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Spider-Man: Birth of Venom (Graphic Novel): Birth of VenomSnagging.org In association with Amazon.co.ukOnline Shop | Property Guides | Kitchen & Home | Garden Tools | Power Tools | Consumer Electronics Get the Snagging Checklist Here! Spider-Man: Birth of Venom (Graphic Novel): Birth of Venom by: Jim Shooter; Tom DeFalco; John Byrne; Louise Simonson; David Michelinie  List Price: £22.50 Amazon.co.uk's Price: £13.99 You Save: £8.51 (38%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 741.5973 EAN: 9780785124986 Edition: Direct Ed ISBN: 0785124985 Label: Marvel Comics Manufacturer: Marvel Comics Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 352 Publication Date: April 04, 2007 Publisher: Marvel Comics Reading Level: Young Adult Studio: Marvel Comics Related Items:
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 Rating: - Nature of the beastThe whole alien costume thing ran over a span of a good few years and therefore a good fiew issues and so it was inevitable that a telling of the storey that was going to be reasonably compact was going to be unsatisfying to a degree. Don't get me wrong, it does what it says on the tin and, to be fair, you get more that I perhaps originally anticipated, but I guess it's how it's all brought together that means that the whole is not really the some of it's parts. For instance, you get reprints of entire issues that involve a Spidey-Hobgoblin-Jack o Lanturn arc that just finishes because, I imagine, the latter parts have no connection to the alien costune saga. However, the inclusion of the issues of this arc that are reprinted here seem soley based on the fact that Spidey is wearing the alien costume. Apart from the odd panel where Peter comments on how tired he's feeling and how weird the properties of the costume are - that's it. Also there's the fact that Spidey gets rid of the Symbiote, puts on the old red and blues, and then we find that a bit later, he's back in a 'normal' version of the black costume without that decision ever being shown or explained. So, it feels like the inclusion criteria are a bit unevenly administered and having pages or a couple of pages from issues here and there out of context does spoil it a bit - but most of the full issues that are included are great. Rating: - Frustrating little collectionWhen I was a kid and Marvel UK was putting out reprints of the Spider-man comics, one of the subplots was Spidey's alien costume. Because I lived in the middle of nowhere and had only a limited amount of pocket money which would depending on my whims be spent on a variety of titles in rotation, from Transformers to Star Wars to the Beezer, I only read bits and pieces of the storyline and it remained one of those things that seemed very cool to me as a kid and that I really wanted to read in full. Birth of Venom seemed like my chance. And to be fair, it's probably a fair representation. The story goes from the point in Secret Wars where Spidey replaces his tattered red and blue pyjamas with his living suit and then follows his return to Earth, his increasingly violent nature and discovery that there is more to the costume and then jumps to Eddie Brock and the birth of Venom. So it pretty well lays out the saga. But. It isn't comprehensive. We get selected issues from the time Spidey was wearing the costume and in the stories we get, there is a running subplot about the Hobgoblin, which is pretty compelling in itself but which is not the focus of the tale so is not resolved. We then jump forward to the period when Eddie Brock became Venom, there's a big shift in Peter's lifestyle, insofar as he is now married to MJ and this is only covered by a text page. Obviously Marvel couldn't put five or so years worth of comics into one book, but because of that the book isn't a smooth read. It's a quibble, I know. Generally the quality of stories is rather good. The art style differs quite comprehensively with contributions by Ron Frenz, Rick Leonardi and Todd McFarlane, to name but three, but it is generally rather good too. And if you haven't read the saga of the alien costume, this does a pretty good job of giving you the history of this element in Spider-man's life.  Try searching the Internet for "Spider-Man: Birth of Venom (Graphic Novel): Birth of Venom" or Ebay for "Spider-Man: Birth of Venom (Graphic Novel): Birth of Venom". You might also be interested in the following great products:
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