Venom The Enemy Within, No. 1-3

Venom: Miniseries

by Tom Lyle

After turning over a new leaf and vowing to protect the innocent, Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote stalk the streets of San Francisco looking for trouble as Venom - and boy, do they find it in these action-packed tales! It's a veritable who's-who of Spider-Man's deadliest foes as Venom goes toe-to-toe with the Punisher, Juggernaut, Demogoblin, and Morbius the Living Vampire! But when Eddie Brock bonds with yet another parasitic life-form, will he succumb to madness - or can he conquer the enemy within? Venom takes on the ever-incredible Hulk, in a rare and never-before-reprinted tale written by legendary Hulk scribe Peter David! Venom : Funeral Pyre 1-3, The Madness 1-3, The Enemy Within 1-3, Incredible Hulk & Venom 1

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Spider Man, Superheroes, Comic Book

Comic

First published July 16, 2013

About the author

Thomas Stanford Lyle was an American comics artist who was best known for his work on Starman and Robin for DC Comics as well as Spider-Man for Marvel Comics.

Reviews

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. Ups and downs with decent art.

[Katherine (Kat) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 Stars
Individual Issues Rated Below -

Venom: Funeral Pyre #1: 3.5/5 Stars
Venom: Funeral Pyre #2: 3/5 Stars
Venom: Funeral Pyre #3: 3/5 Stars

Venom: The Madness #1: 2/5 Stars
Venom: The Madness #2: 2.5/5 Stars
Venom: The Madness #3: 2.5/5 Stars

Venom: The Enemy Within #1: 3/5 Stars
Venom: The Enemy Within #2: 3/5 Stars
Venom: The Enemy Within #3: 1.5/5 Stars

Incredible Hulk vs. Venom 1: 2.5/5 Stars

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The majority of Venom's 90s mini-series which were basically a Venom ongoing have a bad reputation. This volume shows both why that reputation is deserved, and why there are some half-decent stories in amongst them.

The first story, Funeral Pyre, is probably the most run of the mill. Venom tries to be a good guy, runs afoul of the Punisher and a new supervillain, and it all ends badly for everyone. Bog standard, inoffensive, with decent artwork, but instantly forgettable.

The Madness, the second story collected here, is dire. Not only does it make little to no sense, the conclusion is rushed and unexplained, the supporting cast all disappear after this mini, and the artwork makes things ten times worse. Yuck.

Luckily The Enemy Within rectifies all of this, with an intriguing little horror story about Demogoblin, involving a team-up between Venom and Morbius, and a very unexpected ending, plus the best art of the bunch here. Easily the most enjoyable story here.

And finally, you can always count on Peter David for a laugh as Incredible Hulk and Venom rounds out the collection with a laugh. Like Funeral Pyre, this is inoffensive, but will likely linger in the mind a bit longer.

So overall there's some good, some great, and some awful in here - the very description of a 3 star book.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was...something lol.

I'm reading the Venom Omnibus volume 1 and breaking down these stories as I go through so easier to do a big review at the end of the entire Omnibus.

The first story - Funeral Pyre - Is fucking insane. You got Punisher just shooting up hoodlums and being the Punisher. Venom like "No bro, I gotta save one of them." then that one becomes a creature known as Funeral Pyre (Gotta love the name) and...man is this the most 90's comic eveR? So weird. I couldn't look away.

Second story, Venom Madness, is super Rapey and weird. Basically venom fights Jugs, Jugs whoops his ass. Venom meets a virus type creature in sewer, becomes friends, tries to rape his gf, and then Juggs beats him again. Then Venom takes full control and then...lets the little thing go. SO weird...so fucking weird. I love it.

Final story is Venom Enemy Within, which is by Bruce Jones. I really enjoyed Bruce Jones on Hulk run and I was pretty excited to read this. This was not the hulk lol. So do got some cool stuff going on. Little Goblins running around the city killing people. Got Morbius dumb vampire ass working with Venom. Got this guy, Demogoblin, never heard of him until now, basically a knockoff green goblin but pretty fun. And then he turns into godzilla size and Venom and Moribus team up.

Then finish this with a one shot of Hulk and Venom fighting/teaming up. This issue is actually legit funny and enjoyable.

Overall, some stupid shit, but it's oh so fun of the 90's. A 3 out of 5.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Enemy Within is comprised of three separate Venom limited series and a special one-shot at the end. Some are better than others; some are complete shit; all of it is pretty disappointing for my favorite Spider-Man villain.

