Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows#10 Discussion

[Miles To Go]

Ryan certainly has chops. He delivered a really powerful issue with this one

spoilers:

So it seems Billy Connors transformed himself into a Lizard and Curt needs the Regent tech in Normie's possession to cure him. Annie tags Curt with a Spider-Tracer and she and Peter later track the Lizards down to Oscorp, where they and Normie battle them. We learn Normie's heightened intelligence is due to him taking the goblin serum. After Annie saves Peter (twice in one issue), Normie gets emotional watching father and daughter bond, Peter swings away letting Normie know his father loved him. Normie blames Peter for ruining his birthday and clutches his father's photograph, crying. He angrily cries out to the heavens demanding why Peter didn't save his father, and plots revenge. MJ was at the doctors', but she does appear in the flashbacks to Normie's family life. It's revealed Harry's death from Spectacular Spider-Man#200 still occured in the RYV reality

end of spoilers

[Vaegrin]

This was an excellent issue. I think this series has just truly hit its stride. A few thoughts.

1. Peter Parker is in excellent form this issue. I missed seeing MJ, but it was good to have an issue to focus on Peter being Peter, as well as his relationship with Annie.

2. Given recent events, I found Peter's explanation for her absence--"at the doctor all day"--potentially ominous. Peter didn't seem overly worried, but that could just be because he was with Annie. I'm anxious to find out what happens next. The cover for issue #12 still has MJ in her gorgeous symbiote costume, so the troubles with Venom may not be over.

3. I had to suspend disbelief a bit regarding Peter's decision to take Annie with him to confront the Lizard, but it was absolutely worth it for many reasons. It does make sense that Peter would want to go stop the Lizard as long as he thought there was no serious danger, so think of it as a superhero bring-your-daughter-to-work day. Anyway, Peter has brought MJ with him on patrol before, and that was when she did not have any powers.

4. I have loved this book from the beginning, but one of the things it really needed to accomplish was to sell me on Normie Osborn. This book did that. It's nothing out of left field, but suddenly I get it, and I'm intrigued. The interactions between Normie and Annie were very good, and I genuinely do not know which way things will go from here.

5. This was Ryan Stegman's first solo-written issue, but you wouldn't know that from reading it. The transition was seamless. Stegman's prose is smooth and feels natural, and he ably captures every character's voice.

6. This was the first of a three-issue arc, and based on this first issue it is shaping up to be the best one yet. There is no question: longer arcs are exactly what this book needs. The setup that was done in this issue is so important to grab my attention for the rest of the arc, and that could not have happened in a two-issue story.

[Scarlet Spider-Man]

Wow, this was a great issue. Best one so far, IMO. Over the course of this single issue, I smiled, laughed, and felt sad. I'm enjoying this series so much more than ASM right now.

We also find out that SSM #200 still occurred in this reality. I wonder what the point of divergence was between this and 616?

Looking forward to Mecha Goblin.

[rward777]

Wow, this was a great issue. Best one so far, IMO. Over the course of this single issue, I smiled, laughed, and felt sad. I'm enjoying this series so much more than ASM right now.

We also find out that SSM #200 still occurred in this reality. I wonder what the point of convergence was between this and 616?

Looking forward to Mecha Goblin.

Don't you mean divergence.

[Scarlet Spider-Man]

Don't you mean divergence.

That I do, thanks.

[Gnarlly]

While I liked this issue overall, it didn't hook me as well as the opening parts to the X-Men and VenoMJ stories. I was actually more interested in the Curt and Billy Connors substory than I was in the main Normie story.

Nothing against Nathan Stockman, but I do miss Ryan Stegman on art. The cover was not my favorite, and I wonder if it would turn away potential newer readers flipping through books on the stand who may think the entire series is too kid-focused. Speaking of Stegman, I think he is doing a very decent job on writing duties; much better IMO than the hot artists back in the 90's that left Marvel to form Image and write their own books. I look forward to him developing as a writer.

I do like that we are starting to develop a timeline from when this alternate universe may have diverged. My guess is right before the 90's Clone Saga.

Oh, and I miss the letters page. What happened to it? I'd prefer to do away with the preview page for the next issue if it's a matter of space. Besides Groo, this is the only series I collect in floppy format instead of TPBs/hardcovers (to show my support for the series and a married Spider-Man), and letters pages are one of the few bonuses when compared to collecting via TPBs.

[Graphic Autist]

Thought the story was good, but I wish Stegman had drawn this issue. The art was decent, but I do prefer Stegman's pencils. Glad to see he can also write.

[Vaegrin]

The cover was not my favorite, and I wonder if it would turn away newer readers flipping through books on the stand who may think the entire series is too kid-focused.

There is irony here, somewhere...

[Gnarlly]

There is irony here, somewhere...

You're right Perhaps the appearance of a kid-focused book may actually increase sales to younger folks and parents looking for a more kid-friendly title. But then I think about some of the more scary images of VenoMJ attacking people as well as the Teen rating on the series, and I wonder if I would let my young kids (or any kids younger than 7 perhaps) read it.

[TheCape]

As a fan of the Osborns i am please with this iissue

[Vaegrin]

As a fan of the Osborns i am please with this iissue

You know, I was ambivalent about Normie before this issue, but I'm sold now. This should be fun.

[Huntsman Spider]

I actually felt sorry for Normie. Deep down, he's just a kid raging at the loss of his family, but like his father and grandfather before him, he sees Spider-Man as the chief cause of his pain. Looking forward to issues 11 and 12. Just one thing, even if he's taking the Goblin formula in small doses here and there, wouldn't enough of that mess him up as badly as it did his father, especially since he's still a child despite all his efforts to behave otherwise?

[Vaegrin]

Oh, most definitely. No telling how messed up he already is. It is obvious that he is not thinking rationally, but we have no way of knowing how much of that is the formula and how much is a kid raging against his grief.

He's raging against Peter, but clearly a part of him knows that Peter was a friend to his father, not the enemy. Of course he is also smitten with Annie. He's fixated on vengeance, sure; but he's also conflicted.

[Frontier]

Man, the feels from that Spec #200 flashback...

[WebLurker]

Really liked the issue, esp. they way everything was thematically connected to the idea of fathers and children. I think this was the first time I found Normie to be a truly interesting character in the series. While I was curious about what role he would play, I wasn't really invested in it. Now, I'm very invested to find out how his revenge scheme goes.