Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection, Vol. 18: Venom

Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection

by David Michelinie, Ann Nocenti, Tom DeFalco

Meet Spider-Man's deadliest foe! The webslinger may survive a mind-bending glimpse at life in the Mad Dog Ward, a run-in with Doctor Octopus and a Chance encounter. But the lives of Peter Parker and his new bride Mary Jane will be turned upside down when his former symbiotic costume and disgraced reporter Eddie Brock combine their mutual hatred of Spider-Man to become...Venom! In time for adventures with Silver Sable and Sandman, Spidey returns to the ol' red-and-blues - but nobody ever drew them like Todd McFarlane! The cunning Fox and the calculating Chameleon await. Styx and Stone will break some bones, and Killer Shrike can hurt you too. But who kidnaps MJ? Plus, the heroic debut of Speedball! COLLECTING: VOL. 18: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) 295-310, ANNUAL 22; WEB OF SPIDER-MAN (1985) 33; PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (1976) 133

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

504 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 2018

Reviews

[Sean Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read approximately 4 billion issues of Spider-Man over the past couple of years. This collection is…fine. I just finished it and I only barely remember what happened. One reason for that is last night’s presidential debate killed so many brain cells that I can barely remember my name, which I’m reasonably sure is Biff (it’s Biff, right?). The other reason is that it was pretty typical early 90s comic fare without any particularly high or low points. Also, Todd McFarlane? Overrated. I much prefer the Mark Bagley issues.

Biff OUT.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skipped a story line right out of the gate with this one!

The Doc Ock story felt like filler. It was not spectacular (huh?!)

You know how this Epic Collection is called 'Venom'. The subtitle should really be 'Anything but Venom'.

This is (I believe) the first time you see Eddie Brock as Venom and it's... anticlimactic?
It only lasts one issue (#300) and for an 80's comic book, there wasn't a whole lot of fighting... Which usually, I'd love but you built up this symbiote suit and it was defeated in two seconds??

Poor MJ though, after only just getting over that, she's then kidnapped again. But that's skipping ahead.

There's a Silver Sable plot that felt a little meh. I was more interested in the conflict (and resolution) between the married couple.

Then a quick war that sees Spidey and Daredevil work together (and ends that Gwen Stacey (not a) clone plot)...

Maybe I've forgotten but I'm pretty sure I hadn't read about the Prowler before. To say he's had an upgrade these past couple of years would be an understatement.

Black Cat appears randomly searching for Peter, willing to 'give him another chance'. Kinda surprising she doesn't read newspapers (assuming Pete and MJ actually put out an engagement/wedding announcement).

A few two issue stories that didn't really add anything.

I liked how they were hinting for a while about Jonathan Caeser's obsession with MJ.
I loved MJ's bad-ass moments; how she was able to escape then go and save her husband! I know there's always going to be damsel in distress aspects to this relationship but it makes sense that MJ would know some self defence moves. Not even because her hubby's Spider-Man but because she lives in New York...

The final issue seemed to me a lesson about cheating and having to deal with the consequences when caught.
Also Peter's first day as a college student! I'm excited for the scientist era.

I would say, for me, the highlight of these issues is the relationship between Peter and MJ.

[Sans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't seen the Venom film (yet!) but I just about died over Sony's holidays DVD/Blue-ray advert so hell yes I'm going to read up on the Venom comics before I watch it next week.

I love Venom in these stories. I even love Eddie. He looks like a bruiser with an IQ of 10, but bro is erudite and is 100% on board with Venom's "no innocents are going to get hurt on my watch" attitude. It's all so over the top and hilarious.

So why only 3 stars? Because of the rest of the content. Specifically the 80's writing style of recapping All The Things and telling the reader Every Little Thought Peter Has. And the Parker's drama. So. Much. Drama. It's really difficult to care about anything that's going on in his "real life" when it reads like the worst soap opera of all time.

[Krzysztof · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nostalgia-fueled ride for me. I remember reading most of these comics in the early 90. as a kid. I've read The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (issued in Poland as 4/91) several times a day for weeks and some panels are imprinted in my brain probably for the rest of my life. However, flipping these pages as an adult... that's a completely different experience.

First of all, #300 is actually the only issue featuring Venom as the main villain in this collection (so the title is at least misleading). It's arguably the only memorable confrontation in this book and, I'm surely biased, but it's also the one with the best art. Other stories are OKish, but there is nothing special about them - they are rather simple, the writing is sometimes really awkward or cringeworthy, and there is no real impact that they make on the character or the world they live in. Revisiting those stories after 30 years breaks their charm a bit and reveals that they didn't stand the test of time.

