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In the last week or two I plowed through everything Venom that came with Mike Costa’s run, including the Venomverse saga all the way to Venomized. Great stories all around. Can I call this all one run? If so, great run for Venom shared by Costa and Bunn and all the awesome artists that took part.
Next up is Donny Cates’s turn on everyone’s favorite wicked Spider-Man!
[QUOTE=Sparko;4839893]In the last week or two I plowed through everything Venom that came with Mike Costa’s run, including the Venomverse saga all the way to Venomized. Great stories all around. Can I call this all one run? If so, great run for Venom shared by Costa and Bunn and all the awesome artists that took part.
Next up is Donny Cates’s turn on everyone’s favorite wicked Spider-Man![/QUOTE]
More or less, yeah. Cullen Bunn even returned to do the War of the Realms tie-in for Venom while Donny Cates was getting ready for Absolute Carnage.
For me personally, there were two main things that kind of bugged me about Costa's run. The reasoning behind the symbiote and Flash being separated was not only really dumb, but oddly glossed over as un-important (he gets hit by a sonic bomb, runs away, and he isn't able to find him, wha?), and as someone who was a huge fan of Flash-Venom, it just felt like a very unsatisfying way to end their relationship (even if Venom Inc. helped a bit).
Also, I feel like the book didn't really do a good job explaining why Eddie and the symbiote would get back together. He just suddenly is infatuated with it again and steals it, and then next issue they're back to their slightly toxic relationship again. Just felt like they were rushing to get Eddie-Venom again without a reason why they should be.
I actually really liked the Lee Price opening arc, it was a really clever idea to see what happens when the heroic symbiote bonds with a villain, to show how does the dynamic changes. The stories were written well (I liked the couple interactions with Spider-Woman, that was a nice change of pace), and Bunn's Poison trilogy was incredibly fun. To me, I think it just took until Cates' crazy run for me to feel like the Eddie-Venom return was earned.
Costa's run deserves more hugs.
[QUOTE=Snoop Dogg;4845429]Costa's run deserves more hugs.[/QUOTE]
I really liked it.
And now just finishing the Rex story arc in Cates’ Venom, I feel I can have an opinion on this matter... I may like Costa’s Venom more so far. Maybe too early to fully say, but there is something in the first six issues of the new run that feels a little empty. I know things build from here, so nothing is final yet, Cates is still writing and I like to read a whole run before I gave it a final grade for myself, but so far... lol.
I really did enjoy Costa and Bunn’s stuff.
[QUOTE=Sparko;4860617]I really liked it.
And now just finishing the Rex story arc in Cates’ Venom, I feel I can have an opinion on this matter... I may like Costa’s Venom more so far. Maybe too early to fully say, but there is something in the first six issues of the new run that feels a little empty. I know things build from here, so nothing is final yet, Cates is still writing and I like to read a whole run before I gave it a final grade for myself, but so far... lol.
I really did enjoy Costa and Bunn’s stuff.[/QUOTE]
Make sure you read the 2 prequel titles before you start on Cates' Venom. (Ve'Nam & First Host). This blows Costa's run out of the water (& I really enjoyed Costa's run).
[QUOTE=Snoop Dogg;4845429]Costa's run deserves more hugs.[/QUOTE]
Agreed! Cates gets all the accolades these days (and to be fair, he [I]is[/I] killing it) but Costa had a damn fine run.
[QUOTE=Sparko;4860617]And now just finishing the Rex story arc in Cates’ Venom, I feel I can have an opinion on this matter... I may like Costa’s Venom more so far. Maybe too early to fully say, but there is something in the first six issues of the new run that feels a little empty. I know things build from here, so nothing is final yet, Cates is still writing and I like to read a whole run before I gave it a final grade for myself, but so far... lol.[/QUOTE]
Cates' run does get better as it goes along, in my opinion. The first arc - aside from Stegman's spectacular art - didn't quite knock my socks off either and it sure didn't feel like a notable upgrade from Costa to me. However, as it goes on and Cates digs deeper into Eddie's troubled psyche, and as he adds to Venom's mythology more, it becomes something pretty awesome.
[QUOTE=frizb;4861637]Make sure you read the 2 prequel titles before you start on Cates' Venom. (Ve'Nam & First Host). This blows Costa's run out of the water (& I really enjoyed Costa's run).[/QUOTE]
Damn, I completely missed the Ve’Nam one. I knew it was out there, I remember the cover, but it’s not easy to read all this on Marvel Unlimited if you aren’t following a reading list.
[QUOTE=Prof. Warren;4861717]Agreed! Cates gets all the accolades these days (and to be fair, he [I]is[/I] killing it) but Costa had a damn fine run.
Cates' run does get better as it goes along, in my opinion. The first arc - aside from Stegman's spectacular art - didn't quite knock my socks off either and it sure didn't feel like a notable upgrade from Costa to me. However, as it goes on and Cates digs deeper into Eddie's troubled psyche, and as he adds to Venom's mythology more, it becomes something pretty awesome.[/QUOTE]
That’s good. I’m not the only one. Glad to hear you also think it gets better. I haven’t gotten into the second arc yet. I’m gonna do that Ve’Nam issue first.