“We Are Venom” – Bonding with My Favorite Monster

This week Kalie guest lectured for my MARVELous Justice course, my class which uses comic books and comic book movies to examine social justice issues and the Sisters of Mercy’s Critical Concerns in particular.  Kalie is getting her PhD in literary criticism, with her focus on the mad monster.  I’ve asked her to come in a few times to give my students an introduction to Monster Theory so they can add it to the avenues of analysis we use for the comics and films we explore.  As part of her presentation, Kalie always asks my class what their favorite childhood monster was and why they liked it.  The first time I heard her ask this question, I found myself lost in thought.  What was my favorite monster as a kid?  Did I even have one?  I never liked being scared, that’s for sure.  The answer hit in a bolt of clarity!  What an easy question!  It’s no contest!  My favorite monster was Venom.  As soon as Eddie Brock bonded with the symbiote, I was hooked.  I love Venom!  I adore Venom!  Looking at my relationship with this monster as I followed along with Kalie’s lesson taught me a lot about myself, too.

Well, I’ll Say It…Venom Was A Pleasant Surprise

I wasn’t planning on writing tonight.  But I saw Venom and, after being pretty open about how awkward I thought the movie would be in presenting a Spider-Man-less Venom, I felt I had to write something.  Why?  Because I was wrong.  I thought this film was going to be a rushed, convoluted mess and it wasn’t.  Now, it didn’t redefine the genre like Wonder Woman nor did it fully embrace the idea of the antihero in the way Deadpool did.  But it was an enjoyable night at the movies and with it currently sitting at a 29% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I wanted to take a few moments to write a short, spoiler-free reflection on why Venom was better than I thought it’d be.

Venom the Antihero: My Preparation for the Venom Movie

If I’m being honest, I’m not that excited for Sony’s Venom.  I’ve always loved the character – he’s my all-time favorite Spider-Man villain and I read all his solo series in the ‘90s.  But this…I don’t know.  I want to be hopeful!  I want to like it.  And I do have my tickets for opening night.  But doing a Venom movie completely disconnected from Spider-Man doesn’t make sense to me.  Also, I’m not wildly in love with how the symbiote looks in the film.  It’s a bit too cartoony for me.  But I want to be excited (even if I end up disappointed).  So to try and put myself in the right headspace for the film, I reread the Venom solo series from my youth to reacquaint myself with Venom, the antihero.

The Symbiote Makes the Man: Thoughts On Loving Venom

Apparently the Venom symbiote gets around!  When I was a kid, it was only ever bonded to Peter Parker and then Eddie Brock.  But during my time away from reading comics the Venom symbiote has bonded to Eddie Brock’s wife Anne, Angelo Fortunato, Mac Gargan, Flash Thompson, the Red Hulk, Flash again, Otto Octavius (while in Peter Parker’s body), Flash another time, Groot, Rocket, Drax, Flash yet again, the space pirate Mercurio, once more with Flash (big surprise), Peter Parker (again (for a bit)), Flash a final time, and Lee Price before finally coming home to Eddie Brock.  Whew!  With the “Venom Inc.” crossover winding its way through my regular read The Amazing Spider-Man, I’ve found myself thinking back on the ultimate Spider-Man villain and coolest antihero of the 1990’s. 

The Amazing Spider-Man #300 and the Rise of Venom

Since starting this blog I’ve written a lot about my return to the world of comic collecting and all the amazing experiences I’ve found on the racks of Books Galore, my local comic shop, each week.  But I’ve also (naturally) been thinking more and more about allllllll the comics I read back when I was a kid.  I’d been contemplating revisiting some of those storylines and writing about them in some context for this blog.  The other night it hit me.  The answer was right in front of me!  Our culture has given birth to the wonderfully nostalgic idea of a Throwback Thursday.  So, with it being Thursday and all, I figured I’d look back at one of my most vivid comic book memories as a kid, 1988’s The Amazing Spider-Man #300 and the VERY FIRST APPEARANCE OF VENOM!