Todd MacFarlane's art is something that saves this collection IMHO. This is his beginning with Spidey, so it's still very "safe", far from Torment-level stylization or the incredible details of McFarlane's Spider-Man series. This was the style that I grew up with and started to love comics, so I might be adding a star for nostalgia's sake ;) I wish there was better material to illustrate here, tough.

Overall, it's a fine collection to revisit childhood memories but these stories don't make such an impact anymore. My kids were not impressed reading them and I guess new readers won't be satisfied either.

[Dubzor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don't know if threeds is the right rating, but here we are. There's nothing really special about this run of comics. The arrival of Venom is just a thing that happens and given the mess of a character he is it really has no weight to it.

The rest of the issues all fall into a steady pattern of...

Awkward dialogue recapping the previous issue.
Villain of the week.
Mary Jane and Peter talk about fucking each other.

No, really. Almost every issue involves some kind of innuendo between the two. It's not for sex appeal though, it's more of a "look how perfect their marriage is." There's a lot of that in here too. They never fight, they never have a misunderstanding, both stumble over themselves to sacrifice for the other one on only a moments consideration of the circumstances. It's really try-hard and gets old real fast.

Then there's MCFARLANE...oh boy. What's there to say that hasn't been said before? It's ugly, overstylized, over detailed garbage. Well...maybe not full on "Jesus get that thing out to the curb" garbage but more "if I don't take care of the trash soon it could get really out of hand" garbage.

That being said...something kept me reading, and at the end I didn't totally hate the experience so...three stars I guess?

[Dusty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its pretty good guys... its a stalker book. Beautiful MJ with big hair and doe eyes has a psycho stalker... Peter has a psycho stalker (Brock). Some of cool guest appearances (Silver Sable) and some lame ones (Styx and Stones). Its title is misleading... alot more than Venom in here.

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're, like me, doing a deep dive on Venom, and you decide to pick up this volume called "Venom" to get some serious Venom reading on, you're going to be disappointed. There is only one full issue involving Venom in this book. He has two brief cameos before issue #300, which is his sole featured appearance.

It's a Great Venom issue. The first battle between Parker and the Eddie Brock version of the symbiote is a solid 80s issue, pulling together several long term threads to explain why Eddie Brock now wears the suit. It's a great read, but not worth buying the whole book if you want to read stories about the character whose name is the subtitle of the book.

It is, however, an all around great era of Spider-Man stories. Starting off Peter Parker's time in The Mad Dog Ward (an asylum the Kingpin uses for assassins and to stash away some of his employees' loved ones so that nobody squeals on him), reuniting Parker with his briefly estranged Aunt May, moving Parker and Maryjane to a nice condo, and throwing in the usual smorgasboard of other heroe and villains. It's also some of Mcfarlane's best art on the title. His later stuff gets a bit grotesquely cartoony for me, but this run looks excellent.

If you were ever a fan of the late 80s Spider-Man stories, then this is The Collection to pick up.

[Marcelo Soares · Rating 4 out of 5]