Funeral Pyre:
Bland, boring, wasted a potentially great Punisher appearance. Pyre was a forgettable villain, and that's pretty much it. Not horrible, but definitely not up to Venom's usual standards.

Madness:
Wow! I didn't think a comic could be so...HORRIBLE! This has been one of the worst Venom stories that I have ever read. It made no sense with its inclusion of aliens/parasites/Necromancer? I can't even recall what I just read since it was so out of order and disjointed. To add insult to injury, the art was ugly and did not faithfully depict Venom's imposing self. Plus, it wasted another potentially cool cameo with the Juggernaut. I'll pretend this one never existed.

Enemy Within:
This was exactly what I wanted from a Venom story. Cool action, a coherent story, nice art, and Venom being more like his usual self. Morbius and Demogoblin made great guests in this limited series, one as an ally and the other as an enemy. The goblins-attack story was comic book good (that is, not a generally great story, but by comic standards, it was pretty good) and provided more than enough interest and action to nearly excuse the previous limited series in this graphic novel...well, almost. I wish all Venom stories were written as well as this one, but it just wasn't enough to forgive the previous two indiscretion in this graphic novel.

Hulk vs Venom:
This was another strong, though short, Venom story that I really liked. Instead of delivering on what the title implies (a crossover fight story), it mostly gives us a brief team-up between the Hulk and Venom (rest assured, they do fight, just not much). Regardless, it's a pretty good one-shot, and it's actually pretty funny in some areas, too. You can tell the writers were having fun with this one, and that's exactly what we got, a fun Venom/Hulk comic that's not overly serious or full of messy plot lines. Just straight-up Venom taking it easy for a change.

You got 4 stories in total: one that's very underwhelming, one that's utterly horrendous, and two that are pretty good and worth looking into. It's a split down the middle, but unfortunately Madness is so irredeemably terrible that it devalues the entire graphic novel. Thankfully we get a strong finish between The Enemy Within and Hulk vs Venom. All in all, I don't recommend it for quality, but instead only for those who love Venom like I do and want to read his entire line of limited series from the '90s. If this collection only gave us the last two stories, I'd easily give this more stars, but nothing can be perfect, especially not this Venom collection.

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Javier Lárraga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siendo continuista con la saga de Protector Letal, Venom el enemigo interno es un recopilatorio que trae varias historias del simbionte como el anti héroe de San Francisco.

La primera historia consta de 3 números donde podemos ver a Punisher y a Venom en medio de una guerra de pandillas masacrando a tanto delincuente como puedan, mientras que Punisher esta ahí para barrer a los criminales de las calles, Venom esta tratando de encontrar a un periodista infiltrado en una de las bandas para salvarlo.

Después viene una mini serie de 3 números donde Venom tendrá que enfrentarse a Juggernaut para defender a los ciudadanos de la sub ciudad bajo San Francisco haciendo uso de unos químicos tóxicos que le permitiran evolucionar a su simbionte a una forma más letal a cambio de ceder ante la locura.

Por último viene la saga de 3 números que le da título al recopilatorio donde Venom tendrá que enfrentarse a un monton de duendes derivados de un ritual que recuerda al horror lovecraftiano y como extra un cómic donde se enfrenta a Hulk.

Situandonos en el mismo tono de siempre estas historias de Venom son más de lo mismo, un arte espectacular que vale totalmente la pena y buenas peleas pero ambas cosas siempre van acompañadas de un guion simplón y una historia en la que todo se reduce a que Venom es un psicópata y resuelve todo a golpes.

Si eres fan de Venom igual lo vas a disfrutar, seamos honestos, antes de las sagas más recientes todos buscabamos a Venom por el arte pues antes de los 2000 siempre fue un personaje poco profundo, pero la verdad si estas buscando una buena historia siento decirte que aqui no la vas a encontrar...

