Venom - Cartoon, Movie Or Comic?

[Stu]

Hey,

With Spider-Man 3 on DVD (DVD talkback), why don't we dig up our favorite symbiote? Venom has been met with mixed reactions since his origin - many believe him to be Spider-Man's best villain, while others believe he is a stain on the underpants of the comic book world.

His translation to other mediums have met similar results - many believe the excellent Alien Costume storyline in Spider-Man: The Animated Series took a nosedive as soon as Eddie Brock bonded with the symbiote and many felt his rather shoe horned appearance in Spider-Man 3 not only resulted in a rushed ending, but hindered Raimi's original intentions for the movie.

So which one did the best job with Venom overall? Comic, movie or cartoon?

Image courtesy of Marvel Animation Age​

 

[sleepydumbdude]

I liked the Animated Series one the best, followed by the comic one. I hate the movie one.

 

[Mad Mod 49]

I may be in the minority, but I liked the movie's Venom. Yeah he wasn't much of a character on his own, but the movie's focus was all on Peter, so what better way to end it than fight the darkness in him represented by the symbiote attached to his "evil twin" Eddie Brock?

It's better than the comics at least. He was great to begin with there, but after he became a hero, he went downhill IMO.

 

[Pepperidge]

Well, the 90s animated series had the best overall interpretation of Venom by far. Or at least in terms of his origin story. However, I personally think that Spider-Man 3 had the best interpretation of Eddie Brock out of any medium.

 

[Harlan_Phoenix]

I may be in the minority, but I liked the movie's Venom. Yeah he wasn't much of a character on his own, but the movie's focus was all on Peter, so what better way to end it than fight the darkness in him represented by the symbiote attached to his "evil twin" Eddie Brock?

It's better than the comics at least. He was great to begin with there, but after he became a hero, he went downhill IMO.

I actually agree with you. Movie Venom is the only Venom I like, and you mostly summed up my reasons why.

 

[Ducard]

^ Also my opinion. Movie Venom was downright fun and I enjoyed how they went with the Evil Twin route. I also enjoyed how it sort of solidified this film as a third act in a trilogy. The way Venom was used to show a 'twisted mirror' of the first Goblin's death scene was one of the highlights for me.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

Venom sucks. And I will tell you why. He's just a lame "dark Spider-Man," and a "dark" version of a character is one of the least original ideas in comics. And because he was popular and "kewl" the comic writers slowly tried to introduce ideas to give him a code of honor and make him the type of dark, violent anti-hero that was so prevalent in bad comics at the time. But all we got was a whiny, babbling baby who spouted childish concerns about innocence and tried to be a "lethal protector" while at the same time popping innocent security guards heads like grapes.

But even so, he sucked least in comics, because the cartoon watered him down and he looked ugly and was misused as some sort of planning-type villain in the movie. Actually, he sucks least in video games, because at least there's none of his horrible story and little of his personality there, and he is cool to look at. I'ver heard he may also be more tolerable in the Ultimate universe, but I haven't read those stories.

 

[Harlan_Phoenix]

Venom sucks. And I will tell you why. He's just a lame "dark Spider-Man," and a "dark" version of a character is one of the least original ideas in comics. And because he was popular and "kewl" the comic writers slowly tried to introduce ideas to give him a code of honor and make him the type of dark, violent anti-hero that was so prevalent in bad comics at the time. But all we got was a whiny, babbling baby who spouted childish concerns about innocence and tried to be a "lethal protector" while at the same time popping innocent security guards heads like grapes.

But even so, he sucked least in comics, because the cartoon watered him down and he looked ugly and was misused as some sort of planning-type villain in the movie. Actually, he sucks least in video games, because at least there's none of his horrible story and little of his personality there, and he is cool to look at. I'ver heard he may also be more tolerable in the Ultimate universe, but I haven't read those stories.

See, I actually like the "dark foil/doppelganger" esque type of characters. I don't mind them, but despite THAT I still hated Venom. There's just something about him that I don't like.

