Eddie Brock's Club House...

[Venom Jr.]

I don't know if it's the right topic...

BTW here's my Venom drawing!:D

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1325/venomslashpagebyhyperveod4.jpg
Nice Work! :cwink:

[BATS N' HORNETS]

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1325/venomslashpagebyhyperveod4.jpg


THIS ROCKS ! ! ! if you drew this, go work for Marvel !

[Venom Jr.]

My new YouTube Background:
http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/4/3/7/f_youtubem_492763f.jpg

[E.Brock]

From the new spectacular spiderman article on ign.com



Diskin said that after his initial audition for Eddie Brock/Venom, "the second time it was a callback at which we had to loop to ourselves doing one voice for the symbiote and the other for the normal guy." Diskin described playing those dueling personalities as, "Fun. It's schizophrenic, so you basically go completely nuts and then back to sane and then back to crazy. It's cool."

The Spectacular Spider-Man version of Eddie Brock Diskin noted, begins the series, "sort of like [Peter's] older brother. They're not related, but their parents died in the same plane crash, so that's how they know each other." However, while Eddie seems friendly enough, Diskin said, "He's really more of a hidden psychologically screwed up person. He tries to keep it under wraps, but you can start seeing little bits and pieces of his insanity that start breaking out over the course of the show, until he finally loses his mind and becomes Venom."

[BATS N' HORNETS]

i can't wait until tomorrow

[Spider-ManHero12]

My new YouTube Background:
http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/4/3/7/f_youtubem_492763f.jpg Very nice! :up:

[E.Brock]

i can't wait until tomorrow


for what

[Spade]

The premiere of The Spectacular Spider-Man, of course.

[Venom Jr.]

Very nice! :up:
Thank You! :woot:

[Spider-ManHero12]

Thank You! :woot: You're very welcome, Venom Jr. :yay:

[Tron™]

This is a great thread, Venom rules and Eddie Brock is the only Venom imo. :sym:

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/4795/venombn8.jpg

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/5356/spidermanvsvenombyscarypf4.jpg

[Spider-ManHero12]

This is a great thread, Venom rules and Eddie Brock is the only Venom imo. :sym:

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/4795/venombn8.jpg

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/5356/spidermanvsvenombyscarypf4.jpg OMG!!! Those are purley amazing! *Right clicks and saves* :wow::up:

[Tron™]

^^Thanks, I found those while looking for Venom pics on deviantART.com. I originally found this thread from google looking for Venom related stuff.

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2186/spidywvenomtiedupbyculdpz9.jpg

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/5874/venombyp5yc0fm2.jpg

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/596/venombyvashperadoaw0.jpg

[Spider-ManHero12]

^^Thanks, I found those while looking for Venom pics on deviantART.com. I originally found this thread from google looking for Venom related stuff.

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2186/spidywvenomtiedupbyculdpz9.jpg

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/5874/venombyp5yc0fm2.jpg

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/596/venombyvashperadoaw0.jpg Very cool! I've seen all of those except the top one, which is very funny. :wow::up:

[Arcturus]

*Bump*

There is absolutely no reason to allow this thread to die.

[Spider-ManHero12]

*Bump*

There is absolutely no reason to allow this thread to die. I 100% agree, also, I lvoe the art in your avatar. Your drawings are fantastic, arcturus! :wow::sym::up:

[Arcturus]

I 100% agree, also, I lvoe the art in your avatar. Your drawings are fantastic, arcturus! :wow::sym::up:

Thanks SMH12! It was a drawing I made in paint, it was just sitting around so I decided to make it an avatar. Turned out quite nice I think.

:up:

[Spider-ManHero12]

Thanks SMH12! It was a drawing I made in paint, it was just sitting around so I decided to make it an avatar. Turned out quite nice I think.

:up: You're welcome and it defenitley turned out great, I have always thought you were oneo f the masters at paint. :up:

[Hobgoblin]

Some fun oddness from Planet of the Symbiotes.
http://www.4thletter.net/gavok/venom/midget.jpg
http://www.symbiote.fr/images/comics/venom-symbiotes0514.jpg

[Venom Jr.]

^ Venom Jr! :D

[E.Brock]

Looks like we might get Eddie Brock/Venom back (read description)


http://marvel.com/catalog/?id=8685

[Arcturus]

^

Sounds promising. I hope the symbiote rejoins with Eddie Brock, the one and only Venom. The true Venom. If this does happen, then I will return to 616.

[Spider-ManHero12]

No other Venom will ever top Eddie Brock. Eddie Brock is basically what made Venom so cool and interesting. (I did not scan this picture. I found it online.) :up:
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg122/Spider-ManHero12/venommmm.jpg?t=1206057970 (javascript:void(0);)

[Arcturus]

I completely agree SMH12. Eddie Brock is the true Venom.

[Spider-ManHero12]

I completely agree SMH12. Eddie Brock is the true Venom. Arcturus, I know that me and you are huge Venom fans and I've read why you love Venom so much. I've written why I love him so much once or twice before, but I will say it again.

Eddie Brock is the type of guy who was about to get something big, but Spidey proved him wrong and basically flushed Brock's life down the toilet. That sets the ground for the character right there. Then, Brock wanting to kill himself, but asks for forgiveness of his sins at a church is great. Especially when a "gift from above" gave Brock all the powers he needed to be basically unstoppable. His thirst for revenge against Spider-Man truly is something I'm fascinated by about the character. A guy losing his life and becoming so depressed and worried, then gets great powers to kill the one he hates the most and that is Spider-Man. For me, Venom represents what a dark side of someone is like, specifically Spider-Man's. Now a good an dark side fighting eachother is pure gold!

Now, Venoms' sadistic jokes while fighting Spidey just adds to the entertainment of seeing Venom go after Spidey. He has the same powers as Spidey, which really has never been done before Venom appeared. That makes him one of Spidey's greatest Villians of all time. He really is a huge challenge for Spider-Man, whether it's on an island, or in a church, or even in a meat factory. Eddie Brock/Venom is a gripping character that has such a tight grip, that I can't and will never want to break free. :up:

[Arcturus]

^

Well said SMH12! I couldn't agree more.

:sym::up:

[Spider-ManHero12]

^

Well said SMH12! I couldn't agree more.

:sym::up: Thanks Arcturus! :yay::sym::up:

[Arcturus]

You are welcome, Spider-ManHero12!

On another note;

Okay, I've just completed a title page for Spider-Man: The Speed of Darkness (A story I've been working on). Sooner then later I will finally start posting it up. I've also settled on the design of Venom, I wanted it to be reminiscent of the original Venom design. Thought I would post it up for the hell of it.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Arcturus_v4life/speedofdarkness.jpg

[Spider-ManHero12]

You are welcome, Spider-ManHero12!

On another note;

Okay, I've just completed a title page for Spider-Man: The Speed of Darkness (A story I've been working on). Sooner then later I will finally start posting it up. I've also settled on the design of Venom, I wanted it to be reminiscent of the original Venom design. Thought I would post it up for the hell of it.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Arcturus_v4life/speedofdarkness.jpg That looks fantastic! I am so looking foward to it. :wow::up:

[Stevens25]

I love this issue.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/9183/amazingspiderman31613lf9.jpg

[Spider-ManHero12]

I love this issue.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/9183/amazingspiderman31613lf9.jpg That Issue was fantastic! He could have killed Black Cat if he wanted to. :up:

[Silver Spider]

Arcturus, I know that me and you are huge Venom fans and I've read why you love Venom so much. I've written why I love him so much once or twice before, but I will say it again.

Eddie Brock is the type of guy who was about to get something big, but Spidey proved him wrong and basically flushed Brock's life down the toilet. That sets the ground for the character right there. Then, Brock wanting to kill himself, but asks for forgiveness of his sins at a church is great. Especially when a "gift from above" gave Brock all the powers he needed to be basically unstoppable. His thirst for revenge against Spider-Man truly is something I'm fascinated by about the character. A guy losing his life and becoming so depressed and worried, then gets great powers to kill the one he hates the most and that is Spider-Man. For me, Venom represents what a dark side of someone is like, specifically Spider-Man's. Now a good an dark side fighting eachother is pure gold!

Now, Venoms' sadistic jokes while fighting Spidey just adds to the entertainment of seeing Venom go after Spidey. He has the same powers as Spidey, which really has never been done before Venom appeared. That makes him one of Spidey's greatest Villians of all time. He really is a huge challenge for Spider-Man, whether it's on an island, or in a church, or even in a meat factory. Eddie Brock/Venom is a gripping character that has such a tight grip, that I can't and will never want to break free. :up:

First of all thanks for showing me to this thread Spider-ManHero12. You and Arcturus are like the only two die-hard Venom fans I've seen on these boards, and it's nice to see. You guys actually know Venom as Venom, the Symbiote, and Eddie Brock and care about all of his character. Others either like him because he's popular or don't like him at all.

[Spider-ManHero12]

First of all thanks for showing me to this thread Spider-ManHero12. You and Arcturus are like the only two die-hard Venom fans I've seen on these boards, and it's nice to see. You guys actually know Venom as Venom, the Symbiote, and Eddie Brock and care about all of his character. Others either like him because he's popular or don't like him at all. Thanks, Silver Spider. Also, there are other Venom fans on here such as I.R. Venom, E.Brock, etc. They aren't on as much though. :yay::up:

[Silver Spider]

Thanks, Silver Spider. Also, there are other Venom fans on here such as I.R. Venom, E.Brock, etc. They aren't on as much though. :yay::up:

Cool, I'll look out for them. :yay:

[WolfCypher]

Thanks, Silver Spider. Also, there are other Venom fans on here such as I.R. Venom, E.Brock, etc. They aren't on as much though. :yay::up:

Oh, I'm always around, reading what you guys posts and what not...

Kee kee kee...!

[Spider-ManHero12]

Oh, I'm always around, reading what you guys posts and what not...

Kee kee kee...! Lol, oh, I didn't know that. :yay:

[WolfCypher]

One particular reason to keep coming back is to see if that "Speed of Darkness" fic will ever get posted! I'M TALKIN' BOUT YOU, ARCTURUS!

[Spider-ManHero12]

One particular reason to keep coming back is to see if that "Speed of Darkness" fic will ever get posted! I'M TALKIN' BOUT YOU, ARCTURUS! Scroll up towards the top of the page. Arcturus posted a finished title page for "Speed of Darkness". :up:

[Arcturus]

One particular reason to keep coming back is to see if that "Speed of Darkness" fic will ever get posted! I'M TALKIN' BOUT YOU, ARCTURUS!

"When it's done"

:cwink:

Trust me, it will be posted up sooner or later. It's just hard to keep up when I have to work the graveyard shift midnight to 8:00 AM and whatnot. So my freetime is limited, ah heck, instead of spending a portion of that freetime here, I should be busy writing!

:applaud

[WolfCypher]

What percentage of it would you say is complete?

[Arcturus]

I'd have to say 45%.

[Spider-ManHero12]

I'd have to say 45%. That's actually not that bad at all. You're almost half way done. :yay::up:

[Arcturus]

That is true SMH12. I happy that I've gotten this far on the story, there is alot of ground to cover.

:applaud

[Spider-ManHero12]

That is true SMH12. I happy that I've gotten this far on the story, there is alot of ground to cover.

:applaud Very true! :word::up:

[Mario_Galaxy]

It's saddening how Venom was treated in SM3. They missed out on ALOT of potentially great ideas. Spidey chasing Venom around the city, the public thinking Venom is actually Spider-Man with the black suit,and more of a reason to care about Brock. If they ever reboot the Spider-Man movies, I hope they go a different route with him.

[Venom Jr.]

Hey Venom Fans I'm back from my brawl tournament and from my room were i have been in hiding playing SSBB. :D I just got the Venom LE Hero Clix of Ebay and it looks awesome! ;)

[Spider-ManHero12]

Hey Venom Fans I'm back from my brawl tournament and from my room were i have been in hiding playing SSBB. :D I just got the Venom LE Hero Clix of Ebay and it looks awesome! ;) Verry cool! How much did it cost? :yay:

[Arcturus]

I absolutely can't wait for Venom to appear in the Spectacular Spider-Man. If there is an arc which I'm anticipating the most for this series, it'll be the Venom saga. I like how Eddie Brock has been recreated, and I can't wait to see how Venom will be!

Also, bump.

There is no reason for this thread to die.

[Silver Spider]

^Agreed, and this thread isn't dying, it's just a little hungry.

[Spider-ManHero12]

I absolutely can't wait for Venom to appear in the Spectacular Spider-Man. If there is an arc which I'm anticipating the most for this series, it'll be the Venom saga. I like how Eddie Brock has been recreated, and I can't wait to see how Venom will be!

Also, bump.

There is no reason for this thread to die. I 100% agree! I've enjoyed every scene Eddie Brock has been in and I really think it's going to get better and better. Also, this thread better not die at all. :up:

Here's some Mark bagley's Venom images to brighten this thread up.
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg122/Spider-ManHero12/VenomSBHImage.jpg?t=1206850622 (javascript:void(0);)
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg122/Spider-ManHero12/venomlokijuhygtfrdeswaq.jpg?t=1206850663 (javascript:void(0);)
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg122/Spider-ManHero12/VenomBend.gif?t=1206850690 (javascript:void(0);)

[Silver Spider]

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg122/Spider-ManHero12/venomlokijuhygtfrdeswaq.jpg?t=1206850663 (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0);)


I think that was the first comic picture of Venom I ever saw.
Ahh memories.

[Spider-ManHero12]

I think that was the first comic picture of Venom I ever saw.
Ahh memories. Yeah, I think the first Venom comic picture I saw (a loooong time ago, probably about 7 or 8 years) was a picture of Erik Larsens Venom (I forgot which picture it was though.) I'm also not even sure it was an Erik Larsen picture of Venom, however, I think it was.

[WolfCypher]

Mine was "Spirits of Venom part 2" from "Ghost Rider & Johnny Blaze: Spirits of Vegence".

[Spider-ManHero12]

Guys, now that I thought about it more, I first saw Venom in the 1990's show about 10 or 11 years ago and I was only about 6 years old. :up:

[Web-Head]

My introduction to Venom came from one of figures from SMTAS. One of the 10" figures, I believe.

[Silver Spider]

Yeah, SMTAS was the first time I saw him too, which is why I said comic picture before.

He's what got me into the show, which got me into Spiderman, which got me into Marvel, which got me into my Marvel craze.

[Spider-ManHero12]

My introduction to Venom came from one of figures from SMTAS. One of the 10" figures, I believe. Mine cmae from the big figure with the button in the middle. It was so awesome. :up:

[Web-Head]

^Yeah, that was the first time I saw him too, which is why I said comic picture before.

He's what got me into the show, which got me into Spiderman, which got me into Marvel, which got me into my Marvel craze.
Sort of the same story with me too, except Spidey action figures did it for me.

Mine cmae from the big figure with the button in the middle. It was so awesome. :up:
That's the one.:woot:

[Spider-ManHero12]

That's the one.:woot: My mother bought me both, Venom and Spidey. :up:

[Venom Jr.]

Verry cool! How much did it cost? :yay:
$0.99 on Ebay. :D

[Spider-ManHero12]

$0.99 on Ebay. :D Very nice price! :up:

[Silver Spider]

Hey I was just thinking, has it ever been explained why the symbiotes are vulnerable to sonics and heat?

[Spider-ManHero12]

I just wanted to say that I love this thread so much. :sym::up:

[HELL N' SPIDERS]

Hey I was just thinking, has it ever been explained why the symbiotes are vulnerable to sonics and heat?

I don't ever remember a mention of why.
How odd.

[Arcturus]

I'm ashamed to say it, but this thread is dying. I wont let that happen, not as long as I'm still kicking around here.

I just wanted to post a thought of mine. It seems throughout the years whether in film, stories etc the concept of shapeless terror seems to be a popular idea. What is it about these entities that works so well on so many different levels? I'll list a a few for an example; The Blob (Original or remake), Stephen Kings short story The Raft, which was featured in Creepshow 2. The Black alien oil from X-Files, and finally the alien symbiote from Spider-Man.

The Blob
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Arcturus_v4life/theblob.jpg

The Raft
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Arcturus_v4life/stephenkingstheraft.jpg

Black Alien Oil
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Arcturus_v4life/x-files_blackoil.jpg

Alien Symbiote
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Arcturus_v4life/venom-1.jpg

Regardless of their origins, what is so appealing about these eerie creatures? Could it because they have no face, no definite body that we can't relate to them, understand what drives them? In most cases it turns out they're violent creatures who kill or possess their victims. Just remember, those four examples don't represent all the similar creatures. I could be wrong, but I think the idea came from H.P Lovecraft, with the creatures he called Shoggoths which first appeared in one of my all-time favorite stories, At the Mountains of Madness.

Okay, it's a given that not everyone will share this view. But I've stated that I'm a big fan of Venom. This character hits me on a level which is hard to explain, but it's not just the character of Eddie Brock/Peter Parker/Venom, it's the alien symbiote as well. When we first saw this creature, it was always drawn as an expanding shadow, which for the most part always resembled the costume. But as time went on and different artists came along, the symbiote started to take on different, if not, startling forms. I'm a Science fiction/horror fan, it's important to me that the symbiote retains it's extraterrestrial origins. Okay, so Spider-Man isn't a space character etc, so what? I always found it to be more mysterious, mind blowing that such a creature came from space rather then it being some science experiment. And the fact that it could corrupt/influence a hero (At least in the case of Spider-Man 90s TAS, SM3, Spectacular...I assume & hope).

I don't know why I felt the need to write this up. It's probarbly because i'm bored and thought I could share a thought.

:sym:

[Spider-ManHero12]

Arcturus, as you know, I'm a huge Venom fan and what makes these alien creatures so appealing is sort of how they move and what they can do to you physically, mentally or both. They are such small things that seem harmless, yet, they can cause so much damage.

Also, me, Arcturus or anyobdy else will not let this thread die. It's way too important. :sym::up:

[E.Brock]

Eddie Brock's Club House 4 Lifeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Shockdingo]

Allo fellow Venomites! How's it been going? Anything new or interesting going on lately? :)
Hope you're all doing well!

[Silver Spider]

I'm ashamed to say it, but this thread is dying. I wont let that happen, not as long as I'm still kicking around here.

I just wanted to post a thought of mine. It seems throughout the years whether in film, stories etc the concept of shapeless terror seems to be a popular idea. What is it about these entities that works so well on so many different levels? I'll list a a few for an example; The Blob (Original or remake), Stephen Kings short story The Raft, which was featured in Creepshow 2. The Black alien oil from X-Files, and finally the alien symbiote from Spider-Man.

Regardless of their origins, what is so appealing about these eerie creatures? Could it because they have no face, no definite body that we can't relate to them, understand what drives them? In most cases it turns out they're violent creatures who kill or possess their victims. Just remember, those four examples don't represent all the similar creatures. I could be wrong, but I think the idea came from H.P Lovecraft, with the creatures he called Shoggoths which first appeared in one of my all-time favorite stories, At the Mountains of Madness.

Okay, it's a given that not everyone will share this view. But I've stated that I'm a big fan of Venom. This character hits me on a level which is hard to explain, but it's not just the character of Eddie Brock/Peter Parker/Venom, it's the alien symbiote as well. When we first saw this creature, it was always drawn as an expanding shadow, which for the most part always resembled the costume. But as time went on and different artists came along, the symbiote started to take on different, if not, startling forms. I'm a Science fiction/horror fan, it's important to me that the symbiote retains it's extraterrestrial origins. Okay, so Spider-Man isn't a space character etc, so what? I always found it to be more mysterious, mind blowing that such a creature came from space rather then it being some science experiment. And the fact that it could corrupt/influence a hero (At least in the case of Spider-Man 90s TAS, SM3, Spectacular...I assume & hope).

I don't know why I felt the need to write this up. It's probarbly because i'm bored and thought I could share a thought.

:sym:
I've always loved the fact that the symbiote came from space. It's just always interested me. I'm okay with Spiderman dealing with some alien affairs; what I don't like to much, is him getting mixed up with magic. I think it's also cool how the Venom/symbiote/Eddie Brock character is like spiderman's horror story.
Arcturus, as you know, I'm a huge Venom fan and what makes these alien creatures so appealing is sort of how they move and what they can do to you physically, mentally or both. They are such small things that seem harmless, yet, they can cause so much damage.