A maioria das edições são com a dupla David Micheline e Todd MestreFarlanne, as primeiras três são com a Ann Nocenti contando sobre como um Peter Parker amnésico acabou num hospício comandado pelo Wilson Fisk, é uma daquelas histórias mais "cabeça" sobre sanidade, realidade e uma pegada na família criminosa que só quer largar tudo e ser feliz no interior.
Pulando para as histórias principais, Peter Parker e Mary Jane Watson casados morando no chiqueiro que o Parker chama de apartamento, e a vida é bem difícil para o Parker, afinal ele precisa decidir se passa a noite com uma ruiva mais bonita que uma bola prateada de papel de cigarro e sair na porrada com um baixinho, gordinho de óculos com braços mecânicos que atende pelo singelo nome de Dr. Octopus.
Temos mais uma escolha, tomar um banho de banheira com uma ruiva mais bonita que uma poça d'água límpida num lugar escondido ou sair atrás do mercenário internacional conhecido como Chance e seu bigodinho de galã de rodoviária. É uma vida difícil.
Mais ou menos por aqui um tal de Venom aparece, assusta a ruiva que é mais bonita que uma zebra, que um filhote onça, que um Boing 707 em pleno ar, e o Parker sai na porrada e guarda o rapaz e seu simbionte com o amigo Coisa.
Logo depois do ataque do Venom, o casal se muda para uma cobertura chique e uma editora picareta lança um livro de fotos do Homem Aranha, tem uma pegadinha claro, o Parker só vai ganhar grana para voltar para a escola pela 34ª vez se ele participar de algumas sessões de autógrafos. Claro, ele leva a ruiva que é mais bonita que um jardim florido em frente ao mar de Ipanema para Los Angeles e o Homem Aranha acaba se envolvendo com o gatuno da terceira idade, o Raposa Negra, e seu frondoso bigode e, também, com o gatuno verde e roxo, o Gatuno, e sua frondosa capa que nasceu para ser desenhada pelo MestreFarlanne.
Enquanto isso, em Chicago, o Camaleão reaparece, e, claro, quando os compromissos do Parker o levam à Chicago, claro, o Homem Aranha precisa enfrentar o Camaleão e mais uns mafiosos genéricos. Em Nova Iorque, a ruiva que é mais bonita que uma refinaria da Petrobrás durante a noite, que a Ursula Andress, que o Palácio da Alvorada é sequestrada por um vizinho taradão.
Na busca pela ruiva mais bonita que a alvorada, que o mar azul-safira da República Dominicana o Aranha enfrenta o Treinador e mais um ou outro que não é importante agora e o casal caba reunido e pronto para mais uma noite de luxuriantes emoções.
Até parece, como a sorte do Parker aparece de novo, e ele precisa deixar a ruiva que tão bonita quanto o Rio de Janeiro em Maio e quase tão bonita quanto a Revolução Cubana - só falta a boina e a barba - para enfrentar o Killer Shrike e o Consertador.
Talvez eu tenha um problema com ruivas.
Talvez seja só o terceiro copo de negroni, vai saber, né?

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Album zawiera zeszyty z serii: Amazing Spider-man (1963) #295-310, Annaul #22; Web of Spider-man (1985) #33; Peter Parker-The Spectacular Spider-man (1976) #133

Kolejny zbiór przygód Petera Parker w nieco starszym wydaniu, starszym jeszcze nawet ode mnie, ale już niewiele. Zatem pachnie tu naftaliną, ale to taki przypadek babci. Niby dziwny zapach, ale jednak mi zależy. Nie małą rolę odgrywa tu imć Todd McFarlane, który rozpościera tutaj swoje skrzydła i czyni czary nad serią.

A czegóż tu nie ma. Rozpoczniemy spokojnie. Od patologicznej rodziny, która chce opuścić ojca, który uwikłał się w złe sprawy. Wszystko to doprowadzi Pajączka na sale pewnej placówki dla osób mentalnie zaburzonych, a że przypadkiem za wszystkim stoi Mad Dog. Plus Kingpin. Oraz Daredevil. Dla Parkera to pikuś, a to dopiero początek, bo w tym zbiorze mamy ponownie kultowe elementy dla marki Spider-man.

Najpierw celebrujemy powrót Octopusa czy zmierzymy się z Chance'm, z którym nawet dojdzie do połączenia sił. Głównym daniem jest tu występ Eddie'ego Brocka jako, a jakże, Venoma! Sztandarowy przeciwnik oraz kolejna marka Sony ma tu swój wielki debiut, z porządnym, acz znanym już wszech i miar, początkiem antybohatera. Tu jest jeszcze w pełni negatywną postacią, co ma się zmienić na przestrzeni lat.

Ten nadmiar emocji to nie koniec co tu nam zgotowano. Spidey w zespole z Silver Sable i Sandmanem? Jest. Wypad poza miasto do nowej pracy i nikt się nie dziwi, że wraz z nowym pracownikiem pojawia się Pajączek? Jest. Złodziej Fox czy morderca Chameleon? Jest. Uprowadzenie MJ przez maniakalnego natręta? Obecne. A i jeszcze znaleziono tu miejsce na debiut Speedballa czy małą robótkę High Evolutionary.

Szczodrość rodzynek w tym cieście jest przepotężna, aczkolwiek trzeba mieć świadomość, że to ciasto trochę przeleżało, co widać i czuć po sposobie czy tempie prowadzonej historii. Mało który komiks czytam kilka dni, a tu się to rzeczywiście stało, bo w większych ilościach trochę mnie męczył. Niemniej jest to zalecana lekcja historii dla fanów Pająka czy komiksów w ogóle, zwłaszcza kiedy nowe pokolenie raczone jest generycznie wykreowanymi, ślicznymi artami. Tu tego nie ma, a i tak bywa naprawdę ładnie i szczegółowo.

