I think the current Venom comic is pretty good...

I think the current Venom comic is pretty good, it was off to shit start when Lee was the star but ever since then it's been pretty cool, but it seems like not too many people care. I wonder if this is because of the initial backlash towards Lee, the dislike of original Venom from Flash fans, or from people who have always disliked Venom or a combination of all of those things

It's because the bonding of Eddie and the symbiote could've been done so much better, instead of being literally pulled out of writers' ass.

Unfortunately I need more than Eddie being Venom for Marvel to get my dollar. Like interesting writing.

I was bored of Eddie 15 years ago. Losing the symbiote was the most interesting thing to happen to him.

What's the point of a living suit that grants superpowers to whoever wears it if you just leave it on the one dipshit forever?

Maybe Marvel should have avoided ever doing team ups like Venom and motherfucking Moon Girl. Then they might start getting readers.

It's boring to you because you're already looking at it from the perspective of how suit could be used with different character, instead of focusing on one's development, with suit merely as a plot device.

If the shit's just a plot device instead of its own character I'd prefer Antivenom, as it gives Eddie more shit while taking the focus off his suit. If the symbiote is a character (I like to see it that way), I'd prefer to see it get more focus as its own being and a more complimentary host.

I like Eddie and the symbiote, but I prefer to have them separate.

I feel like you must have never read Venom comics, because their bonding was explored way more than any other host.

You're kind of the problem, every issue needs to be a stand alone gimmick to get your attention, you can't let a story develop.

What is the point of spider powers if you're only going to give it to one dipshit? Are you saying Mile and Gwen are good ideas?

>If the symbiote is a character (I like to see it that way

Then you're not an old school Venom fan, because initially "Venom" was the combination of two characters, not one in itself. Making the symbiote "Venom" is one of the worst mistakes they can do to the character, just look at what happened with Gargan being the host. It was awful, and still lingers in the form of stench on the character today.

user he means how the band got back together. Eddie has spent over a decade wanting nothing to do with that suit to just 180 with no clear explanation? It's weak as fuck.
Also the problem is shitty writing for the last 8~13 years at Marvel, after doing so much awful writing for that long you are not going to just hop back on because they are throwing a bone to fans, you are going to take a long careful look ad make sure it's worth getting roped with a company that has damaged their brand so bad and even then could you really trust it? The last 6 years have been a disaster with the most blaming the fans mentality seen in any media for a long time. Some of us are just done and won't give them any of our time or money again.

So OP is definitely the guy who's currently writing Venom, right?

Anti-Venom was the best Eddie's ever been.

Don't get me wrong, I love classic Venom, I just liked Agent Venom better.

Current book is alright, but Costa's a pretty garbage writer.

Different user, 34 years old and my first comic was Amazing Spider-man 316. Loved Venom and collected his whole run in the 90s right up to the one shot Venom the end. I didn't like most of the changes to Eddie and Venom until Anti-Venom, then I was hook because Eddie getting his chance to be a hero without the suit and still being nuts was great and I was enjoying Flash being Venom because as a dynamic they had more going on together. Then they got rid of Antivenom, made him Toxin and then agent Toxin, while Flash became Space Venom, to then ow the edge Lee Venom. Even getting Eddie back to Venom I rather he stayed Antivenom and the suit either stayed with Flash or pulled a Captain Universe and hop around a few hosts saving lives and shit. What they are doing now is nearly tasteless and boring seemingly only playing to fans that never really read the books so much as just attached to the memes of it all. I'm with that one user and I feel I need to just stop reading any Marvel comics for a good while because it's clear they have no overhead nor care about the fans.

Holy shit. Is that old art they're recycling or did they finally get McFarlane to agree to do work for them again?

recycling

This. The lack of a good explanation for Eddie wanting to be Venom again after spending so much time hating the symbiote, along with the lacklustre writing, are why I don't like the current run. I'm not opposed to the idea of Eddie being Venom again, but they needed a much better writer to do it justice. How Costa, of all people, got the gig is beyond me.

That was a bizarre way to start Eddie's new run.