Also, me, Arcturus or anyobdy else will not let this thread die. It's way too important. :sym::up:
The struggle in the church to remove the symbiote is so iconic now, that to my knowledge, it has always been used in every Venom incarnation, and that's something not many villains can say about themselves. I loved how the 90's series introduced the increased powers, and change of attitude.
This board shall not die.:sym:

[Spider-ManHero12]

The struggle in the church to remove the symbiote is so iconic now, that to my knowledge, it has always been used in every Venom incarnation, and that's something not many villains can say about themselves. I loved how the 90's series introduced the increased powers, and change of attitude.
This board shall not die.:sym: I completely agree! The Symbiote being removed in the church will always be amazing! :up:

[Silver Spider]

I completely agree! The Symbiote being removed in the church will always be amazing! :up:
The movie, did an amazing job visualizing the scene. I mean even the people that hated SM3, thought that part was good. Christopher Young did a spectacular job scoring the scene as well.

[Hobgoblin]

Regardless of their origins, what is so appealing about these eerie creatures? Could it because they have no face, no definite body that we can't relate to them, understand what drives them? In most cases it turns out they're violent creatures who kill or possess their victims. Just remember, those four examples don't represent all the similar creatures. I could be wrong, but I think the idea came from H.P Lovecraft, with the creatures he called Shoggoths which first appeared in one of my all-time favorite stories, At the Mountains of Madness.


Personally, I think of a shapeless blob as an unintelligent animal, running purely on instinct, like an amoeba. It looks for you and it eats you. Thats what it does. It cant be scared away or bargained with. It just keeps coming until it gets you.

[Silver Spider]

^But isn't the venom symbiote, sentient?

[Hobgoblin]

^But isn't the venom symbiote sentient?

Well, except for that one exception.

[Silver Spider]

Well, except for that one exception.
:cwink::up:

[Spider-ManHero12]

The movie, did an amazing job visualizing the scene. I mean even the people that hated SM3, thought that part was good. Christopher Young did a spectacular job scoring the scene as well. I completely agree! The score was so great and fit the dark tone of the scene. As some other user on here said, it was like a distorted version of Spidey's theme. :up:

[Arcturus]

Personally, I think of a shapeless blob as an unintelligent animal, running purely on instinct, like an amoeba. It looks for you and it eats you. Thats what it does. It cant be scared away or bargained with. It just keeps coming until it gets you.

I agree! Good post, Demogoblin.

But yeah, the venom symbiote is an intelligent being. As well as the black alien oil from the X-Files, and I guess I'll mention the shoggoths. These are just a few examples. But I also just want to add, intelligence given to such creatures is also a terrifying thing.

[Silver Spider]

I completely agree! The score was so great and fit the dark tone of the scene. As some other user on here said, it was like a distorted version of Spidey's theme. :up:
Well, it did have a distorted, dark version of Spiderman's theme playing as a counter melody to Venom's theme; which I thought was awesome. It was like Spidey's heroic side, breaking free of the symbiote.

[Spider-ManHero12]

Well, it did have a distorted, dark version of Spiderman's theme playing as a counter melody to Venom's theme; which I thought was awesome. It was like Spidey's heroic side, breaking free of the symbiote. That's a great way to put it, Silver Spider. Just thinking about the theme right now makes me want to hear the song right now. :sym::up:

[WolfCypher]

http://www.comicartfans.com/Images/Category_428/subcat_7038/dodsondeodatochoturnerspideyjam.jpg
http://www.comicartfans.com/Images/Category_14930/subcat_37290/New%20Image.JPG
http://www.comicartfans.com/Images/Category_29064/subcat_55670/Venom20.jpg
http://www.comicartfans.com/Images/Category_9092/subcat_47054/Picture%20059.jpg
http://www.comiconart.com/images/2007/1101_BS/DB_SpideyVenomBlackCat.jpg
http://www.comiconart.com/images/2007/0501_BS/RA_SpideyVenom2.jpg
http://www.comiconart.com/images/2008/0324_BS/EB_Venom.jpg

[HELL N' SPIDERS]

Those are amazing!!
Great collection!

[The Navigator]

I REALLY like that bottom one. Is that from an issue?

[Hobgoblin]

We all like the bottom one. :cwink:

I'm guessing he got it from a comic con, as Marvel wouldnt put something quite that racy into a comic that might be read by a kid.

I'm going to the Chicago comic con in June and want to get some pictures done, but I'm conflicted about these types of art. Kinda pervy. I guess I will have to ask the artist for a MJ or Black Cat picture, but dressed and kid friendly.

[Spider-ManHero12]

Awesome pictures, I.R. Venom!!! :wow::up:

[The Navigator]

The way Spider-Man 3 should have been:

(contains really heavy language and crudity--not intended for younger audiences.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrfjyVKYFnU&feature=related

I like how he says, "There is only VENOM!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeHLF2754WE&feature=related

"Only VENOM can drive STICK!"

:D

[Arcturus]

^

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

I can honestly say I nearly ruptured my lungs from the laughter. That certainlly made my day.

:woot:

....


BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!

[Venom Jr.]

http://www.comicartfans.com/Images/Category_29064/subcat_55670/Venom20.jpg
http://www.comicartfans.com/Images/Category_9092/subcat_47054/Picture%20059.jpg
http://www.comiconart.com/images/2007/1101_BS/DB_SpideyVenomBlackCat.jpg
http://www.comiconart.com/images/2007/0501_BS/RA_SpideyVenom2.jpg
http://www.comiconart.com/images/2008/0324_BS/EB_Venom.jpg
Ooooh The bottom one rocks! :D (Not like that its good art ;))

[E.Brock]

The way Spider-Man 3 should have been:

(contains really heavy language and crudity--not intended for younger audiences.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrfjyVKYFnU&feature=related

I like how he says, "There is only VENOM!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeHLF2754WE&feature=related

"Only VENOM can drive STICK!"

:D


**** YOUR COOKIES hahahahah

[Spider-ManHero12]

The way Spider-Man 3 should have been:

(contains really heavy language and crudity--not intended for younger audiences.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrfjyVKYFnU&feature=related

I like how he says, "There is only VENOM!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeHLF2754WE&feature=related

"Only VENOM can drive STICK!"

:D LOL!!!! :grin:

[The Navigator]

"HAIL SATAN AND ASHTON KUTCHER!"

:D :up:

[Spider-ManHero12]

"HAIL SATAN AND ASHTON KUTCHER!"

:D :up: LOL! I loved that part! :wow::woot:

[Web-Head]

The way Spider-Man 3 should have been:

(contains really heavy language and crudity--not intended for younger audiences.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrfjyVKYFnU&feature=related

I like how he says, "There is only VENOM!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeHLF2754WE&feature=related

"Only VENOM can drive STICK!"

:D

Those are brilliant.

Anybody see the Insidious Six video from the same guy?

Kingpin: "Venom, said to be the only ones that could drive stick.":woot:

[Spider-ManHero12]

Those are brilliant.

Anybody see the Insidious Six video from the same guy?

Kingpin: "Venom, said to be the only ones that could drive stick.":woot: Lol, I'll have to check that one out. Have any of you guys checked out "Venom returns?" Carnage is hilarious in it. :grin:

[Web-Head]

Lol, I'll have to check that one out. Have any of you guys checked out "Venom returns?" Carnage is hilarious in it. :grin:
Sure did.

Cletus Kassidy: Oh my god! What is this thing?!
Baron Mordo: It is a symbiote.
Cletus Kassidy: Where did it come from?!
Baron Mordo: My ass.
Cletus Kassidy: Oh! Sweet.

[Spider-ManHero12]

Sure did.

Cletus Kassidy: Oh my god! What is this thing?!
Baron Mordo: It is a symbiote.
Cletus Kassidy: Where did it come from?!
Baron Mordo: My ass. LOL!! I broke out laughing when I heard that!

[Venom Jr.]

^ LOL!!! :D Thats AWESOME! :D :D :D

[Venomfan]

pretty funny but not nearly as good as the Juggernaut B****, which its pretty much a complete rip off of

[Venom Jr.]

pretty funny but not nearly as good as the Juggernaut B****, which its pretty much a complete rip off of
Okay the Juggernaunt one I was ROFL but for This one I was LOL. Close but these round goes to Crimmson Man. :woot:

[Arcturus]

Where am I?

Where are you?

Where am I?

Shut up. Where are you? I can hear you.

lol.

[Spider-ManHero12]

Where am I?

Where are you?

Where am I?

Shut up. Where are you? I can hear you.

lol. Lol! :up:

[Hulkfan2008!]

A NEW VENOM EXIST!!!!!!!! :sym:


http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20196484,00.html

[HELL N' SPIDERS]

A NEW VENOM EXIST!!!!!!!! :sym:


http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20196484,00.html (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20196484,00.html)


they say that he is anti-venom so maybe it is another symbiote. Cause that is just what we need. (oh the sarcasm)

[Jick09]

and what happened to Toxin?

[HELL N' SPIDERS]

and what happened to Toxin?

Yeah!
He should fight this new "Anti-Venom" thing. That would be great. And then Eddie Brock would get the Venom Symbiote back and all would be well with the world.

[WolfCypher]

...the hell?!?

...Gargan Venom is starting to look better and better compared to that.

[Web-Head]

If it's Eddie, I'll be happy. And that's all I'm saying.

[Spider-ManHero12]

A NEW VENOM EXIST!!!!!!!! :sym:


http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20196484,00.html (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20196484,00.html) As I said in the thread in the Comics section, I'm very excited about tihs, but I'm also very curious. :up:

[Silver Spider]

A NEW VENOM EXIST!!!!!!!! :sym:


http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20196484,00.html
He kind of looks like Carnage with Venom's colors reversed, and with a little bit of Blackheart in his eyes.

[The Navigator]

I drew that when I was seven years old. :cmad:
I'm gonna sue.

[Arcturus]

A NEW VENOM EXIST!!!!!!!! :sym:


http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20196484,00.html

I'm not sure I support this idea. Why can't they just focus on Eddie Brock/Venom?

[Spider-ManHero12]

I drew that when I was seven years old. :cmad:
I'm gonna sue. LOL! :woot:

[WolfCypher]

Bizarro-Venom...at least you brought back life to this thread. We all have something to talk about.

So, lets see how far we've come...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w94/Symbiocide/009%20Favorites/04_Venom_by_Mike_Mayhew.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w94/Symbiocide/001%20Venom/New%20Venom/003-Venom_civil_war.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w94/Symbiocide/001%20Venom/Anti-Venom/anti-venom.jpg

[The Navigator]

Is that top one a Greg Horn? It looks like his style.

[Spider-ManHero12]

Bizarro-Venom...at least you brought back life to this thread. We all have something to talk about.

So, lets see how far we've come...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w94/Symbiocide/009%20Favorites/04_Venom_by_Mike_Mayhew.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w94/Symbiocide/001%20Venom/New%20Venom/003-Venom_civil_war.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w94/Symbiocide/001%20Venom/Anti-Venom/anti-venom.jpg Original Venom always will look the most fantastic! As I have said, Anti-Venom looks very badass. He could be the best symbiote that we have had in a long time.

[Silver Spider]

Original Venom always will look the most fantastic! As I have said, Anti-Venom looks very badass. He could be the best symbiote that we have had in a long time.
Agrees:yay:

[Spider-ManHero12]

The yellow eyes add to the coolness. :word:

[Silver Spider]

The yellow eyes add to the coolness. :word:
It makes him look like he's somehow linked to Mephisto, IMO.

[Spider-ManHero12]

It makes him look like he's somehow linked to Mephisto, IMO. The name Mephisto sort of makes me fell weird. I mean, he ended the marriage. However, thank god that Venom is not linked to Mephisto. That would be horrible.

[The Navigator]

Yeah, great consistency, Joe Q. "Oh, we don't want the marrige to end in divorce, because that sets a bad example to the kiddies. Making a deal with the devil is much better, by comparison."

[Arcturus]

I hate to say it, but I'm glad I stopped generally stopped reading 616 spidey comics. That's not to say I don't read the older stories when 616 was still good, and I did find the Last Temptation of Eddie Brock to be quite interesting. But this OMD/BND has turned me away completely.

[The Navigator]

OMD/BND turns away all who are sane and on the side of justice. Makes me angry every time I pick up an "Essential" or considering getting a TPB.

[Spider-ManHero12]

As I have said, BND has been awesome so far. I know that when reading it, people feel as though it was made by a bad story (OMD) and I agree that it was made by a bad story, but it's defenitley a MUCH MUCH better story.

[Arcturus]

Sigh, I was watching the Venom Saga for old times sake and I think that was my favorite arc from the 90's TAS. Honestly, Venom was handled so well in that I hope that they do him justice once more in the Spectacular Spider-Man.

Heh,

"Who said we hate you? The fact is, we're you're biggest fan!"

[Spider-ManHero12]

Sigh, I was watching the Venom Saga for old times sake and I think that was my favorite arc from the 90's TAS. Honestly, Venom was handled so well in that I hope that they do him justice once more in the Spectacular Spider-Man.

Heh,

"Who said we hate you? The fact is, we're you're biggest fan!" That Venom arc from the 90's show was so fantastic! Also, I do think they will do him justice in this show. They've done each Villian great so far, so I really think that they won't dissapoint us. :up:

[The Navigator]

Sigh, I was watching the Venom Saga for old times sake and I think that was my favorite arc from the 90's TAS. Honestly, Venom was handled so well in that I hope that they do him justice once more in the Spectacular Spider-Man.

Heh,

"Who said we hate you? The fact is, we're you're biggest fan!"


One of the few times where a piece of dialogue was said better in a cartoon than a movie.

"Mary Jane'll be so lonely....maybe we'll have to keep her company! How does that sound, Tiger?" Ah, good old 90's cartoons.

They distilled the non-essential part of his origin (secret wars), while building him up in the background for the first season and then devoted three episodes to his full fruition of villainy. Fully space-oriented, which was brilliant, especially with the ending.

[Web-Head]

Venom was criminally underused in SM TAS.

[The Navigator]

Better under than over. Look at how much crap Kingpin was involved with. Kingpin for crying out loud!

[E.Brock]

WELCOME BACK BROCK

http://comics.ign.com/articles/870/870929p1.html

[WolfCypher]

You move fast! I just saw this post you posted in the Anti-Venom thread.

[Spider-ManHero12]

WELCOME BACK BROCK

http://comics.ign.com/articles/870/870929p1.html Really interesting interview. Thanks for posting E.Brock. :up:

[E.Brock]

yes i am very fast in every aspect of life.......unfortunately

[Spider-ManHero12]

yes i am very fast in every aspect of life.......unfortunately That's a good thing in most areas of lfie though.

[E.Brock]

i was kidding...an attempt at a bad joke

[Spider-ManHero12]

i was kidding...an attempt at a bad joke I wouldn't say a bad joke. I'm not all that funny myself.

[The Navigator]

yes i am very fast in every aspect of life.......unfortunately


I get it. :)
As much as I disdain current Marvel, I'm glad Dan Slott's writing it now. I just wish he hadn't been crippled by Joe Q.

Remember these days?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1URn2ITlNr4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TB2Z_BL9KU&feature=related

[Spider-ManHero12]

I get it. :)
As much as I disdain current Marvel, I'm glad Dan Slott's writing it now. I just wish he hadn't been crippled by Joe Q.

Remember these days?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1URn2ITlNr4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TB2Z_BL9KU&feature=related Video is not there. :yay:

[The Navigator]

Okay, ever since anti-Venom popped up, I figured I'd try my hand at a few re-designs:

http://img32.picoodle.com/img/img32/4/5/1/redwoods_wolf/f_v1m_3684d06.png

With this one, I definitely wanted Venom to look alien. You wouldn't really know where to look until you saw he had no eyes. And then you'd be dead. But the "eyes" would be on his chest logo, hidden in the broken spider motif. Also wanted to go for really small, sharp teeth, like rat's teeth.

http://img31.picoodle.com/img/img31/4/5/1/redwoods_wolf/f_v4m_03b9e75.png

Going for the "ex-Spider-Man" angle, obviously. To clarify, this design was based on a sketch I did well before Spidey 3 began filming, and before I'd ever heard of Spider-Girl. Tried to get in a sideways/circular jaw mechanism--not sure if I like it.

http://img34.picoodle.com/img/img34/4/5/1/redwoods_wolf/f_v2m_c2a9747.png

Not as much a redesign as a coloring/shading preference. Remember in the Ron Frenz days of Spidey having the black suit, where he'd look extremely sleek and athletic? It worked great, but they never bothered to try and translate that into Venom. Bagley probably came the closest, but he still packed on the muscles. Venom is not the Hulk. Venom is Dark Spidey. And Spidey has always, always, always been agile. Also wanted to clean up the chest logo (even more Spidey-like now!) and change the whites to grays, in order to draw attention to his mouth.

[Arcturus]

RabbitSamurai, those designs are splendid. You truly have an artistic talent!

[Hybrid]

Glad I'm not the only one who tried to redesign the Venom suit before SM3 began filming!
Here's my version...

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/7795/venomredesignbyhypervenbh1.jpg

Hope you like it!:sym:

[Spider-ManHero12]

Glad I'm not the only one who tried to redesign the Venom suit before SM3 began filming!
Here's my version...

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/7795/venomredesignbyhypervenbh1.jpg

Hope you like it!:sym: That looks great! :wow::up:

[Arcturus]

Since it seems to be the theme, I too will post some work of mine. Either way, here is how I see Venom in my story Spider-Man: The Speed of Darkness, which is making good progress.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Arcturus_v4life/speedofdarknessfinal.jpg

[Spider-ManHero12]

Since it seems to be the theme, I too will post some work of mine. Either way, here is how I see Venom in my story Spider-Man: The Speed of Darkness, which is making good progress.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Arcturus_v4life/speedofdarknessfinal.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Arcturus_v4life/speedofdarkness.jpg That's so awesome, Arcturus! I'm still really looking foward to that story. :up:

[HELL N' SPIDERS]

How long is it so far?

[Hybrid]

Here's the AMAZING SPIDERMAN # 568 cover by J.Romita Jr...

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/6273/3482newstoryimage975200sc1.jpg

[Spider-ManHero12]

Here's the AMAZING SPIDERMAN # 568 cover by J.Romita Jr...

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/6273/3482newstoryimage975200sc1.jpg Wow! Now that is so awesome! :wow::up:

[WolfCypher]

What the hell?!!

[Hobgoblin]

I gotta admit, I'm digging these new covers. John Romita knows how to knock them out of the park.

[HELL N' SPIDERS]

I just finished "Spider-Man Reign" and it was the vest Spider-Man story I have ever read!!
It was amazing. I loved the contrast between Peter Parker and Spider-Man in it.
If you haven't read it, it is a MUST!!!

[The Navigator]

Here's the AMAZING SPIDERMAN # 568 cover by J.Romita Jr...

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/6273/3482newstoryimage975200sc1.jpg

Hmmm...I wonder if it's significant that the logo looks different.

[Spider-ManHero12]

I gotta admit, I'm digging these new covers. John Romita knows how to knock them out of the park. Agreed, John Romita Jr.'s work is something I can't and don't want to take my eyes off of.

[WolfCypher]

Arcturus had written a very detailed synopsis on his views of Eddie Brock in the new Spider-Man cartoon, and its well worth the read. Between the upcoming Venom episodes in "Spectacular Spider-Man" and the upcoming "Anti-Venom" and return of Eddie Brock, I've had a major urge to do a list of The Top 10 Venom Stories.

For the next 10 days, starting today, I'll be making these rather large, detailed posts of a Venom fanatic's opinions on what he thinks are Venom's stories at their best. As a bonus, I'll also feature a bonus "article" at the end. Twice the read of a self-centered Venom expert.

Best of #10
Amazing Spider-Man 373, 374-375
Venom has, yet again, escaped from the police. Someday, there will be a prison designed that no villain will ever be able to escape from. What sets Venom off this time is when he discovers that Peter Parker (his arch-foe Spider-Man) has been reunited with his (robotic. Hush, Hush) parents after over twenty years.

Yeah, I should recap on that whole robo-parents gimmick. Peter's parents are back in his life. They made their 1st appearance, actually, at the end of the previous Venom-related ASM story. We just weren't given their identities at the time; Marvel writers back then loved throwing at us obvious preludes to later story developments. But you'd have to be an utter idiot NOT to have guessed who they were. A middle-aged couple, returning to America after many years, carrying a newspaper article with Peter's picture in it, talking to each other about after so long, their return will change their lives and Peter's...Alex, who are Peter's Parents?

Close enough. See the only thing even MORE obvious that these were his parents was that these weren't his parnets. This is Spider-Man. Despite the fact that the comics still had that classic comic feel to it (Spidey vs. cool villain, none of that One More Day/The Other/Sins Past/Freak, Menace, Mr. Negative crap) we also had "so the drama" as my little sister says, quoting her "Kim Possible" show. From a stalker...well, stalking Mary Jane to Aunt May dating an irresponsible old coot in a wheel chair, to Peter's parents. It was half Spidey, half "All My Children". And since this is Spider-Man, nothing can ever truely go right in his world. There's no way these people are who they say they are. Alex, I give up. Who are these people?

