Ultimate Spider-Man: Venom

[cyberghostface]

So without a doubt Venom was probably the most asked for character during the beginning of Ultimate Spider-Man but Bendis had no interest in doing it. He finally relented although the character was (aside from the visual appearance) effectively a new character for all intents and purposes. In my opinion Eddie Brock was one of Bendis's best characters and this story arc one of the best events on the title.

One of the things you might have heard was that then-VP Bill Jemas collaborated on the story with him. Well, he did and he didn't. He was the one to convince Bendis to do the character but if you look at the exchanges between him and Bendis available in the hardcover it's really clear that a lot of the ideas Jemas suggested weren't used and most of it came from Bendis himself. For example Jemas thought the idea of Eddie being a former childhood friend of Peter's was contrived (he wanted Eddie to be someone that Peter didn't know) and that the concept of 'the suit' being made to cure cancer was too far-fetched. These ideas, of course, are still in the finished product.

#33...

The issue starts with Peter reeling from the break-up with MJ. He ends up finding some old photographs and videotapes from his parents.











He finds Eddie and calls him. Eddie is surprised to hear from him.




He meets Eddie at his college. The two go out for a coffee.








#34...

Peter asks what the goo is supposed to be. Eddie tells him it was going to be the cure for cancer.





Eddie later shows up at Peter's high school. Gwen asks to come along.








Peter vows to finish his dad's work for him.








#35...

Peter (now in his new black costume) is fighting crime as Spider-Man. He gets shot at one point but the suit absorbs the bullet.

















#36...





She leaves in a huff. Eddie calls her a tease and turns on the TV where he sees Spider-Man in the suit. He puts two and two together and heads off to the lab where he sees Peter.




Peter admits to him that he's Spider-Man and tells him everything that's happened. He tells him that it's dangerous and the suit has to be destroyed.








Peter changes into some clothes and heads back home. Gwen is angry about what happened with Eddie and tells Peter about it.








#37...

Peter is having nightmares about the burglar he almost killed and goes to see MJ.





Back at the university, a janitor comes across Eddie who is stuck in a congealed mass of goo.







At school Peter sees something outside.




Peter goes outside.




#38...

The issue opens with a flash-forward of Peter listening to a videotape from his father.











The cops arrive and begin to shoot at Venom.








#39...

Peter goes to see Nick Fury. He tells him what happened with Eddie.









Peter later goes to Eddie's dorm. His roommate is cleaning things up; someone has been there and taken all of Eddie's belongings with him there. Peter heads over to the lab where he finds Curt Conners. He puts two and two together and deduces that Peter is Spider-Man.

There was an earlier issue of 'Team-Up' where Curt became the Lizard, so that's where Peter knew him from earlier.

Comments

[scorntx]

Yeah, this is one of the better arcs of Ultimate Spidey. Maybe even some of Bendis' best work.
And I ain't just saying that because like all kids of the 90s I inexplicably like Venom.
It's the idea of hubris, and human failings turning a genuinely selfless idea into a walking nightmare.
Plus, characterisation for Richard Parker, which is always nice, but that brings up one of the really weird bits about him and Mary.
No-one seems to have known them. No friends, co-workers, colleagues, casual acquaintances, nada. At least in the Ultimate universe there are a few people who knew about them, and later there's that whole point about Trask un-personing Richard.

Plus, while the story is pretty tight, Eddie's reaction is just pure dumb.
He finds Peter, clearly not in a good way, who then tells Eddie at length how the project their dads worked on is dangerous and nearly killed him. So naturally Eddie decides "Oh, yeah? Well, I'll stick my fingers in itOHGODAAAGH!"
Seriously, the only reason he does it is because of sheer contrariness.

But otherwise, good stuff.

[captainbellman]

It really seems like the MCU version of Peter is heavily drawn from USM, with Tony Stark in the place of Nick Fury as the mentor role.

The art hasn't aged well.

[7dialsmystery]

I really liked Ultimate Spidey when he came out. I didn't notice it at the time but all the characters look really gumbi-like.

[coldfury]

Man, I can't remember, isn't there a bit later where Fury reveals he was lying here and he knows what was up with Parker's parents? Or he made it a point to find out?

[mrstatham]

I think Eddie's reaction to what Peter is saying is totally realistic and understandable. He proposes the notion that something happened to their parents to take them off the board, Peter has just come back into his life after a number of years and is now proposing that the supposed miracle their parents were working on is incredibly dangerous and that it needs to be destroyed. Given his perceptions of people - he entirely misreads/is skeevy toward Gwen - I could easily see him as thinking Peter wants to take the 'suit' for himself and get the eventual glory, thus wanting to prove him wrong.

[mrstatham]

As much as I kind-of wish they'd left it at this story with the Venom concept/character - complete with never even really calling it 'Venom' because it makes absolutely no sense here - they really knocked this one out of the park; it's a really good example of what they could do with the Ultimate Universe if they really put their mind to it. No 'lethal protector' nonsense, no eating brains, no violent 90's anti-hero nonsense, just a big, ugly monster with the real depth coming from Eddie, whose.. Hate of Peter in 616 never really made much sense to me.

[scorntx]

I didn't say it wasn't understandable, just that it's a very dumb move from Eddie.
If someone looking beaten up to hell says eloquently how something is incredibly dangerous and has to be destroyed for the greater good, it is probably an idea to listen to them. Or at least not immediately stick your hand in the goo, but maybe run some tests on it.
(But the "wanting to prove him wrong" thing is probably why Eddie does it. Part of his monologue when the suit's doing it's stuff is how Peter managed it, overlooking the bit where Peter told him he barely managed, even with superpowers.)

[captainbellman]

Yes...as iconic as the tongue and slobber and feral animal characterisation are, I kinda miss the version of Venom who was basically a bulkier version of Spider-Man with a creepy grin and an irreverent sense of humour.

[tcampbell1000]

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: The flashback issue of The Ultimates that shows Nick Fury working at Burger King.

[cyberghostface]

It was later retconned that Richard Parker was employed under him at point but I don't think he was involved with what happened with Trask. There was this whole bit in 'Ultimate Origins' where it looked like Hulk accidentally killed Peter's parents when he was still a baby (which of course makes no sense given this storyline) but apparently the official word is that they were just seriously injured.

[zero_elec]

Oh! I never read this far into Ultimate Spider-Man, never saw this part in full, only the sequel in the GCN/PS2 game. That game was neat.

[silverhammerman]

While this is very well told I've actually never much cared for the origin Venom gets here: trying to make Spider-Man's parents interesting has never once worked, and making his dad the creator of Venom feels overly coincidental and forced. Bendis certainly tells the story very well though; the emotional beats work and Eddie Brock being Peter's friend is a great idea (it's a pity that he didn't show up earlier in the title and get more characterization before turning evil) but the core concept with the Venom stuff is the kind of small world writing which pulls me right out of a story.