>Then you're not an old school Venom fan, because initially "Venom" was the combination of two characters, not one in itself.
Good thing I didn't say otherwise.
I said the symbiote --not "Venom"-- being a character in itself is something I like. If you see the symbiote as just a plot device there is absolutely no reason to not want Antivenom aside from "MUH NOSTALGIA." It accomplishes the same thing as the symbiote without the farce of duality with a glorified plot coupon.

I liked how the symbiote and Peter had a falling out and both are slightly to blame. Personally I don't think the Eddie Venom did enough to actually characterize the relationship, undermining the duo and "We" aspect. They didn't really explore it too well as Flash Venom either, Gargan outright ignores the concept and Lee just ended up with it acting like a battered spouse, which was shit.

You can go "You're not a REAL fan" all you like, but I think treating the symbiote as a plot point instead of a creature worthy of introspection undermines the point of even having a living suit. And, sorry, but Eddie just kind of consoling it and talking at it while the writers just depicted slices of what EDDIE'S life is and what EDDIE does never cut it for me. I like Eddie, but writers don't write him and the symbiote as a proper bond, it's way too one-sided.

>It was awful, and still lingers in the form of stench on the character today.
You're not wrong. Look at the current comic. Simply having the symbiote on Eddie is enough for Marvel. They don't care about making the symbiosis interesting, it's still the same old "LOOK KIDS, VENOM!!" while pointing at the symbiote with a familiar name attached.

>Eddie has spent over a decade wanting nothing to do with that suit to just 180 with no clear explanation?
There was no clear explanation as to why he got rid of it to begin with, since prior he was in love with it, at the worst with minor trust issues. But nothing that would lead to the bad writing that caused him to get rid of it.

I mean that's fair enough from the perspective of someone who likes both Flash and Eddie, ovbiously you'd want the both of both worlds, but from the perspective of strictly an old school Venom fan, Anti-Venom made absolutely no sense, it was just a way to give us Lethal Protector but different, but the story made no sense

Venom should be Eddie Brock, he should be a delusional anti-hero who is always in between bad and good, you can make new symbiote characters easily really, there is no need to make them all "Venom" other than the personal agendas of writers

>Venom should be Eddie Brock, he should be a delusional anti-hero who is always in between bad and good
But why does he need Venom to do that, user? Why can't Eddie stand on his own two feet as a character? Why does he need space goop specifically to fulfill this niche? Why must Eddie retread his pre-existing iconography to grow?

>I said the symbiote --not "Venom"-- being a character in itself is something I like. If you see the symbiote as just a plot device there is absolutely no reason to not want Antivenom aside from "MUH NOSTALGIA." It accomplishes the same thing as the symbiote without the farce of duality with a glorified plot coupon.
That's the thing...if you WERE an old school Venom fan, you'd know VENOM is the symbiote + Eddie, the symbiote was not "Venom" before bonding with Eddie, that is a new school development which is really lame.

>You can go "You're not a REAL fan" all you like, but I think treating the symbiote as a plot point instead of a creature worthy of introspection undermines the point of even having a living suit.
That is the entire point of Eddie Venom, the idea that he is an equal partner in a team that happens to be going on in the same body. It was never a "suit" with Eddie, it was always a partner since day one.

>But why does he need Venom to do that, user? Why can't Eddie stand on his own two feet as a character? Why does he need space goop specifically to fulfill this niche? Why must Eddie retread his pre-existing iconography to grow?
Why did Eddie need to stop being Venom to grow? He didn't, it was bad writing that made him auction off the symbiote, which was completely OOC.

Eddie/Venom's biggest issue has always been writers out to get him or just not respecting him as a character, and to be honest....I feel like this current run is doing good.

>if you WERE an old school Venom fan, you'd know VENOM is the symbiote + Eddie, the symbiote was not "Venom" before bonding with Eddie
...yeah? Again, I didn't say otherwise. I specifically said I like the symbiote being it's own character. I'm going out of my way to not call it Venom, just "the symbiote." What are you even talking about?