Well, like in Invader Zim, these parants are apparently robots. Built by Harry Osborn and now controlled by the Chameleon to ruin Spider-Man's life.

That's nice. Now, can we please get back to the review of Venom!?

So Venom escapes and is on his way to meet the Parkers. Spidey arrives just as Venom makes his move, and we get yet another fine Spidey x Venom fight.

In some of the previous stories, Spidey had been portrayed as the type to run away pissing himself when Venom comes a-calling, but I guess when Petey's long-lost parents are at stake, he can grow a pair.

The fight scene was well done. The two duke it out throughout a parade and into a shopping mall, where Venom strikes down (kills?) a clown, purley because Venom was unintenionally scaring a little girl and the clown was trying to save her. From Venom. Yet Venom accuses the CLOWN to be the problem! And THIS is what I was talking about, with the whole "Venom shouldn't NOT be a superhero/vigilante". That angle was used to make Venom seem stupid and incompotent. We know Eddie's crazy, but he's not supposed to be dumb, but alas, written as a Lethal Protector, we get a "savior" who traumatizes little children and beats up on clowns, and at the end of the day, he just goes about believing the city is safe for another day.

By the way, its revealed in a later issue of ASM that the girl became mute from her traumatic experience with Venom.

Now, had Venom had attacked that clown and terrified the girl as a pure-villain, that would have been awesome...

The fighting continues on with the two opposing websters as Venom gets the upperhand (though he never lost hand at any point during the fight to begin with). He clobbers Spider-Man, knocks him out, and absconds with his parnets.

Spidey goes in search for Venom. He's so worried about them, he doesn't have time to go home to rest of change out of his tattered and torn costume (and its winter, at the time). Meanwhile, J. Jonah Jameson has hired Silver Sable's Wildpack to track Venom down and bring him in for an interview (I wonder how that would have worked out).

Having no clue what to do, Spidey comes upon some info that leads him to a woman named Ann Weying, the ex-wife of Eddie Brock! Ann reluctantly agrees to help the best she can, and she tells Spider-Man some things about her past with Eddie, including how he used to act around her (before the crazy, he was a charming young man), how he had bad connections with his father (later touched on in "Lethal Protector"), and how he lost all hope and his sanity after the 'Sin-Eater fiasco'. She also explains why she left Eddie (a lot of Venom fans think she left Eddie because he had lost everything, when this story reveals that Ann wasn't a heartless ******, and that she did try to stay with Eddie, but his depression created a rift between the two, so ultimately, she left him). Oh, and she also mentions an amusement park.

BY JORGE! THAT'S IT! THE AMUSEMENT PARK! So Spidey webslings to that closed-for-the-season amusement park, where it turns out Venom is using as a holding place for his parents!

I hate that. I hate how Michilinie had a knack for throwing out the most random, offbeat piece of info that to even Batman, would seem completely useless and just thrown out there, and it somehow leads exactly to the source the hero is looking for. This was done again in "Lethal Protector", where Spidey talks to Eddie's previous housekeeper he had when he was a kid, and she tells Spidey all about Eddie's background growing up. The info doesn't actually help Spider-Man find Venom, yet Michilinie makes us think that that information was exactly what Spider-Man needed. C'mon!!

Spidey is not the only one to find this location. The Wildpack wouldn't be good at what they did if they couldn't have tracked Venom here (although they actually followed Spider-Man). And Ann, feeling guilty about everything, also follows. Venom gets wind of Spider-Man's arrival, and the two come face-to-face, with Eddie 'disguising' the symbiote to look like some cool (at the time) Venom-styled winter coat. Eddie then reveals the convoluted, Bizarro-world theory behind his kidnapping his parents...

...to protect them from Peter.

Before I go into another rant, let me explain. Venom believes that everyone that comes into contact with Peter or Spider-man is doomed and destined to have their "innocense ruined". He decides to kidnap the Parkers, keep them hidden, then kill Spider-Man, thier son, then release the Parkers afterwards. He believes this would be the best thing for the Parkers. Yeah. Killing their son. All because Marvel wanted to make Venom a dumbed-down vigilante. If this logic was painful to ingest, then think how painful it was when Venom became a full-time hero with his own series of limited series, each one further drowing Venom in the title of "self-porclaimed good guy"?

So, the battle is about to begin when Ann appears and calms Eddie down. She tries to reason with him, and it seems to work, until the damn Wildpack show up and attack Venom. In blind rage, Venom accuses Spider-Man of using Ann as bait to lower his guard, and goes monkey nuts all over everyone (eww...). Spidey fights off the Wildpack (since their involve are complicating matters even more) while the Wildpack fights Venom, and the Parkers free themselves from their holding place, and get sucked into the middle of the melee. With the Wildpack down, Spidey & Venom continue where they left off, and Venom pummels Spidey to a pulp. Before he can deliver the finishing blow, one of the Wildpack blasts Venom with a sonic blaster. He would have killed Venom, too, had it not been for Ann knocking him out, saving her laine-bonded ex-husband. Venom thanks Ann, and continues to attempt to finish Spider-Man off. Ann is dumbfounded. she saved Eddie, and all Eddie wants to do is kill someone?! So she runs off to get help when a nearby ferris wheel tumbles over. The weaken Venom tries to stop the falling wheel, but his symbiote, having been bombarded with sound, is still stunned. It seems the two of them are finished...until Spidey addeds his strenght to the mix, saving them all. Venom is ready to go another round again, when Ann snaps at Eddie and tells him that Spider-Man is a hero. Using simple logic, Ann makes Eddie, after all this time, realize that Spider-Man is a good guy, and the two make a deal to no longer go after each other, and Venom departs for his next appearance..."Lethal Protector".

So, after all that typing, you see now why this could only be number ten, barely even on the list. The story was poor, and the logic behind Venom going after Peter's parents and Venom abandoning his vendetta were stupid, and this story officially began Venom's ruin. So why does it make the list?

Well, it is one of thr six classics. That's one point. This wasn't Venom at his worst. The worst was yet to come. This was like a carton of milk a few days past expiration. It wasn't sour yet, but it was souring. Also, Bagley's pencils were great, and the fighting here was incredible. The fight scenes all by themselves warrant that this book belongs on this list, if barely.

Funny sidenote...ASM 375 states this is Spider-Man & Venom's "Final Confrontation", yet before this issue actually came out, "Venom: Lethal Protector 1" was already out in stores. So anyone thinking this was Venom's last stand...heh...

Bonus Feature: Personal Pick
Spirits of Venom
That was too long. I meant to talk about the strong of weak points of that story arc, NOT review the damn story! So this will be quick. A brief synopsis and my take, as well as why I chose this story.

Spirits of Venom was a story about Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch) and Johnny Blaze trying to stop demons Hag & Troll from resurrecting Deathwatch. Hag & Trolls minions abduct many homeless people off the streets to feed to Deathwatch, as well as the likes of Spider-Man, Hobgoblin, Demogoblin, Doppelganger, and a preist. During the fighting, a truck transfering Venom is tipped over, and Venom gets free. So now we have Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, and Venom teaming up, for different reasons (GH & JB to stop Deathwatch, Venom to "save" Spider-Man so he can kill him).

This story takes place in both 'Web of Spider-Man' and 'Ghost Rider & Johnny Blaze: Spirits of Vegenace'. It was part 2 of this story that was the 1st time I ever saw Venom. I had no real idea who Venom was, but he came off as a cool, kick-ass anti-Spider-Man who didn't take **** and enjoyed messing with the other heroes because he could. THIS was Venom. And this story takes place riiiiight before the above story I reviewed. So technically, this was Venom's final decent story before the "Lethal Protector" transformation. Just like "Lethal Protector", it was a fun read. My only gripe was that while the two parts that take place in 'Spirits of Vegenace' had great art, the other half from 'Web of Spider-Man' had atrocious penciling. 'Web' at the time had the worst artisit on board.

My 1st Venom story. That sounds like a baby's book. "My 1st Venom" for pre-schoolers.

[HELL N' SPIDERS]

^that rocked.
good review.

[Spider-ManHero12]

Arcturus had written a very detailed synopsis on his views of Eddie Brock in the new Spider-Man cartoon, and its well worth the read. Between the upcoming Venom episodes in "Spectacular Spider-Man" and the upcoming "Anti-Venom" and return of Eddie Brock, I've had a major urge to do a list of The Top 10 Venom Stories.

For the next 10 days, starting today, I'll be making these rather large, detailed posts of a Venom fanatic's opinions on what he thinks are Venom's stories at their best. As a bonus, I'll also feature a bonus "article" at the end. Twice the read of a self-centered Venom expert.

Best of #10
Venom: Lethal Protector 1-6
How popular can a Spider-Man villain be if he gets his own limited series? Even moreso, what about when that limited series becomes a series of limited series (why didn't Marvel just make the strings of limited series one big consecutive on-going)? David Michilinie and Todd McFarlane's Venom had made it, though the villains critics would become mixed starting at this point. I mean, a stories few before this limited series, Venom was a lunatic; bitter Eddie Brock was running around wearing an alien for Christ sake, trying to kill our favoirte neighborhood. Now, he's...a good guy. Huh? Oh wait, I mean "Lethal Protector".

What, you ask, is a Lethal Protector? Why, a superhero who protects the innocent my any violent means necessary. Like Punisher...wait, not like Punisher. Punisher actually tries not to hurt innocent bystanders and not intentionally ruin the lives of the people he's saving. Venom is so deluded of his role as a hero, he doesn't realize that he's doing more harm than good playing hero, both to those he's sworn to protect, and to his own image. Turning a (over)recurring villain into a self-titled star of a series of comics NOT involving battles with Spider-Man with Venom as a villain (the role Venom was created for) was a huge contribution to his fall from stardom.

Sooo...if Lethal Protector was the start of a bad thing, why is it on this list? Well, its only number ten, obviously, 1st of all. 2ndly, this actually was the best of the Venom limited series, so don't expect to see any others show up after this one, and 3rdly, it actually is a fun read.

Not all stories have to be really well written to be an enjoyable story. In this tale, after events that led to Spider-Man & Venom's "final battle", Venom relocates to San Francisco, the birthplace of symbiote-bound Eddie Brock, to start a new life as a hero. But upon arriving, Eddie finds his new life immediately challeneged by 3 sources. Starting with the discovery of a preserved part of the city sunken underground many years ago from an earthquake, where a community of semi-homeless people have taken in as their home, Venom learns that a business man is trying to eradicate the citizens of this lost city to steal the gold reserve that sunk along with them. The 2nd complication comes in the form of Orwell Taylor, the director of the anti-Venom (heh...) team known as the Jury. The team's members all want Venom dead, as well as Mr. Taylor, due to the fact that Venom, long ago, killed a Vault guard named Hugh Taylor. And even that's not the end of the craziness, as the Life Foundation wants Venom for his unborn children. That's right, before this story ends, we end up with more symbiotes (and you all ate that gimmick up...hell, I ate that gimmick up! YAY! Five more symbiotes!). All that, and Spider-Man's here, somewhere, hidden in the clutter of villains, symbiotes, and heavily-armored Venom hunters.

The success of this run resulted in even more limited series (as stated earlier), though we all know that Marvel would have produced more of these regardless (Venom was Marvel's cash-cow back then). Its still one of my favorites (again, I enjoy this book, yes, but I'm not saying its the end-all, be-all Venom story), so it can't be all bad (I'm very picky and hard-to-please, being an unbiased Venom fanatic).

Bonus Feature: Personal Pick
Venom: Separation Anxiety 1-4
If you talk about Lethal Protector, the limited series, the 1st thing Venom fans remember are the five Guardian symbiotes. During the early 90s, anytime Marvel farted a new symbiote, we Venom fans went damn nuts over it! Five thrown at us at once was bliss to the ignorant. That was then, of course (we're all older and wiser). But if people erupted over the brief encounter Spider-Man and Venom had with Scream and pals, just imagine the shock value that resulted from their return in, and heavy influence on, the later limited series "Venom: Separation Anxiety 1-4".

So...Eddie and the Venom symbiote have been separated and are being held in separate facilities, with Eddie being held in a prison/research facility. During his time symbioteless, Eddie recollects his memories of his times as Venom and his hatred for Spider-Man, and during this moment of clarity & painful, cold loneliness, Eddie comes to the realization that, with or without the symbiote, Eddie, himself, is a monster. This results in a depressed, dark, bitter, and angry (emo) Brock.

Now, I have to stop for a minute to express my distaste for emos. I never hated goths, but now that we got the latest tread of next-gen goths, I can't describe my feelings against kids who get all pissy and depressed and pretend as if they cut themselves, dying their hair black and wearing extra eye-liner and Mascara enough. Obvioulsy, that's NOT how Eddie is being portaryed as, thankfully. Actually, this new side of Eddie is very interesting. For too long, before, the guy (as Venom) was running around like a happy retard, spewing lame lines, shouting "Hoo-Hah!" (oops! That doesn't start until the very next limited series) and trademarking his "I want to eat your brains" motto (shouldn't that be "We want to eat your brains"?). Now, without the symbiote, we have a more serious Eddie Brock with very mixed feelings about being Venom, and this should have been an angle that should have stayed for later stories, thus giving us a deeper Venom, as the man inside the symbiote would always be concerned about how much control he has and how much influence the symbiote has, and the symbiote would obviously be affected by its new hosts outlook...

...and this angle was kept...and underused...in "Planet of the Symbiotes"...then abandon & forgetten as soon as Eddie returned to his happy-retard days in "Venom: Sinner Takes All".

Anyhow, where we left off, while Eddie is being poked & proded during his imprisonment, the five Guardian symbiotes break into the facility and escape with Eddie. Eddie, of course, having an irrational hatred for all symbiotes (except the Venom symbiote, of course) goes beserk and fights against his unwanted offspring. But these guys are desperate. Their human hosts want to learn how to conrtol their symbiotes, and they want Eddie to teach them. And they're willing to convince him by force...not difficult considering that their symbiotes are further increasing their violent urges.

At the time of all this, the Venom symbiote has escaped form its confinements, and is on its way to its host. But can Eddie stay alive long enough for his alien costume to return to him before his unlikely captors cause him any harm? Does Eddie even care what happens to him?

People seem to equate "Leathal Protector" with "Separation Anxiety" all the time simply because of the Guardian symbiotes. Really, the two stories, although having their similarites, are drastically different in plot. If anything, "Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project" is the real successor of "Venom: Lethal Protector". All the similarites between Lethal Protector & Separation Anxiety are really only in Lethal Protector 5 & Separation Anxiety 1. In both issues, (1) Eddie and the symbiote are separated, (2) Eddie is contained in some sort of secret facility hidden somewhere in a desert, (3) the five Guardian symbiotes are present and accounted for, & (4) you've got Eddie Brock naked throughout the entire issue. Yeah, that last fact could have been left out, but am I the only one who have noticed that both times Eddie have confronted the Guardian symbiotes, the two only times, he was in the buff? Oh, and the Separation Anxiety video game further proves how different Leathl Protector & Separation Anxiety are from each other, since really, the Separation Anxiety video game was based almost entirely on LETHAL PROTECTOR, not on the story of its namesake! But back then, Marvel had a proven theory, that worked at the time, and that was...

...symbiotes sell.

Well, back then, I loved this story. My childhood refuses to let me let go of this one, so I still give it a shout out once and a while. It wasn't bad, actually, plus the brooding attitude and change of character Eddie went through was well done, even if it was only used well in this 4-parter. Another very rare example of a Venom limited series that didn't suck. But what the flimm was up with the writer getting the Guardian symbiotes names and faces mixed up by part 4? Great review, I.R.Venom! :up:

[WolfCypher]

Best of #9
Venom: Lethal Protector 1-6
In this synopsis, I describe the 1st ever Venom limited series as the beginning of Venom's career as a superhero, a horrible desicion on Marvels part. Really, the seeds of Venom's transformation from wicked villain to Lethal Protector:whatever: officially sprouted in this Amazing Spider-Man story arc, the sixthed of the classic ASM "Venom" stories (back when Venom was pretty much seen exclusively in ASM as a villain. Sure, he would appear on rare occasions in other titles like Avengers: Deathtrap-the Vault and the Web of Spider-Man/Spirits of Vengence crossover, but still, these were few occurances).

How popular can a Spider-Man villain be if he gets his own limited series? Even moreso, what about when that limited series becomes a series of limited series (why didn't Marvel just make the strings of limited series one big consecutive on-going)? David Michilinie and Todd McFarlane's Venom had made it, though the villains critics would become mixed starting at this point. I mean, a stories few before this limited series, Venom was a lunatic; bitter Eddie Brock was running around wearing an alien for Christ sake, trying to kill our favoirte neighborhood. Now, he's...a good guy. Huh? Oh wait, I mean "Lethal Protector".

What, you ask, is a Lethal Protector? Why, a superhero who protects the innocent my any violent means necessary. Like Punisher...wait, not like Punisher. Punisher actually tries not to hurt innocent bystanders and not intentionally ruin the lives of the people he's saving. Venom is so deluded of his role as a hero, he doesn't realize that he's doing more harm than good playing hero, both to those he's sworn to protect, and to his own image. Turning a (over)recurring villain into a self-titled star of a series of comics NOT involving battles with Spider-Man with Venom as a villain (the role Venom was created for) was a huge contribution to his fall from stardom.

Sooo...if Lethal Protector was the start of a bad thing, why is it on this list? Well, its only number nine, obviously, 1st of all. 2ndly, this actually was the best of the Venom limited series, so don't expect to see any others show up after this one, and 3rdly, it actually is a fun read.

Not all stories have to be really well written to be an enjoyable story. In this tale, after events that led to Spider-Man & Venom's "final battle", Venom relocates to San Francisco, the birthplace of symbiote-bound Eddie Brock, to start a new life as a hero. But upon arriving, Eddie finds his new life immediately challeneged by 3 sources. Starting with the discovery of a preserved part of the city sunken underground many years ago from an earthquake, where a community of semi-homeless people have taken in as their home, Venom learns that a business man is trying to eradicate the citizens of this lost city to steal the gold reserve that sunk along with them. The 2nd complication comes in the form of Orwell Taylor, the director of the anti-Venom (heh...) team known as the Jury. The team's members all want Venom dead, as well as Mr. Taylor, due to the fact that Venom, long ago, killed a Vault guard named Hugh Taylor. And even that's not the end of the craziness, as the Life Foundation wants Venom for his unborn children. That's right, before this story ends, we end up with more symbiotes (and you all ate that gimmick up...hell, I ate that gimmick up! YAY! Five more symbiotes!). All that, and Spider-Man's here, somewhere, hidden in the clutter of villains, symbiotes, and heavily-armored Venom hunters.

The success of this run resulted in even more limited series (as stated earlier), though we all know that Marvel would have produced more of these regardless (Venom was Marvel's cash-cow back then). Its still one of my favorites (again, I enjoy this book, yes, but I'm not saying its the end-all, be-all Venom story), so it can't be all bad (I'm very picky and hard-to-please, being an unbiased Venom fanatic).

Bonus Feature: Personal Pick
Venom: Separation Anxiety 1-4
If you talk about Lethal Protector, the limited series, the 1st thing Venom fans remember are the five Guardian symbiotes. During the early 90s, anytime Marvel farted a new symbiote, we Venom fans went damn nuts over it! Five thrown at us at once was bliss to the ignorant. That was then, of course (we're all older and wiser). But if people erupted over the brief encounter Spider-Man and Venom had with Scream and pals, just imagine the shock value that resulted from their return in, and heavy influence on, the later limited series "Venom: Separation Anxiety 1-4".

So...Eddie and the Venom symbiote have been separated and are being held in separate facilities, with Eddie being held in a prison/research facility. During his time symbioteless, Eddie recollects his memories of his times as Venom and his hatred for Spider-Man, and during this moment of clarity & painful, cold loneliness, Eddie comes to the realization that, with or without the symbiote, Eddie, himself, is a monster. This results in a depressed, dark, bitter, and angry (emo) Brock.

Now, I have to stop for a minute to express my distaste for emos. I never hated goths, but now that we got the latest tread of next-gen goths, I can't describe my feelings against kids who get all pissy and depressed and pretend as if they cut themselves, dying their hair black and wearing extra eye-liner and Mascara enough. Obvioulsy, that's NOT how Eddie is being portaryed as, thankfully. Actually, this new side of Eddie is very interesting. For too long, before, the guy (as Venom) was running around like a happy retard, spewing lame lines, shouting "Hoo-Hah!" (oops! That doesn't start until the very next limited series) and trademarking his "I want to eat your brains" motto (shouldn't that be "We want to eat your brains"?). Now, without the symbiote, we have a more serious Eddie Brock with very mixed feelings about being Venom, and this should have been an angle that should have stayed for later stories, thus giving us a deeper Venom, as the man inside the symbiote would always be concerned about how much control he has and how much influence the symbiote has, and the symbiote would obviously be affected by its new hosts outlook...