[Molly Mortensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Web 33 / 295 / Spec 133 ★★
Life in the Mad Dog Ward
I hate asylum stories! A witness to the Kingpin's crimes is sent to his mad dog ward where he keeps people heavily dosed. Her kids ask Spidey for help and he winds up a patient.

296-297 - ★★★
Spidey out of web fluid, so he's designing new we shooters. Doc Oct has lost his mechanical arms and he's being experimented on. His arms break him out. He's still terrified of Spidey so he decides to destroy the city.

298-299 ★★★★
Spidey battles Chance, a villain who bets on his jobs. Peter and MJ adjust to married life. There's a hilarious scene where Peter dresses as a chip n' Dale

300 ★★★★★
Venom! A new villain shows up at the apartment and scares MJ. Peter suspects the symbiote. Peter and MJ move. At the movie Spidey sees Venom, who doesn't set off his spider sense!

301 ★★★
Silver Sable is hired to test a security system. Peter senses something is sketchy about the job and tried to help Sable.

302 ★★★
Peter is offered a new job in Kansas. He meets a guy who was bitten by a Jack rabbit. They battle an evil scientist.

303 ★★★
Sable hires Spidey to hunt Nazis. He decides not to take the new job, and go back to school instead.

304-305 ★★★
Peter goes on a book tour. The Bugle published a book of his Spidey photographs. The Black Fox and the Prowler.

306 ★★★
There are so many subplots going on this one. Peter is still on his book tour. Black Cat is back, Humbug is robbing ESU, oh and there's a shape shifter about.

307 ★★★
The Chameleon is now a shape shifter. Spidey has an adventure in Chicago and MJ is kidnapped.

308 ★★★
Spidey is looking for MJ. He takes on the Taskmaster.

309 ★★★
MJ's kidnapper hires goons to go after Spidey, because word on the street is that Spidey is looking for MJ.

310 ★★★
Peter's back at college and working as a research assistant, but something in the lab is setting off his spider sense. The Tinkerer and Shrike. (Who looks a lot like a certain Bat, but with a blonde ponytail.)

[Maciej Matusz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the idea of Epic Collection from Marvel. They provide a great insight into the character they present. The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Venom is the second such collection; the first was Kraven's Last Hunt. I still love the stories from that era; I even think they are much better than today's runs by writers like Dan Slott and Rick Remender. In Venom, you can see much darker and more mature stories. For example, the story set in a psychiatric hospital was something I liked a lot. Although it was clichéd, I felt the tension build up, even with little of Peter Parker in the Spider-Man costume.

The first appearance of Venom also stands out. Despite looking like a villain of the week, there's something about him, especially Venom's design, that makes me understand why people love him. Another particular thing I like about these comics is Peter's marriage to Mary Jane. It feels very fresh both when these comics were published and now, showing the couple supporting each other. Peter has insecurities about his wife earning more than him and wants to get back on his feet and leave his photography job. Peter is in pieces when MJ gets kidnapped and searches for her tirelessly. Their dialogues and banter bring this comic to life in an incredible way. MJ isn't a damsel in distress either; she can take care of herself, adding charm and spunk to her character.

The only downside in the Venom volume is The Evolutionary War crossover. It's evident that it was written by someone else, and it contains jokes and scenes that are not very funny, with events that seem aimed at a less mature reader. Only the beginning and the end can be considered more mature. I also like the change in the artwork, moving away from John Romita Sr.'s style to the unique style of the artist at the time, McFarlane, who brought a lot of freshness to the drawings, including the Spider-Man costume with larger eyes and better-drawn webs on the costume.

[Ben Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t think anything could live up to the Kraven’s Last Hunt Epic Collection but this one might just be better. That collection had some great stories but was hampered by dropping you into the end of the Ned Leeds/Hobgoblin storyline that took up much of the early 80s and which I unfortunately haven’t read and therefore didn’t care much for.

But this collection starts with a refresh. Peter and MJ are newly married and lots of change is in the air. First, we get a brief trilogy that feels like a lesser follow-up to KLH: Life in the Mad Dog Ward. This is a good, serious type story that never quite hits as hard as it should have, I think. But then we get into the Michelinie stories proper and things start slow with Doc Ock, rapidly improving once Todd McFarlane joins the book. It’s a real shot in the arm with a new style of art that changes as the storylines progress. We meet Venom, we see Spidey and Silver Sable team up to chase down a neo-Nazi, and we watch Peter struggle with being a poor sap married to a famous, beautiful model. He considers going back to school and becoming a scientist again, only for that to be interrupted by the Bugle publishing a book of Peter’s Spidey photographs. Parker becomes famous overnight, but, in a clever jab at the publishing industry, he only benefits somewhat from his work, which he doesn’t own, and he feels jealous of his own alter-ego.