It's not necessarily his design, because I'm fond McFarlane's style (and a lover of Spawn). I think that, maybe, I just don't like Venom because he...exists. I like the doppelganger/foils, but he just seems like a poorly cobbled together one. He's too beefy, monster-like, and "90's" to be a proper Spider-Man foil.

But that's why I loved the movie version. Spider-Man and Venom were equal in body type, and Venom spoke as Eddie Brock more than Venom. It just clicked right. I wouldn't wanna see him again, but I enjoyed the version Raimi presented us with.

 

[The New Titans]

I have to say all three are good, as they are all different interpretations of the character. However, I think the SM3 was definately underated in my opinion. They actually did good with his character, and his appearance didn't feel shoehorned to me.

 

[Hypestyle]

Venom sucks. And I will tell you why. He's just a lame "dark Spider-Man," and a "dark" version of a character is one of the least original ideas in comics. And because he was popular and "kewl" the comic writers slowly tried to introduce ideas to give him a code of honor and make him the type of dark, violent anti-hero that was so prevalent in bad comics at the time. But all we got was a whiny, babbling baby who spouted childish concerns about innocence and tried to be a "lethal protector" while at the same time popping innocent security guards heads like grapes.

But even so, he sucked least in comics, because the cartoon watered him down and he looked ugly and was misused as some sort of planning-type villain in the movie. Actually, he sucks least in video games, because at least there's none of his horrible story and little of his personality there, and he is cool to look at. I'ver heard he may also be more tolerable in the Ultimate universe, but I haven't read those stories.

heh-heh.. I think that with Venom a little goes a long way. As long as the writers/editors remembered to keep the moral boundaries clear (i.e., Spidey= hero, Venom=villain), I enjoyed those early comics appearances. as the 90's gave way to the "Lethal Protector" format and the rise of Carnage, IMO those lines became more blurred, and thus, for me, Venom became less satisfying; it became infuriating to me that most comics stories with Spidey/Venom were handled so that Spidey never had a clear-cut victory, he just seemed to "survive", usually as a result of some 11th-hour trick or interruption..
..inasmuch as the 90's 'toon had the 'sympathetic' Venom, I didn't care for it, but they did do a good job of introducing Brock and tweaking the symbiote's origins from Secret Wars..
The movie version had good qualities, but I would have preferred that Venom didn't die.. and the way he just "happened" to be spotted by Sandman was, well, even for a comic-book movie, too pat for me..

 

[Kury Wagner]

Venom sucks. And I will tell you why. He's just a lame "dark Spider-Man," and a "dark" version of a character is one of the least original ideas in comics. And because he was popular and "kewl" the comic writers slowly tried to introduce ideas to give him a code of honor and make him the type of dark, violent anti-hero that was so prevalent in bad comics at the time. But all we got was a whiny, babbling baby who spouted childish concerns about innocence and tried to be a "lethal protector" while at the same time popping innocent security guards heads like grapes.

But even so, he sucked least in comics, because the cartoon watered him down and he looked ugly and was misused as some sort of planning-type villain in the movie. Actually, he sucks least in video games, because at least there's none of his horrible story and little of his personality there, and he is cool to look at. I'ver heard he may also be more tolerable in the Ultimate universe, but I haven't read those stories.

It always scares me when I agree with you. =P

But yes, I agree that Venom is fairly lame. There have been some good issues with Venom, but he's mostly a waste of a character. However, yeah, he did suck least in the comic books. Can't remember him being too badass elsewhere. Not that he really was in the comics, most times. ><

 

[KYO'NYUU IMOUTO]

Movie.

Definantly loved how he was used as such a creep and it was fun comparing him to Dark Peter, it was the same exact personality, or at least darn close.

Too bad his presence cut down on Sandman.

 

[Batman]

1. The 90's animated series (The Alien Costume )

2. Spider-Man 3 movie

3. Classic Comic book origin

 

[MattThomasM2B]

Everything is better than the movie. The cartoon, 616 and Ultimate all allowed decent plotting and pacing for Venom's story; the movie just rushed him in (just so he can die like a punk, even the movie's GAME had a better death) because fans wanted him over a good trilogy ending movie.

