Spider-man or Family-man?

This semester, I have elected to take my very first “Comics Theory” course – or any comic’s course, for that matter! Woo! I have always enjoyed reading my dad’s old comic books; whether it be Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, or any other Marvel comics he has lying around. However, one of my favourites has always been The Amazing Spider-man, which is the monthly comic I have chosen to read. The most recent Amazing Spider-man series is called “Renew Your Vows”, written by Dan Slott and illustrated by Adam Kubert. At first glance at issue #1, we immediately notice the backdrop of a very large Spider-man mask in the shape of a heart, with Spider-man himself (Peter Parker) standing in front of it. Not only is our hero standing next to Mary Jane on the cover, but he is also carrying a child on his shoulders that very much resembles the gorgeous red-headed MJ, which we soon learn is their child. Already, the author is playing on the notion that the reader is aware of the history behind Spider-man and has therefore geared the story towards such audience. On the bottom right corner of the cover, there is a “Secret Wars” logo which is further explained on the following page. Using text only, we are introduced to this new Marvel universe where the heroes of earth have been deemed powerless and all that remains is this Battleworld: a planet composed of the fragments of worlds that no longer exist. Cue issue #1.

 Part 1 “Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” opens in the home of Peter Parker and Mary Jane, which welcomes us, the reader, into their lives. We are quickly introduced to the main theme of this issue, “responsibility”; the responsibility of Peter Parker to his family as well as the responsibility to his city, as Spider-man. There is an important contrast between these two ideas, which we see as a struggle in Parker’s life: does his responsibility as a family man take precedence over his obligation to the public, or does he allow his double life to interfere with family matters? With the mounting number of superhero disappearances and the return of Spider-man’s foe, Venom, Spider-man is sent barreling back to his home, only to find Venom comfortably wedged between MJ and their baby. His two very different lives have now become intertwined and will henceforth be influenced by one another. Meanwhile, we are introduced to an all-new, all-powerful supervillain named Regent, who has the stereotypical villainous desire to take over the world, which he succeeds in doing so by the very last panel of this issue.

There seems to be no real concept of time throughout this issue, no verbal or visual cues of any sort, until the last two pages: “That was the day the Avengers died […] But that was just me. Peter Parker. A dad in a stupid red-and-blue suit.” Not only do these last two pages close the debate on which of his two responsibilities takes precedence over the other, but they connect back to the first panel of the introduction, which reads: “In a perfect world, this was how it was always meant to be.” The issue ends with the caption, “It’s not a perfect world” with a giant billboard of the new ruler, Regent. This technique makes the reader aware of that fact that this story is being told from a futuristic, first person point of view, that recounts the events leading up to the “death” of Spider-man.

This first issue of Renew Your Vows is an excellent introduction to the new Spider-man series: it sets up this new Marvel world and gives us an idea of what is to be expected in the issues that follow. Interesting enough, issue #1 ends with Peter Parker choosing his fatherly responsibilities over the protection of his city; this will pave the way to issue #2 as plain old Peter Parker.

- Brittany Baker