Reviews

Batman: Venom by Denny O'Neil

soloshemp's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

mumim's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

fandom4ever's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Batman: Venom was published in 1991. It’s the first appearance of the drug Venom, but here it’s in pill form. I never knew that this was the precursor to Knightfall! But it absolutely is; the later issues have much of the set-up leading into that story. The story premise is an interesting one: Batman fails to save a child, realizing for the first time that he is only human, and seeks to become more, turning to a new drug called Venom. 

The second issue jumps forward three months and we find that Bruce has been taking Venom every day, and multiple pills if the art is any indication. His personality has begun to change but according to him, nothing is wrong. Bruce is a very obsessive man, so it makes absolute sense that he would hold himself 100% accountable for the young girl’s death and be distraught enough to seek an easy solution. Also, his need to always be in control would convince him that he has the pills handled and his life is not spiraling out of control, just like a drug addict. 

This was a great story. I really liked the way this story brought Bruce down low before he finally realizes the negative effects of what he’s been doing. When he decides to stop using Venom he has to fight to overcome that addiction with all that entails; for later on we get to see that he won’t ever truly be cured. One false move and he could fall into that trap all over again. It’s a conscious effort every day to overcome those shortcomings and improve his life. It was a very humanizing story for Batman.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

crookedtreehouse's review against another edition

2.0

A few years ago, I made a chronology for how to read modern Batman. I was focused quite a bit on creating the order, as opposed to just reading the books for enjoyment, so now I'm going back to see how the chronology holds up.

Apart from agreeing with my thesis that "If Nancy Reagan was as devout a Batman reader as Barack Obama is a Spider-Man fan, her favorite collection would probably be Venom.", I just can't find myself in agreement with the rest of my original review.

I've pulled it off of my continuity list. It's badly written, and presents a Bruce Wayne/Batman that's incredibly out-of-sync with every good Batman book out there. It makes sense that, once hooked on drugs, he'd behave differently, but his reasons for taking the drugs in the first place are so fr out of character for him as to make the whole premise nonsensical.

[a:Trevor Von Eeden|61961|Trevor Von Eeden|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Russel Braun|8329533|Russel Braun|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s art is fine, but hardly inspirational.

I recommend it for people who find 1980s & 1990s After-School Specials to be the height of subtlety, and people who always hoped for an Elseworld tale where Bruce Wayne was an incompetent drug addict.

gothicteletubby's review against another edition

3.5

Pretty good. Definitely recommend reading this to further understand Knightfall. Seeing Bruce slowly have his will break leading into Knightfall is so well thought out and written, this comic being just another piece of that domino effect. Not groundbreaking but super interesting look into Bruce's psyche 

dozmuttz's review against another edition

2.0

This is another addition to the 'Legends of the Dark Knight' story arcs, which for me haven't been all that. And this volume definitely didn't help the series case. By far this story is the worst one of what I like to call the 'Bat-novellas', and in this one we get a first look into the drug 'venom' before our favorite luchador themed baddie 'Bane' is introduced. The story takes place earlier in Batman's crime-fighting days and after failing to save a child due to his lack of super-strength, he is haunted by the event so much he becomes a junkie of the this magic pill; giving him more strength but also in a way driving him mad. The story was very silly and in some cases just upright dumb/ridiculous. It's written by Denny O'Neil and it's a shame because O'Neil is normally a phenomenal writer! However in these issues everything from the dialogue to the pacing just feels sloppy and under performing from O'Neil. Similar to other stories in this series, the idea is there but with faulty execution. In this story however the flop is a lot louder than others. I'm on the border of giving the story a 1 star but there were aspects of the story that will play a bigger role later as well as the artwork from Russell Braun was quite enjoyable. He's partnered with the legendary Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez on the inks so that's a nice piece to look into. But besides that, this story arc can be avoided. Unless you want to see Batman as a doped up roid-head for half the story and him being taken advantage by some lame ass bad-guys, if that's for you go ahead.

erin_a_ziraphale's review

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

pug_reader's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious relaxing tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

barsie's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

airypaola's review against another edition

4.0

Tras el éxito de las películas dirigidas por Tim Burton en 1989, los cómics del Caballero de la Noche dieron un giro esperando mostrarnos la humanidad detrás de la máscara, y Batman: Venom es un ejemplo perfecto de dicha condición humana.

Después de un trágico episodio en la vida de Bruce en el que no logra rescatar la vida de una niña pequeña llamada Sissy de morir ahogada, nuestro héroe comienza a ingerir el súper esteroide Venom, para superar sus limitaciones humanas y evitar que algo como esto vuelva a ocurrir. No suena como algo negativo, hasta que la necesidad por la droga es mas fuerte que su voluntad y hasta su propia moralidad se ve deformada por su adicción.

Dato Curioso: Posteriormente en Batman: Knightfall, Venom vuelve a atormentar a Bruce por medio de Bane, el cual obtiene de ahí su descomunal fuerza, al momento de luchar contra Batman y romperle la columna.

Lo que vuelve esta historia tan fuerte es precisamente la debilidad de nuestro héroe, mostrando el lado oscuro de las adicciones y como ni siquiera él pudo soportarlo. Una historia que los fans deben leer por cultura general si desean conocer más del emblemático superheroe.

4/5 estrellas