Spider-Man: The Vengeance of Venom Paperback – January 1, 2011

A nice collection of stories, quite a bit of character development for Venom. Mostly very well drawn, especially by Mark Bagley. Only negative is a few comics that are in my opinion pretty ugly.

This graphic novel features pretty much every Venom story and appearance he made in the Spiderman books from the ending of the Birth of Venom tpb up to Lethal Protector.We even get a story from some Spiderman annuals called First Kill that explains more of Eddies hatred for Spidey, and we also get the first appearance of Carnage. This book was a fun trip down memory lane, and even know I didn't love every story within, what I did enjoy outshined the bad. I'd say pick it up, especially if you finished reading the Birth of Venom tpb.

This isn't about the story itself.Wow, I did NOT expect all the effort my shippers used to make sure I received one of the cleanest books I've ever gotten. They were really going for a good review, and they definitely earned it. Not a scratch or chipped corner anywhere, and it looks so great on my shelf.

This is one of my fave Venom comics. Probably the only Venom which I've read more than twice. You can really feel for Eddie Brock and how much of a good guy he really is (like rescuing a baby (ohhh)...and where was Spider-man?) Idiots like Spider-man who just won't back off and kept pushing the envelope and can't leave Eddie Brock in peace. So spider-man got what he deserved...another ass whopping from Venom!

Excellent compilation of important Venom comics. If you're a fan, this is a must have. You'll get to see every major story line in which he interacts with Spider-Man and get a sense of how their rivalry evolved over the course of time.

There was a previous trade, Birth of Venom, that collected the original "black costume" storyline and the first few stories to feature Venom. This trade collects the later stories, and Marvel has done its usual thorough job. All of the issues are collected, but so are relevant excerpts from otherwise unrelated issues and some later short stories from Spiderman annuals. The completeness of the collection is its best feature.The Venom stories are remembered with some nostalgia by any comics fan who grew up in the 90s. Although these stories showcase the excellent artwork of artists like Erik Larsen and Mark Bagley, who cemented the character's appearance (and are largely responsible for Venom's explosive popularity in the early 90s), the stories themselves have quite a repetitive nature to them (though this can honestly be said of most comic book superhero stories in the end). Most of them can be summed up as: Venom escapes from jail, attacks Spiderman, Spiderman outsmarts Venom. The character's gimmick is, of course, that he's immune to Spiderman's spider-sense and already knows his secret identity, but will usually try not to harm innocent bystanders nor target Peter Parker's loved ones. The storyline that introduces Carnage is decent, but Carnage is a fairly one-note character whose sole purpose is to be even worse then Venom, so that Venom can embrace his antihero side and team up with Spiderman. The short stories at the end of the collection make an attempt at fleshing out Venom's origin story and motivations; the strongest of these is one that recounts Venom's actual creation and first mysterious appearances (before Amazing Spiderman #300) from Eddie Brock's point-of-view. If you're a completist, this is a solid collection. If you're nostalgic for the heyday of Venom, this collection is still enjoyable, but be forewarned that the stories aren't quite as incredible as they were when you were 12.

As a kid I grew up watching Spider-man TAS and Spider-man Unlimited, and loved the character of Venom. So when they finally made a collection of some of the early appearances, I had to get it. This collection has great Venom stories and also the first appearance of Carnage. I love how Venom is just one of Spider-man's greatest villain. Venom is Spider-man's toughest foe and he can barely even defeat Venom. Features art by Mark Bagley, and guest appearances by the Human Torch, Mister Fantastic, and Daredevil.

This, combined with the "Birth of Venom" collection, make for an amazing look into a classic 90's villain. What I especially loved about this volume was the inclusion of the three part first appearance of Carnage, which I had the original issues of, and "Trial of Venom" which I always wanted as a kid, and was finally able to read now. Nostalgia at it's finest.