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The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #107-110, 134-136
Spider-Man: The Road to Venom
The full story of Eddie Brock's transformation into Venom! Take one symbiotic costume spurned by Spider-Man! Add one disgraced reporter who blames the loss of his career on the same friendly neighborhood wall-crawler! Together, they will become the deadliest foe Peter Parker has ever faced! Experience the shocking saga of the Sin-Eater that led to Eddie's downfall. And the dark origin of Venom that reveals how two lost souls with a shared hatred of Spidey became one — and explores the twisted roots that led them there! Plus: Flash back to a tale from Eddie's past as a cub reporter at the Daily Globe — on the hunt for a monster!
Collects Venom: Seed of Darkness (1997) -1; Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #258; Web of Spider-Man (1985) #1; Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #107-110, 134-136; Venom: Dark Origin (2008) #1-5.
Collects Venom: Seed of Darkness (1997) -1; Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #258; Web of Spider-Man (1985) #1; Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #107-110, 134-136; Venom: Dark Origin (2008) #1-5.
368 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 2020
About the author
Peter David
3,696 books1,381 followersaka David Peters
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 17, 2021
This is a disparate collection of things sort of related to Venom's origins.
Venom: Seed of Darkness #-1 -★- by Len Kaminski & James Fry
This was terrible and pointless. Eddie Brock reports on some old school Marvel monster, Krobaa, who looks a lot like Venom.
Amazing Spider-Man #258 -★★★★★- by Tom DeFalco & Ron Frenz
I hadn't realized Peter found out about the symbiote suit taking aver his body over so early in the story. Secret Wars was still coming out when the Fantastic Four removes the suit. If you've ever played the Spider-Man PlayStation game, this is where the Fantastic Four suit with the bag on Peter's head came from. It's pretty damn funny.
Web of Spider-Man #1 -★★★★- by Louise Simonson & Greg LaRoque
The symbiote returns to try and bond with Spider-Man and he uses the sonics in the belltower to stop it. Good stuff.
The Death of Jean DeWolff - Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110 -★★★★★- by Peter David & Rich Buckler
The Death of Jean DeWolff is one of those classic Spider-Man stories every Spidey fan should read. It starts off with the death of police Captain Jean DeWolff. It was pretty shocking at the time to see one of Spider-Man's supporting characters killed off like that, shot by a mentally unstable person. I liked the addition of Daredevil to the story and the contrast between Daredevil and Spider-Man's beliefs. I didn't realize this is where they learned each other's identity.
Sin-Eater Released - Spectacular Spider-Man #134-136 -★★★- by Peter David & Sal Buscema
It's a few years later and Sin Eater has been released from the mental institution he was in. Peter realizes just how much physical damage he did to Sin Eater when he captured him and is crippled by guilt.
This story has absolutely nothing to be with Venom or Eddie Brock. It feels like it only got included because it was in the seperate Spider-Man:The Death of Jean DeWolff collection and editorial didn't actually read any of this to make sure it belonged here.
Venom: Dark Origins -★- by Zeb Wells & Angel Medina
Angel Medina's art is awful. He draws heads as giant balloons on spindly toothpick necks. And his faces are so overexaggerated as if it's a caricature.
The story isn't any better. It retells Venom's origin along with Eddie Brock's life up that point. It makes Eddie out to having been a psychopath from childhood, hiding the neighborhood girl's cat so he could be the hero to return it. Brock works best when you have some sympathy for him. That he was just a normal guy who was honestly reporting about the Sin Eater and had the wrong guy, not a reporter who was hiding the Sin Eater's identity to sell more newspapers. The story also gets a lot of smaller established details wrong. I guess Wells and Medina couldn't be bothered to actually read the Spider-Man comics with Venom's origins in them first so they could get the details right. This was a terrible and unnecessary miniseries that brings nothing new to the table. Just go read The Birth of Venom instead.
Venom: Seed of Darkness #-1 -★- by Len Kaminski & James Fry
This was terrible and pointless. Eddie Brock reports on some old school Marvel monster, Krobaa, who looks a lot like Venom.
Amazing Spider-Man #258 -★★★★★- by Tom DeFalco & Ron Frenz
I hadn't realized Peter found out about the symbiote suit taking aver his body over so early in the story. Secret Wars was still coming out when the Fantastic Four removes the suit. If you've ever played the Spider-Man PlayStation game, this is where the Fantastic Four suit with the bag on Peter's head came from. It's pretty damn funny.
Web of Spider-Man #1 -★★★★- by Louise Simonson & Greg LaRoque
The symbiote returns to try and bond with Spider-Man and he uses the sonics in the belltower to stop it. Good stuff.
The Death of Jean DeWolff - Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110 -★★★★★- by Peter David & Rich Buckler
The Death of Jean DeWolff is one of those classic Spider-Man stories every Spidey fan should read. It starts off with the death of police Captain Jean DeWolff. It was pretty shocking at the time to see one of Spider-Man's supporting characters killed off like that, shot by a mentally unstable person. I liked the addition of Daredevil to the story and the contrast between Daredevil and Spider-Man's beliefs. I didn't realize this is where they learned each other's identity.
Sin-Eater Released - Spectacular Spider-Man #134-136 -★★★- by Peter David & Sal Buscema
It's a few years later and Sin Eater has been released from the mental institution he was in. Peter realizes just how much physical damage he did to Sin Eater when he captured him and is crippled by guilt.
This story has absolutely nothing to be with Venom or Eddie Brock. It feels like it only got included because it was in the seperate Spider-Man:The Death of Jean DeWolff collection and editorial didn't actually read any of this to make sure it belonged here.
Venom: Dark Origins -★- by Zeb Wells & Angel Medina
Angel Medina's art is awful. He draws heads as giant balloons on spindly toothpick necks. And his faces are so overexaggerated as if it's a caricature.
