review by justin anderson

the plot: Cut to an alley in San Francisco, where a woman is being mugged, about to be killed. Only he fails, as Venom jumps from the shadows, tearing the mugger apart from the inside. Running, he's quickly identified by police as soon as he converts to his human form. This leads to a confrontation as he tries to rent a motel room, a confrontation that leads to a lucky photo for a tourist.

Once published, Parker feels a moral responsibility to stop Venom, despite their past agreement to avoid each other. Out west, Venom helps out a few homess in the park, facing off against several false FBI agents. Spidey interferes, only to soon learn they're not law enforcement. After the battle, Venom is missing, taken away by the few he saved. Part of an underground race of people. Attacked by digger robots on the way, Venom manages to do some damage, but not without falling through a cevern, along with a digger, into an underground city.

the review: Okay, it's a typical first issue. Establish a basic plot for a new book with an old character, with some exposition for the newcomers. However, their exposition borders on excessive at times, more of that "thinking" that characters tend to do in Spidey books (Marvel has driven this almost into a habit. And while a bit off topic, when Acclaim relaunched Shadow Man with a new character, they managed some exposition to the original series for newcomers without dragging it out further than a couple of lines).

Mark Bagley did a good job, considering he was now taking over for the long-gone Todd McFarlane from drawing the character.

Now.... Venom as a hero? Well, regardless of how evil both Eddie and the symbiote may seem, neither are so evil that they'd allow an innocent to die. They never were. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

**** out of *****

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