...and this angle was kept...and underused...in "Planet of the Symbiotes"...then abandon & forgetten as soon as Eddie returned to his happy-retard days in "Venom: Sinner Takes All".

Anyhow, where we left off, while Eddie is being poked & proded during his imprisonment, the five Guardian symbiotes break into the facility and escape with Eddie. Eddie, of course, having an irrational hatred for all symbiotes (except the Venom symbiote, of course) goes beserk and fights against his unwanted offspring. But these guys are desperate. Their human hosts want to learn how to conrtol their symbiotes, and they want Eddie to teach them. And they're willing to convince him by force...not difficult considering that their symbiotes are further increasing their violent urges.

At the time of all this, the Venom symbiote has escaped form its confinements, and is on its way to its host. But can Eddie stay alive long enough for his alien costume to return to him before his unlikely captors cause him any harm? Does Eddie even care what happens to him?

People seem to equate "Leathal Protector" with "Separation Anxiety" all the time simply because of the Guardian symbiotes. Really, the two stories, although having their similarites, are drastically different in plot. If anything, "Spider-Man: The Arachnis Project" is the real successor of "Venom: Lethal Protector". In "The Arachnis Project", you have all the major players from "Lethal Protecor" present, including Roland Treece, Carlton Drake, Orwell Taylor, the Jury, the Life Foundation, the Diggers, Spider-Man of course, and Venom. Separation Anxiety is nothing like "Lethal Protector" beyond a few similarites. And all the similarites between "Lethal Protector" & "Separation Anxiety" are really only in "Lethal Protector 5" & "Separation Anxiety 1". In both issues, (1) Eddie and the symbiote are separated, (2) Eddie is contained in some sort of secret facility hidden somewhere in a desert, (3) the five Guardian symbiotes are present and accounted for, & (4) you've got Eddie Brock naked throughout the entire issue. Yeah, that last fact could have been left out, but am I the only one who has noticed that both times Eddie have confronted the Guardian symbiotes, and there have only been two times Eddie has ever encountered the Guardian symbiotes, he was in the buff? Oh, and the Separation Anxiety video game further proves how different Leathl Protector & Separation Anxiety are from each other, since really, the Separation Anxiety video game was based almost entirely on LETHAL PROTECTOR, not on the story of its namesake! But back then, Marvel had a proven theory, that worked at the time, and that was...

...symbiotes sell.

Well, back then, I loved this story. My childhood refuses to let me let go of this one, so I still give it a shout out once and a while. It wasn't bad, actually, plus the brooding attitude and change of character Eddie went through was well done, even if it was only used well in this 4-parter. Another very rare example of a Venom limited series that didn't suck. But what the flimm was up with the writer getting the Guardian symbiotes names and faces mixed up by part 4?

[The Navigator]

As much as I like these reviews you're doing (thorough in all the right ways), it makes me sad that Venom does not have ten really great stories to choose from. :(

So here's some cool images that I found:
http://image.comicvine.com:8000/item/2000/1486/139633-venom_400.jpghttp://image.comicvine.com:8000/item/2000/1486/128260-venom_400.jpg
http://image.comicvine.com:8000/item/2000/1486/119073-venom_400.jpg
http://image.comicvine.com:8000/item/2000/1486/174593-venom_400.jpg

[WolfCypher]

Actually, after numbers 10 and 9 on my list, the next 8 ARE very damn good! You'll hear some positive reviews starting tomorrow.

And my "Lethal Protector" review wasn't all negative. It is a fun read. After rereading ASM 374-375 and having to write about it, it made me realize how flawed it was, and "Lethal Protector" was much better compared to it, I've concluded.

That's it! I'm switching those two around.

I'm glad you like reading them. Arcturus made me start (I get RabbitSamurai and Arcturus mixed up); after reading his detailed synopsis of Eddie Brock in the 'Spec SM' threads, I wanted to follow suit. Then things spiraled outta control, so now, I'm writing a whole series.

[Spider-ManHero12]

Best of #9
Amazing Spider-Man 373, 374-375
My last opinionated post picked "Lethal Protector" as #10. In that post, I described that limited series as the beginning of Venom's career as a superhero, a horrible desicion on Marvels part. Really, the seeds of Venom's transformation from wicked villain to :whatever:-Lethal Protector officially sprouted in this Amazing Spider-Man story arc, the sixthed of the classic ASM "Venom" stories (back when Venom was pretty much seen exclusively in ASM as a villain. Sure, he would appear on rare occasions in other titles like Avengers: Deathtrap-the Vault and the Web of Spider-Man/Spirits of Vengence crossover [see below], but still, these were few occurances).

So anyhoo, Venom has, yet again, escaped from the police. Someday, there will be a prison designed that no villain will ever be able to escape from. What sets Venom off this time is when he discovers that Peter Parker (his arch-foe Spider-Man) has been reunited with his (robotic. Hush, Hush) parents after over twenty years.

Yeah, I should recap on that whole robo-parents gimmick. Peter's parents are back in his life. They made their 1st appearance, actually, at the end of the previous Venom-related ASM story. We just weren't given their identities at the time; Marvel writers back then loved throwing at us obvious preludes to later story developments. But you'd have to be an utter idiot NOT to have guessed who they were. A middle-aged couple, returning to America after many years, carrying a newspaper article with Peter's picture in it, talking to each other about after so long, their return will change their lives and Peter's...Alex, who are Peter's Parents?

Close enough. See the only thing even MORE obvious that these were his parents was that these weren't his parnets. This is Spider-Man. Despite the fact that the comics still had that classic comic feel to it (Spidey vs. cool villain, none of that One More Day/The Other/Sins Past/Freak, Menace, Mr. Negative crap) we also had "so the drama" as my little says, quoting her "Kim Possible" show. From a stalker...well, stalking Mary Jane to Aunt May dating an irresponsible old coot in a wheel chair, to Peter's parents. It was half Spidey, half "All My Children". And since this is Spider-Man, nothing can ever truely go right in his world. There's no way these people are who they say they are. Alex, I give up. Who are these people?

Well, like in Invader Zim, these parants are apparently robots. Built by Harry Osborn and now controlled by the Chameleon to ruin Spider-Man's life.

That's nice. Now, can we please get back to the review of Venom!?

So Venom escapes and is on his way to meet the Parkers. Spidey arrives just as Venom makes his move, and we get yet another fine Spidey x Venom fight.

In some of the previous stories, Spidey had been portrayed as the type to run away pissing himself when Venom comes a-calling, but I guess when Petey's long-lost parents are at stake, he can grow a pair.

The fight scene was well done. The two duke it out throughout a parade and into a shopping mall, where Venom strikes down (kills?) a clown, purley because Venom was unintenionally scaring a little girl and the clown was trying to save her. From Venom. Yet Venom accuses the CLOWN to be the problem! And THIS is what I was talking about, with the whole "Venom shouldn't NOT be a superhero/vigilante". That angle was used to make Venom seem stupid and incompotent. We know Eddie's crazy, but he's not supposed to be dumb, but alas, written as a Lethal Protector, we get a "savior" who traumatizes little children and beats up on clowns, and at the end of the day, he just goes about believing the city is safe for another day.

By the way, its revealed in a later issue of ASM that the girl became mute from her traumatic experience with Venom.

Now, had Venom had attacked that clown and terrified the girl as a pure-villain, that would have been awesome...

The fighting continues on with the two opposing websters as Venom gets the upperhand (though he never lost hand at any point during the fight to begin with). He clobbers Spider-Man, knocks him out, and absconds with his parnets.

Spidey goes in search for Venom. He's so worried about them, he doesn't have time to go home to rest of change out of his tattered and torn costume (and its winter, at the time). Meanwhile, J. Jonah Jameson has hired Silver Sable's Wildpack to track Venom down and bring him in for an interview (I wonder how that would have worked out).

Having no clue what to do, Spidey comes upon some info that leads him to a woman named Ann Weying, the ex-wife of Eddie Brock! Ann reluctantly agrees to help the best she can, and she tells Spider-Man some things about her past with Eddie, including how he used to act around her (before the crazy, he was a charming young man), how he had bad connections with his father (later touched on in "Lethal Protector"), and how he lost all hope and his sanity after the 'Sin-Eater fiasco'. She also explains why she left Eddie (a lot of Venom fans think she left Eddie because he had lost everything, when this story reveals that Ann wasn't a heartless ******, and that she did try to stay with Eddie, but his depression created a rift between the two, so ultimately, she left him). Oh, and she also mentions an amusement park.

BY JORGE! THAT'S IT! THE AMUSEMENT PARK! So Spidey webslings to that closed-for-the-season amusement park, where it turns out Venom is using as a holding place for his parents!

I hate that. I hate how Michilinie had a knack for throwing out the most random, offbeat piece of info that to even Batman, would seem completely useless and just thrown out there, and it somehow leads exactly to the source the hero is looking for. This was done again in "Lethal Protector", where Spidey talks to Eddie's previous housekeeper he had when he was a kid, and she tells Spidey all about Eddie's background growing up. The info doesn't actually help Spider-Man find Venom, yet Michilinie makes us think that that information was exactly what Spider-Man needed. C'mon!!

Spidey is not the only one to find this location. The Wildpack wouldn't be good at what they did if they couldn't have tracked Venom here (although they actually followed Spider-Man). And Ann, feeling guilty about everything, also follows. Venom gets wind of Spider-Man's arrival, and the two come face-to-face, with Eddie 'disguising' the symbiote to look like some cool (at the time) Venom-styled winter coat. Eddie then reveals the convoluted, Bizarro-world theory behind his kidnapping his parents...

...to protect them from Peter.

Before I go into another rant, let me explain. Venom believes that everyone that comes into contact with Peter or Spider-man is doomed and destined to have their "innocense ruined". He decides to kidnap the Parkers, keep them hidden, then kill Spider-Man, thier son, then release the Parkers afterwards. He believes this would be the best thing for the Parkers. Yeah. Killing their son. All because Marvel wanted to make Venom a dumbed-down vigilante. If this logic was painful to ingest, then think how painful it was when Venom became a full-time hero with his own series of limited series, each one further drowing Venom in the title of "self-porclaimed good guy"?

So, the battle is about to begin when Ann appears and calms Eddie down. She tries to reason with him, and it seems to work, until the damn Wildpack show up and attack Venom. In blind rage, Venom accuses Spider-Man of using Ann as bait to lower his guard, and goes monkey nuts all over everyone (eww...). Spidey fights off the Wildpack (since their involve are complicating matters even more) while the Wildpack fights Venom, and the Parkers free themselves from their holding place, and get sucked into the middle of the melee. With the Wildpack down, Spidey & Venom continue where they left off, and Venom pummels Spidey to a pulp. Before he can deliver the finishing blow, one of the Wildpack blasts Venom with a sonic blaster. He would have killed Venom, too, had it not been for Ann knocking him out, saving her laine-bonded ex-husband. Venom thanks Ann, and continues to attempt to finish Spider-Man off. Ann is dumbfounded. she saved Eddie, and all Eddie wants to do is kill someone?! So she runs off to get help when a nearby ferris wheel tumbles over. The weaken Venom tries to stop the falling wheel, but his symbiote, having been bombarded with sound, is still stunned. It seems the two of them are finished...until Spidey addeds his strenght to the mix, saving them all. Venom is ready to go another round again, when Ann snaps at Eddie and tells him that Spider-Man is a hero. Using simple logic, Ann makes Eddie, after all this time, realize that Spider-Man is a good guy, and the two make a deal to no longer go after each other, and Venom departs for his next appearance..."Lethal Protector".

So, after all that typing, you see now why this could only be number nine, barely even on the list. The story was poor, and logic behind Venom going after Peter's parents and Venom abandoning his vendetta were stupid, and this story officially began Venom's ruin. Sadly, I now wish I had written this as #10 and "Lethal Protector" as #9. So why does it make the list?

Well, it is one of thr six classics. That's one point. This wasn't Venom at his worst. The worst was yet to come. This was like a carton of milk a few days past expiration. It wasn't sour yet, but it was souring. Also, Bagley's pencils were great, and the fighting here was incredible. The fight scenes all by themselves warrant that this book belongs on this list, if barely.

But still, after righting all that, I really say "Lethal Protector" and this story should swap places. I may have to change these two...

Funny sidenote...ASM 375 states this is Spider-Man & Venom's "Final Confrontation", yet before this issue actually came out, "Venom: Lethal Protector 1" was already out in stores. So anyone thinking this was Venom's last stand...heh...

Bonus Feature: Personal Pick
Spirits of Venom
That was too long. I meant to talk about the strong of weak points of that story arc, NOT review the damn story! So this will be quick. A brief synopsis and my take, as well as why I chose this story.

Spirits of Venom was a story about Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch) and Johnny Blaze trying to stop demons Hag & Troll from resurrecting Deathwatch. Hag & Trolls minions abduct many homeless people off the streets to feed to Deathwatch, as well as the likes of Spider-Man, Hobgoblin, Demogoblin, Doppelganger, and a preist. During the fighting, a truck transfering Venom is tipped over, and Venom gets free. So now we have Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, and Venom teaming up, for different reasons (GH & JB to stop Deathwatch, Venom to "save" Spider-Man so he can kill him).

This story takes place in both 'Web of Spider-Man' and 'Ghost Rider & Johnny Blaze: Spirits of Vegenace'. It was part 2 of this story that was the 1st time I ever saw Venom. I had no real idea who Venom was, but he came off as a cool, kick-ass anti-Spider-Man who didn't take **** and enjoyed messing with the other heroes because he could. THIS was Venom. And this story takes place riiiiight before the above story I reviewed. So technically, this was Venom's final decent story before the "Lethal Protector" transformation. Just like "Lethal Protector", it was a fun read. My only gripe was that while the two parts that take place in 'Spirits of Vegenace' had great art, the other half from 'Web of Spider-Man' had atrocious penciling. 'Web' at the time had the worst artisit on board.

My 1st Venom story. That sounds like a baby's book. "My 1st Venom" for pre-schoolers. Great review! :up:

[The Navigator]

Actually, after numbers 10 and 9 on my list, the next 8 ARE very damn good! You'll hear some positive reviews starting tomorrow.
:up:

I'm glad you like reading them. Arcturus made me start (I get RabbitSamurai and Arcturus mixed up); after reading his detailed synopsis of Eddie Brock in the 'Spec SM' threads, I wanted to follow suit. Then things spiraled outta control, so now, I'm writing a whole series.

...:cmad:
:huh:
How is that possible...?

[The Navigator]

http://image.comicvine.com:8000/item/2000/1490/23735-carnage_400.jpg

I know the story behind this arc is really ridiculous, but I like it anyway. The fact that it's only Venom vs. Carnage (instead of, say, every other alleged "Venom vs. Carnage" story) helps, too.

[Spider-ManHero12]

http://image.comicvine.com:8000/item/2000/1490/23735-carnage_400.jpg

I know the story behind this arc is really ridiculous, but I like it anyway. The fact that it's only Venom vs. Carnage (instead of, say, every other alleged "Venom vs. Carnage" story) helps, too. I always loved that image. :up:

[Spider-ManHero12]

Edit-double post

[Venom Jr.]

:cmad:You move fast! I just saw this post you posted in the Anti-Venom thread.
A venom Fan NEVER EVER goes to the Anit Thread! Thats just sacrilegous! :cmad:

[WolfCypher]

Best of #8
Sensational Spider-Man Vol.2 38-39
The Last Temptation of Eddie Brock...an opportunity missed, or a window left open for later? Either way, this story, for me, was a heck of a read that established Eddie Brock's character ever since both the loss of his symbiote and the cancer eroding his body. But one thing was also apparent, though I'll leave that fact for near the end.

After ridding himself of the symbiote and attempting suicide for a 2nd time, Eddie Brock is in a hospital, frail and skinny from the cancer. And he's hearing voices. Well actually, just one voice. Considering that this is Eddie we're talking about, that seems normal. But he's not Venom anymore, so where is this voice coming from? What is this voice?

To the reader, this voice is portrayed as...Venom. Of course. We see Eddie trying to live out the rest of his days around the hospital as "Venom" (notice the "" 's? I'll be using those from now on when referring to this voice) continues to haunt Eddie, telling him that even after losing the symbiote, its still with him, inside of him.

Well, Eddie has been doing a good job keeping himself in check. He's lost all of his drive. But something happens that forces his madness to return...

..."Brand New Day". Well, the prelude of "Brand New Day". Actually, this is "Back in Black". Other than being a shameless Spider-man 3 plug, I failed to see why on Earth we needed a "Back in Black". He just ran around wearing a black costume, to reflect his inner anger. That's all fine, but then why did he stop wearing it after the SM3 movie hype ended? If the black suit was supposed to show off his rage and anger, and since his reasons for wearing the black suit had not been resolved, why would he stop wearing it?

Anyway after the whole "Civil War" event (which kicked ass) ended, the publicly outted Peter Parker and his family became fugitives. And while on the run, the a Kingpin-hired sniper shot Aunt May, though he was aiming at Peter. Aunt May had been shot...

...and she's in the same hospital as Eddie.

Eddie thought he got over his past. Venom, Spider-Man, revenge; he though he was done with it all. But his dark side pressures him into taking one final act of revenge against the man who ruined him. "Venom" tells Eddie to kill Aunt May.

Like I said before, I'm really trying to give an opinion of these stories, moreso than give an outright review of them, so I'll stop here. What happens next? Well, go read it. Or at least illegally download it. Yeah, the 2nd one; do that! This story lets us see the confusion and desperation of Eddie Brock. These were steps that could have been presented long before now, back when Eddie was still Venom, before any permanent damage was done to this character. I did enjoy how the writer left the nature of "Venom" ambiguous. Was Eddie talking to a voice from his madness, or is there really a part of teh symbiote left in him? It would have been perfect if this arc stared when it was supposed to (May, the same month SM3 hit theatres), but it got pushed back a month due to the Sensation Spider-Man Annual (I'm getting reeeeeaaaaally sick of titles getting annuals when the title only lasts a year or two). Not too big a deal (since the "Spider-Man: Birth of Venom" Trade paperback was already out), but this story had been hyped as the story that would "resolve things for Eddie Brock"...

...and that's where my problem lies. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa subtly stated that this story would answer a lot of questions regarding Eddie & Venom...but did it? Well, as far as "what has Eddie been up to since Marvel Knights" & "is he even still alive", then this book succeeded. But c'mon, the big question, the only question, was reaaly "Is Eddie Ever Going To Become Venom Again"? That was the question. And here it is, people. Go back to my 1st paragraph. I mentioned an aparent fact that I would get back to. Well, here is that fact. This story, whether or not Eddie would go back to being Venom, took the easy way out...it left the end result up in the air.

I love how writers say they don't like to write for Venom, but they don't have the balls to kill the character off. At that point, I was hoping either something would be done with Eddie leading up to his return as Venom, or Eddie would be killed off, since it was torture having his stick around doing nothing. Comic book limbo is far worse than comic book death. The fact that Eddie would still be alive somewhere would forever erk me, knowing that nothing is being doen with his character. We wanted closure. Either give us the real Venom back, or kill Brock. Stop making us hold on for futile hope. And this story, as well-done as it was, ended how it started. We went in with Eddie just being some sickly guy in a hospital, and we leave with Eddie being some sickly guy in a hospital. And even though the inbetween was good, it still could have been better. I was hoping to see Eddie's irrational behaviour been touched on even more than it was. But now I'm nitpicking. But can you blame me?! Its been too long since we've seen a Venom (Eddie Brock) driven story, and I wanted it to last, damn it! We could have used more "Eddie going crazy" in this arc!

And like I said, Sacasa did leave it open for Eddie's return as Venom, by NOT revealing what that voice was, but he kinda didn't as well. By the end of the story, Eddie finally put his hatred for Spider-Man behind him, and no longer wanted anything to do with Venom. So even if the window was left open for classic Venom to return, why would he? His motivation as been dropped. It'll feel weird to have him put all this behind him, and then a new writer comes in and says "whatever, lets just make him hate Peter again".

Well, we all know Eddie is returning, again, in ASM post-BND. Something about an Anti-Venom, too.

Ah, Sensation Spider-Man Vol.2. You did have the best Spidey stories for the 21 century. None of that ******** that was going on in ASM.


