Venom has received a lot of attention with the recent Epic Collection Reprints of Marvel’s vast catalog, with a new book coming out every month, featuring a selection of lesser-known minis. What’s amazing about the Venom books is how Marvel has relentlessly tried to find new ways to put the Spider-Man antihero in new settings, styles, and storytelling approaches. This trade is not typical, but Venom Epic Collection: The Hunger features some well-known adventures of Eddie Brock that fans of the character in these comics will likely appreciate.
The Epic Collection is a lot of Minis from the period 1996-98, including Venom – The Hunger #1-4, Poison: Tooth and Claw #1-3, Venom: In Court #1-3, Venom: License to Kill #1-3, Venom: Seed of Darkness #-1, Venom: Mark of the Boss #1-2, Spider-Man: The Venom Agenda #1 and Venom: The Finale #1-3. Marvel obviously felt that the character worked best in this format at the time, with the comic canvas covered in various creative approaches.
Marvel Comics
This collection offers an interesting look at Venom’s adventures from the ’90s. We see Eddie Brock facing his ongoing battle to control the violent tendencies of the Venom symbiote as it literally battles its hunger for brains. Eddie teams up with Wolverine for an interdimensional adventure, gets into legal trouble where Matt Murdock defends him, and confronts Ghost Rider and J. Jonah Jameson. The collection also sees Eddie’s long-standing feud with Spider-Man reignited, culminating in a showdown with the web-slinger.
There are some really positive aspects to this collection. For Venom fans who want to see the classic, crazy Eddie Brock corrupted by an alien symbiote, this trade is a great choice. It’s easy to imagine fans of the film series being able to pick this up and discover new stories for the character they recognize on screen. “The Hunger” is a pretty recognizable Venom story, and I always love seeing Wolverine and Brock together, which is what “Tooth and Claw” offers.
Unfortunately, it will also disappoint in many ways. All of these stories feel like riffs on previous Venom storylines, offering very little development or insight into the character. The plot can get repetitive and lacks real excitement beyond the cameos. Also, the art from this Marvel era was a real slog, with very bland images and colors that made the panels seem lifeless and tasteless. I remember reading these issues back when they were released, but I had simply forgotten how uninspired the art and design was. The Hunger series has the best art of all, thanks to Ted Halsted, but the rest is rather forgettable.
Marvel Comics
There are some standard additions, but what is really commendable is the inclusion of the Venom art contest going on at the time. The fact that Marvel has devoted many pages to reproducing amateur art from dedicated fans is pleasing on two counts. First, it provides a glimpse into the fan engagement that was once common in the comics industry, perfect for those looking to take advantage of Epic Collections than history books. Second, it gives these up-and-coming artists a place to appreciate their work years after it first appeared in the monthly issues. Kudos to Marvel for bringing them to this trade.
While these Venom stories don’t expand beyond previous versions of the character, fans of the iconic antihero should find something to appreciate in this collection. They may not be the most iconic storylines of his storied past, but they reflect where Marvel placed the character in the mid-1990s.
Review of “Venom Epic Collection: The Hunger”
Venom Epic Collection: The Hunger
While these Venom stories don’t expand beyond previous versions of the character, fans of the iconic antihero should find something to appreciate in this collection. They may not be the most iconic storylines of his storied past, but they reflect where Marvel placed the character in the mid-1990s.
Some very familiar Venom stories that should satisfy hardcore Eddie Brock fans.
Great additions from this Marvel era provide a great window into 1990s fan culture.
Some derivative Venom stories that have been done better elsewhere.
Many of these issues contain bland, unimaginative art.
