The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #20 Review

“For every Ben Reilly, there were who knows how many clones who came out…wrong.”

Who’s ready for The Clone Saga, “Renew Your Vows” style?!?! Anyone? Zach?

WRITER: Jody Houser

ARTIST: Scott Koblish

COLORIST: Ruth Redmond

LETTERER: VC’s Joe Caramagna

COVER ARTISTS: Ryan Stegman & Brian Reber

PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Anthony Gambino

EDITORS: Heather Antos & Kathleen Wisneski

SUPERVISING EDITOR: Nick Lowe

SPIDER-MAN created by STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO

STORY: Annie has a nightmare (or maybe it’s a Spider-Vision?) featuring a couple in Times Square being assaulted by a silhouette very similar to hers. She tries to play it off at breakfast, but her parents point out that an attacker resembling her is all over social media. Peter calls off work and recruits Wolverine, specifically for his sense of smell, to investigate the crime scene. It smells like Annie, or something very close to her. Peter begins to ponder the possibilities of what it could mean and lands on “clone”. On her way home from school, Annie gets attacked by a familiar being, going by the nom de guerre of “Chelicera”. The attack is more of a skills test and Chelicera returns to her master, Mr. Sinister, confident in her powers.

THOUGHTS: I’ll always appreciate a Ryan Stegman cover and this one is no exception. Annie takes front and center, which is fitting as this issue really brings the focus to her, with the X-Men (or one of their villains) sharing the spotlight. Makes me realize that for a Spidey book, he has tangled with others’ rogues as much as he’s fought his own.

After the superbly written last issue which had its attention focused on Peter and MJ, Houser gets us back into Annie’s head, in more ways than one. Ruth Redmond’s colors are very evocative of Rico Renzi’s work on Spider-Gwen during the nightmare sequence. Later, the coloring becomes pale and distorted as Annie again sees through Chelicera’s viewpoint.

Houser for her part, continues to demonstrate her strength-characterization. Peter is notably upset at the possibility that a clone (sorry, Zach) of his daughter may be running around. Given how Conway set up the series, it makes sense for him to enlist the help of Wolverine, although I wish we didn’t have to rely so much on the X-Men. Having said that, Logan is somewhat of a mentor figure for Annie and I can see Peter confiding in him.

Annie is every bit a teen, struggling for every shred of independence she can get. Houser does a good job getting the reader into her headspace and that attitude of thinking you know more than your out-of-touch parents (even when you really don’t). I would debate her thought that Chelicera’s costume is “cooler” than hers, though. I found it pretty garish, to be honest. 

I don’t want to seem disparaging, but I still am not feeling Koblish’s art. Characters feel too stiff and simplistic for my liking and it feels miles away from the precedent established by Ryan Stegman.

Fans of MJ will be disappointed this outing as she is relegated mainly to the background as Annie once again gets more focus as her Rogues Gallery gets a new member. It’ll feel like a step backwards to Peter and MJ shippers after the fun flashback last issue. With the original Amazing finally getting Peter and Mary Jane’s characters right, it makes sense that Houser would highlight what makes this title unique with Annie. While I really liked the diner scene between Peter and Logan, there wasn’t as much to rave about this issue.

MY GRADE: C

JAVI’S HUH?: When Peter is talking about clones in the diner with Logan, he thinks to himself, “and what happened with MJ…” Do you think he is referencing what he put her through during the 90’s Clone Saga when he struck her, or some unseen event in their alternate reality history?