Every Wednesday we take turns to delve into our trusty longboxes, pluck out a dusty back issue at random, and give you our thoughts. We’ll also try and place it in the context of the time it was originally published. 

Oh, now this is a good one. Back in the mid-90s, when comics were comics and Marvel were financially (and, some might say, creatively) bankrupt, this was the sort of diamond in the rough that reminded people why they gave comics a chance at all. Good characterisation, consistant premise, fairly high quality work from all involved.

Of course, at age 14, all I knew was that this was the comic where Venom finally makes good on his promise to eat people’s brains, and was therefore definitely worth a look.

Between 1993 and 1997, Venom essentially had his own regular series, though it was told in back-to-back minis. They were largely set during the period where Brock had become a Punisher-esque anti-hero, calling himself the “lethal protector” and pledged not to harm innocents. In return, he and Spidey negotiated a truce. It was admittedly a fairly dodgy take on a character who works best as an outright villain, but luckily this series largely ignores it. Not that it contradicts it, of course, but the story isn’t so much about Venom taking down a villain as it is about Brock attempting to recapture the symbiote.

Here’s the scene: Venom/Brock is sick. He’s not sleeping, he’s hallucinating, and he finds himself craving… something. In his agitated state, a routine bar-fight with some criminals ends badly when he finds himself taking his threat to eat his enemies’ brains to its natural conclusion. Horrified at what the symbiote has driven him to, he gets angry and the two argue. At the climax of the first issue, Brock’s symbiote deserts him and slithers off in search of more brains.

In subsequent issues, it’s revealed that the symbiote is eating brains because it’s suffering from a deficiency of the neurotransmitter phenethylamine that Brock’s brain no longer contains enough. The series villain, Dr. Paine captures Brock and uses him to track the symbiote, which is out there killing people. Brock escapes and finds the symbiote, at which point Paine captures it. Eventually they defeat Paine together, and Brock discovers that phenethylamine is found in chocolate, which he ensures to feed himself. Venom, for now, is re-united.

It sounds fairly cheesy, I admit, but there’s a certain B-Movie charm to it all that the book embraces (”Oh God! He’s eating Frankie’s BRAINS!”)  without letting it go anywhere near parody. Paine is a genuinely creepy villain, a nazi-esque mad scientist with razor sharp metal hands, and his eventual fate is - excuse the pun - delicious. The writing is by Len Kaminski, and the art from Ted Halsted is nice and moody, if slightly dated visually - not largely so, but it’s certainly noticeable that Brock appears to be going through his “Bon Jovi” phase.

Is it essential? Well, probably not - but it’s an enjoyable Venom story that makes the most of the material and character. If solo Venom is what you’re after, I’d hesitate to recommend any other comic.