The book comes to a close with a really compelling plot about the couples’ new landlord kidnapping MJ. It’s a genuinely scary time period for both characters but it ends in the best way it could.

While the artwork near the end starts to get a little too close to the edgy 90s style I associate with McFarlane, the majority of the collection is him at his best.

[Terrance · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can't go home again. This collection is from some of the prime years of my comic collecting. The mid-80's to the early 90's were a dichotomy for comics just as it was for music. This period saw the transition from hair metal to grunge and from party rap to socially conscious and groove-heavy hip-hop. The same was true for comics. Two branches appeared - one, the auteur branch, mostly on the DC / Vertigo side with Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, etc. The other was the meticulous artist branch - the cross-hatching, pouch-heavy, no feet side of Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, and Jim Lee. As a teen, I loved this art. I ate it up. Compared to what came before, I loved the intricate artwork that was like a hybrid of George Perez and Arthur Adams. However, while the authors' work has held up (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell, Swamp Thing, Sandman, Dark Knight Returns), the artists' work has not aged gracefully. I still admire Todd McFarlane's art. Jim Lee also shines. But, the choices made leave something to be desired. In rereading these comics I once owned, I found that I didn't remember a single issue, whereas I can remember specific lines, panels, and entire issues of Watchmen. It's bubblegum. It deserved better writing and framing. This collection is better than the X-Force ones, however, which were just shy of atrocious. Spidey is Spidey no matter how he is presented. But, a legendary hero deserves the best presentation (i.e., the Master Planner saga, Kraven's Last Hunt, etc.)

[Michael Emond · Rating 3 out of 5]

More a 2.5 but I'll round up to 3. First we start off with a 3 part Ann Nocenti tale which is typical Ann. Weird, barely focusing on the hero being a hero and an interesting read but not one that captures Spider-man very well. Somene noted the influence of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and I agree - while reading it that is what it felt like. In a more general sense it was "Mental hospitals are bad and make people crazier than they are" which is a bit too jaded for me.

Then we get into Michelinie writing the MacFarlane art. What can I say? Todd's art never did it for me like he did it for other people. Yes - I think some of his poses for Spider-man are awesome, and he creates some great kinetic energy in his art. But the way he draws people in quieter moments - faces especially - looks so amateurish to me. I don't hate his art - I just don't get why some people love him.

The stories are solid but nothing special. I know that sounds bad but they are entertaining. It's just they aren't memorable for me. I read them when they came out and wasn't excited by them then. Rereading them 40 years later and my opinion stands - they are good but not memorable. I would still take reading the original Stan Lee run of Spider-man over these stories any day of the week.

Anyway - a good collection to get if you are interested in the start of Venom and when Todd became a superstar in comics.

[Rock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here's my honest opinion, apart from the first appearance of Venom, nothing else happened in the rest of the issues. Todd McFarlane was a highly respectable artist and he catapult to fandom after the introduction Venom, I cannot deny he deserved to be highly regarded.

Unpopular opinion, I was not a fan of his early work. Characters and facial expression were drawn with busy lines and rough edges. He had a way to draw a great Spider-Man but when it comes to drawing regular people it was a little left to be desired. Perhaps one fact was because I dislike the evolving artwork of the late 80s into the 90s where we began to see a trend of exotic appearances. Bigger muscles, tinier feet. Bizzare fashion trend and thick wavy hair were the jam here. I struggled to read through the comic panels.

Unmemorable plots of many a few new villains and some old ones like the Terrible Tinkerer didn't really bring back those excitement I used to have reading them during the time of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. 90s was a hard transition for me and I would have expected it to get worst as we reach the Rob Liefield era.

[Marloges · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite being an exciting time for ASM with a new writer who's going to write for Spider-Man for a really long time and the first issues drawn by McFarlane, who really pushed the popularity of the character and gave him his more modern design ... The storylines are pretty unremarkable. I like that Michelinie tries to get Peter back to school to his science roots, which is really the right call in my opinion and I also enjoy the way he writes Mary Jane as a more capable and confident person, but the actual villains and singular storylines aren't all that special.

