Marvel sent over this press release. What do you think?
Who Will Stand At The EDGE OF VENOMVERSE?!
Beginning in June!
New York, NY—March 2nd, 2017 — The symbiote’s tentacles ensnare the entire Marvel Universe this June! The madness begins inEDGE OF VENOMVERSE – a bombastic new 5-issue series featuring your favorite characters and creators! Spinning out of events in the hit Venom series and the blockbuster Venomized Variant Program beginning this month – Eddie Brock won’t be the only one who is back in black!
Kicking off this June, EDGE OF VENOMVERSE unleashes sinister symbiotes across the Marvel Universe, wreaking untold havoc and wanton destruction! Featuring some of the most popular characters from March’s Venomized Variant Program, this in-continuity series brings you deadly new Venom combinations, giving fans dream matchups from some of comics’ hottest creators! The Marvel Universe is about to play host to an army of Venomized heroes…but whose side will they be on?! Look for more information, including characters and creators to be revealed soon! EDGE OF VENOMVERSE #1 explodes into comic shops everywhere this June!
To find a comic shop near you, visit www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook.
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Pandora
Amazon Music
iHeartRadio
Podbean
Amazon Alexa
Player.fm
Listen Notes
Stitcher
@Hornacek: You can tell Slott favors Ock vs. Peter, by the fact that he makes Ock sympathetic and (mostly) logical, and Peter unsympathetic and (usually) illogical. In SSM, Ock did everything more common-sensically than Peter. He (eventually) showed more common-sense about MJ, he showed more common-sense about monitoring nightly crime reports, prioritizing events and leaving normal problems to the NYPD and NYFD. He shot Massacre dead (which he shouldn’t have done, but was motivated by facts about recidivism). He was depicted as a sad, bullied child with a cruel father and a smothering mother, so that you feel sorry for him. He accepted the worst outcome (for him) — humiliating denial of his own superiority — to save Anna Marie. In the meantime, Peter is putting Ock cyber-helmets on his head, enjoying the benefits of a doctorate he didn’t earn, shirking his CEO responsibilities, and being forced to wear web underwear.
@Jack – I do agree with not saying “It’s completely bad” or “It’s completely great”. I’m just hard-pressed to try and remember the last Slott issue I read that (a) I enjoyed, and (b) was a good issue (if we’re lucky they’re both true, but not always). Like I said, a lot of the BND and Big Time issues were average but nothing special.
ASM #698 was an A+ classic but unfortunately that issue was the start* of my realization that Slott’s favorite character (and the one he probably always wanted to write for) wasn’t Spider-Man, it was Doctor Octopus.
* Actually, when I think about it, that may have started back in ASM #600
I do agree that after eight+ years, unmemorable mediocrity dominates. That’s a lot of issues to only produce one memorable single-story (Spider Island), a highly-hyped downer (Spider-Verse: fight, fail, flee, repeat), and a long stunt sustained by jobbing all the support characters (SSM) . I barely remember any of the BND or Big Time stories.
It’s just my instinct not to go with “It’s completely bad” or “It’s completely great”.
@Jack – Agree to disagree I guess. I think there are a lot of bad stored pre-Superior, it’s just there were some that were good or just average to offset the balance a bit.
@Hornacek: OK, I think we’re just emphasizing different sides. I’m responding to people who shout that he’s never done anything right EVER! The “He’s often been good!” group and the “He’s often been poor!” group both have valid stuff they can point at.
I’m thinking of the over-all. Mostly OK in the early years, with some good high points. Then followed by more recent, steady spiraling downward. Over-all, very inconsistent. But SSM ended with a dud, and everything after SSM has been a wet sandwich.
@Jack – If you ask me his low points far exceed his high points. Some very good (and yes, great) issues are overwhelmed by many average stories and a whole lot of below-average and just terrible issues. Even in the BND and Big Time eras I didn’t find his issues to be anything special. I guess in comparison to his post-Superior issues his earlier issues look better, but that’s literally damning with faint praise.
Also, Slott wrote one of the WORST Spider-Man issues ever, the one where Betty is attacked, and when trying to get Peter to go visit her at the hospital Aunt May tells him she was disappointed in him the night Uncle Ben died. Anyone who wrote *that* does not understand the characterization of Peter and Aunt May.
No, Dan Slott has not always been terrible. I think you’re looking only at recent output. The guy is now clearly out of gas, and his recent admission that he believes Peter Parker is emotionally 15 years old condemns his approach. That is fundamentally wrong-headed. However, in the past he has done certain things well. He has come up with the seeds of interesting ideas. In the past, his story-pacing was solid. Spider-Island, Spider-Verse, and SSM kept people’s attention. This is why CS reviewers (including George Berryman at times) sometimes gave him higher grades, sometimes even “A”s, and they were merited. But his chronic weaknesses (fizzled conclusions, too many obvious plot contrivances, characters acting unnaturally stupid in order to force plot elements to happen) have never improved. Now, under weak, indulgent editors, he has ground to a halt. But no, he wasn’t always this bad , and that past rep, no longer being earned, has kept him on the book.