Bonus Feature: Honorable Mention
Marvel Knights Spider-Man 5-8
Well, it started in Marvel Knights Spider-Man. An amazing 12-part story arc was going on there involving a who's who of familiar Spider-Man villains. CLASSIC Spider-Man villains. Don't blink, because in a brand new world, created by BND, we have no idea when we'll see this many all-star Spidey villains again. Eddie Brock had held an auction to sell his most prized possession. His symbiote. After watching "The Passion of the Christ", for God's sake. He had a religious reawakening, and decided it was time to meet his maker, so he auctions off the alien costume to whoever wants it, and donates the money to charity. Although there's not much sense to giving an alien suit to a fellow supervillain, Eddie has his reasons. Well, anyhoo, Eddie rids himself of the symbiote, and a loser name Angelo Fortuno recieves it, become the short-lived Venom II.

I hated that Eddie lost the symbiote here. I hated that not too long ago, a writer named Paul Jenkins had re-invented Venom AND had put Eddie and Venom on the right track, and Mark Millar here, in one fell swoop, destroyed all that. I hated how Jenkins had established the fact that the symbiote and Eddie, for the umpteenth time, had permanently bonded and could not be separated, and Mark Millar goes and ignores that almost out of spite. Jenkins had plans for Venom. A whole process of making Venom work again. Millar didn't care. He gets rid of Venom and ultimately gives us Gargan as Venom (MacDonald Gargan was the supervillain known as the Scorpion). And I also hated that I did mildly enjoy this arc.

You have to know that I was enjoying this entire 12-parter. The "Venomous" arc was just one-fourth of the whole story. I couldn't ignore this story just because of Millar's horrible desicion to rid us of a developing character. And as one giant story, this Marvel Knights twelve parter was great. Venomous, of course, was my least favorite of the whole arc. And thankfully Angelo/Venom not only didn't stay too long, but died in a humiliating way (spoiler: the skinny mamma's-boy falls to his death in his underwear after the symbiote just randomly abandons him in midair. Priceless. He didn't have enough Venom.) I'll say this, though, I didn enjoy seeing the symbiote itself develop its own personality (though come on now, this had been established becasue of Jenkins. How could Millar know that Jenkins had given the symbiote more depth but not have known all the other things Jenkins had fixed and done with Venom?).

If you decide to give this arc a chance, read the 'entire' arc, not just this part of it. Begin with MKSM 1 and end with issue 12.

[The Navigator]

See, this is what I'm talking about. Venom's "Top Ten" so far consist of a story you admit is a dumb but fun read, a story you almost despise, an another you're all but indifferent to because of how half-assed it is.

:(

[Spider-ManHero12]

I just wanted to say that it's going ot be great having Brock back in ASM. It's been too long.

[WolfCypher]

See, this is what I'm talking about. Venom's "Top Ten" so far consist of a story you admit is a dumb but fun read, a story you almost despise, an another you're all but indifferent to because of how half-assed it is.

:(

Huh. I loved "The Last Temptation". I thought my synopsis would reflect that. I have to talk about the good and the bad. And "The Last Temptation" had its bad, but not because of the story. It was the hype. There was a lot of hype that this story would restore Eddie and bring Venom back, and that didn't happen. I refuse to let that bring down this story, since I do think "The Last Temptation" was great. I never said it was half-assed, and just felt the ending was a slap in the face, the one and only demerit. That one demerit should not scare you away.

[The Navigator]

Huh. I loved "The Last Temptation". I thought my synopsis would reflect that. I have to talk about the good and the bad. And "The Last Temptation" had its bad, but not because of the story. It was the hype. There was a lot of hype that this story would restore Eddie and bring Venom back, and that didn't happen. I refuse to let that bring down this story, since I do think "The Last Temptation" was great. I never said it was half-assed, and just felt the ending was a slap in the face, the one and only demerit. That one demerit should not scare you away.

But that was the whole point. The ending was the whole question we wanted answered--is Eddie going to become Venom. And bear in mind, this was the first Eddie Brock story we'd had in a couple years, and it wusses out with that will he/won't he ending.

It just proves that Marvel (and their complete and utter laziness) is the whole reason Venom has failed--Micheline had come up with a unique villain with an interesting backstory, and Marvel forced him into a contrived, BS origin. And as we all know, if you start construction on a house with a piss-poor foundation, it's not going to get better. Micheline might have thrown in random moments of WTF-ness, but he tried to give the character (even after Marvel forced his hand) some amount of depth and interest (and there was some attempt in SA). But ever since, Marvel just splashed a symbiote villain on the cover, selling it first and writing it later ("How does Kasady get the symbiote?" "Uh...Venom must leave a piece behind at his last escape attempt." "He wouldn't notice he just reproduced?" "....no...?"). Yeah....the nineties...great ****ing times.

[WolfCypher]

In a perfect, hypothetical world, Lance Bannon would have been Venom. Or maybe Venom would have been some vengeful woman. And Marvel still would have overused and destroyed Venom.

Fact is, Venom's origins and Eddie's motivations is not what ruined Venom. Many classic villains started off with bad origins and weak reasonings, but what was done with the villains in further stories is what made them legendary.

Dr. Doom, for instance, has a very corny background and reason for hating Reed. Come to think of it, isn't Doom's hatred for Reed just as irrational as Eddie hating Spider-Man in the comics? Doom's experiment bows up in his face due to his own mistake, and he puts that blame on Reed Richards. His origin is convoluted (involving devils and sorcery and family betrayal) and his hatred for Reed is laughable, but what makes Doom badass is that over the years, he was handled well.

Dr. Doom came from a bad origin and became a killer villain.

So I understand when the Venom anti-fans express disdain for Venom. Trust me, I do. I just hate it when people say "Venom sucks because his origins and motivations are lame". No, that is not what made Venom bad. A character is only as good as how the writers make him. No one cared that Venom's motivations were 'weak' during the late 80s-early 90s, because the stories were good. What made Venom bad was what writers established later & did to him, and how Marvel decided to use him. If Venom had retained his classic style, he would be better perceived now.

[The Navigator]

In a perfect, hypothetical world, Lance Bannon would have been Venom. Or maybe Venom would have been some vengeful woman. And Marvel still would have overused and destroyed Venom.

Fact is, Venom's origins and Eddie's motivations is not what ruined Venom. Many classic villains started off with bad origins and weak reasonings, but what was done with the villains in further stories is what made them legendary.

Dr. Doom, for instance, has a very corny background and reason for hating Reed. Come to think of it, isn't Doom's hatred for Reed just as irrational as Eddie hating Spider-Man in the comics? Doom's experiment bows up in his face due to his own mistake, and he puts that blame on Reed Richards. His origin is convoluted (involving devils and sorcery and family betrayal) and his hatred for Reed is laughable, but what makes Doom badass is that over the years, he was handled well.

Dr. Doom came from a bad origin and became a killer villain.

So I understand when the Venom anti-fans express disdain for Venom. Trust me, I do. I just hate it when people say "Venom sucks because his origins and motivations are lame". No, that is not what made Venom bad. A character is only as good as how the writers make him. No one cared that Venom's motivations were 'weak' during the late 80s-early 90s, because the stories were good. What made Venom bad was what writers established later & did to him, and how Marvel decided to use him. If Venom had retained his classic style, he would be better perceived now.


True--I see I over-emphasized the "origin" deal. Wholeheartedly agree with you on everything else. :up:

[WolfCypher]

And so the Anti-Venom fandom begins...

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs25/f/2008/129/7/2/725ea2951aba31137c35eecff6b0b256.jpg

[Venom Jr.]

And so the Anti-Venom fandom begins...

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs25/f/2008/129/7/2/725ea2951aba31137c35eecff6b0b256.jpg
Your lucky. If I could see that pick I keel you but it seems fate loves you and will make a white little box with an "X" pop up instead. But I'm watching you! :venom:

[Shockdingo]

I've been avoiding Spidey ever since OMD & BND but since Dan Slott is covering the return of Brock I'll give that and Anti-venom a chance. Hopefully it'll be good and maybe Brock will have some sort of new start? since the whole world has forgotten Pete's identity, maybe they'll fix up Brock somehow?? Still being cautious though....

[WolfCypher]

Your lucky. If I could see that pick I keel you but it seems fate loves you and will make a white little box with an "X" pop up instead. But I'm watching you! :venom:

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs25/f/2008/129/7/2/725ea2951aba31137c35eecff6b0b256.jpg

If this Anti-Venom crap leads into Eddie Brock's return, then its worth posting here.

[Spider-ManHero12]

And so the Anti-Venom fandom begins...

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs25/f/2008/129/7/2/725ea2951aba31137c35eecff6b0b256.jpg Wow! That's so awesome! :wow::up:

[WolfCypher]

Best of #7
Spectular Spider-Man Vol.2 1-5 (The Hunger)

Paul Jenkins...thank you. For trying to restore Venom. For fixing Venom, for however long that lasted (ie: until Mark Millar's "Venomous" arc). For establishing some importance in Venom as a Spider-Man villain. This was something no other writer was willing to do. All the other writers were content to play Venom as a fool, then complain about how bad Venom had become, instead of fixing the problem. You came in and tried to make a change.

"The Hunger" arc (a story that shares the same title with a Venom limited series...which actually wasn't that bad) tells a story about the Venom symbiote. The alien has gone through some major changes, developed its own character (technically its always had its own character, but up until now that trait had not been played this well), and wanted more out of its host.

Spider-Man finds himself going up against the symbiote as it tries to rebond with him. It has forsaken Eddie (who's not feeling himself lately). Eddie's character is very tortured in this arc. He wants out. He wants to be Venom no more, and want the symbiote to let him have peace. On the other hand, he wants to know why the symbiote doesn't want him, and why it won't stay with. I like that. In the past, writers have made Eddie into one big contradiction, but here, it was done in a way that it wasn't bad writing, and instead comes of as an interesting element. What does he want? Peace of mind, or the symbiote to keep him going and for things to go back to the way they were?

Near the end of this complicated love-hate triangle, Spidey & Eddie come face-to-face, where we discover exactly whats wrong with Eddie. When the symbiote comes calling, Spidey makes a desperate decision that was supposed to bite Spidey in his ass big time (ya know, if Jenkins had his way).

This arc had some great moments. It genuinely had me guessing what would happen next, and what directipm they were taking Venom. I may not have know what would be done with Venom, but I knew it would be for the better (again, before Mark Millar). Eddie playing the role tormented victim for once was...it was refreshing. Spectacular Spider-Man Vol.2 was known for taking the classic villains and putting a new spin on them. It was also known for retconning a few villains motivations and revealing some questionable details about them (this same title later revealed the Dr. Connors had always been in control of the Lizard...while I loved that arc, that revelation was...no, just no). In this case, we discover that Eddie has cancer. Somehow the cancer spirals into a new breakthrough as to why Eddie hates Spider-Man. And no, its not as simple as "I hate you because I have cancer." As convoluted (a word I've been using a lot lately) as the explaination was (you may have to read it twice), it actually makes sense.

Now, a lot of things had been revealed in this great five-parter, that would later be retconned or forgotten in later stories by different writers. In some cases, it was for the best. For instance, "The Hunger" revealed that the Venom symbiote was about to produce ANOTHER offspring. I, for one, was happy that this never came to pass. Jenkins, my man, you did good with Venom, but lets not create another "Lethal Protector" crisis, where Venom's sprouting babies all over again. Next thing we'll know, Venom will be saving "innocent lives" and back to square one we'll go. Also, in "The Last Temptation of Eddie Brock", it was changed that instead of Eddie having cancer since before becoming Venom (as established in "The Hunger"), it was changed to say that Eddie developed cancer later during his life as Venom. Although this retconned pretty much made the revelation that Peter & Eddie at the end of this story void, I'm glad they made that subtle change.

One change that was retconned later I didn't like was the permanent bonding. Jenkins must have had something planned for Venom for later. He had the alien and Brock bond, once again for good, and Millar dropped that and had the symbiote go to new hosts. And people always wonder why its so difficult for comic continuity to stay consistant.

If I had to complain about something that actually happens in this arc, its the artwork. I actually love (yes, love) Humberto Ramos's pencils in his work, from his own title "Crimson" to Wolverine during the 'Civil War' event. But his decision to draw Venom as a extra-large fatty Hulk was the start of something horrible and the bane of classic Venom fans everywhere. The symbiote doesn't add on to the hosts height and weight (that would be the protoplasmic suit from the Ultimate universe), and there's now way for me to believe it could increase someone's girth to such Hulk-like proportions. This would be carried on by almost every...single...artist afterwards! Just look at how ridiculously big Gargan as Venom gets in Thunderbolts! And Gargan himself is drawn so slim and small, its stupid!

So there you have it. That's it for now. Oh, and if you're wondering why I didn't post this yesterday...well that's none of your business. Seriously, I plan on staying on track until this is finished and we reach number 1.

Bonus Feature: STAY AWAY!
Venom: The Series 1-18 (Tsunami)

If you think I'll be going into detail about all 18 issues, you're ****ing loop-de-loops! This title was complete and utter ********, cock-sucking, crap****ting not-worth-my-time vagina-bleeding ****ed-up...****!

The story takes place some time after "The Hunger" arc detailed above, and before a later limited series ("Venom vs. Carnage"). I'm so not gonna detail this one. Here's a half-assed synopsis:

"A man named Bob conspires to end all life on Earth by cloning the Venom symbiote and having it systemmatically killing all life on our planet. Some guy in a suit that looks like he's from the M.I.B. is trying to avert this. A woman working at an Antartic military base comes into contact with the Venom clone eventually is forced to bond with it. Bob sends his endlessly supply of cloned assistances, Frankie and Vicki, to further complicate the damn story. And eventually, EVENTUALLY, the real Venom (& Spider-Man, & SHIELD, & Fantastic Four, as if teh cast wasn't already too damn bloated) show up. The original Venom bonds with the cloned Venom, creating a "whole-nother Venom" (a detail that was thankfully forgotten), and this horrible story is canceled before it is resolved."

Call me unprofessional for not taking this one too seriously, but can you blame me? It went all over the place, trying to equate a complicated story for a good one. Well, that equation doesn't work. This may just be Venom at his absolute worse, period. And most of this decrediting has to do with the clone that shares Venom's namesake, not the original himself. Just what Venom needed...

If I had to compare the Venom limited series with this Venom ongoing series, I'd most happily recommend all the limited series. Every last one of them.

[Nathan]

Ok, how many other Symbiotes are there now, but are stuck in limbo?

[WolfCypher]

Scream, Hybrid, Carnage (his fate is ambiguous at best), Toxin, technically the Venom clone (nothing ever developed from that crap).

Rumor claimed that the Hybrid symbiote had lost one of its symbiotes, and that this was revealed in Avengers: The Initiative. I'm calling BS on that one, cause I've read all the issues, and there was no mention of this claim from almost a year ago.

[Nathan]

4 other Symbiotes and yet we get another one. I wish they would've kept developing Toxin. At least he was interesting as a maturing Symbiote that's bonded with a Cop and has to learn right from wrong.

[WolfCypher]

Remember, Hybrid isn't one symbiote, its four that can split anytime the want. Supposedly.

[Spider-ManHero12]

Toxin was very interesting and cool, but I have a feeling Anti-Venom may be better. I mean, not only is Brock back, but this Venom really seems like he is going to have alot of things happening in his life, especially with Spidey, which I'm really looking foward to. :up:

[HELL N' SPIDERS]

I know that this has probably already been forgotten by alot of you, but you have to remember that ONLY VENOM CAN DRIVE STICK!!!

[The Navigator]

So--I might have missed this--but what is Anti-Venom's shtick exactly? Is this Eddie again, someone new...?

[The Navigator]

Get crackin' with the next review, I.R. :cmad: ;)

In the meantime--Spider-Man 3 in the blink of an eye:
http://spiderman-web.com/spiderman/christmas/images/70s-superhero-christmas.jpg

[Spider-ManHero12]

I know that this has probably already been forgotten by alot of you, but you have to remember that ONLY VENOM CAN DRIVE STICK!!! Indeed! :word:

[WolfCypher]

Get crackin' with the next review, I.R. :cmad: ;)

In the meantime--Spider-Man 3 in the blink of an eye:
http://spiderman-web.com/spiderman/christmas/images/70s-superhero-christmas.jpg

Hold your horses, you symbiote-loving foo!

I'm preparing for some Mother's Day dinner, and I have to accommodate an online battle with friends via SSBB on the Wii. But I will have one today (more like tonight).

[The Navigator]

Hold your horses, you symbiote-loving foo!

I'm preparing for some Mother's Day dinner, and I have to accommodate an online battle with friends via SSBB on the Wii. But I will have one today (more like tonight).


With some fava beans and a nice chianti? :D

[WolfCypher]

More like brautwarst and turkey. Its like the 4th of July and Thanksgiving had a baby.

[WolfCypher]

Best of #6
Amazing Spider-Man 361-363

Venom was supposed to die. Really! I'm serious!

David Michelinie wanted to eventually kill of Venom (or at least Eddie Brock, but c'mon, Venom is only Venom with Eddie Brock & the symbiote). But ya know, Marvel said no; what the **** are YOU high on? And is there a ban on that **** because there should be if you think we're letting you kill off our most popular Spider-Man villain...

...ok, I went a little...well a lot...anyway, if only Marvel felt that way with Venom nowadays.

So instead, David decided to introduce a new symbiote to exsist alongside Venom. But how can you have two characters co-exsist if they're exactly the same? Remember the Green Goblin/Hobgoblin/Demogoblin days? Ghost Rider & Vegenance? Spider-Man & the Scarlet Spider? So what could be done to make this new symbiote different?

Well, for one, have it look like a guy is wearing...blood...as a costume. Second, give the guy the ability to create blades from his arms. Third, have Venom look like Mother Theresa by comparison. Lastly, make this new symbiote stronger than Venom.

I always liked that about Carnage. Here you have a guy as slim as Spider-Man himself, and he can toss around Spider-Man AND the muscle-bound Venom at the same time! That's crazy! And lately, I've been very indifferent to Carnage. Because I'm a Venom fan, I'm required to like Carnage, but I've gone from being a huge Carnage fan to...I dunno. But once upon a time, I was a huge Carnage fan. Amazing Spider-Man 361-363 saw to that. This was a fun story. It showed Carnage as uber-cool. We got the gimmick of seeing Spider-Man & Venom team-up. Mark Bagley! This was, sadly, the one, the only, the greatest Carnage story ever (sad, not because the story sucked, but because after this one...well, you'll see)!

The story actually started as early as ASM 340-ish. Eddie Brock was in prison. Not the Vault. Prison. The Vault is where they keep supervillains. Or at least until Marvel forgot about the Vault and replaced it with the Raft. Eddie had lost the symbiote in a previous arc. He was just a normal guy. So regular iron bars was more than enough to hold him. Thing is, Eddie had to house his cell with a happy sort named Cletus Kasady. A sick bastard who was serving almost twelve life sentences.

Now, submitted for your approval, a man named Cletus Kasady. When Michelinie was designing the guy with then artist Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon), he obviously wanted the man to be seen as crazy. Not crazy like Eddie. Eddie was delusional and psychotic. Cletus was demented and sociopathic. Eddie had remorse. Cletus loved to kill. Blood made him horny. Like a teen virgin vampire. So what better thing to do than to just rip off Joker's design? Really, Larsen made a guy that looked exactly like Joker, just with red hair and a normal skin tone. It wouldn't be until 15 issues later that we would see what was truely in store, but anyone with even a little bit of a clue could see he was going to be a crazy killer just by looking at him.

Carnage is on the loose. And Spider-Man can't take him alone. So he makes a descision...he has to find Venom, bring him back into his life, and have him help in bringing Carnage down. Spider-Man & Venom vs. Carnage...not the last time, but definitely the best time, this scenario would happen. Two symbiotes, Spider-Man, seeing Carnage doing those impressive feats...this story was so cool, and so much fun. It may only be number six on this list, but it is one of my favorite stories personally.

This was a good story. Out of the the six classic Venom arcs from ASM, this was truely the last one that was really good. The one that would come after this was fair at best (and it barely made the list, at #10). An like #9, this proves that an arc can be good (in this case, really, really good) by being solid and fun, even if the story had some issues. And there are issues. For one, why did Spider-Man feel he just had to get Venom to help? That's just bringing back an even bigger threat in your life for the sake of stopping another one. Yes, I said Venom being back is a bigger threat. Carnage is more powerful and extremely random, but he doesn't know a rat's ass about Spidey. Having a crazy killer going around killing people is bad. Having a crazy monster that will constantly show up in your apartment, at your job, at your aunt's house, in your bathroom, on the same subway car with you, RIGHT BEHIND YOU :wow:...I'll say the trade-off isn't worth it. So, better writing, in-character writing, would suggest that Spidey would have gotten anyone else to help. I find it funny that the Fantastic Four's Human Torch was too busy to help Spidey take down Carnage, but he wasn't too busy to babysit Spidey while he handled the sonic blaster. And the fact that Mr. Fantastic & the Torch showed up at the end of the story, right after Carnage was defeated, made no sense, either. Spidey had the two stay hidden and on standby just in case...what?! In case of what? How could things have possibly gotten any worse? Between the Human Torch's flames and Mr. Fantastic's sonic blaster, the Carnage symbiote would have been history much sooner than just Spidey & Venom's efforts alone.