Venom could've made an awesome Spider-man 4; as is he's the lead weight that pulls down Spidey 3.

 

[Spider-Man]

While I think the Ultimate comics have handled Venom's origin the best (not his character) I really think the 1990's Animated series is hands above better than the mainstream comics and even the movie. All of them are good, even the movie, but the cartoon had a charm about about it becuase it stripped away all the bad aspects of the comic origin, simplified it, and gave us a nice villain in Venom.

 

[Spider-Friends]

Such a mess of a character:

I like the 90's animated series origin of the symbiote the best. (John Jameson bringing it back via space shuttle AND the space shuttle crash. It gives A REASON for the symbiote and Spidey to be in the same place.)

I like the movie's look of Venom the best. The veiny webs were a really cool addition.

From the comic, I like Paul Jenkin's reasoning for Eddie's hatred of Spidey the best.

Spoiler

Because the symbiote wanted Spidey instead of Eddie while Eddie needs the symbiote to survive his cancer.

 

[Spider-Man]

It seems like regardless of the venue, Venom hasn't been portrayed perfectly anywhere. Whether it the origin in the comics, how his story ended in the cartoons, or how he got the shaft in Spider-Man 3, he has yet to get that perfect portrayal that many characters have received. But this is all based on our opinions and we all have our different one of course. If I had to choose between the cartoon and the movie for my favorite portrayal of the character outside of the comics I guess I'd have to go with the movie. Sure Venom didn't say "we" but I can overlook that based on the great visuals we got of the character.

 

[RedKnight]

Right off the bat, let me say that I enjoy all 3 versions of the character. IMO, each has his own strengths and weaknesses. I guess it just depends which weaknesses matter least to you.

616 Venom is, of course, the original, and I will never forget him. I usually dig the heroes' "evil twins" anyway, and Venom went above and beyond the call of duty in that department. He wasn't just as strong as Spidey; -- he was stronger, and it showed! Say about Venom what you will, but you have to admit that his first few appearances never failed to excite. Yes, things went down when he became the Lethal Protector, but even that idea had potential, IMHO. It was just handled badly. Unfortunately, 616 Venom has been shot straight to h*ll over the last few years, but I always remember his glory days as Spidey's most deadly foe.

Cartoon Venom is probably the best overall representation of the character. He's still beefy, he's still Comic Book Brock under the suit, but all the Lethal Protector stuff got cut out. I loved the look, too. Very true to the comics, without looking out-of-place among the re-vamped cartoon designs. I just feel that he ended up being too insignificant beyond his initial appearance.

Movie Venom was great, too. He was an evil twin of the truest sort, and the thrill of finally seeing Venom on the big screen was incredible. The only problem I have is that this Venom often seemed more like Carnage to me, both in appearance and personality.

 

[Wolf Boy2]

The movie version had good qualities, but I would have preferred that Venom didn't die.. and the way he just "happened" to be spotted by Sandman was, well, even for a comic-book movie, too pat for me..

Venom said that he was looking for Sandman. They didn't just encounter each other by accident.

Venom might have been rushed and mishandled, but it was the portrayal of MJ that irked me, not the portrayal of Venom. I hate Sandman, and I think his powers are stupid. I can handle genetically altered guys like Green Goblin or Captain America who are simply pushed to the ultimate extreme of human potential, or mutated guys like Spider-Man with the microscopic hairs in his hands and feet which allow him to climb walls. But turning one's ENTIRE BODY into sand, even being scattered and able to reform?! WHAT THE DEVIL IS THAT?!??!?!

I guess Batman TAS villians like Clayface and Inque were just as bad. But at least Clayface wasn't made up of individual GRAINS OF SAND, and Clayface was often falling apart and in danger of dying. Inque was created in a science-fiction future, where the rules are different. But a nuclear experiment turning a normal man into Sandman? LAME.

 

[kid rabbit]

comic venom. he's more of a threat espeacally with the venom virus storyline coming up. The movie versen was the best looking (it creeped me out watching venom talk)