The story isn't any better. It retells Venom's origin along with Eddie Brock's life up that point. It makes Eddie out to having been a psychopath from childhood, hiding the neighborhood girl's cat so he could be the hero to return it. Brock works best when you have some sympathy for him. That he was just a normal guy who was honestly reporting about the Sin Eater and had the wrong guy, not a reporter who was hiding the Sin Eater's identity to sell more newspapers. The story also gets a lot of smaller established details wrong. I guess Wells and Medina couldn't be bothered to actually read the Spider-Man comics with Venom's origins in them first so they could get the details right. This was a terrible and unnecessary miniseries that brings nothing new to the table. Just go read The Birth of Venom instead.
February 25, 2021
I would rate it higher but the title is a little misleading. It's mostly the murder of Jean Wolf/Sin Eater storyline with the Dark Origin mini series. The Sin Eater storyline is told as the motivation behind how Eddie Brock became Venom.
Really enjoyed the art work of Dark Origin.
Really enjoyed the art work of Dark Origin.
January 18, 2024
Four stars for the classic “The Murder of Jean deWolff” which is the only story I read from this collection.
March 13, 2026
AAAAHHHHH the murder of Jean DeWolff/Sin-Eater storyline is so fkn good. Spidey/Daredevil working together is great, especially considering how the black suit makes Peter clash with Matt. Really really good stuff. Following on from this, the Venom: Dark Origin collection is so great too, giving us a full glimpse into Eddie Brock's psyche, and nicely ties in with the rest of the collection (The Murder of Jean DeWolff etc.).
December 2, 2022
A bunch of stories of varying quality about things that happened to Spider-Man in the lead-up to Venom's first appearance.
You get an early Eddie Brock story that seems a little incongruous with other things we know about Brock, a few Symbiote Spider-Man stories about him eschewing the costume, the complete Death of Jean DeWolfe which concerns Eddie mildly, and then Venom Dark Origin which covers a lot of the symbiote leading up to Eddie and some of what Eddie did when he FIRST put on the symbiote that we never saw before.
The Spider-Man stuff here is pretty great, the Eddie and Venom stuff seems a little out of step with other things we've known about Venom and Eddie over the years and so the whole thing winds up being pretty okay.
You get an early Eddie Brock story that seems a little incongruous with other things we know about Brock, a few Symbiote Spider-Man stories about him eschewing the costume, the complete Death of Jean DeWolfe which concerns Eddie mildly, and then Venom Dark Origin which covers a lot of the symbiote leading up to Eddie and some of what Eddie did when he FIRST put on the symbiote that we never saw before.
The Spider-Man stuff here is pretty great, the Eddie and Venom stuff seems a little out of step with other things we've known about Venom and Eddie over the years and so the whole thing winds up being pretty okay.
February 22, 2026
This is Sin Eater's entire story and not Eddie Brock's and it's fantastic. The Death of Jean DeWolff is considered one of the best Spider-Man stories for a reason. The intensity ramps up throughout the story and Spidey isn't working at his best which adds to the realism. You don't need to read this if you only care about Venom but it gives you a great Spider-Man story.
The Dark Origin by Zeb Wells story mischaracterizes Venom and MJ. It's an attempt to get comics Venom closer to the inferior Spider-Man 3 movie version which released at the time. I thought the art was cool so I'd consider it worth the read.
The Dark Origin by Zeb Wells story mischaracterizes Venom and MJ. It's an attempt to get comics Venom closer to the inferior Spider-Man 3 movie version which released at the time. I thought the art was cool so I'd consider it worth the read.
March 28, 2025
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#107), : 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#108), : 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#109), : 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#110), : 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#134), : 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#135), : 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#136), : 5 stars
Venom: Dark Origin (#1): 5 stars
Venom: Dark Origin (#2): 5 stars
Venom: Dark Origin (#3): 5 stars
Venom: Dark Origin (#4): 5 stars
Venom: Dark Origin (#5): 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#108), : 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#109), : 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#110), : 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#134), : 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#135), : 5 stars
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) (#136), : 5 stars
Venom: Dark Origin (#1): 5 stars
Venom: Dark Origin (#2): 5 stars
Venom: Dark Origin (#3): 5 stars
Venom: Dark Origin (#4): 5 stars
Venom: Dark Origin (#5): 5 stars
January 20, 2022
What’s with these reviews??
This is an amazing collection of stories that lead up to the events of Venom’s origin. The way the collection is structured is so cool and interesting and you really get your money’s worth out of them.
You get some classic stories, some iconic stories, and some great modern ones. What more do you need?
This is an amazing collection of stories that lead up to the events of Venom’s origin. The way the collection is structured is so cool and interesting and you really get your money’s worth out of them.
You get some classic stories, some iconic stories, and some great modern ones. What more do you need?
September 26, 2022
Despite the title, not a lot of Venom. However, it was a good collection and I enjoyed reading about Sin Eater, who I've never encountered before. I didn't love the art style of the last few comics, though.
March 12, 2023
Super dope, i got to learn about Sin-Eater and as evil as he was, i felt bad for what he was going through. Great read, especially if you want to learn more about Spider-Man and his early relationship with the Venom symbiote.
March 10, 2021
The Sin-Eater/Death of Jean DeWolf run is one of my favorite comic storylines I’ve ever read.
The rest of it is a’ight.
The rest of it is a’ight.
May 27, 2021
Great compilation. You get a little history of Spidey in the symbiote suit not long after Secret Wars that ties directly into how Eddie Brock obtained it for himself.
January 1, 2023
The Sin-Eater run is possibly the most brutal, grounded, realistic Marvel storyline I read when I was a kid. It holds up!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews