This is a love letter.

The original Venom, despite the convoluted aspects of his union, was essentially a simple character: David Michelinie wanted a foe motivated by a desire to do nothing but murder Spider-Man, as opposed to Spider-Man being an obstacle in the way of some grander design. For all of his self-important delusions, Eddie Brock was little more than a deranged stalker whose mania had centered on Spidey as the object of his wrath. This purity, combined with a series of strong artists giving the character a terrifying visual presence, made for an incredibly memorable villain.

In a way, Venom’s popularity worked against the beautiful simplicity of the concept: the character began to be tweaked and expanded upon to allow for continued appearances, until he was eventually left unrecognizable, overexposed, and burnt out; shortly after his original series concluded, he was quietly shuffled into the background of the rogue’s gallery. (I’d even go so far as to argue that Amazing Spider-Man #375, which claimed to be the “final” confrontation between Spidey and Venom, really was the last battle between the two that didn’t have some sort of asterisk attached to it.)

So after a decade’s absence, and an even longer time out of the spotlight, we finally have the original Venom back in the saddle. I couldn’t be happier.

I have a lot of praise to heap on this issue, so let’s get my only substantive complaint out of the way first: in reviewing the last issue, I noted that Eddie’s sudden desire to reunite with the alien was in direct contrast to the past decade of characterization, and an explanation needed to be forthcoming. This issue, taking place an unspecified amount of time after the last, still doesn’t offer anything further than “he changed his mind”. The story presented here is engaging enough that I can overlook this shift in motivation for right now, but I’d really like it to be addressed in future issues.

The toxic nature of Venom’s union validates Eddie’s prior hatred of the alien, and that union is terrifyingly explored in the issue’s primary story by Mike Costa and Tradd Moore. For being advertised as a “150th issue SPECTACULAR”, “Heart of Darkness” is actually a very intimate tale; even the battle against the Scorpion, as devastating as it is for both men, reads less like a supervillain battle and more like a brawl between romantic rivals.

That romantic subtext between Eddie and the alien costume is upgraded to just regular “text” here, and while the metaphor becomes a bit heavy-handed by the end of the story, Eddie’s palpable sense of doubt and conflicted introspection generate a heavy sense of dread through the issue. Even when nothing is happening that actually poses a threat to a monster like Venom, there’s a constant feeling that something terrible is about to happen. In a way, the fight with the Scorpion provides catharsis: at least he’s an identifiable demon.

In a lesser script, the alien insisting their bond is ‘just like marriage’ would have been laughable; here, it’s terrifying in its full context. (Apparently, the alien is a “Game of Thrones” fan, and wanted a Red Wedding.) I have no idea how to gracefully transition from the moody psychodrama in this issue to the promised battle with Stegron the Dinosaur Man in the next, but I will say that Costa has my full attention.

Costa’s chilling character study is aided by guest artist Tradd Moore, whose work I’m unfamiliar with. I’d love to see him do more on this series; his creative use of panel layouts and backgrounds reminds me of Marcos Martin in all the best ways. I’m not entirely keen on his depiction of human muscle structure, (and for a guy who walks about in his boxer-briefs as much as Eddie, that can’t be overlooked), but that’s overshadowed by how downright demonic he makes Venom look in action.

I’m particularly fond of the way he draws Venom’s face and mouth. Cool as it may be on paper, I think we can all admit that Venom’s famous jawline can’t really function in three dimensions; I’d even wager the reason Topher Grace didn’t speak with in-costume in Spider-Man 3 is because the computer animators couldn’t figure out how to make something with that much tongue and teeth form consonants. Moore’s Venom looks less like a slobbering monster and more like a serpentine dragon; you get the impression that he’s speaking each line with a deathly hiss.

Series regular Gerardo Sandoval didn’t go missing, however; he provides the art for the Robbie Thompson backup feature “Dependence Day”, showing exactly how the alien was wretched from Flash Thompson and left in such a foul state as to be found and manipulated by Lee Price. And after months of waiting, it turns out…he was shot by a Guy with a Thing.

Huh.

This short, while perfectly serviceable, makes me wonder if there was some editorial juggling in regards to the launching of this series; after fifty or so issues headlining as Venom, Flash’s tenure ends with a whimper, as though he was just an obstacle that had to be taken off the board to get Eddie back in place. I’d be the first to admit that his time in the suit had run its course, but I’d also then say that Agent Venom had been in enough quality stories to earn a better send off. This reads like an afterthought.

There’s a second short included as well, reuniting David Michelinie and Ron Lim to tell an amusing flashback story, complete with the 90’s “Flashback” event logo so you can have even more 90’s while flashing back to the 90’s. While mostly fluff, “Malled” did highlight one of my favorite aspects of Michelinie’s Venom: while all villains think they’re the hero of their story, Venom was insane enough to think that everyone else saw him that way as well. So much of the dark humor of the character came from him just plain not getting what everyone was so upset about as he casually murdered cops and clowns alike. Good times.

Unlike some other recent and much more expensive super-sized issues I could name, the special features in Venom #150 don’t feel like padding, and actually read like…well, special features. And even if they’d been lesser tales, “Heart of Darkness” was amazing enough to justify the cost of admission. If you’re at all curious about Venom’s return, I’d advise you to pick this issue up.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the 150 issue cover gallery, which…is interesting in some parts. (And really, really stretches the premise of “returning to legacy numbering”.) It features 1995’s “Venom Super Special”, overlooks “Sign of the Boss”, switched the order of “On Trial” and “Finale”, and includes the “Circle of Four” .01 issues.

So there you go, Mark. Venom says annuals count.