Venom #200 : Spoilers, Review, and Discussion

[Somecrazyaussie]

Marvel aging and de aging characters, that is frightening. Why? I would not put it past them to actually de age Peter back to HS when and if they finally get rid of OMD

Why? JMS floated that very scenario when they were planning OMD and even Joey Q (whose idea it was in the first place) said he felt that was a bit too far. So de-aging Peter is the last thing people should be worrying about.

[Somecrazyaussie]

So not seeing a whole lot of the usual suspects being mad dylan is using the venom name. We can't have legacy characters! Make them new characters! Wonder why.

Venom is a different scenario. Eddie was the original, yes. But he hadn't occupied the role between late 04 and mid 2017. So 13 years had passed and we had a succession of different host - Angelo, Gargan, Flash and Lee. Besides, Eddie will still be in the book and Dylan will be operating as Venom. So it is a father/son type of deal.

This run has been so well regarded that it is probably best to shift focus for a bit to avoid comparisons. The character has seen exponential growth. For now, Eddie has to focus on improving his connection with the hive mind. This issue even had a few doors written into it on how Eddie can become Venom again 1. Whenever The Maker makes his move and 2. Once his connection improves to the point he can transmit his consciousness anywhere across the universe where symbiotes are.

[Jness]

Loved everything about this issue, and love the new status quo. Thank goodness Ewing is taking over, since I know he'll be keeping these plot threads going. Now to hope and pray the impossible that Cates does the same for Immortal Hulk...

[HypnoHustler]

Why? JMS floated that very scenario when they were planning OMD and even Joey Q (whose idea it was in the first place) said he felt that was a bit too far. So de-aging Peter is the last thing people should be worrying about.

That was 15 years ago! A lot can change in a decade and a half.

[Somecrazyaussie]

That was 15 years ago! A lot can change in a decade and a half.

Isn't Joey Q still haunting the halls like Marley's Ghost? A few of the editors who weighed in on it at the time are still there (pretty sure Marvel's offices were built around Breevort the guy has been there that long).

[Somecrazyaussie]

Aging and de-aging makes sense in fiction that lasts this long. But you need to be careful with how you use it and how often you do it.

De-aging Peter from a 30 year old to a 20 year old would prolong the series even more, but it would also be a pointless endeavour as there's not a huge amount of difference between 30 and 20 in comic terms.

Aging him to 70 would be a weird plot point and I don't think it would work. It worked with Cap, but not so much with Peter.
De-aging him to 16 would also be incredibly pointless and confusing as Miles effectively fills that role. Not only that but Marvel learned they can't really do much with a 16 year old Spider-man, which is why Miles is 18 (or he could be 17 now).
In fact a lot of the younger heroes fill that market gap for Spider-man.

One more day won't be retconned out of continuity, and in many ways, I don't want it to. It's a stain of a story, but getting rid of it causes too much of a mess for Spider-man continuity. I've said before that Marvel don't regret the act of One More Day, but they probably regret the execution. Addressing it is better that pretending it doesn't exist.
I've said that a talented writer can take crap and turn it into gold, and Spencer, while I have my issues with his run, is a very talented writer. I'd rather have something come from that story which is good instead of just nothing.

So unless Marvel do a complete reboot, I doubt they would de-age Peter to a 16-20 year old. They already have Miles for that.

This. So much this.

Besides, Peter has bee aged and de-aged already. Happened in Life Signs when Vulture took his youth. Then Vulture ended up sucking the fake Mary Parker dry and took her's instead.

[your_name_here]

Not a bad a issue. One thing no one can argue with is Cates adores Eddie and he adores Venom.
I think it’s a nice new status quo - my only gripe is he took to being king a little too easy. I thought this issue would be more Eddie reflecting and eventually accepting his role and taking to space. But this works too, and will be nice for Ewing to expand on it further.

Overall, I think Cates and Stegman have made a defining run on Venom and successfully accomplished what they set out to do - which was separate him from all things Spidey and put him in his own corner of the MU.

[jebsib]

So... Eddie - portrayed as trying to be a good father and legit loving his son during this run - is willing to let his CHILD get into constant harm's way as the new Venom. His underage minor son.
What I miss?

[your_name_here]

So... Eddie - portrayed as trying to be a good father and legit loving his son during this run - is willing to let his CHILD get into constant harm's way as the new Venom. His underage minor son.
What I miss?

Meh. It’s comics.

[Jman27]

So... Eddie - portrayed as trying to be a good father and legit loving his son during this run - is willing to let his CHILD get into constant harm's way as the new Venom. His underage minor son.
What I miss?

Peter was 15 when he put on the suit unless you had similar complaints back then I don't see why you would have them now

[Shunt]

Peter was 15 when he put on the suit unless you had similar complaints back then I don't see why you would have them now

I think the criticism is legitimate, although I can give it a pass myself. No adult knew Peter was Spider-Man when he was a teenager, so it's not the same case.

[jebsib]

Peter was 15 when he put on the suit unless you had similar complaints back then I don't see why you would have them now

But... No parental figure blessed 15 year old Peter becoming a crimefighter...

[Celgress]

So... Eddie - portrayed as trying to be a good father and legit loving his son during this run - is willing to let his CHILD get into constant harm's way as the new Venom. His underage minor son.
What I miss?

It does seem a bit OOC.

My main complaint, however, is I prefer street-level Venom the anti-hero. I lost interest in Flash during the whole "Space Knight" era for example. But hey, if others enjoy this direction more power to them it isn't for me. IMO, Venom as a concept is at its best when he/it is a gritty street-level anti-hero in a story peppered with shades of body horror, not when dealing with other space stuff or being a ruler of an alien race. This seems like a good jumping off point for me because the new status quo that is hinted at does not, frankly, interest me much.

[Chris0013]

It does seem a bit OOC.

My main complaint, however, is I prefer street-level Venom the anti-hero. I lost interest in Flash during the whole "Space Knight" era for example. But hey, if others enjoy this direction more power to them it isn't for me. IMO, Venom as a concept is at its best when he/it is a gritty street-level anti-hero in a story peppered with shades of body horror, not when dealing with other space stuff or being a ruler of an alien race. This seems like a good jumping off point for me because the new status quo that is hinted at does not, frankly, interest me much.

I made the comment about the Outlawed storyline...looking at comics as entertainment there are some fun kid-hero stories. But in the real world would you give a 15 year old a Glock and a badge and send him out to arrest people....no way in hell would that be acceptable.

As for Venom as street level...totally agree. I even go further to say that they have made the symbiotes way too powerful for my taste.

[EmeraldGladiator]

The Maker could easily pull Dylan into his Ultimate Universe to be it's Venom, which would adversely effect Eddie's God-like powers and reduce him back to his previous levels, IF a creator wanted to go that route, if you really want to reset it to the basic premise of the character have it done in a way that Eddie can blame Peter and viola back to status quo yes you lose all the character "growth" but whose to say the next writer wants to continue down this path?