Spider-view: "Spirits of Venom" (Venom, Part 6)
This next chapter in the ongoing Venom saga allows Howard Mackie to nicely synthesize some ongoing plots
—by Nathan on September 13, 2024—
For this post, we are temporarily distancing ourselves from the pernicious predicament of Peter Parker's parents and returning to an old "friend" of Peter's: former journalist Eddie Brock, bonded with the alien symbiote from the Beyonder's Battleworld to become Venom. Pete and Eddie have fought several times so far, and it seems that no matter how well you try to keep confining this symbiote-suited supervillain, he always manages to return. Last time we saw Venom, Peter retrieved his alien-adorned adversary from an abandoned island where he'd, well, abandoned Eddie to instigate a little father-son bonding time between Venom and Carnage.
At the end of that story, Spidey "betrayed" Venom, temporarily nullifying the symbiote so he could be shuttled back to prison. In my last "Spider-view" post, Venom escaped incarceration…but confusingly, we're discussing two different imprisonments. Thanks to the nature of this blog, I post full arcs of narratives, regardless of however many months a "full arc" may run. So while the "Invasion of the Spider-Slayers" narrative I reviewed began in November 1992, it ended in January 1993, with a little back-up story featuring Venom's harrowing prison break.
"Spirits of Venom," which we're reviewing today, began in December 1992, prior to that escape. In the Web of Spider-Man issue preceding "Spirits," Venom was unwittingly freed from a transport vehicle during a transfer…and that incarceration aligns with his capture at the end of the "Carnage" arc. So, to recap the sequence, with a dash of spoilers:
*Amazing Spider-Man #363 (June 1992): Venom and Carnage are both incarcerated
*Web of Spider-Man #94 (November 1992): Venom is inadvertently freed
*Spirits of Vengeance #6 (January 1993): Venom is (spoilers!) captured again
*Amazing Spider-Man #373 (January 1993): Venom escapes again
I'm doing this for myself as much as I am for you, just so we can keep the story straight and watch how Venom winds his way through these stories. Apologies for the minor "Spirits of Venom" spoiler: Brock is behind bars again as this tale concludes. But how we get there…well, we'll see if that's a story worth following.
"Spirits of Venom"
Writer: Howard Mackie
Pencilers: Alex Saviuk, Adam Kubert, Joe Rubinsein, Dan Panosian
Inkers: Joe Rubinstein, Bill Reinhold, Dan Panosian
Colorists: Bob Sharen, Gregory Wright, Renee Witterstaetter
Letterers: Dave Sharpe, Michael Heisler, Steve Dutro
Issues: Web of Spider-Man #95-96, Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #5-6
Publication Dates: December 1992-January 1993
On the surface, this story is pretty par for the course: Spidey teams up with a handful of other heroes to stop some shadow monsters from resurrecting a dead bad guy; these heroes (some of whom are more like "heroes") find themselves at each other's throats as often as they are at the villains'; the good guys save the day and incarcerate the bad guys by the end. It's all pretty standard and runs fairly smooth across these four issues.
What makes this Howard Mackie-scripted story more entertaining than it deserves to be is how seamlessly he draws in other facets of Spidey lore, with a few references to the wider Marvel Universe. The primary reason I reviewed a Rise of the Midnight Sons volume a few posts prior to this review was to provide context: Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze (who are, yes, two separate entities during this period) have just stopped the malicious machinations of Lillith, the Mother of Demons, and spent the Spirits of Vengeance issue preceding this story transitioning from the greater "Rise of the Midnight Sons" story to "Spirits of Venom." They uncover some bad guys kidnapping homeless people and dragging them into the sewers–why is this a trend in 90s Marvel Comics?–deliberately leading into this four-parter.
That's all fine and good–I don't necessarily mind when Spidey finds himself embroiled in the happenings of other heroes' books, just so long as I have the proper context for whatever the heck is going on. Yet it's in the Web of Spider-Man issues where Mackie really excels, pulling all kinds of seemingly disparate threads into a story that…surprisingly works?