[J.M. Giovine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm only reviewing "Funeral Pyre", since the other titles are contained on the "Epic Collection", with the exception of this one, that's why I'm giving this a 3/5 for including more material, but as a solo title this'll be an easy 2/5 on its own. Regarding this particular three-part mini-series, it's just Venom VS Punisher VS a gang from San Francisco. To be fair, Carl Potts sort of used these two in the right ways, at least, for a crossover of this kind; Venom is operating as an anti-hero in California, or, well, San Francisco, for that regarding, and Punisher also happens to be there (they never explain why but, let's go along with that), so Eddie Brock/Venom is contacted by a kid who informs him about a journalist who's infiltrated on a street gang known as 'The Jadoo', and needs to be extracted, and who also has a certain connection with his father's tie-in with HYDRA. 'Punisher' is also hunting down this gang, so both anti-heroes clash, but eventually they'll both have to work together in order to stop a new rising threat, known as 'Pyre'. This is a pretty standard "VS" crossover, which ends on your typical "alliance" traits. In all fairness, the new villain, 'Pyre' had a really unfortunate origin, and it does feel tragic. 'Venom' and 'Punisher' chemistry is okay, they do fight against each other, and they also fight side by side, but Potts never takes full advantage of those two characters, and being honest, Tom Lyle isn't exactly the best artist of the time. In fact, Lyle's pencils are next level lackluster. He does put together the frames, and the characters look bad ass but, for two of Marvel's most iconic and violent names, you need a better artist, a more aggressive and stylized one to do justice to them, and if Potts' plot was passable at best, Lyle's art does nothing to improve on it. Again, 'Pyre' was the most interesting element in the series, and both, 'Venom' and 'Punisher' share a fair amount of cool moments here and there, but this is just a quick read, something to consume perhaps after 'Lethal Protector', but just before heading to 'The Enemy Within', or even 'The Madness'. Again, nothing to say about it, is a disposable quick read, and for fans of either, 'Venom', and 'Punisher'– or the two of them–, this won't do much aside from entertain them.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, the '90s. It was one of the worst periods in the history of comics, particularly for Marvel and DC. The artwork was especially wretched, a bunch of people emulating the garish Image-influence from hacks like Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, and Marc Silvestri, among others. Think of it like '90s Rock. Everyone tried to be Nirvana and wound up being Bush. Lame. I am showing my age here, though. To the 12 year olds of 1993 this is the golden age of comics, so your mileage may vary depending on your age in 1993-1994.

This book is a collection of assorted Venom mini-series and one-shots. Venom: Funeral Pyre features The Punisher. It's typical extreme 90's stuff but is entertaining enough. The Punisher was overamped and his power level was routinely exaggerated throughout the '90s.

Venom: The Madness features artwork by Kelley Jones. I've never understood the appeal of his artwork. It's dark and moody but it is so anatomically exaggerated that I can enjoy it. Venom fights the Juggernaut, and while the fight is cool the artwork is so horrendous that it detracts from the experience.

Venom: The Enemy Within is where things get cooking. Bruce Jones writes an excellent script and Bob McLeod brings it to life. My beloved Morbius The Living Vampire is featured in this mini series with an absurd plot about a cult which assembles in the Library Of Rhan. The Demogoblin also appears to do battle with the goblins that the cult releases upon San Francisco. It's a bunch of silly faux-occult stuff that basically plays as a superhero/ monster mash-up.

Incredible Hulk & Venom one shot is super cheesy and lame. It's everything that is wrong with 90s comic books. I liked Venom when he was introduced as a villain, as his first few battles with Spider-Man felt fresh and new. His popularity ultimately made Marvel do a WWF turncoat, making him into a “Lethal Protector” anti-hero which was all too common in the '90s. To the kids of the '90s (and beyond) this stuff is considered classic. It's middle of the road comics with some generally awful artwork to this old man, though.

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

TL;DR: Neconti's The Madness is the only standout; the rest is skippable. Rating biased towards the former, but really this is a 2-star book.

Venom: Funeral Pyre
The bits of Venom buried under plot/antagonist/Punisher are sparse and fail to develop the character or capture any of their interesting qualities. Punisher's stilted voiceover infects all the dialog, and I don't want to read about him & this didn't change my mind. The art is the banal worst of comics, not bad enough to be funny but also busy and ugly. 1/5

Venom: The Madness
I'll probably never love American comic aesthetic and this--as the promising stylization/use of shadows tips over into plain Bad Art--is exactly why. The writing is also a little redundant and attempts character development for Juggernaut, which strikes me as a fool's errand. But Neconti gets it, hitting on so many of the elements that make Venom interesting, including but not limited to power exchange/consent within the symbiosis, personal responsibility/self-control, and a monster-curious/-wary love interest. This is what makes Venom, and this particular collection of Venom narratives, worthwhile. 3.5/5

Venom: Enemy Within
This progresses approximately nothing about Venom's character, and there's repetition in the narrative structure. But Morbius, who is new to me, is surprisingly not awful, and the interactions between Venom and Morbius are unexpectedly charming, despite that I still don't love comic-style banter. The art is decent. 2/5

