Cold Sober Comic Book Thoughts. N’uff Said.

  

                Comic books. I’ve always loved them. From the easy read to the shattering thought provoking, I’ve always been amazed at how beautiful the medium could be both visually and literarily. I’d be lying if I didn’t say super hero comics were my first touch with questions about philosophy morality about what is right and wrong (As Uncle Ben would always adage, “With great power, there must also come great responsibility”).

 

(Eventually Uncle ben would say it... in every flashback ever.)

So I like to keep reading them, which being a Spider-Man fan can be a roller coaster ride of false hope and pain for the last 20 years, but I trudge through. This is what brings me two things I’ve really enjoyed reading recently: Spider-Man Holiday Spectacular (SMHS going forward) and Venom: Black White and Red (VBWR). Both are examinations of these characters In small, isolated stories that really let the things I originally enjoyed about them shine through greatly.

 

In SMHS, we have Peter Parker in his adventures navigating through entire weeks of holiday parties and a running theme of being invited to others by half the Marvel Universe after Aunt May cancels on him, and the way it’s presented shows entirely how much he’s appreciated by his friends and colleagues, something that, as a reader, we tend to get sentences for in other stories, bringing up how “He’s the greatest of all of us,” type quotes but mostly met with either indifference or annoyance and hostility, especially in terms to his humor being grating to others.  Here we  get moments of real familial affection between him and the Fantastic Four , The Avengers, the best parts of the X-Men (Scott wasn’t involved at all thank god).

 

The horror of Johnny Storms mustache must be never forgotten.

The art reminds me of the classic styles and portraiture of decades past, showing dynamic and heroic posing instead of focusing on action, even in action shots, which I appreciate in a story like this. There’s also a lot of expressions on characters  I like to see in these downtime moments, even Logan get’s a huge grin here and there.

They're almost... TOO happy. 

Between the jokes, the jabs, and the heartfelt moments I really was happy to have read this, and I recommend it for anyone that loves super heroes. It’s not high stakes, action packed, or dramatic, but it does a great job of showing these demi gods as human.

Hey guys, remember Generation X? No one? Anyone?

NOW onto something far more violent in Venom: Black, White & Red, while still on going for the moment (up to #4 at the time of writing) the collection of stories within are such a fantastic examination of Eddie Brock and the Symbiote throughout all of their history: From Eddie’s delusion and narcissism of telling themselves they’re a true hero, while Spider-Man is the villain, while also eating people, the cold depravity of Lee Price, to making Mac Gargan reflect on the fact that he ate people while Venom, I was able to really get behind these not too over the top tellings of these characters.

Eddie might have a Messiah Complex, could be just me though.

The truth is a bitter pill to swallow Mac, but so was that one guys skull.

The art stands out too, especially sticking to the titular color scheme, adding a certain atmosphere to even the goofier aspects of the character. With some of my favorite Spider-Man/Venom artists and writers showing up (DeMatteis, Erik Larsen and Bagley especially, and Peach Momoko covers are always welcome), they were some of the best picks to tackle the erratic nature that is Venom in all their forms.

 

Felicia gonna Felicia.

What’s great here is this complicated nature is what I always loved about the character, the parallels to read against Peter Parker from upbringing to executions of adult behavior and justifications, Eddie truly does want to be good, to protect, to be the things he felt he was denied as a child, and how all of that affected his narcissistic delusions as an adult. The same can be said about the Symbiote, who wants to bond and protect its host, and be a force for good, despite all the damage done from its species and previous hosts who abused its abilities for pure violence. The two of them come together to deal with each other’s damage, they really do make a good couple.

 

A favorite moment reading issue #4 was the confrontation between Scorpion and Venom, with Mac trying to reclaim the Symbiote, because he wanted the power it gave him, with the Symbiote going ahead to show Mac what he may have forgotten, the MONSTEROUS Inhuman aspects that came with the broken, damaged creature, like the people eating, and how Eddie was willing to accept these aspects because they’re broken monsters together.

 

Overall, I’m going to keep up with this, and hope there’s a paperback when the run is finished.

N’uff said about this, leave me and my longboxes be.