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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
good, but the title is misleading, March 12, 2001
This book should not be called "Venom's Wrath." Venom does appear, and he is angry, but the focus of the story is elsewhere. People expecting explosive fights between Spidey and Venom will be very disappointed. Unfortunately, the cover art and the back-cover blurb both focus on Venom, and wax enthusiastic about his violent tendencies and his role in the book, while DeCandido and Nieto present a police procedural that happens to involve superheroes.Imagine, for a second, that you're a police officer in the Marvel Universe. How would you feel about costumed superheroes? Especially one whose face you never see, whose voice is muffled, and who almost never stands and walks like a normal human being. One who interrupts crimes, leaving people webbed up with no evidence and no witnesses, then vanishes and lets you deal with the resulting mountains of paperwork. DeCandido and Nieto have asked those questions, and written a book about them. On Wednesday morning, three people are kidnapped: Joe Robertson, editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle; Frank Esteban, a police captain; and Ann Weying, Venom's ex-wife. There appears to be paranormal involvement, and Venom will almost certainly cause damage trying to find Ann. The police and Spidey work together, trying to crack the case, which soon involves the FBI and a group of Puerto Rican separatists who have turned to terrorism. It's nice to see that while Spidey has amazing luck with supervillains, he needs the help of the police for more realistic crimes; it's also refreshing to see Spidey from other points of view. It's very easy for readers to forget that most people in the Marvel Universe know nothing about him, since we know about Peter Parker, his job troubles, his family, and so on. To sum up, this is a good police story, and a good Spidey story. It is NOT a Venom story. If you read superhero comics for fights and explosions, this is not the book for you. On the other hand, if you like some thought put into your superheroes, along with a healthy appreciation of how silly it is for people to run around town in long underwear, you could do a lot worse than "Venom's Wrath." (I'm taking away a star for four reasons. First, there are a lot of police officers, and they can be hard to keep straight. Second, Venom's characterization is slightly off. Third, MJ isn't quite herself; she plays the policeman's faithful wife, though she does make a good point to Peter in the epilogue. And fourth, the cover and blurb attract people who will probably be disappointed by a lack of action, and drive away people who might like this as a police story and meditation on identity.)
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by John Vornholt
by Diane Duane
by Dean Wesley Smith
by Kurt Busiek
