ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #123 ADVANCE REVIEW

[Blake Petit]

Review by: Blake M. Petit Blake@comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Good
Rating: A

Whatever happened to Venom?

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Stuart Immonen
Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colors: Justin Ponsor
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: Bill Rosemann
Cover Art: Stuart Immonen & Richard Isanove
Publisher: Marvel Comics

It’s been a while since we saw ol’ Eddie Brock, so this issue we play a little catch up. Eddie does his best Forrest Gump impression, sitting on a park bench and telling his story, beginning with his origin and leading up to what he’s been doing since we saw him last.

This issue is half-recap and half-fill-in-the-blank. If you didn’t read the book back when Venom last appeared, this fills you in on what he missed. If you did read it, the stuff afterwards – where he’s been since then – isn’t really that interesting, but it doesn’t feel wasted either. The main cast doesn’t really advance here at all, but there’s nothing wrong with the occasional villain-centric issue.

Stuart Immonen’s artwork is always great, and it’s still great here. I’m actually impressed at how he and Von Grawbadger (who he’s often worked with before) have managed to change their style for this book. It doesn’t look like the word he did with Legion of Super-Heroes or Adventures of Superman, but it’s still very strong and it fits this title.

The book has been better, but this isn’t a bad issue. It just doesn’t quite go anywhere in the end.

Rating:


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[Phantomrenegade]

How long will this "War of the symbiotes" arc be?

[gregorv]

loved it...they're finally picking up on the game (which I adore btw) storylines...

also, random question completely unrelated to this issue, is there Ultimate Hydra?(only Ultimate book I read is this and some minis once in a while)