May 4, 2013

REVIEW: venom war

The new Ultimate Venom's reign of terror ended a couple weeks ago, but I am just now getting a moment to collect my thoughts on his debut in Venom Wars.  Was he a better Venom than the original? Here are my thoughts.

The Story: After killing Betty Brandt, Venom arrives in front of Miles' door looking for Spider-Man.

The Good: The Look - I like the look artist Sara Pinchelli gave to the retooled Venom.  For some reason the monstrous design works in the Ultimate Universe for me.  The Fights - Venom vs Spidey in the streets and then again in the hospital rank up there as some of the best symbiote fight scenes in recent memory.  I especially appreciated the call back as Miles tries to remember how Peter originally handled Venom.

The Bad: Venom - Lets start with the host - who is he?  This arc was the first Miles Spidey story I read; Conrad Marcus means nothing to me.  At least with the original Venom, they developed the story of Eddie Brock Jr. within the Venom arc so you knew a little bit about the host as well as the suit.  Speaking of the suit, how about bridging the gap between when we last saw the suit (and Eddie) to this new Venom's sudden appearance. 

The Overall: 2.5 outta 5.  I am a fan of Ultimate Venom (more so his first appearance than his latter ones), but I just didn't get excited enough for this Venom 2.0.  Sure this was a HUGE arc as far as story development for Spider-Man, but as a Venom fan I want more story for the villain.  I guess my biggest complaint is that I don't like how Bendis writes symbiotes.  Hopefully he will change my mind when (if) Miles battles a new Carnage down the road.