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4.0 out of 5 stars
Here comes VENOM..., Jul 8 2001
Before I came to NY for the summer, I gave my fiance a number of graphic novels and TPBs that she could read. Sort of like introduce her to the concept of comics in general, before she gets shocked with the 10000 comic collection I own. The first character she loved was Spider-Man's biggest villain of them all. She loved his character, his attitude and that tongue of his (she thought Ghost Rider's flaming skull was cute, so go figure). It was only because of that, that I decided to check on Venom and his adventures. I have been a comic reader and collector for the past 10 years now and I wanted to first hand experience Spidey's attitude to the big man with the black costume. No one displayed that better than this book indeed.This book is written by one of the most prolific writer of the Spidey mythos at the time, David Michelinie. His stories were strong, and really helped create and establish Venom as one of the major foes Spidey had to fend off against. The story spans different aspects of Venom and gives a brief, welcoming introduction of the character. His wit and sense of humor are just mildly explored here. Most of that would come later with the resurgence of his trying to protect the innocents attitude. When it comes to story-wise, this book was there. It was not powerful or thought provoking as the later relesed VENOM Returns, but is something worth delving into to truly understand the character and his relationship with Spider-Man. The art is something else all together. Todd McFarlane just takes you on an adventure ride of a lifetime. The way he draws Spidey's physique during all his twists and turns is amazing. At that time, before the discovery of Mark Bagley or the return of John Romita Jr. to the foray, McFarlane was THE definitive Spidey artist, followed closely by Erik Larsen (who does an excellent job with VENOM Returns). McFarlane is able to bend Spidey and make him the most athletic person on the planet. His prowess, though, falls short when it comes to drawing people's faces. He does make them look good at times, but other, just too wrinkly, a bit inhuman you might say. What I loved mostly about Spidey was his relationship with his wife, Mary Jane. As a newly engaged person, I can truly relate to how Peter Parker reacts to his wife's ups and downs. They are very compatible and reading them through makes you just feel good inside. With this, David Michelinie, makes Peter and MJ's relationship feel so real. This is the exact same magic that was set forth first when Spidey was first introduced in comicdom some 38 years ago. That's why people love the wallcrawler. They can relate to him and whatever happens to him can happen to anyone of us. Uhhmmm, apart from having a crazed guy wearing a black costume running after you wanting to eat your brains that is. In the end, the book is classic Spidey. Very true to his mythos. The ending of the story is very abrupt and leaves you feeling the void, but you just can overlook it by picking up VENOM Returns right after it for some closure. Venom is done right. You can see and feel his slow transformation into madness. He starts off with straight teeth, then as the story progresses, they become longer and sharper. Fans of his famous tongue, though, should wait up, because his own is still tucked in nicely and not out wriggling in the open yet. All in all, I know this would be an excellent gift to the one I love, knowing I couldn't forget her while I was away all this time.
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