villain once and for all. After much bloodshed and loss of life, Peter and the remaining resistance manage to defeat Regent, where Annie and MJ become superheroes just like Peter (I'll let you see how MJ gets powers as well).

Due to the popularity of this series, Marvel made an ongoing series following this version of Peter and his family, also called Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows.

Why you should read Renew Your Vows

The ongoing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows series lasted for 23 issues, with the first half being written by comics legend Gerry Conway, and the second half written by Jody Houser.

The basic premise of the story follows the whole Parker family as they try to balance work/school life with being superheroes, and due to the latter being a family affair, it makes things that much more complicated for the Parkers.

The best way to describe this series in one word, is: Fun. It's just fun. The writing done by both Conway and Houser is very engaging, the stories exciting, and the art done by a variety of artists - while different from each other - are just as engaging and exciting as the written stories. We also get to see the alternate versions of some classic Marvel characters and teams like Wolverine and the X-Men, and the Spider family faces off against the Mole Man, Venom, and other old and new villains.

What makes this comic so good is that not only was part of it written by Spider-Man scribe Gerry Conway, not only does it give fans a glimpse of what could've been if One More Day hadn't happened, it also got the core of Spider-Man and his character, while adding in the idea of his family becoming just like him. He had to keep his vow to Uncle Ben to use his powers responsibly, but he also now had his family, especially his daughter Annie, and had to teach her what he learned, ensuring that she used her own powers responsibly as well. It's a very touching idea that works very well in this series, and I would recommend Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows to every Spider-Man fan, because it's simply just a great time!