In a mind-boggling turn of events, Hasbro’s recent efforts managed to produce almost every version of both Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote before getting to the original combo. They really made us wait for this one, but the original aftereffect of Spider-Man’s naive desire for a new suit on a Battleworld far far away has finally made it.
Venom is the granddaddy of all the psychotic-symbiote mania that grabbed comics through the ’90s. Proving very popular to the target audience, Venom returned again and again to plague poor Peter Parker, who was hated both by host and symbiote alike. When Venom’s popularity had reached critical mass yet another symbiote was created, the love-him-or-hate-him Carnage. Afterwards, symbiotes began growing on trees, to the point where an entire planet of them showed up, and that height of popularity would lessen to overexposure.
As diluted as the concept eventually became, Venom’s shadow looms large, and the symbiote portion of the pair continues along his his black and white destiny.
It was fairly obvious that Venom would show up on the Sabretooth version of the Hyperion-sized body. Once Toxin and Anti-Toxin showed up, it was only a matter of time before Venom’s debut. It took a while, but he has arrived.
Venom has been portrayed in a number of different ways, from sleek to insanely detailed and monstrous. Previous versions from ToyBiz and Marvel Select have been a lot veinier and detailed, but those of us who wanted a subtler, sleeker and less overblown version were forced to wait. This is the Venom I’ve been waiting for. This body has taken some criticism for the very prominent chest-shelf, but while I see where the complaints are coming from, my primary desire from a figure is its playability, and I’ve never found this body to be anything but fun to play around with. Eddie Brock was ‘roid rage in a symbiote suit, and the powerful, overly muscled physique of this body perfectly captures that early McFarlane quality of his initial appearances.
He comes with the newer non-heeled feet so it doesn’t look like Venom is wearing boots.
The paint is very minimal as it’s mostly black with some white, but it’s clean.
One of the more obvious alterations to the Venom symbiote was the depiction of his mouth. Initial appearances showed him with a demonic Joker-esque grin, but later a big slobbery tongue started making an appearances, heavy on the drool. I didn’t mind the tongue when it first started showing up, but, unfortunately, it seemed like once the tongue and the drool showed up it was impossible to get rid of it, and Venom very quickly became more tongue than man.
The drool took on such ponderous quantities that he should have left large green puddles in his wake. Fortunately this figure provides you with the option of going with his earlier appearance or a giant-tongue version that is a little bit more reserved in tongue. I’m pretty fond of both since the tongue and drool is a bit more restrained, but the grinning head is still going to be my default look for him because I find it much more sinister and threatening.
Venom also comes with two pairs of hands: fists and clawed hands. Again, this is something that is appreciated as it adds to all the various options for posing him or playing with him.
It took a lot of time and a lot of symbiotes, but for anybody that wanted a good, solid, traditional Venom, this one is it. Now it’s time to get an updated black-suit Spidey on that new spider-body.
The Absorbing Man series featuring Venom is in stock at Big Bad Toy Store. You can order a case with just the 7 figures needed to build Absorbing Man, or buy the case with an extra Ben Reilly Spider-Man for an extra five dollars