But if things had turned out the way I would have done, we would have gotten a straightfoward, predictable story. Instead, we get a gimmicky Spider-Man/Venom team-up (the 1st one ever), and I won't lie, it was a blast to read. Just so you know, this was Carnage at his best. And while Venom had a decent run before his ruin, Carnage pretty much hit a wall afterwards. This is it; the 1st and last great Carnage story. That right there makes this a story worth reading.

Bonus Feature: While We're On the Subject
Maximum Carnage

Fourteen issues!?! This must be good! Here we have the 2nd Carnage arc, and it takes place in four Spider-Man titles, spanning about four months of crossover madness (and I mean that both by saying you had to purchase every mainstream issue of Spider-Man comics at that time & because this story had heroes & villains from all over the place). Hell, when most villains make their triumphant return into Spider-Man's life, they usually get a two-parter at best. Carnage, on the other hand, gets "Maximum Carnage".

Carnage is back, and with the help of Demogoblin, Doppelganger, Carrion, and new villainess Shriek, he plans on painting the town red (that bit of a cliché was the tagline of the video game adaptation). And if it took Spider-Man & Venom just to barely defeat Carnage last time, why, we're going to need...the Black Cat, Captain America, Firestar, Cloak & Dagger, Morbius, Nightwatch, Deathlok, Iron Fist, and Jesus if you can find him. Oh, and once again, the Fantastic Four are un available (really getting tired of them disappearing or being too busy when Carnage is involved).

So, here we go...the cast is too big, and the story itself is too long. When I bought the TPB a couple of years ago, I actually wrote down the plot elements that were not even needed, and trimmed the story down to eight parts. If I could do that, then a professional could have done well with maybe seven or less. There was just a lot of stuff that made the story drag on. Most of the story is just battle royale after battle royale, Peter whining about doing the right thing, and Venom being tortured. The only bit of filler that was actually worth reading (and technically not filler at all) was the whole history of Cletus Kasady and his childhood. But then, they didn't really go into detail. They just tell us he was abused in an orpahanage and became more sociopathic. That was already implied in Carnage's very first arc.

In all honesty, this story, as maybe a seven parter, could have just involved Spider-Man, Venom & Black Cat against Carnage, Shriek, and maybe Doppelganger. Carnage because you can't have a villain-driven story arc without that specific central villain. Shriek because she was a new, FEMALE supervillain for Spidey, and since Doppelganger, Demogoblin, and Carrion were all equally (un)important, any one of them would have worked. I chose Doppelganger for my example because he was brought into the "Maximum Carnage" crew from the beginning (part 1).

So, is it good? Well its not bad. It still has a lot of hype, and Carnage fans swear that this is the definitive Carnage story. No, its not. Hate to tell you this, but over-excessive mayhem and repetition is not the same as good reading. And while a fun story can work, this story pushed itself so much, fun was lost. It was too much work just getting all the issues (back before the trade paperback exsisted), and don't get me started with the many artists that worked on this tale (one minute and one artist, Eddie Brock had normal hair and looked like good-old fashion McFarlane Eddie, the next minute and a different artist later, he had a mullet, and later still with yet another artist, he looked like freaking Fabio!)

Bonus Feature: Sensing A Theme Yet?
Venom vs. Carnage 1-4

This story was announced less than a year after that disappointing Venom (Tsunami) series, and that was annouced less than a year (IIR) after the Spectacular Spider-Man Vol.2 "Hunger" arc. It seemed like Venom was finally getting some attention (hopefully not so much that he'll suffer again from over-exposure). While "The Hunger" was a hit, and "Venom Tsunami" was a miss, this one was juuuust righ--mediocre. I'm sorry, Goldilocks, but I prefer the hot porridge over the cold porridge and the one that's just right. The cold porridge was stupid, and the one that's just right was "meh".

For a story called "Venom vs. Carnage", I wanted to get a four-parter with some Venom vs. Carnage action. We do get that in parts one & two, actually. But a story can't just be fighting and no story (we were just talking about "Maximum Carnage"...in fact, I've seemed to be talking all about Carnage since the beginning of this post), so as far as the "substance" goes, the story has to do with a cop name Pat Mulligan and his alien costume, the offspring of Carnage, TOXIN :wow:.

The story wasn't bad, but like I said, it wasn't all that great. And Toxin himself isn't really all that great. Not his fault. His concept sounds right; an everyman, average Joe, with a wife and newborn child, who is in control (some of the time) of a violent, immature alien organism. Sadly, the character isn't really used well in this story. He takes his powers out for a test drive, and that's the best of it.

Now really, I am NOT trying to make this story sound like a bad one. But I rather it had been a Venom/Carnage bout with some character interactions here and there, than a brief Venom/Carnage bout and the birth of a new symbiote that writers are going to ignore later on...




















...urmm...that's it...
























...go 'way now.







































































...




















































































... TOXIN :woot:.

[Faded To Deaf]

I'm glad they're binging back Brock, Gargan was cool for a little while, but it'll be nice to have things back to normal, if they bring the Brock Venom back that is.

[In_trance]

Maybe a bit off topic, but I wanna share my new baby with you guys. It's called "Venom Within" :sym:

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/9261/img4582rh1.th.jpg (http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img4582rh1.jpg)

[E.Brock]

the picture that tattoo is based off wasn't my favorite depiction of venom but it still came out pretty nice...at least you have the balls to get a venom tattoo which i havent been able to do yet but will eventually

[Spider-ManHero12]

Maybe a bit off topic, but I wanna share my new baby with you guys. It's called "Venom Within" :sym:

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/9261/img4582rh1.th.jpg (http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img4582rh1.jpg) Very cool tattoo! :up:

[Arcturus]

I haven't visited this thread in awhile. And I came across I.R.Venom's very detailed, excellently written list of top Venom stories. It's a good read!

:up:

[WolfCypher]

Best of #5

Ultimate Spider-Man 33-39

Say what you will about Bendis, his runs on Ultimate Spider-Man is a true testamnet of pure Spidey. I know if any other writer takes his place on this book, I'd drop it from my favorites (it is currently the top of my Marvel list). And while I boast highly of this title, I actually didn't read a single issue, not a one, until the Ultimate Venom arc began. So, three years into it, I finally pick this title up. Of course, I'm up to speed. I've read every single USM issue so far. But imagine my surprise, one day walking into my comic store and seeing Venom on the cover of USM (and imagine my surprise when I bought each monthly issue of this arc only to find the real Ult. Venom in 2 issues). Well, being a full-blown Ultimate fan, and a fan of Bendis most of the time in general, I'm used to this now.

Bendis is not a fan of symbiotes. So if he had to use Venom, he'll use his Venom. Ultimate Venom & Carnage, more than any other Ultimate villain based on a 616 villain, are more different than thier original counterparts. Bendis had issues with the original Venom & Carnage (so much, he strongly stated he would never incorporate Carnage into Ultimate). So the Venom we get here is the most different version to date (well, except for...see the bonus feature below).

The story reveals that Peter used to be childhood friends with a older kid (now college student) named Eddie Brock, Jr. Peter & Eddie's fathers both worked on a secret experiment that was supposed to be the cure for cancer. The two scientist signed onto a deal with the Trask Corporation, and the company started to take the experiment into their own hands. Eddie & Peter's dads tried to make it into a legal matter, but before they could go to court, both of Peter's parents and Eddie's father died in a plane crash.

Fast fowards to Peter's current time, Peter comes across a box of videos from his father and decides to look Eddie up. The two get together and Eddie gladly reveals to Peter their fathers' experiment. Eddie shows that he trusts Peter with this important experiment. And that's trust is a line that Peter crosses when (as Spider-Man) he sneaks into the lab and tries to steal a sample of the protoplasmic cancer cure. Accidentally exposing himself to just a small sample causes teh protoplasm to expand all over his body, and presto-chango, we have "Ultimate Alien Costume Spider-Man", sans the alien.

Meanwhile, Eddie is out on the town with Peter's classmate Gwen Stacy and the two are really kicking things off. While Eddie & Gwen blissfully enjoy each others' company, the all-new Spidey goes out and plays with his new costume and stops a few crimes. The new suit seems perfect; unlimited 'webbing', self-repairing, healing, enhanced strength and durability...of course something has to go wrong.

While taking down a petty thug, the costume causes Peter to remember the bugular that killed his uncle, and Peter "Venoms out" (ie: grows big, grows teeth, and grows a tounge) and almost kills the thug. He barely fights off the suits control, having to (accidentally) fall onto two powerlines and electrocute himself and destroy the suit.

Back with Eddie, his night with Gwen ends with the two of them in Eddie's dorm room. Eddie tries to advance things (he so horny), and Gwen relents by telling him she's not ready for that. She tries to explain how things are in her life (in a very recent story prior to this arc, Gwen's father was killed), but Eddie goes nuts in retaliation. We see right here a dark side to Eddie: he's self-concious, bitter, and has serious issues, especially with the ladies. Understandibly, Gwen storms out, leaving the jerky Eddie alone. So he turns on the teley to get his mind off his problems, and sees a newscast of a black costumed Spider-Man saving some civilians from the Shocker.

Strange, that black costume, except for that white spider symbol, looks a lot like the top-secret protoplasm in its bodysuit form.

That's too much of a coincidence, so Eddie runs down to the lab to check on the vial containing the protoplasm, whe he sees Peter, off all people, stealing it. Peter explains that he's Spider-Man, and that he did have the protoplasmic suit for the night, and that's its not a cure...its a curse. He explains that it has to be destroyed, despite Eddie's protests, and after Eddie leaves, Peter spirits away with the vial, later dropping it into a incinerator. But all is not done, as the even more bitter returns to the lab afterwards, and brings out a second vial of the protoplasm and exposes himself to it...

Now while Peter merely exposed himself to a small taste of the protoplasm, Eddie willingly exposes himself to the entire vial's worth. It's too much for him to handle, and the result is "Ultimate Venom"...

...an imperfect Venom. See, this Venom doesn't have the white spider symbol, the suit is constantly writhing, there are teeth misplaced all over his (their) body, the suit is constantly feed on its host, and this Venom is madly fueled by hatred brought on by Eddie's feelings of betrayal (Peter going on behind his back, etc.).

When Venom shows up at Peter's school, we're treated to a royale that ends with the apparent death of both Eddie & the suit. Stricken with grief (since returning back into Eddie's life resulted in all this craziness), Peter tries to convince Nick Fury to remove his powers for good, which Fury refuses to do. Next, Peter stops by Eddie's dorm, where his roommate explains that Eddie moved out. He further goes on stating how messed up Eddie is, and how his many issues will not be missed. Lastly, Peter then goes back to the college lab, where he finds a stone drunk Dr. Connor's, Eddie's teacher, and co-partner on studying the protoplasm, and gives Peter a deep (for a drunk guy) speech. Feeling worse than ever, Peter exits and stands alone on the building's roof, where he gets the feeling he's being watched. He calls out to Eddie, finds no one.

I decided to give this one a review instead of a quick synopsis to make up for me not posting yesterday. This take on Venom was well done. It was new, different, and definitely fit the "Ultimate" feel. Having the Venom protoplasm be a creation of science instead of an alien, and having it have ties to both Peter & Eddie's fathers was great. Having the Parkers and the Brocks have close-ties established was perfect. Showing Eddie as a nice guy who easily reverts into the messed-up jerk he really is was the tops. And this universe's grotesque, imperfect Venom was visually cool. A big heap of random tentacles and teeth, roaring out in pain & anger...like reading "Akira".

And now the bad...this'll be quick. I, like every single person who read this arc, wanted Spidey to have the black suit longer than he did. The build-up was drawn out, and his having the costume was over with like that. Then you have the fight itself. The Spider-Man vs. Venom fight was actually a Peter Parker in his street clothes versus a Venom-esque monster. Seeing as how almost all the covers to this arc showed Spidey & Venom, this felt like a gip. If it weren't for these two issues (the 1st of which even Bendis admits he wish he had doen differently), this story would have been perfect. But these flaws are, more or less, easy to get by.

Bonus Feature: Honorable Mention

Spider-Man 2099 35-37, 38

The 2099 titles took place int the future of the 616 continuity...until Marvel decided to make this 2099 universe 1 of 2 different, separate 2099 universes. I'm confused. But what I do know is that I enjoyed this version of Spidey. Too bad his villains were so damn underwhelming. That is why I promise you there is no bias in this when I say Venom 2099 was Spidey's best villain in this title.

This Venom was ghastly to look at. He had a pale face, a spider symbol that looked as if it wasn't actually apart of the symbiote, a tounge with scales on its tip, and claw-like feet. And we all know that classic Venom loved to refer to himself as 'we' in a weird double-voice, but this Venom's speech was very disturbing, and he frequently referred to himself as both 'we' & 'I'.

This title's Spider-Man is a man named Miguel O'Hara, and his love interest is a woman named Dana, and his best-friend (and previous love interest) is a woman named Xina. Miguel's boss (who is also Miguel real father and Dana's previous lover) Tyler Stone is in the hospital, so Miguel is in charge of their company, Alchemax. Miguel's life has been rather hectic as it is, so when a lunatic named Venom appears from out of nowhere. Its time for Miguel to take action as the S-Man (Spidey 2099's nickname).

Spidey & Venom have an all out battle, as the demented alienoid spouts on about how this hero seems familiar to it (an obvious hint that this symbiote is the same one a certain 616 Eddie Brock wore as an alien costume). The fight takes place throughout the entire Alchemax building, with Venom killing many employees and Flyboys for the sheer enjoyment of it. His bizarre movements and abilities are something this Spidey has never dealt with in a villain (and compared to classic Venom, from the acid spewing, the Carnage-like limb morphing and the ability to turn into an amorphous form, even classic Spidey wouldn't have a clue as to what he'd be dealing with). Eventually, Venom vanishes, only to resurface, kidnapping both Dana & Xina in order to hurt Miguel & Tyler, stating that this is all a game and that Venom, Miguel, Tyler, and the two ladies are all players.

Venom, hostages in tow, escapes in a getaway car (hovercar, I guess), with Spidey and the authorites in hot pursuit. The battle/chase ends at the Escher Club (cause the building is desgined like a M.C. Escher painting, complete with stair leading to the ceiling and anti-gravity walls, and all that crap), the club where Migule (and Xina, his then girfriend) 1st meet Dana...how poetic. This is where Dana makes her last stand. For Venom, killing Dana would hurt Miguel, and killing Xina would hurt Miguel, but Dana reveals that Xina's not important because Dana is Miguel's lover, not Xina, so he has no need to kill Xina, in an attempt to have Venom spare Xina's live, she tells Venom to just kill her alone, when Venom, surprisingly, says that her bravery is all the reason not to kill her. Of course, that's not the case, when the Flyboys open fire on Venom, and Venom purposely lets the bullets go through him and hit Dana.

Dana is dead. And Venom slithers away. And this all happens rigth before Spider-Man/Miguel's eyes.

Miguel is furious. He returns to his office to check on his scientist who have been examining a piece of Venom left behind. Miguel doesn't even have time to grieve over Dana's death, or to console Xina, who made it out alive and feels unworthy to survive while Dana valiantly died for her. Well, the results come in; Venom is an evolved alien symbiote, extremely durable, except to sound. At high frequencies, the alien breaks down on a molecular level. Miguel has a plan.

Venom is still loose and decides to end the game for gone, when suddenly he falls to the streets below in pain. He goes beserk over "that sound" as he wrecks the area in a mad rage. Spidey arrives, blindsighting Venom, and explains that the Public Eye sound system (speakers set all over the city so the authorities can cite laws and curfews to the city...like in "V for Vendetta") has been set to emit an extremely high pitch, almost inaudible, sound to disrupt Venom. And of course, it works. Spidey is intent on killing this monster (with the public and the Flyboys rooting him on), when something happens...something familiar to use Venom fans, but shocking to the S-Man...as Venom begs for his life for Spider-Man not to kill him and to turn off the sound, giving up, the symbiote starts to melt off...a human body?

There's...a man underneath this symbiote? Venom isn't the symbiote in its entirety? It's a human being bonded to the symbiote?!

And he's begging for his life. Spidey has fought villains before and watched them die indirectly at his hands, but the S-Man has never directly killed anyone, or let anyone die while they begged for their life. And while killing an alien monster is one thing, killing a man...seems so much easier, when the images of Dana flood back into Miguel's mind.

Spider-Man leans above Venom, strangling him, ready to put him out of his misery, when yet another shocker hits the fan. The symbiote, almost completely formless and unraveled, flows off it's host, revealing the man's face and identity. It's...IT'S...

Kron Stone. Only if you know anything about Spidey 2099 would this seem significant. Actually, the reveal isn't wasn't, well, revealed, until issue 38 (the Venom arc itself is only issues 35 through 37, with 38 being sort of the epilogue and beginning of a new story), as well as the details to how Kron is still alive and how he became Venom. Kron is Miguel's half-brother, son of Tyler Stone. Growing up, Kron was a spoiled, sadistic brat, who hated both his father and moreso Miguel. He attempted, during their youths, to have Miguel killed, and wanted Tyler to cover things up (but since Tyler preferred Miguel over Kron, he took Miggy's side). Ironically, Miguel has only had disdain for Tyler. Funny. As an adult, Kron had a man's family brutally murdered...and that man became the Punisher, 2099 A.D. He in turn killed Kron and dumped his body into the sewers...but Kron was not dead. Dying he drifted by a cacooned symbiote, lying dormant for who knows how long, and the slight physical contact he made triggered the symbiote awake and the two bonded...

One thing I loved about this Venom was that prior to this arc, there was a hint of this guy's true identity. In a previous story, we are introduced to some guy (I believe he was an ex-Flyboy, and Flyboys are what the public calls the 2099's police force). We see him living in a hell hole as he rants to himself about how Spider-Man is the reason he lost everything. Sounds very familiar. And I made myself remember this, for the day we'd get this universe's Venom. And then they reveal, in isuue 38, that Venom wasn't that guy, but was Miguel's half-brother, Kron Stone, back from the edge of death. Of course, with all the back-up stories included with each issue of Venom 2099's arc being so heavily about Kron Stone as a kid, and how his hatred for Miguel started, the answer was right in front of us. And the fact that this Venom is majorly responsible for the death of the hero's love interest. Sure, that makes this Venom come off as the 2099 equivilant to 616's Norman Osborn, but it makes me wish Eddie Brock had done something big like that. This Venom worked nicely. Kudos, all around!

[HELL N' SPIDERS]

I loved the review.
I gotta get the 2099 one.

[The Navigator]

Nice review. Ult. Venom was one of my favorites, and my complaints are the same as yours (I kept flipping the pages wondering when his self-awareness was going to kick in and he realied he was fighting unmasked right by his school.), and it was a good arc, especially with the "father" connection. Aside: has anything been made of Parker Sr. since in USM?

2099, eh? Interesting...:up:

[Arcturus]

Yet again, a great review! I also loved the Venom arc in Ultimate Spider-Man, and Venom 2099 was pretty badass, too.

[Venom Jr.]

... TOXIN :woot:.
Toxin? Everyone knows I own Toxin! I'm always stealing his lunch money! Dude my brothers and sisters are weak. Dad knows I'm the best! :oldrazz:

[Faded To Deaf]

Toxin? Everyone knows I own Toxin! I'm always stealing his lunch money! Dude my brothers and sisters are weak. Dad knows I'm the best! :oldrazz:

Can anyone say Problem Child? :twisted:

[Faded To Deaf]

Maybe a bit off topic, but I wanna share my new baby with you guys. It's called "Venom Within" :sym:

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/9261/img4582rh1.th.jpg (http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img4582rh1.jpg)

I see you got the Ultimate Venom, or a similar version anyway. I like Bagley's depiction of him. I mean with the neck almost gone, and the shoulders higher than the neck. Very monsterous, and the toungue too, got that touch of classic Venom in there.

I say that's a nice picture if you're gonna have it forever. Nice to see some hard core Venom fans out there.

