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A review by crookedtreehouse
Venom: Separation Anxiety by Tom Lyle, Carl Potts, Howard Mackie, Terry Kavanagh, Steven Butler, Liam Sharp, Ron Lim, Ron Randall
2.0
This was an exhausting mess of a collection. In order to follow Venom's adventures chronologically without reading all of the Spider-Man books as well, you've got to just lot a ton of stuff slide or yo are going to be Lost.
This story starts with Venom still on the West Coast with the underground cult he's been hanging out with, protecting them from gangs, corporations, aliens, whathaveyou. The first story involves a misunderstood character who appears to be a villain but ended up an ally because bad government guys show up. The second story involved a misunderstood Ghost-Rider character who appears to be a villain but ended up an ally because bad government guys being controlled by aliens whose powers seem similar to the Phalanx in the X-Men show up.
Then we switch gears entirely as we get a glimpse of Ben Reilly, Spider-Clone. You kno he's a clone of Peter Parker because he mentions it on every page. He is a just a clone. Woe is his memories for he is just a clone. He doens't know about Venom's powers because he is just a clone. He doesn't know if he is a hero for woe he is a clone, etc.
This part of the story is pretty exhausting. We do have the B-story that reveals that at least one of the five other symbiotes from [b:Venom: Lethal Protector|788533|Venom Lethal Protector|David Michelinie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573239818l/788533._SY75_.jpg|774522] are still around, and want Venom's help. But Venom is focused on taking down Ben Reilly Spider-Clone, oh woe is him who is a clone.
The end of the previous story leads into the final arc, a completely repetetive adventure where Eddie Brock battles the five other symbiotes because ... the writers were out of ideas?
I've mentioned that quite a few of these Venom collections are better than I expected, as I remembered Venom being a very 90s-era character constantly plopped into confusingly dense continuity, beset with other clones of Spider-Man and clones of Venom, and clones of Carnage. The stories in this volume are precisely the ones I was thinking of. This is a headache-inducing volume, and I had to put it down repeatedly because I just didn't care.
This story starts with Venom still on the West Coast with the underground cult he's been hanging out with, protecting them from gangs, corporations, aliens, whathaveyou. The first story involves a misunderstood character who appears to be a villain but ended up an ally because bad government guys show up. The second story involved a misunderstood Ghost-Rider character who appears to be a villain but ended up an ally because bad government guys being controlled by aliens whose powers seem similar to the Phalanx in the X-Men show up.
Then we switch gears entirely as we get a glimpse of Ben Reilly, Spider-Clone. You kno he's a clone of Peter Parker because he mentions it on every page. He is a just a clone. Woe is his memories for he is just a clone. He doens't know about Venom's powers because he is just a clone. He doesn't know if he is a hero for woe he is a clone, etc.
This part of the story is pretty exhausting. We do have the B-story that reveals that at least one of the five other symbiotes from [b:Venom: Lethal Protector|788533|Venom Lethal Protector|David Michelinie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573239818l/788533._SY75_.jpg|774522] are still around, and want Venom's help. But Venom is focused on taking down Ben Reilly Spider-Clone, oh woe is him who is a clone.
The end of the previous story leads into the final arc, a completely repetetive adventure where Eddie Brock battles the five other symbiotes because ... the writers were out of ideas?
I've mentioned that quite a few of these Venom collections are better than I expected, as I remembered Venom being a very 90s-era character constantly plopped into confusingly dense continuity, beset with other clones of Spider-Man and clones of Venom, and clones of Carnage. The stories in this volume are precisely the ones I was thinking of. This is a headache-inducing volume, and I had to put it down repeatedly because I just didn't care.