Venom also appears for the first time! But he gets defeated so quickly that it doesn't leave much of an impact. I'm sure that will change later on.

[Felyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utterly terrible. I'm not going to get into the utter shit, sexist writing, or the even worse art. (Though heads up, Mary Jane exists for two purposes: sex and damsel in distress.) Instead, let's consider the name of this volume: Venom. He appears in all of 2-3 issues in the entire collection. They introduce him so briefly, but the intro of the symbiote, Peter's subsequent black suit, and Venom finding Eddie? None of that is here. Instead, we get a menagerie of other Spidey villains. But no Venom.

All in all, this isn't worth your money. Hard skip. It adds nothing to your comics knowledge/enjoyment.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fair warning - although Venom is the title of vol 18, Venom only appears fully in one issue (and cameos in two others). A better title is "So many bad guys come and go, and none of them are really worth reading about. Even the biggest bad guys are written pretty lame and are easily disposed of." Overall, I was pretty bored by this volume, but seeing Todd McFarlane's work was nice. He does a great job, although many of his issues seemed overly inked. I would not recommend buying this - borrow it from a friend, check it out from library. Final opinion - only issue #300 is worth the read in this volume.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this run is pretty well-regarded, or at least has some classic stories and art, but it’s really not for me. I didn’t enjoy the Epic volume before this one, and felt like this was more of the same.

My main issue is the writing, both the style and the plotting. I just didn’t find the stories interesting… Peter’s broke as usual, but this time wrote a book and has to deal with marriage. The saving grace was that McFarlane comes in for art pretty quickly and helped give things a fresh look to distract me from whatever’s going on.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gems include Ock needs a hug, Robbie tells Peter to find a new line of work, the Todd debuts, Spidey rides Chance, black Spidey v. Venom, a nazi entraps Silver Sable, Bunny Man & Dr Nero in Kansas, Spidey & Wild Pack v. nazis, Spidey & DD v. Speedball, Black Fox in LA, Prowler robs Fox, Black Cat drops into Peter’s Chelsea apartment, Chameleon in Chi, Taskmaster in a Brooklyn cemetery, Spidey v. Styx & Stone, & Tinkerer v. Shrike at ESU

[Ricardo Noronha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to say I was a bit disappointed after reading this Epic. I thought since its name is "Venom" that we would be presented with a major arch featuring the aforementioned villain but he's barely in it. Yes, we do have his first appearance but that's all there is to it. The other arches were ok but they were not what I was looking for.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fine collection of Michelinie-era Spider-Man, but the volume is very misleadingly titled. If you're coming into this expecting a collection of Venom stories I'd recommend the Birth of Venom and Vengeance of Venom collections for Spider-Man stuff before going off to Venom's various miniseries. This collection only contains one actual Venom story - ASM #300 - and that's it.

[Rachel E. Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the title of Venom, I thought there would be more Venom, but I think he was only in one story. It was still a fun collection and I loved seeing MJ and Peter married. Not as many good stories as some of the others I've read. But Spider-Man always makes me chuckle. (Also, big hair and shoulder pads everywhere.)

[Crazed8J8 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Venom, nuff said

My favorite anti-hero is brought to life in the pages by the Toddfather! This exceptional collection spans McFarlane's earliest Spidey works brilliantly. A must read collection! Some new characters feel a little flat (i.e. I really like Silver Sable, but her stories herein are not very memorable).
Regardless, the artwork throughout is stunning!

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this collection for the Venom stories, not realizing that a collection with only those would be released a few years later. I was disappointed in this regard (there are very few Venom stories included, despite the title), but the other stories were just as good.

[Jordan Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the fact that this collection has very little to do with the titular character (venom) is was still a really great run of comics. Peter gets to actually be happy and have some success (despite a few small setbacks), and that feels surprisingly rare.

[Doug Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun with this volume all around. I love the McFarlane artwork throughout, and the writing was really good too. Venoms introduction is really solid, even if he does get pretty oversaturated later on. The Peter and MJ relationship is my favorite part of the whole story.

[Josh Bungs · Rating 4 out of 5]

McFarlanes Spiderman art started a new era. It's worth it just for that.

[Kamil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly engaging. It reads better in the original than in the Polish translation. Venom's thread itself is quite average, MJ's kidnapping is definitely the best.

[Mirosław Arka Gier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wejście Venoma to kolejne wielkie otwarcie nowych dziejów Pajączka. Todd MacFarlane podbił moje serce swoimi rysunkami.