The Hobgoblin takes center stage as Spidey tries maneuvering away from some monstrous pursuers. At this point, the man behind the orange mask is Jason Macendale, recently separated from the "Demogoblin" entity he was bonded to during the X-Men-centric "Inferno" event; the Demogoblin can't seem to let him go, however, and with Spidey's disturbed doppelganger, uh, Doppelganger from Infinity War in tow, pursues them into a church and eventually the sewers once Ghost Rider. Blaze, and Venom show up.
"Spirits" is a synthesis of these previously planted story beats–the Macendale/Demogoblin conflict makes for an interesting narrative beat, as "Demo" is now just a hostless demon seeking to remove the satanic taint of Macendale from the Earth. Doppelganger's post-Infinity War return makes for a fun continuation of Starlin's series and allows for at least one development from that narrative to maintain an ongoing impact, shifting the status quo ever so slightly.
Mackie plays well with Venom, his rage at seeing the suffering of innocent homeless people clashing with his eternal hatred for Spider-Man. Brock is portrayed as torn, and rightfully so. The character has always believed in his own form of justice and sees himself as much a victim as these poor people he and the others are rescuing. It doesn't matter that he and Spidey are fighting for the same goal–he tried that before with Carnage, and he just got slapped into prison again! His trust of Spidey is broken, and he's in full "eat Spider-Man's brains!" mode.
Ghost Rider, though inherently demonic, is a surprisingly heroic force, even defending Spidey against Venom's revenge-driven urges. A spirit of vengeance himself, Ghost Rider seemingly cannot abide the violence and death Venom wishes upon Spidey–there seems to be, in his mind, no justification, and he does not visualize Venom the same way Eddie Brock sees himself. Mackie wisely avoids most of the Christian-influenced lingo a writer like Todd McFarlane peppered "Masques" with, the last time Ghost Rider and the Demogoblin came into contact; additionally, Michelinie makes a pretty neat connection: Demogoblin reacts upon seeing Ghost Rider, recognizing the demon Zarathos for what he is, a reference McFarlane never made. Mackie logically latches onto this, using it to fuel Demogoblin's rage against the demon.
Though we're still in a transitory phase with Venom, positioned between the "villain" and "anti-hero" stages of his career, and though Mackie understands the roots of Venom and Eddie's wounds, he does little to make Venom anything other than a villain–a hero in his own mind, yes, but a foul felon so rank even a demon keeps him in check. Mackie's Venom is unlikable through and through, laser-focused on the destruction of Spider-Man with a religious fanaticism the Rider might otherwise appreciate if it weren't so destructive in nature.
Mackie's plot flows rather nicely as well, with tense moments building off each other as our assembled heroes and villains duke it out beneath the streets of New York. Smaller skirmishes dovetail with larger fights which themselves break off into additional smaller skirmishes, with scenes dedicated to a blending of superhuman action and small character moments. Characters are paired and set against each philosophically, even as they strive for similar goals. A priest thrown into the conflict serves as an ever-moving target for our villains, an object of saving for our heroes, and though he never really applies any deep thought to the proceedings, at least provides a human face to the conflict. Imagine you were a Catholic priest kidnapped by demons and dragged into the sewers through a hole in the basement of your church–you'd probably react pretty strongly too.
"Spirits of Venom" nicely caps off a couple of threads, ending with our villains vanquished and righteousness restored. Peace wouldn't last for long, of course, as we already know Venom busts out shortly after this narrative wraps. He'll feature in quite a few stories I plan to review down the line as he methodically makes the difficult switch from out-and-out villain to somewhat sympathetic vigilante. For now, he's still swimming in supervillain seas. Again, a demon has to keep him at bay a couple of times. That seems to be a pretty good indication Eddie's fueled by a poison ravaging his heart. I guess a Spirit of Vengeance should be able to judge when somebody has revenge in their soul.