[Spider-ManHero12]

I always loved the fantastic cutscenes from the Spider-Man Playstation 1 game. Here's a couple of Venom ones. :up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuSBoHMsqb4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObUfa9SIk0c&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rte2RMhQhs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vydIRyLy5g&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtxaoHsCgOw&feature=related

[Venomfan]

Maybe a bit off topic, but I wanna share my new baby with you guys. It's called "Venom Within" :sym:

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/9261/img4582rh1.th.jpg (http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img4582rh1.jpg)


hmmmmmmm that looks awfully familiar lol


http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs24/f/2008/016/f/5/venom_by_nebezial.jpg

[Faded To Deaf]

That's awesome, where's it from?

[Rain Dog]

I always loved the fantastic cutscenes from the Spider-Man Playstation 1 game. Here's a couple of Venom ones. :up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuSBoHMsqb4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObUfa9SIk0c&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rte2RMhQhs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vydIRyLy5g&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtxaoHsCgOw&feature=related
"Surf the web! Surf the web!"
lol, I remember playing this game quite a bit. Probably my favorite depiction of Venom outside the comics.

[Spider-ManHero12]

"Surf the web! Surf the web!"
lol, I remember playing this game quite a bit. Probably my favorite depiction of Venom outside the comics. That line has always been so funny to me. :woot::up:

[WolfCypher]

Best of #4
Amazing Spider-Man 344-347

At this point on the countdown, I don't think it should be difficult for one to guess what the top entries are. There are just certain stories that are, without debate, Venom's best stories ever, and seeing as how they have not showed up on the list yet, it wouldn't be rash to assume that the missing stories you just know should be here must be the remainder of the list. The only question is...compare to each other, how do they rank?

It was because of this fact that I started to purposely delay these reviews. We're getting to the end, and there is no climatic finish. When you see what story ranked number one, your reaction will be an astounding "well, DUH". So numbers 4 through 1 will not only be the best Venom stories ever, but also, for those who have read them, be the most obvious choices for the top four spots. That's always the flaw with countdown lists. You can usually tell what's number 1, or at least what's in the top 3. Any "best of" list with that specific song, movie, episode, or whatever the subject of that list may be, you know it'll show up at the end.

Number four's pick is one of the six classic Amazing Spider-Man 'Venom arcs', this one being, ironically, the fourth Venom arc from ASM.

The story (which I refer to as "The Boneyard Hop', although only the concluding issue of this arc was given that title) has Venom returning into the life of Spider-Man. When Spidey gets word of Venom's return & escape from prison, he sends Mary-Jane away for safety and goes into hiding (staying at a run-down hotel). Of course, that doesn't stop Venom from finding him. Venom has no problem playing around with Spider-Man, but Spidey, on the other hand, has had it. He wants Venom out of his life, permanently. But how exactly can he accomplish that? He won't kill him, even if he wanted to, and Venom knows every detail about him. Beating him and sending him to jail (as much of a hassle as that would be, seeing how Spidey always just barely beats Venom) would accomplish nothing. So Spidey gets a brilliant idea...

...one very fitting for the corny, over-the-top, almost DC-quality writing that was popular during the early 90's but would never fly nowadays...

...he'll cryogenically freeze Venom, and have his frozen hide sent to the arctic.

Yeah, I could go into one of my ten sentance long, two-three paragraph, derogatory critiques right now about who farfetched of an idea that is, but I'll save this opportunity of later in this discussion.

So Spidey goes out on a city wide search for Venom (when he should know ny now that Venom's always nearby), and after succeding in finding Venom (having Venom find him), the standard chase & battle commences.

Spidey's obviously not trying to beat Venom. Oh, no. His strategy is to stay alive, keep Venom on his trail, and lure Venom to a laboratory where he'll trap Venom inside a Cryo-Lab and quick-freeze him. So while you might expect me to criticize Spidey's turning tail and running away from Venom in this story, it's actually according to plan.

Oh, I will say this...the obligatory "Venom saving innocents" scene is here, too, unfortunately. After their fight leads into a zoo, a pack of lions are set free, and its Venom who webs them up. Yep...Michelinie was definitely prepping Venom up for the who "good guy" schtick even before Marvel had made it come full circle.

Spidey finally manages his way to the lab. He thinks his plans is going to work. Ya know, that whole "send Venom to the North/South Pole" plan. But its Venom who fools Spider-Man into the Cryo-Lab, and its Spider-Man who loses consciousness during a quick-freezing session...

...Unknown hours later, Spidey awakens on a sunny beach, with Venom hanging over him. Venom (like all of Spidey's villains who pass-up an opportunity to just, well, kill Spider-Man when he's easy pickings in favor of a dramatic and excessive plot to further torment him) reveals that (somehow) after knocking Spidey out, he had the two of them transported to a deserted island that was once inhabited by miners, but abandoned with an explosion caused by natural gases killed many of the people there. Yes, I want to know how in the world did Venom manage to get the two of them to that island. Venom reveals that right after excaping from prison, he put his plan into motion and did the research, which explains how he was one step ahead of Spidey at the lab and how he knew about this island, ok. Still, how, exactly, did a bulking black monster, carrying an unconcsious, well-known superhero, arrive on this island? It doesn't even have to be a drawn-out explaination, but I'd still like to know.

The name of this game is simple...Venom sets Spider-Man loose on this island, and Venom hunts him down. No police, no superhero allies, no innocent bystanders. No interruptions, and Venom has all the advantages, since he's scouted the island. He knows where everything on the island is. Spider-Man, however, is exhausted, low on webbing, and out of his element.

This was very unique. Up to this point, we've been treated to the same old (amazing) formula...Venom and Spider-Man duke it out, Spidey gets help/advice, they duke it out again, Spidey eventually wins. Those previous fights were very, very good, but this one...it has a twist. It's Spider-Man vs. Venom: Survivor style. Venom playing the role of the sick, twitsed hunter (the expression on Eddie's exposed face is so creeply, its awesome...he's extremely mental). It's also here that we are introduced to two new traits that the Venom symbiote grants Brock...camoflauge and oxygen underwater. Seeing Spider-Man helplessly try to stay alive and figure out how to escape from the island...you really feel sorry for him...

That's another thing this arc does...and I'll let you in on what this is at the end. Promise.

The hunt continues. Spider-Man stumbles into a pit full of the skeletal remains of the miners, made from one of the explosions (mentioned earlier) and detects the gases. Venom catches up, and Spidey pulls him into the ground as Spidey gets out. Fleeing to a beach, Spidey sees a ship in the distance (a cargo ship for carrying goods). He tries to flag it down, but Venom stops him. Finding an opening, Spidey slams himself into Venom and sends him soaring into the jungle, finally giving Spidey time to get his bearings together.

Night falls, and Spidey is still wandering around the island. He notices a campfire in the distance, and runs to its location. There, he finds Eddie & the symbiote (neither have noticed Spider-Man there). Spidey realizes that this won't end until one of them is dead, and that's when he gets an idea...

...an extremely crazy idea that somehow all comes together. I haven't even gotten into the details of the plan itself, but I have to tell you, Michelinie really made this plan a huge stretch of logic and realistic probability to work. Many, many, many hours later, after setting things up, his plan begins with Spider-Man getting Venom's attention by snatching a piece of burning firewood (from Venom's fire) with a webline. Venom begins his pursuit. To slow Venom down, Spidey creates a large web net with the very last of his web supply. It not only momentarily stops Venom, and gives Spidey a very large lead ahead, but it also convienently stops Venom right by a run-down van. Now, seeing as Spidey is now too far away, but is still visible due to the torch here's carrying (that piece of flaming wood he's still holding), Venom grabs the van and throws it (with one hand, mind you) at Spidey. From Venom's point of view, it hits Spidey, knocking him to the ground, and the van and Spidey (and the torch) fall through the ground and into the gas. The torch and the gas mix, and next thing you know, there's a huge explosion. All Venom can do is grin sinisterly.

After the flames die out and the gas clears, Venom inspects the site and finds the Spider-Man costumed skeletal remains smoldering. Spidey is dead!

Now that was from Venom's POW. What actually happened, was that Spidey, with his large lead ahead of Venom, took the time to take his costume off and dress up one of the skeletons already on the island, leaving the burning torch behind so Venom could still see it in the distance, while Peter got the hell out of dodge. While Venom was still distracted with his victory, Peter swam as far away from the island as he could (why he didn't try this when Venom was busy resting? I'm assuming cause it was pitch black; at this point its now daybreak, also because there was no way he could have swam all the way back to civilization), eventually coming across a cargo ship (the have a specific schedule, and weren't on course at night, explaining again why Peter was better off not trying to swim away at night).

As for Venom...with Spider-Man dead, Venom is more than content with staying on the island, living the rest of his life there...

And now the bad.

Even considering the era that this story was written, when many stories had a wiriting stly like this, I find this stories solution to be its one, its only, its unavoidable strongest point against it. After such a great battle & chase, we're given a crazy solution like this. I can understand Spidey faking his death to get Venom off his back, but there are issues with how it was done. Spidey put together such a crazy plan that relied so heavily on Venom doing everything he expected him to do, & somehow, Venom did EVERYTHING Spidey expected him to do! That means that if Venom had did one thing differently (perhaps ripping through that web net sooner, or avoiding it completely, or not noticing that van, or throwing it, or hitting his mark perfectly), his plan would have failed. Yet everything, against all odds, worked 100%. But seriously, the plan itself is something I can overlook; again, wanting to fake his death wasn't a bad idea. But expecting the results to last in the long run? C'mon! Faking your death to give you time to get away was one thing, but Spidey expected this plan to actually get Venom out of his life forever (until the 'Carnage arc', where Spidey brings Venom back into the fold). It's not like, after falling for this trick, Venom would, say, I dunno, decide to retire and stay on the island for the rest of his life...

...wait, that's exactly what Michelinie wrote. I don't understand that. I figured that since Venom thought that he killed Spider-Man, he would return to New York and...well, since "Lethal Protector" seemed like his unavoidable destiny, become that city's protector...or not, but surely he wouldn't have stayed on the island. Spidey's dead, so whatever openings life now presents to Brock and the symbiote, he would have had to return to civilization. Michelinie was so used to ending their fights with the same results (usually by now the symbiote and Eddie would both be knocked out and shipped to the Vault) that having to end this fight differently, plus explain where Venom would be until his next appearance (a year later) would have been difficult. So he has Venom willingly stay on the island. And that made no sense.

Don't let the size of that last paagraph fool you, all that text is about one and only one issue...the ending. Now sometimes the ending is the absolute most important pat of a book (or comic arc), yes, but the rest of this arc still delievers enough that its at least debatable whether or not that resolve ruined things. My opinion? Well, this arc ranked number four...what do you think I think? And I already stated that the uniqueness of this battle (the deserted island motif) was very exciting. We get to see Venom in a truely creepy, stalker-like state. The Tsunami Venom story wanted to portray their Venom as a 'monster that opos out of nowhere and scares the reader'...yeah, that's exactly not what I got out of them, but here, you do feel that. And never before did I feel sorry for Spidey. In all their previous (and later) fights, Spidey gets his ass whupped, but here, you can really sense the fear and anxiety Peter's going through. I mean, he's never had to fight Venom alone on an island with very little webbing and no chance of getting the Fantastic Four and their sonic blaster, or the help of anyone for that matter. And In those other battles, Venom was usually in plain sight, only occansionally pulling a vanishing act for a sneak attack. This time, the "out of sight, out of mind" tactic was used at its fullest. More than ever before, the odds were against Spidey. That's the other thing this arc did for me. That thing I promised I'd mention at the end. The genuine fear you feel for Spidey. This battle had that.

Bonus Feature: Honorable Mention
Spider-Man Family 2 (Undone)

The conclusion of the arc I went over at the top is actually reprinted in this book, but I'm only going to go over the entirely new and original Venom one-shot in this book, "Undone".

Venom is killing many business people one by one, and not for any reasons involving "protecting the innocent", but for his own motives. Even though Venom's agenda has nothing to do with Spider-Man, there's no wat Spidey's not going to get involved. But Venom's motivations are unknown. Exactly why is Venom killing these people, and what do they have in common?

When this issue came out, Brock was all but dead, and all but Venom. Mac Gargan was (and still is) Venom, Brock was out of the picture, and the Spider-Man 3 movie hype, the perfect opportunity to bring Brock back, was gone. So having a new story presented to us with Brock as Venom was a way to give us a classic Venom story that wasn't a reprint or a retelling of an old Venom arc, and also a way for Marvel not to get Brock back in the symbiote (since Marvel at the time didn't care about giving us back Brock). Although this story does canoncally(?) take place around the 1st or 2nd Venom arcs from Amazing Spider-Man (although the precise details as how it fits are unknown; even I fail to see where this story would fit), its completely original. Venom is taken very seriously in this tale, & Brock's written here as a smart, fearsome character, too. Venom plays the role of villain, but his not at all the real bad guy...it IS possible to have Venom not be a Lethal Protector, Marvel, and Spider-Man Family's 'Undone' story proves that.

Sorry for making this extremely short, but it was a one-shot. Not a very long plot here, and since this story is actually a rarity (a recent, NEW, Eddie Brock/Venom story) I'd rather you read it then for me to give a whole synopsis on it. It's good.

[WolfCypher]

Best of #3
Amazing Spider-Man 330-333

Number three's spot goes to the third Venom arc of the original Amazing Spider-Man run, I story referred to as "Stalking Feat".

At the Vault, where we last saw Venom, an alarm sounds. It appears that all the commotion is due to something that happened in Eddie Brock's, a.k.a. Venom, cell. The guards arrive to find that Eddie has hung himself, and the symbiote appears to have vanished.

So eddie's body is taken to the morgue, where the cynical doctors begin to cut him open, and after only one slice, his blood, oddly colored black starts to rapidly pour out. Its the symbiote, and Brock is still alive. Transforming into Venom, he explains that he had the symbiote cover him in a synthetic layer of skin and provide him with nutrients from the air so he wouldn't have to breathe, thus when the guards and doctors examinined him, it would appear as if he was truely; he gives these details all while killing the two doctors. Venom is loose again.

Now, Spider-Man is appearing at a public charity event, taking pictures with...the public. You know that means not only is he inviting supervillains to appear out of the woodwork, but that he's also putting everyone there in danger. And yep, that's exactly what happens. A villain known as Styx, whose 'power' is that he can kill any living organism he physically touches, appears and the two fight each other. Spidey gains the upper hand, until Styx's partner Stone (get it?) appears and gets him out of there. Well, with the day sorta ruined, Spidey decides to pay his wife Mary-Jane (remember a long time ago when those two kids used to be married?) a visit at her job (back when she was an actress for a soap opera).

The next day, at Aunt May's house, our ever dotty beloved surrogate mother-figure of Peter's is watching the t.v. when a news report aires. "Escaped convict Eddie Brock, also known as the sadistic killer Venom, is still at large..." In the Venom arc just efore this one, Aunt May actually had the "pleasure" of meeting with Eddie Brock. Surprised that Peter's "friend" is a criminal (and believing that Peter doesn't know) she goes to the phone to warn Petey when the doorbell rings. She thinks that could be Peter right then and there...buts it's Mr. Brock, stopping by, looking for Peter himself. Speak of the devil!

Now, lets get back to that Styx & Stone incident. The two villains are meeting with a man named Jonathon Caesar. Caesar is an obsessed head-case, hell bent on owning Mary-Jane as if she were property. In prior stories, Caesar made many attempts to score MJ, at the near-expense of her hsuband, but somehow Spider-Man is always there to save her. So Caesar has hired Styx & Stone to get rid of the arachnid.

If you haven't been able to guess yet, Styx & Stone aren't going anywhere, so their prescence here is kinda important. But this is still a Venom story.

Peter is at home reading when Aunt May calls him. He answers and she tells him that his friend Brock has escaped prison, and is looking for him. She told Brock he was at the park taking pictures. That was a lie. Her intentions were nothing but good, but if Venom arrives at the park and finds Peter not there, he might take that out on Aunt May (or maybe...maybe Peter was there, and by the time Venom got there, Peter had left...ah, we're dealing with the mind of a crazy person, that's logic still wounld'nt fly). Peter has no choice but to suit up and give Venom what he wants.

Spider-Man arrives at the park, and comes out in plain sight. Venom, disguised as a horse-mounting police officer, does the same. We get the 1st fight scene of the arc between the two here, and I gotta tell ya, Erik Larsen is not my favorite artist. This battle causes a nearby horse-pulled carriage to tip over, and a baby falls into the lake. Even though Venom has Spider-Man pinned helpless against a tree, and Venom's fangs are mere inches away from Spider-Man's head, he chooses to stop and save the baby. Innocent lives are very important, he spews out as the poice arrive afterwards. Venom runs of, saying howthe police's interferrence will only spoil his moment of triumph.

Now, notice that almost everytime Venom escapes from the Vault (or whatever prison the symbiote/human hybrid is being contained) Venom always kills someone during his escape. In this arc, he killed two doctors examining his believed-dead carcass. He could have merely tied them up with webbing or knocked them out, but instead he smothered them to death. So I find it funny how Venom picks-&-chooses when he wants to preserve innocent lives, and when he doesn't. And before you go and say "but that was a baby he had to save", I still say that Spidey's death, always being the highest priority on Venom's list, should have trumped any innocnet bystander. Obviously, their fighting on its own could have resulted in the loss of many lives, and that didn't seem to stop Venom from tearing up the place, throwing trees all over. This was the very 1st time Venom ever saved anyone, so Michelinie's claims that Marvel made him turn Venom into a good-guy was a lie. It was already starting before Marvel even wanted Venom to be his own hero (Canonwise, there have actually been many "untold" stories taht take place before this arc of Venom sacing innocent people, but as far as publication dates go, this story was the 1st one were Venom bothered to ever save anyone).

The next day, Peter, back at Aunt May's home, is very frustrated. Venom's out there, and he has no idea as to where he could be. Little does he know, Venom is hanging out right outside his window. He lets himself in and confronts Peter. Not here to start a fight, Venom tells Peter the location of teh sewer's fallout shelter he has been using as a safehouse. He wants Spider-Man to show up there so the two can have an uninterrupted fight. Spidey already knows what'll happen if he doesn't show, or shows up with help.

The next morning, Spidey finds Mary-Jane and tries to convince her to go away to Aruba with him, in an attempt to escape from Venom...

...here's an issue I'm going to pick at. I never minded Spidey's great level of fear and panic when it came to Venom. Venom was the 1st supervillain Spider-Man ever faced that truely terrified him. So having Spidey occassionally beat a retreat, or flee and get some help when it came to Venom was never the problem with Spider-Man's character. But having him go so far as to want to leave the country, leaving Venom behind to do whatever, especially after Venom laid down the ground rules for their next encounter, AND honestly believe that leaving Aunt May behind would be a good idea? And what, was Peter and MJ never going to come back, because they couldn't live in Aruba forever. This is an element of Spidey that was extremely out of character. With Venom, Spidey is supposed to be afraid out of his wits, but no matter what, he faces his fears. Here, Michelinie suggests that Spidey wanted to run away for good. Not cool.

...anyway, MJ explains that going on a 'vacation' (Spidey isn't telling her why he wants to leave the country) is out of the question, what with her job and the whole Jonathan Caeser count-issues. So the next thing Peter does (realizing he has no choice but to face Venom when the times comes, AS SHOULD BE THE CASE), is pay Flash Thompson a visit. Flash gives Peter the inspirartion he needs to want to face Venom (as much Spidey doesn't want to face Venom).

Gotta stop again and say this. As much as I love how Spidey is utilizing his supporting cast and going to his friends for advice, I don't like how Spidey would need Flash, or anyone, to tell him what he already should know.

So Spidey heads to Venom's location, with Styx and Stone in hot pursuit. Spidey and Venom come face-to-face, and the second battle of the arc between the two begin. After exchanging a couple of attacks, Styx & Stone appear, and the uninterrupted Spidey/Venom battle becomes a four-way melee, with Venom fighting Stone and Spider-Man fighting Styx. Spidey is barely able to keep Styx at bay, while Venom, despite the fact that his opponent has both a sonic based weapon & a fire based weapon, is too much of a match for Stone. Styx decides to divert his attention away from Spider-Man to 'rescue" Stone, sneaking up on Venom and...touching him.

Styx's deadly touch kills the symbiote as it melts away. Spidey knocks out Stone and webs up Styx (who is so satisfied, he's not trying to escape). As for Venom? The symbiotes 'dead", and Eddie's mourning over its loss.

The police come and take all three villains away. Eddie is no longer a super-level threat without the symbiote, so instead of the Vault he's being carted off to Ryker's Island (where he will soon meet Cletus Kasady) and Spidey takes the symbiote's remains away. He finds it hard to believe that the menace of Venom is over.