>That is the entire point of Eddie Venom, the idea that he is an equal partner in a team that happens to be going on in the same body. It was never a "suit" with Eddie, it was always a partner since day one.
What the absolute fuck? You said I wasn't a Venom fan if I thought the symbiote was a character itself, now you're saying the whole point is that it's his equal partner, which would require it to be a character.

Make up your mind! Is the symbiote a character or not? You can't have it whichever way currently benefits your argument.

>Why did Eddie need to stop being Venom to grow?
According to the lead-up to Antivenom, it was to

A. Justify him slowly withering away.
B. Give him a reason to embrace his religion more feverishly.
C. Pull away from the relationship and focus solely on Eddie.

I answered your question, so please answer mine: why does Eddie need the symbiote? Why can't we enjoy Eddie for being Eddie no matter what he's wearing?

Not him, but he should have deffinetly stayed as Toxin

Eh. I wasn't keen on it, but it was ok.

>There was no clear explanation as to why he got rid of it to begin with
See this is what I mean you people don't read comics. They made a six part story that was breaking down that Eddie didn't want the suit anymore but his cancer was keeping him to scared, why he wanted it gone was the suit was too alien/crazy and chocolate wasn't cutting it, it wanted fresh hunts and kills and Eddie tossed it for cancer money to which out of guilt with what happen tried to kill himself. He failed and tried getting his life back together, got cured by Mr. Negative and became antivenom and swore off the suit since the whole retcon reason he had it was the cancer. That was a total of 22 issues with Eddie going from Venom to Antivenom.

They don't even give us a fucking splash page why Eddie went back to the suit...

If I remember right, Eddie thinking the symbiote was an asshole goes as far back as Separation Anxiety and Sinner Takes All, which both were released a year or two after the Lethal Protector mini-series that everyone touts as definitive Venom. Eddie having doubts about his symbiote and wanting to get rid of it is a story that is over 20 years in the making, and they just do that sudden heel turn without any real explanation. I mean, we could've gotten a flashback issue that explains that after the events of Remender's Venom and ANAD Carnage, he thinks symbiotes can do more good than bad if properly leashed, but we didn't get any of that, and it would still be a heel turn compared to what we've gotten for two decades. The guy went on a god damn anti-Symbiote Punisher-tier crusade while he was a hobo. He's not going to want Venom back as "his darling."

>and they just do that sudden heel turn without any real explanation.
Peter Parker Spider-man #9-12, 44-49. (2002)(2003)
Spectacular Spider-Man (2003) #1-5 the Hunger
Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5-8 (2004)
and I know I missing at least one other arc.
It wasn't a fucking sudden heel turn or anything they built all this shit up that starting with Spectacular Spider-Man get rid of Eddie Venom. I wasn't sudden, the writing was on the wall with Hunger part 3 when they drop the narrative that Eddie was dying from Cancer.

whoops sorry, miss read that, thought you meant to him getting rid of it.

The symbiote is a character, but it's only "the symbiote", it combined with Brock is what made "Venom"

>why does Eddie need the symbiote? Why can't we enjoy Eddie for being Eddie no matter what he's wearing?
Well, what else can Eddie be? Toxin and Anti-Venom to me were a joke, just ways to bring back Venom....but why get rid of Venom anyway?

>They made a six part story that was breaking down that Eddie didn't want the suit anymore but his cancer was keeping him to scared

And that was OOC/bad writing. I know we as fans don't dictate the writing, but that goes against everything previously established.

>Toxin and Anti-Venom to me were a joke
Eddie Toxin was weak but Anti Venom was much needed growth on Eddie's personality and Character. We really got a lot clear picture of what he is with those arcs.
>but why get rid of Venom anyway?
A mix of a shake up and Millar thinking the suit could have a lot more interesting stories being with other host, he actually mentioned Scorpion and Flash Thompson as well as a few others that he thought would really bring out some fresh content
>And that was OOC/bad writing.
Bad art yes but the writing was great and actually added much need depth to Eddie. "Muh job" really didn't cut it.

>user just keeps moving the goal post.
Are you just wanting (You)s that badly or are you really just this blind?