Sunday, April 8, 2018

Venom (#1-6) by Mike Costa

Venom (#1-6)  by Mike Costa, Gerardo Sandoval (Illustrator)
Synopsis (via Goodreads): VENOM IS BACK AND BADDER THAN EVER! The symbiote you know and love has returned to New York City. No more "Agent of the Cosmos." No more "Lethal Protector." It's time for a new Venom, and it's great to be bad. 

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I've always been fascinated by Venom! He's a symbiote from space that bonds with other hosts. His first host on earth was Spider-Man. When you see the black and white Spider-Man costume, that's when Venom is around. However, Spider-Man is never Venom, he remains Spider-Man. Everyone else actually becomes Venom.

Venom has bonded with a lot of people, but not all of them were good. Lee Price is the perfect example of an asshat that only wants to use Venom for personal gain. He sees Venom as a suit, and he's only interested in what he can get out of their pairing. He imprisons the symbiote within his mind (a scary place to be), and essentially treats him like a thing. It's disgusting and I despise Lee Price.

I did enjoy this arc, though. It allowed us to see how Venom has changed since coming to earth, and what he's learned being bonded with other people. He's changed over time, but he genuinely wants to help people and be a good person. He wants to be a hero.

I'm not crazy familiar with Venom and all of his hosts, but I do know of Flash Thompson and Eddie Brock. In the sixth issue we move from Price (yay!) to Eddie. I'm not sure how the story will continue from here, because I still need to read the issues after this one. I'm way, way behind on this series, but I wanted to read them all before the new Donny Cates series starts.

If you're looking for a slightly darker comic, with a lot of ties to Spider-Man, this might be something you'd like. Venom is interesting on his own, but it's always fun to see how things work out when he is paired with someone else. He retains their information and abilities, which makes him a formidable opponent in any battle. He's also scary in general, haha.

*Spider-Man does do something slightly awful, so I might be a little miffed at him right now. I'm also really excited about the new Venom movie! Ahhh! #WeAreVenom

19 comments:

  1. I don't think I knew about Venom but I would be curious to learn more

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    1. He's an interesting character! If you don't want to read the comic, you should definitely watch the movie! October 5th!

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  2. I’m excited for the movie too. I think people forget that Venom isn’t Spider-Man.

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    1. I've noticed that, too. Venom isn't Spider-Man, and Spider-Man is never Venom. Spider-Man/Symbiote Spider-Man is still himself, but with a suit. Flash, Eddie, Lee... they all *become* Venom. Spider-Man just wears Venom for a little bit, but then separates himself once he realizes what is going on.

      The movie has been kept SUCH A SECRET, but I'm still crazy excited. I think I read somewhere that Woody was going to be Lee Price.

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    2. Also, since Venom retains some of the abilities of his host, he can shoot webs like Spider-Man (among other things). He just keeps stacking up what he can do every time he bonds with someone.

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    1. I agree! The inner artwork is just as amazing.

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  4. From the covers, it looks like these would be filled with awesome artwork. I may need to check them out!

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    1. I can confirm that they are indeed filled with awesome artwork! ๐Ÿ‘

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  5. I've seen Venom before but never knew about him so thank you!!

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    1. He's so fun to read about! I love when comics do Venom variants, too. They always look so amazing and unreal.

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  6. I'm not super familiar w/ Venom but he was in one of my favorite comic story arcs - Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis. Pretty dark but awesome. I think this was the Eddie Brock version and he goes INSANE towards the end and tears things up. It's about the only Venom story I know tho.

    Here's a link https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785158499/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sout?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_sout-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0785158499&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

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    1. I'll check it out! I love how Venom can just pop up in places, because it all depends on who he is paired with at the time. I've gotten a few random comics just because of a crossover (or a continuation of an arc).

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  7. These are some kickass covers! I didn't know anything about Venom, but he sounds really interesting. He seems like he'd be pretty evil, but then you said he's learned from bonding with people and wants to be a hero. And it does sound like it'd be neat getting to see what it's like with each person he pairs up with!

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    1. I don't think I've ever read an "evil" version of Venom. I know he comes from space and tried to bond/takeover another person, but Spider-Man changed his outlook a little. He gained some of Spidey's abilities while also understanding his desire to do good and save people.

      I'm not sure who or what Venom was bonded with before coming to earth (evil aliens or vampires living elsewhere), but it did change him. His past defined him until he met Spider-Man and started remembering who he was, and what he was meant to do.

      There is a lot of interesting information surrounding Venom, and if you don't feel reading the comic (there's a new one coming), you can always watch the movie when it comes out this fall!

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    2. He just *looks* so evil with all those teeth and everything, but oops, I guess that's why you're not supposed to judge people based on how they look! Or in this case, aliens :-P He sounds like a cool character.

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    3. Love his character! Yes, he can look a little intimidating, but so can a lot of the mutants when they fight.

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  8. This is fascinating! He looks super creepy but is a good character?! I didn't understand all that about him and spiderman and the white suit until you explained it either so thanks!

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    1. He's generally good... it depends on the person he's with and the situation he's in. I'm glad I could help clarify his relationship with Spider-Man!

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