You know, the 1st time I read this story, I didn't like it. This was years ago. Most of the issues I had with this arc where trivial, except for two things: the art (I'm not a Larsen fan; fact is, its so hard to like Larsen's Venom when both McFarlane and Bagley's Venom(s) are that much better than his, let alone that in general, I just don't like Larsen's art!) and Spidey's run-away to Aruba mindset. The other, trivial, issues I had were that: The subplot (Jonathan Caesar) and Styx and Stone treading on Spidey & Venom's battle. 1stly, I can't blame the subplot for the good reason that in comic books, the main story ALWAYS has a subplot, and as long as the subplot doesn't take away from the main plot, there shouldn't be any problems. And while years ago the Spidey/Venom/Styx & Stone battle egged me, it actually made the final fight at the arc's end more fun than just another Spidey vs. Venom battle. This is the 3rd Venom arc, we've seen that twice before. Oh, and even though we all know Venom's not gone for good, killing off the symbiote was a nice change of pace, as far as how Venom was to lose this one. It helps prevent Venom's defeats from getting repetitive.

Little bit of trivia, but this arc marks the very 1st time ever Venom spews out the line "We Want to Eat Your Brain!"

There's only two stories left to appear on this list. I'm pretty sure you know what they are.

Bonus Feature: Personal Pick
Spectacular Spider-Man UK 151

Notice I said "UK". This is not an American publication. The Spectacular Spider-Man UK magazine started off as a magazine reprinting random stories from all of Spidey's classic titles, and then became a series of original stories told in a style similar to Spider-Man: The Animated Series. This magazine is also aimed at a young audience, so puzzles and connect-the-dots and coloring book schemes are presented within these pages. And of course the stories themselves are kid-friendly. Absolutely none of these stories border the line of "super serious". Take this story for example.

"The Lesser of Two Evils" tells a tale of Venom fighting Carnage. In every single Carnage-related story (and while we're at it, the Venom-related stories, too), you already know a bunch a people are going to be massacred. That's not what happens here. And usually when Venom & Carnage get together, you know to expect high levels of violence; the violenec here is toned down compared to what you're used to seeing.

So what makes this story one of my personal picks? 1stly, you know how much I enjoy seeing Venom play the of villain. Well, whenever Carnage is around, he automatically has to play the role of hero, or at least anti-hero/vigilante. Unlike during his "Lethal Protector" days, Venom here is actually presented as a 'good guy' in a way that its easy to believe. He's not turned into an "obsessed with innocense" ass-clown here. He has personal reasons for wanting to stop Carnage; not so much to save innocent lives, but because he ****ing hates Carnage. The nearby bystanders are the last thing he has on his mind. Also, notice that in most stories with Venom in the spotlight (since although Spidey is here, he's out of commission for like 95% of teh story) Venom talks WAAAAY too much! And I don't mean he's talking for the sake of narritive. No, he just blathers on and on and on...but here, he very rarely speaks. His text is assigned to narrative boxes, telling us everything he feels without him having to spout on. If anything, it's Carnage that needs to shut up as he goes off into the generic trash talking. Venom here is very focused.

Also, lastly, even though this story is non-canon, this may just be sadly (since its non-canon) the best one-on-one Venom vs. Carnage story ever. That is a shame. Venom: Carnage Unleashed was cruel joke, and Venom vs. Carnage didn't have nearly enough "Venom versus Carnage" to be called a Venom vs. Carnage story. and every other time Venom & Carnage faced off in a story, Spider-Man was there. Well, I like the clichéd Spidey & Venom vs. Carnage stories, but we don't have nearly enough Venom & Carnage battles, with JUST Venom & Carnage. It took a toned down, made for kids one-shot story, that doesn't take place in proper continuity, and was printed in the United Kingdoms for us to get a good VxC bout.

A simple story, written and drawn for a simple target audience, and I couldn't help but enjoy this one, regardless of the demographic this book is supposed to appeal to.

[the_ultimate_evil]

I always loved the fantastic cutscenes from the Spider-Man Playstation 1 game. Here's a couple of Venom ones. :up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuSBoHMsqb4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObUfa9SIk0c&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rte2RMhQhs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vydIRyLy5g&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtxaoHsCgOw&feature=related

that so needs to be remade, the current crop of games couldn;t hold a candle to it

[Venom Jr.]

I made this. The Song is "Spiders" from System of a Down. The best Venom tribute ever. :cwink:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8Rnj1LeGsDw&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8Rnj1LeGsDw&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[Faded To Deaf]

It's a shame they didn't add more Venom scenes to the movie.... Nicely done by the way.

[WolfCypher]

I'm gonna post the number 2 & 1 best of Venom stories together Monday, maybe Tuesday. I never really stay onlin, or on my computer, on the weekends. But I'm thinking everyone here knows what those two stories are, so if anything, the Bonus Features are the only "surprises worth reading", barring all the "typeos" and "misppellings".

[Spider-ManHero12]

I'm gonna post the number 2 & 1 best of Venom stories together Monday, maybe Tuesday. I never really stay onlin, or on my computer, on the weekends. But I'm thinking everyone here knows what those two stories are, so if anything, the Bonus Features are the only "surprises worth reading", barring all the "typeos" and "misppellings". Cool, I'm looking foward to it. :up:

[Mario_Galaxy]

If and when Spidey gets a reboot, would anyone want Eddie and Peter starting out as friends? Maybe even a trio with Harry.

[Arcturus]

Great reviews as always, I.R.Venom.

:up:

[The Navigator]

He won't kill him, even if he wanted to, and Venom knows every detail about him. Beating him and sending him to jail (as much of a hassle as that would be, seeing how Spidey always just barely beats Venom) would accomplish nothing. So Spidey gets a brilliant idea...

...one very fitting for the corny, over-the-top, almost DC-quality writing that was popular during the early 90's but would never fly nowadays...

...he'll cryogenically freeze Venom, and have his frozen hide sent to the arctic.

Where McReady and company would find him? :D

Great reviews as usual, thanks for taking the time to do this.

[WolfCypher]

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #568
Written by DAN SLOTT & MARK WAID
Penciled by JOHN ROMITA JR. & ADI GRANOV
50/50 Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.
50/50 Cover by ALEX ROSS
Variant Cover by JOHN ROMITA SR.
"NEW WAYS TO DIE!"
JOHN ROMITA JR. returns to AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!
Get ready for the six part Spidey Summer Blockbuster: NEW WAYS TO DIE. In the double-sized part one, THE THUNDERBOLTS are coming to New York to take down Spider-Man! And Spidey's Brand New Day will be changed forever. Plus, Mark Waid and Adi Granov bring you up to date with Original Venom, Eddie Brock!
48 PGS./Rated A …$3.99

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #569
Written by DAN SLOTT
Pencils & Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.
"NEW WAYS TO DIE!"
SPIDEY'S a villain? NORMAN OSBORN'S a hero? What kind of crazy, mixed-up world is this? Next thing you'll tell us is that black is white and white is black…Or maybe that has something to do with VENOM, MISTER NEGATIVE, and the birth of an all-new Spider Villain! Or would that be an all-new Spider-Hero? Either way, True Believer, this is a 1st appearance you do NOT want to miss!
32 PGS./Rated A …$2.99

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #1
Written by MARC DEMATTEIS & TOM DEFALCO
Penciled by ALEX CAl & RON FRENZ
Cover by ADI GRANOV
Heads' up, Web-Slingers! Not getting nearly enough bang for your Brand New Buck with Thrice Monthly Spider-Man? Well, get ready to have your Spider-Senses overloaded with the Brand New Amazing Spider-Man Family! Check in here for slices of life from Spidey and the rest of the Brand New Day Cast. We all know Spider-Man's origin – but what happened the day after Uncle Ben died? Find out as J.M. De Matteis and Spanish Sensation Alex Cal bring you SPIDER-MAN: 48 HOURS! Also, the Amazing Spider-Girl team of Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema show us life before MayDay became Spider-Girl with MR. AND MRS. SPIDER-MAN! Also, check out AUNT MAY, AGENT OF F.E.A.S.T. and a flashback to the birth of Spidey's New Ways To Die nemesis, VENOM!
104 PGS./Rated A …$4.99

VENOM: DARK ORIGIN #1 (of 5)
Written by ZEB WELLS
Pencils & Cover by ANGEL MEDINA
On the unlikely day when an embittered, washed-up journalist met a spurned symbiotic organism from an alien planet, one of Spider-Man's greatest enemies was born – a force of evil and vengeance like no other in the Marvel Universe – VENOM! But is it as simple as that? Discover the true, twisted roots that gave rise to a lifetime of malevolence for Eddie Brock…AND the symbiote! Writer Zeb Wells (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) and artist Angel Medina (SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN) shed a little light on one of Marvel's darkest monsters!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99



Covers can be seen here. (http://www.marvel.com/news/comicstories.3635.First_Look%7Ecolon%7E_August_200 8_Spider-Man_Comics)

Venom, Venom, Venom...

Remember this cover? The tell-tale cover to the unreleased Venom mini-series confirmed as early as 2006 and forgotten?
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w94/Symbiocide/010%20Favorites/36_VENOM001CVR_colnospider.jpg

Well, it's back with a new cover. Angel Medina's back as the artist.
http://www.marvel.com/i/content/st/3635new_storyimage0968380.jpg

[Hurm...]

^^WOW!!!!:wow: That looks like ****!

[Spider-ManHero12]

Venom, Venom, Venom...

Remember this cover? The tell-tale cover to the unreleased Venom mini-series confirmed as early as 2006 and forgotten?
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w94/Symbiocide/010%20Favorites/36_VENOM001CVR_colnospider.jpg

Well, it's back with a new cover. Angel Medina's back as the artist.
http://www.marvel.com/i/content/st/3635new_storyimage0968380.jpg Awesome!!! Finally! :wow:

[Arcturus]

I am speechless.

That cover is amazing!!!

[pooh912]

long-live-venom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Arcturus]

Just like my former user name, venom4life!

:sym::venom::up:

[Spider-ManHero12]

I must say, I had a nerdgasm. :sym:

[pooh912]

hoorah

[pooh912]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/therev/venom.png
hey go check out the doc ock vs venom thread

[Arcturus]

Venom with a guitar, eh? Venom doesn't like loud sounds!

[pooh912]

people agree with u that

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d55/all_for_one/Spiderman/Villians/Dr_Octopus.jpg

is a beter foe in the venom vs doc ock thread

[Arcturus]

Ugh.

Anyways, to get back on topic.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Arcturus_v4life/venom_sm3-1.jpg


^
This picture pretty much summons up the rage and evil intent that I saw Venom had in the movie.

Seeing that there is some life in this thread once more, I wanted to take the time to discuss Spider-Man 3's Venom. Now whether you liked him or not is not the issue here, you already know my opinion (http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=14424859&postcount=1001). I can recall a time when people said Venom couldn't be done, and if he could be done, it would be all CGI. And they even said it would be impossible to pull off the symbiote realistically. Well all that was proven wrong, and that's the truth. Yes, there are a few changes from the comic-books Venom compared to Venom in SM3, but there were good reasons.

I liked the idea that the alien symbiote had essentially taken an imprint of the Spider-Man suit and transfered that appearance into it's "new" body. Like the designers said, it certainly appears that the alien ooze is pulling at Eddie Brock. Heck, if you look carefully at Eddie Brock's face whenever he commands the alien to reveal his face, you can see bruising and red lesions. Especially on the forehead where the creature's tendrils remain. It's little details like that, you know they put a lot of work into Venom. And I like the idea that the extraterrestrial being "morphs" Eddie Brock to an extent, as far as forming the inhuman mouth full of sharp teeth. I am uncertain about the comics, sometimes the creature would just form a mask over Eddie Brock's face, other times it would literally transform him. Regardless, it was a nice touch.

And although Venom was not as bulky as he was in the comics, it still works. At first I was against the idea of thinner, more average built Venom but I gave it a chance and it works. Venom came off as a menacing entity composed of man and alien and it works. Hell, I even like the bizarre roars and screeches he made. I don't know why, maybe because it's so crazy, maybe because I'm crazy? If there was one thing, I wish Venom retained his distorted voice like he had in the Spider-Man TAS, but I'll live. What's done is done. Because at the end of the day, I believe that this Venom could exist in the real world. He's not over the top, and damn, I wouldn't want to run into him. Seeing as he's murderous and downright evil.

Now I want to talk about the symbiote. First I want to tell you that my favorite genres include science fiction & horror. To many, the origins of the organism are not important, but I'm different, I like to wonder and imagine where the alien monstrosity came from? It's important to me. How could such a creature come to be? These are questions that can't be answered, and thats fine. However, the slithering critter was very believable. Yeah, it was CGI, but the CGI was done so well I could believe that black creeping tar could sneak up on me. It's movement, and appearance in general was excellent. I even noticed the squeals the creature made while it was being torn off of Parker, and when it found Eddie Brock. Was the symbiote in SM3 and intelligent entity, or was it an animal operating purely on instinct? We'll never know.

For some reason, when I saw the slimy creature, it reminded me of ancient terror. It remained dormant in the meteorite which eventually crashed to earth. Who knows how many epoch's passed on earth while that thing remained in space? And when it first slithered from the meteorite, and that eerie music played in the background with that strange groaning sound, made it much more menacing. Clearly there are inspirations for the symbiote, as I've stated before. Shoggoths from the story, "At the mountains of Madness", an example.

Well, this post has gone on for far too long now and I'll end it here. I just felt like posting my thoughts on the subject. Some people liked this incarnation of Venom, some downright hated it, others were "meh". But I think there was a lot of work and effort put into creating the symbiote & Venom.

[WolfCypher]

I still hate everything about Spider-Man 3 except the Harry Osborn parts, but Venom didn't come off as bad as I initially claimed. I still think movie Venom didn't work, but that has to do more with his lack of screentime. Its really hard for me to care about a villain, even if he's my favorite villain, when his presence is so insignificant. Sandman had more screentime...that would have been fine, if this version of him didn't come off as a whiny, semi-sempathetic puss. And the villain who had more to offer was lackluster. So if anything, I guess I do like movie Venom more than I made myself think, though overall SM3 sucked.

[Spider-ManHero12]

Venom with a guitar, eh? Venom doesn't like loud sounds! Very true. :sym:

[Arcturus]

I still hate everything about Spider-Man 3 except the Harry Osborn parts, but Venom didn't come off as bad as I initially claimed. I still think movie Venom didn't work, but that has to do more with his lack of screentime. Its really hard for me to care about a villain, even if he's my favorite villain, when his presence is so insignificant. Sandman had more screentime...that would have been fine, if this version of him didn't come off as a whiny, semi-sempathetic puss. And the villain who had more to offer was lackluster. So if anything, I guess I do like movie Venom more than I made myself think, though overall SM3 sucked.

I can see where you're coming from, and I respect your opinion. I guess I should have been more clear, my post was driven by the fact that people said Venom couldn't been done without being all CGI.

[WolfCypher]

Well, clearly I thought we were to talk about what we got outta Spider-Man 3's Venom. But alas, your post made me hate movie Venom a lot less, so congrats on that. I took away some insight.

[Arcturus]

Well, clearly I thought we were to talk about what we got outta Spider-Man 3's Venom. But alas, your post made me hate movie Venom a lot less, so congrats on that. I took away some insight.

No problem, I.R Venom.

:word::up:

[Spider-ManHero12]

Ugh.

Anyways, to get back on topic.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh180/Arcturus_v4life/venom_sm3-1.jpg


^
This picture pretty much summons up the rage and evil intent that I saw Venom had in the movie.

Seeing that there is some life in this thread once more, I wanted to take the time to discuss Spider-Man 3's Venom. Now whether you liked him or not is not the issue here, you already know my opinion (http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=14424859&postcount=1001). I can recall a time when people said Venom couldn't be done, and if he could be done, it would be all CGI. And they even said it would be impossible to pull off the symbiote realistically. Well all that was proven wrong, and that's the truth. Yes, there are a few changes from the comic-books Venom compared to Venom in SM3, but there were good reasons.

I liked the idea that the alien symbiote had essentially taken an imprint of the Spider-Man suit and transfered that appearance into it's "new" body. Like the designers said, it certainly appears that the alien ooze is pulling at Eddie Brock. Heck, if you look carefully at Eddie Brock's face whenever he commands the alien to reveal his face, you can see bruising and red lesions. Especially on the forehead where the creature's tendrils remain. It's little details like that, you know they put a lot of work into Venom. And I like the idea that the extraterrestrial being "morphs" Eddie Brock to an extent, as far as forming the inhuman mouth full of sharp teeth. I am uncertain about the comics, sometimes the creature would just form a mask over Eddie Brock's face, other times it would literally transform him. Regardless, it was a nice touch.

And although Venom was not as bulky as he was in the comics, it still works. At first I was against the idea of thinner, more average built Venom but I gave it a chance and it works. Venom came off as a menacing entity composed of man and alien and it works. Hell, I even like the bizarre roars and screeches he made. I don't know why, maybe because it's so crazy, maybe because I'm crazy? If there was one thing, I wish Venom retained his distorted voice like he had in the Spider-Man TAS, but I'll live. What's done is done. Because at the end of the day, I believe that this Venom could exist in the real world. He's not over the top, and damn, I wouldn't want to run into him. Seeing as he's murderous and downright evil.

Now I want to talk about the symbiote. First I want to tell you that my favorite genres include science fiction & horror. To many, the origins of the organism are not important, but I'm different, I like to wonder and imagine where the alien monstrosity came from? It's important to me. How could such a creature come to be? These are questions that can't be answered, and thats fine. However, the slithering critter was very believable. Yeah, it was CGI, but the CGI was done so well I could believe that black creeping tar could sneak up on me. It's movement, and appearance in general was excellent. I even noticed the squeals the creature made while it was being torn off of Parker, and when it found Eddie Brock. Was the symbiote in SM3 and intelligent entity, or was it an animal operating purely on instinct? We'll never know.

For some reason, when I saw the slimy creature, it reminded me of ancient terror. It remained dormant in the meteorite which eventually crashed to earth. Who knows how many epoch's passed on earth while that thing remained in space? And when it first slithered from the meteorite, and that eerie music played in the background with that strange groaning sound, made it much more menacing. Clearly there are inspirations for the symbiote, as I've stated before. Shoggoths from the story, "At the mountains of Madness", an example.

Well, this post has gone on for far too long now and I'll end it here. I just felt like posting my thoughts on the subject. Some people liked this incarnation of Venom, some downright hated it, others were "meh". But I think there was a lot of work and effort put into creating the symbiote & Venom. Great post, Arcturus. As you all know, I loved Venom in Spidey3 and I feel as though when People get mad about Venom's screentime, they don't think of how much time and effort was put into making Venom and that does make me a bit mad.

[pooh912]

venom did look nice to me

[Silver Spider]

I haven't been on this thread for a while, but I've been catching up on the posts. Those Venom stories are awesome I.R.Venom. I have read very few actual stories from the comics,so it's great to read about some Venom tales.
As for SM3's Venom, I thought he was great. All I wish is that they didn't completely kill Venom at the end. Like maybe after the credits, there could've been a scene, where you see a piece of the symbiote at the explosion site, and it starts to slither. I thought his development was well done, and his appearance was cool. I thought an attempt at killing the symbiote at the end was definantly necessary; but as I said, I wish the attempt had ultimately failed.

[Silver Spider]

Edit

[pooh912]

venom needed more screen time

[pooh912]

venom needed more screen time

[Spider-ManHero12]

I loved it when Eddie Brock/Venom said "Hey Parker" on top of the cab. That was badass. :word:

[pooh912]

yea it sure was

[Spider-ManHero12]

I loved it when Venom tied up Spidey. It just showed how powerful he really is.

[pooh912]

hey as of right now the vote is tied
so all ya true venom fans go vote n the venom vs. doc ock thread
n tell us your ideas of who is better


and yea that was a good part of the move sm hero12

[HELL N' SPIDERS]

I really want to see what I.R. Venom puts for one and two!!!!
But they aren't up yet!!!
UGH!!

[WolfCypher]

I really want to see what I.R. Venom puts for one and two!!!!
But they aren't up yet!!!
UGH!!

That's because I'm posting them both at once, plus the bonus features. That's a lot of text coming soon.

[pooh912]

What Are You Guys Talkin About

[HELL N' SPIDERS]

That's because I'm posting them both at once, plus the bonus features. That's a lot of text coming soon.

YAY!!!!
I must've missed that post.
Oh well. Can't wait for them.

[pooh912]

any of yall got some cool venom toys or statues

[Venom Jr.]

It's a shame they didn't add more Venom scenes to the movie.... Nicely done by the way.
Thank You. I tried my best to make the music fit the clips.

[pooh912]

Venom Deserved His Own Movie He Is A Big Villian

[pooh912]

Venom Deserved His Own Movie He Is A Big Villian