@Crime Master – I’ve wanted someone new on the book for years, hopefully an established writer who has proven that they know the character. But the bar has been lowered so much that at this point I’d be happy with someone who has never written Spider-Man before. It would hard to be worse than what we’re getting now.
@Jack – I don’t think that counts for much when his approaches are so terrible, and his dialogue reads like something a ten year old would write. When he eventually leaves I’d like to see some new blood on the book, maybe someone with fresh ideas, AND actual talent.
@Adam S. – Thaaank you, that was grating on me! Nice memory!
@hornacek & Al – so maybe Venom and Ben-27 will stop and grab a beer on Peter’s couch in this story, for old time’s sake! lol
@Jack
Rrrriiiiiiight. And it’s doing wonders for the book.. oh wait. He’s the Vince Russo of comics. And have we confirmed that this wasn’t HIS idea?
It’s no wonder Dan Slott has such a grip on Spider-Man. He seems like the only guy Marvel has who comes anywhere close to thinking up new approaches to stories (CC turned out to be a wet sandwich, but you know what I mean). The Marvel PTB seem unable to create anything, but just keep re-picking off the bones of the past. Since, “in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king”, Slott becomes a rare resource.
My guess is that Marvel listened to the alternative Jeopardy podcast and heard my son’s idea for Carnage Swarm! What better to combat an evil Nazi skeleton covered in bees that are covered in the Carnage symbiote (with each bee having it’s own Carnage face) than the entire Marvel universe as Venom? I’m not sure five issues are going to be enough! Maybe we will have to have Venomverse Omega and Tales from Venomverse to fill in the gaps.
Why is it that Marvel seem so obsessed with recreating 90s Spider-Man stories recently? Don’t they know the general consensus is that they were awful? I suppose 90s nostalgia is all the rage these days.
@Al
Yes, I already said that my first instinct was that this sounded like Max. Clonage, but upon reflection it’s more like Planet of the Symbiotes.
@hornacek: You are quite mistaken.
This isn’t Maximum Carnage at all.
This is the THIRD time Marvel are doing Planet of the Symbiotes.
And how appropriate it is happening when Ben Reilly Returns
Is this the culmination of that whole Spawning plotline I remember getting brought up back during Remender’s run on Venom? It sort of got dropped though now I can’t remember if it got mentioned anywhere else.
@Big John: The one under Ghost Rider Venom is Poison from that one What If? issue from 10 years ago.
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/e/ef/Peter_Parker_(Earth-70134).jpg
I’m of the contingent that thinks of Venom only as the symbiote-Brock combination — so “Venomverse” seems like a misnomer. I guess that’s much better than Klyntarverse, which sounds more like Dirty Harry marathon.
@ItsMichaelReid
Oh man, Planet of the Symbiotes! That’s what I should have said in my previous comment instead of Max. Carnage, it’s so much more appropriate. “The readers love symbiotes? Lets give them all the symbiotes in the world! In the universe!”
This like a 12-year old’s wet dream. And I guess Marvel never heard of too much of a good thing. I haven’t seen these many symbiotes since “Planet of the Symbiotes”. I guess we needed to bring back ANOTHER bad 90s Spiderman event back from the dead like Clone Conspiracy wasn’t enough.
It’s early, and I’m only halfway through my first cup of coffee. That being the case, at a glance, for one brief instant, my brain saw that X-23 symbiote as Nick Spencer’s Beetle from Superior Foes.
I’ll pick this up as a stupid nostalgic distraction from Slott. Sure, it’ll probably be nonsensical garbage, but hey, that doesn’t mean it won’t still be better than the main Spidey book.
“Because you demanded another bloated crossover event with several tie-ins right in the middle of the storylines you are trying to follow on yout regular books! Plus, a spin-off series that will bring several new characters and dilute the brand even further!”
Huh… Meh, OK.
Looks like we’ve got Old Man Venom, Venom-23, Iron Venom, Venom-Pool, Ghost Venom, Gargan Venom (is that a Scorpion on his chest? The one under Ghost Rider?), She-Venom (is Anne Weying coming back TOO?! Cool!), Venom’s look from “The Madness” mini, and Ultimate Venom.
Not exactly what I would have asked for, but I’ll still check it out.
I think someone needs to explain to me the Iron Man-symbiote combination in the background. How does that work?
Marvel: Hey, you know what was great? Maximum Carnage! Why can’t we do something like that again?