Marvel’s Venom: The First 40 Years Review
Writer: Natalie Club
Editors: Jonathan Wilkins, Jake Devine, David Leach, Phoebe Hedges, Louis Yamani, Ibraheem Kazi & Holly Smith
Designers: Dan Bura, David Colderly, & Matt Bookman
Publisher: Titan Comics
Hardcover Price: $24.99
Release Date: July 1, 2026
If anyone didn't know Venom before his recent movie trilogy, they do now. But the alien symbiote first arrived on the big screen in 2007's Spider-Man 3. Sam Raimi's film drew inspiration from Marvel Comics’ history, where Peter Parker first dons the symbiote suit. But that's far from the full story.
In the 1980s, Peter's new black suit featured in one of the most iconic crossovers in Marvel history. But who conceived Peter Parker's new look? And how did Spider-Man's black suit become the Venom we know, love, and fear today? Let’s leap into Marvel’s Venom: The First 40 Years and see!
Story
Readers first saw Peter Parker don his new black suit in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man in May 1984. Because the Secret Wars crossover arrived later, Spider-Man fans had to wait half a year to learn how Peter got it. Still, this new suit worked in tune with Peter’s thoughts and generated its own web fluid. Then Peter learned it was a sentient alien symbiote. Fusing with the extraterrestrial enhanced his crimefighting abilities. Yet, Peter discovered that their goals didn’t align.
Marvel’s Venom: The First 40 Years charts how Peter’s black suit forged its own path in comics. Like an unrequited lover, the suit kept returning, and hoping that this time, Peter would bond with it forever. When that didn’t happen, the black suit took on a life of its own. It gave itself a name in Amazing Spider-Man #300 and found someone more attuned to its views on justice. Others have joined with Venom from time to time. Still, it was Eddie Brock who would become the symbiote's longest-serving partner. Yet no matter who fused with Venom, one thing became clear. Like Norman Osborn's recent attempt to assume the mantle of Spider-Man, Venom didn’t color inside Peter’s carefully observed lines.
Spider-Man may have rejected Venom. Still, others viewed his symbiote suit as an opportunity. Natalie Club shows how companies like the Life Foundation and Alchemax sought to create new symbiotes. The US government also found uses for Venom's spectacular abilities. Eddie Brock's family fell under Venom's spell. Flash Thompson, Peter Parker's High School nemesis, turned Venom into an interstellar force for good. And when Venom spawned Carnage, more Humans bonded with the red alien suit, including Norman Osborn and his family.
Art & Design
While Natalie Club divides her story by decades, Dan Bura, David Colderly, and Matt Bookman introduce each period with a two-page spread featuring art representative of the era. The designers differentiate each decade by the color of the vertical column on every other page. They intersperse the text with comic panels and shrunken pages, while the opposite page features enlarged cover or interior art. Then, they intersperse the essays with more two-page spreads.
While Marvel’s Venom: The First 40 Years charts the evolution of the alien symbiote, it also showcases the rise of the character’s popularity. The 1990s and the 2010s boast the most pages, while the 1980s and 2000s are shorter. As each era nears its end, a list of Milestones accompanies some final insights into the period. But as the character of Venom evolves, so does the artwork. From four-color hand-drawn artwork to sophisticated computer-painted creations, the book showcases the art that drew fans to Venom and Carnage.
Lettering & Physical Copy
As small lowercase black text on white pages charts out Venom's journey, white letters in the colored columns identify the issue each piece of art derives from and the artists who created it. The giant titles of each essay are the same color as the side columns and the era milestones. Natalie Club’s coverage of each era grows more extensive as Venom’s legacy grows, and the symbiote’s stories take on an increasingly epic scope.
Marvel's Venom: The First 40 Years is 0.5 inches thick. Yet, the larger size, quality cover, and glossy pages give the beautiful book a hefty feel. And despite only being 128 pages, the book is a valuable resource for collectors and readers alike. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a physical review copy.
Final Thoughts
While Venom has found its way into every corner of the Marvel universe, the symbiote has participated in crossover events. From its first appearance as Peter Parker's apparel in Amazing Spider-Man to its starring role in King In Black, Venom has risen through the ranks to become a heavyweight champion of the modern Marvel universe. Marvel's Venom: The First 40 Years doesn't cover recent events such as Venom War and All-New Venom. Yet, the book shows how Venom, influenced by its Human host, occasionally knocked on the door of heroism, even if it never quite stepped inside.
Rating 9/10
To look inside see my preview of Marvel's Venom: The First 40 Years.
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