Venom Review: Separation Anxiety, written by Howard Mackie
Recommended: Yes.
This one is weird, but I enjoyed it. I feel like I’m going to be saying that a lot about canon in this fandom.
I had high hopes for this story for two reasons - the title made it obvious it would deal with Eddie and Venom being apart, which is intrinsically interesting at this point, and I also knew that some of the Symbabies turned up.
Neither of these worked out quite how I envisioned. Separation Anxiety is a real angst-fest, which I was expecting, but it wasn’t angsty for the reasons I thought it would be.
Also, Eddie is an absolute tank in this. My god. In the movie Tom Hardy plays down how built he is, in preference for a schlubby look, which I liked. And even though Eddie was built in Lethal Protector, other things had more focus. But in Separation Anxiety? Wowser. It has never been more apparent that Venom is a goo, and that physique is actually all Eddie. He’s enormous and it’s real muscle tone, not just definition for show. It kind of changes the way I think about Eddie, and I’m still mulling that over.
Anyway, I recommend this, although it’s not as happy as Lethal Protector, so go in expecting a tragedy if you decide to read it.
MILD SPOILERS
So, the separation anxiety aspect was interesting, with Eddie alternating between missing Venom, and wondering if the relationship was healthy, and full of self-hate over the deeds they’ve done together in the past. This meant he was homicidal/suicidal for most of the story, and that was ironic given how things play out. I found that take on him interesting, but I do wish it had pushed just a bit deeper. It stays at a pretty superficial level, which I guess is comic-book normal, but left me feeling quite ambiguous. I wonder if that is what they were going for, and how a more mainstream reader than me would feel about it?
On the other hand, Venom was focused on getting back to Eddie. Venom really is totally obsessed with Eddie, even more so than in the movie. He has less character in the comics than in the movies. It’s obviously harder for comic!Venom to speak/think English, which was actually a plot point for the symbiotes in general in this. And again, I wish that whole aspect had been explored more deeply. These comics touch on some really great ideas, but mostly skim over the top of them. It’s a great jumping off point for fic, but I’m finding it leaves me not quite satisfied.
As for the Symbabies, they were less homicidal than I was expecting, which definitely made Eddie seem almost closer to villain territory than anti-hero in contrast. I wonder how someone already attached to this Eddie might read it differently - would they have more sympathy with him, or would they have more sympathy with the Symbabies? I really do hope the fanfic starts exploring the relationship between Eddie/Venom and the Symbabies more often, because there’s so much potential, and so much open space left by the comics so far.
What I liked most about this story is that it could so easily have been the origin for something like the Symbiotic Avengers, but because these characters are all framed from the start as anti-heroes, the ending is inevitably not so happy. It’s an interesting contrast to the more heroic narratives of comics like Spiderman, and I’m starting to see why Venom is so popular.
Reblogged from Tumblr here.
This entry was originally posted at https://cupidsbow.dreamwidth.org/432318.html.
This one is weird, but I enjoyed it. I feel like I’m going to be saying that a lot about canon in this fandom.
I had high hopes for this story for two reasons - the title made it obvious it would deal with Eddie and Venom being apart, which is intrinsically interesting at this point, and I also knew that some of the Symbabies turned up.
Neither of these worked out quite how I envisioned. Separation Anxiety is a real angst-fest, which I was expecting, but it wasn’t angsty for the reasons I thought it would be.
Also, Eddie is an absolute tank in this. My god. In the movie Tom Hardy plays down how built he is, in preference for a schlubby look, which I liked. And even though Eddie was built in Lethal Protector, other things had more focus. But in Separation Anxiety? Wowser. It has never been more apparent that Venom is a goo, and that physique is actually all Eddie. He’s enormous and it’s real muscle tone, not just definition for show. It kind of changes the way I think about Eddie, and I’m still mulling that over.
Anyway, I recommend this, although it’s not as happy as Lethal Protector, so go in expecting a tragedy if you decide to read it.
MILD SPOILERS
So, the separation anxiety aspect was interesting, with Eddie alternating between missing Venom, and wondering if the relationship was healthy, and full of self-hate over the deeds they’ve done together in the past. This meant he was homicidal/suicidal for most of the story, and that was ironic given how things play out. I found that take on him interesting, but I do wish it had pushed just a bit deeper. It stays at a pretty superficial level, which I guess is comic-book normal, but left me feeling quite ambiguous. I wonder if that is what they were going for, and how a more mainstream reader than me would feel about it?
On the other hand, Venom was focused on getting back to Eddie. Venom really is totally obsessed with Eddie, even more so than in the movie. He has less character in the comics than in the movies. It’s obviously harder for comic!Venom to speak/think English, which was actually a plot point for the symbiotes in general in this. And again, I wish that whole aspect had been explored more deeply. These comics touch on some really great ideas, but mostly skim over the top of them. It’s a great jumping off point for fic, but I’m finding it leaves me not quite satisfied.
As for the Symbabies, they were less homicidal than I was expecting, which definitely made Eddie seem almost closer to villain territory than anti-hero in contrast. I wonder how someone already attached to this Eddie might read it differently - would they have more sympathy with him, or would they have more sympathy with the Symbabies? I really do hope the fanfic starts exploring the relationship between Eddie/Venom and the Symbabies more often, because there’s so much potential, and so much open space left by the comics so far.
What I liked most about this story is that it could so easily have been the origin for something like the Symbiotic Avengers, but because these characters are all framed from the start as anti-heroes, the ending is inevitably not so happy. It’s an interesting contrast to the more heroic narratives of comics like Spiderman, and I’m starting to see why Venom is so popular.
Reblogged from Tumblr here.
This entry was originally posted at https://cupidsbow.dreamwidth.org/432318.html.