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Title: Batman: Venom by Dennis O'Neil, Trevor Von Eeden, Russell Braun, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Willie Schubert, Steve Oliff, Bob Kahan ISBN: 1-56389-101-8 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: October, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.43 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Happy Pills
Comment: The Batman has taken on many foes during his long fight against crime. The 5 part story called Venom, is a rare instance, where are hero's enemy this time, is himself. Written by Dennis O'Neil, the story originally appeared in the title, Legends Of The Dark Knight. The title tells stories about Batman's early days as Gotham City's champion and O'Neil's story ranks as one of the best of the series.
After Batman's physical strength fails him, and a child dies, he vows never to let that happen again. He decides to augment his body chemistry by taking a super drug. He gets more than he bargained for, as he succumbs to a deadly addiction, that threatens his life. The reason this story works in the pages of Batman, is the fact that, his greatest asset has always been his intellegence. That intellect fails him. To see the character stumble is shocking. Of all the DC heroes, Batman is just a regular guy, with no real super powers-and that makes Venom more "realistic".
Comic book great Trevor Von Eeden lends a helping hand here (I loved his work on Green Arrow). The art by Russell Braun and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez is very good. The art is well defined and the use of earthy colors give the graphic novel a 30's style. Everything is as it should be. Despite the "modern" storyline, the art gives the book an old-time look.
The book includes an introduction by O'Neil and cover reproductions of each installment. The book has 136 pages and Venom is recommended for anyone who likes the Batman.
Rating: 5
Summary: NICE PRELUDE TO KNIGHTFALL
Comment: This series is the best story arc that I have read from thethe Legends of the Dark Knight series. It also introduces the venom drug, which Bane would later use in his successful attempt to break the Batman.
But this is a good story in itself. In it Batman becomes adicted to the same drug and struggles to overcome the addiction.
Dennis O'Neil proves he is still one of the greatest writers ever to work on Batman and the artwork is also great.
Rating: 4
Summary: 'Venom' Changed Me Forever
Comment: Back when I was around five or six my dad brought home a copy of Venom: Part 3, a free sample he recieved from a printing company. Venom stands out for me in many ways: It was one of the first three comic books I ever owned, the other two being Spider-Man. It introduced me to Batman, and I later traded in my Spider-Man comics for other Batman issues. It also included the most brutal, violent, death I had ever witnessed, and even today I still skip that page when I come to it. But reading 'Venom' changed me. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was mental scarring, but it was pretty dramatic nonetheless.
Unfortunately, as things turned out, I never got a chance to read the other parts of 'Venom' until well over a decade later. Dad may have given me my first comic, but he and mom weren't too keen on me constantly spending money on comic books. It wasn't until I had my own source of pocket money that I picked up the trade paperback.
As much as I want to give Venom five stars out of sentimental value, the story does have a few holes which bump it down a notch. The first two parts of the story are the best; Batman fails to save the life of a little girl, and his failure haunts him so badly that he decides to take strengh-enhancing pills to find the killers and bring them down. By part two, the pills have turned Batman into an amoral monster, which creates friction between him and Alfred. Part three marks Batman's attempt to cleanse himself, but besides the violent death I mentioned earlier, this part is merely transitional. The same goes for the fourth part, which finds Batman and Alfred tracking a rogue general and the creator of the pills to a small island called Santa Prisca. Part five fares much better, as Batman is put in a life or death trap, and must resist the temptation to use the pills during his escape. The artwork was standard fare for the 'Legends of the Dark Knight' series, but that book always had better artwork than the basic Batman titles, so there's no complaint here.
'Venom' might not be on par with other trade paperbacks such as "The Killing Joke" and "Dark Knight Returns", but as a general rule, any Batman trade paperback is worth reading. Batman is one of the most human of all superheroes, but constantly tries to overcome his own flaws, which is what this story is about. Recommended read, just don't show part 3 to young, impressionable children!
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Title: Batman: Hush Vol. 2 by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, Scott Williams ISBN: 1401200842 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Batman: Gothic by DC Comics ISBN: 1563890283 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 July, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison ISBN: 0930289560 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore ISBN: 0930289455 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 December, 1995 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Batman: Strange Apparitions by Steve Englehart ISBN: 1563895005 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 December, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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