After nearly 8 years of swinging bachelorhood Peter Parker is married again! Secret Wars has been unleashed in the Marvel Universe and with it we are getting new takes on characters and in the case of Peter Parker, a What If? story.

Over the last decade Spider-Man has been through a lot. The Powers that Be at Marvel were not fans of a married Peter Parker. They believed it made him too old and took a lot of the fun out of the comic. So they came up with a plan. During Civil War(HUGE SPOILER WARNING!!!!) Peter decides that the responsible thing to do is to reveal to the world that he is in fact, Spider-Man! This was a really cool idea and changed the dynamic of Spider-Man comics. What would J. Jonah Jameson do? How would his enemies react? It gave Jonah a heart attack, and it made Peter a target. The Kingpin hires a hitman to take Peter out. But the sniper’s bullet hits Aunt May instead. An enraged Peter dons his black suit and nearly beats the Kingpin to death, and tells him if May dies then Spider-Man won’t kill him, but Peter Parker will. Great stuff! This story doesn’t last long as we learn there is no way to save May and she will succumb to the gunshot wound.

Desperate, Peter tries every brilliant mind he knows, from Tony Stark to Dr. Strange they all say they cannot save her. But fate intervenes. Or should I say the Marvel version of Satan, Mephisto. He tells Mary Jane and Peter he will save Peter’s dying Aunt if they do one thing, allow him to wipe their marriage away! If this sounds contrived you would be right, of course just offering isn’t the big deal the fact that Peter agrees is. One More Day is one of those stories that has always bothered me. I don’t mind when Peter is faced with a challenge that seems unwinnable, but I do not like it when the story goes against his character, and making a deal with the Devil doesn’t seem like something Peter Parker would do.

So the challenge falling on Dan Slott and company is, can they make a story where Peter is not only married but also has a daughter interesting? After the first issue I can say that yes, they absolutely can! It actually did my heart good to see Mary Jane and Peter not only married but happy. The scenes and dialog with Peter, MJ, and their baby Annie are some of the cutest, most smile inducing moments in a Spider-Man comic in a long time. It also proves that it’s ok that Peter is still married, there are stories to tell and good ones at that. The issue also introduces a new villain named Regent who is hellbent on ruling the world. Renew Your Vows also features the return of a certain A-List villain that I won’t spoil here but how Peter deals with him is shocking and understandable. The issue leaves you wanting more from this version of Peter’s life which is a testament to how well Slott pulled this off. Plus it features stunning art work by Adam Kubert who last crushed it with Spidey on the cool limited series Spider-Man/Wolverine. What Slott gets right most importantly is what I think is the single biggest asset to a Spider-Man story, character. It doesn’t matter if Peter is single, married, white, black, Asian or Indian. If you get his character right, the stories will always be good.

This is a strong first issue and makes me a little sad knowing it’s just a limited series, but hey, after Secret Wars maybe this will be Spider-Mans new status quo.