Incredible Hulk vs. Venom
I only read this to see Venom's lower jaw elongate in every panel, which is certainly a ... creative decision: almost weird enough to work, but mostly silly. The actual narrative is decently paced for a one-shot, but I don't care about Hulk and this didn't change my mind. 2/5

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collects Venom : Funeral Pyre issues #1-3, Venom: The Madness issues #1-3, Venom: The Enemy Within issues #1-3, Incredible Hulk vs. Venom issue #1

I picked up this trade from my library because it contains an issue that I have in my personal comic book collection. I remember buying the "Incredible Hulk vs. Venom" one-shot at some point in the mid-1990s, and I have it in a box somewhere in my house. Even though it was written by Peter David, I did not enjoy this issue today, but it's kind of fun to read something that I read as a kid. I can't remember what I thought of it back then.

I was surprised to find that this collection had a second comic book that I bought as a child. Sometime around 1994, I picked up only the first issue of "Venom: The Madness," likely because the cover teased a confrontation between Venom and Juggernaut. That issue was bad, but not as bad as Issues #2 and #3.

Back in the 1990s, instead of giving Venom his on solo title, he had a series of miniseries that ran one after the other. In fact, as I read this collection, and one miniseries came to an end, I was able to see the old advertisement saying something like, "Next month check out the next Venom miniseries," and then that miniseries would be next in the collection.

If you love Venom of the 90s, this could be a good collection for you, but the story and art were not my favorite.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another absolute mess of a Venom story. This volume contains a few different three part Venom stories as well as a Hulk/Venom issue. None of them are particularly good.

We're still stuck in the premise that Venom is in The Bay Area living with a literal underground cult, trying to be a good guy and protect people. But the writing is consistently lazy, even though the creative team is different for every storyarc, and I didn't find any of it either informative about Venom, or fun. I would have accepted either of those options. This was just dumb mediocre early 90s comics.

I'm not optimistic that's going to get better any time soon on this readthrough of Venom titles. But eventually. Hopefully. Eventually, it will be good again.

[Michael Kikle · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, the art is great in every one of these stories.

Secondly, even though the characters and story aren’t the best, this still remains entertaining, especially the story with the Punisher involved. The Demogoblin is so cool-looking—I’ve never even heard of him before!

This is way more of a positive opinion than I might have actually written. I had a really good time reading this stuff. I’m already a 90s Venom fan, but this stuff really satisfies my fandom, in a lot of ways.

Check it out if you love entertaining stories with lots of cameos.

[Siike Donnelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad

I was worried that what I liked as a teenager I might hate today, but that's not the case here. I felt this book was fine. Middle of the road. Had some good stories, had some bad, but great art pretty much all the way through, albeit very different styles.

If you're looking for some decent Venom stories to add to your collection, give this a try. I give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

[Doctor Doom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Venom as a hero is a great concept but executed badly, for the most part, in this series of stories from the 1990s. The artwork goes from passable [Funeral Pyre], to horrid [The Madness],to excellent [The Enemy Within] and finally to ridiculous in the Hulk story [Vs.]. The writing was nothing to brag about either with moments of genius mixed with mountains of mediocrity. It was worth a read, of course, but oh the mullets, the fashions [if they can be called that] and the dialogue... oh my.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lethal Protector was a fun, dated story, but this collection leaves a lot to be desired. Inconstant and often ugly art, a lead character with no charisma and very little in terms of plotting. It's a collection of team ups, which isn't a bad concept, but Venom is too neutered to be interesting next to his guests. And no way would the Punisher suffer Eddie Brock to live.

[A.L. Bellettiere · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this because I could have sworn that I had some of these original comics back in the day. Funeral Pyre and The Madness were relatively decent comics and The Enemy Within just brought me to the conclusion that I won't be collecting any other TPB's of Venom's. The Lethal Protector and Maximum Carnage more or less fill my need.

[Samwise Laufeyjarson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Silly old comics trying to be cool and edgy. Are you here for some Symbrock shipping after the 2018 movie and this comic is all you could get your paws on? Don't waste your time.

[Edward Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay, but I wasn't a big fan of the titular tale, The Enemy Within, which seemed to drag on. I did like the Hulk crossover though - that was fun.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great beginning to a series of stories about Venom. To begin with, Venom decides to leave New York and travel to SanFranCisco, Eddie Brock's home. As soon as he arrives, there is trouble.

[lex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funeral Pyre 1-3, The Madness 1-3, The Enemy Within 1-3, Incredible Hulk & Venom 1 ‼️‼️

[Guillermo García Rojas C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy buenas y entretenidas historias.