"Hopefully vile enemies like Venom and Carnage are also banished"

I've said it before, I'll say it again: Kids love Venom.  Y'know those kids that we KEEP BANGING ON ABOUT when we say "more kids need to read comics".  And yet the amount of old timers (including Sam Raimi) who don't like Venom, ignoring that there is a young, vibrant fanbase that do, are part of the problem.

Andy

 If the last 20 years or so don't mean anything, then what's to make you believe that any future story will really mean anything?

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SER: I don't get this. Stories mean something if they're well-written and entertaining. The Bob Haney /Jim Aparo Brave and Bolds I like to pull out don't count in continuity but they mean more to me than any Batman comic published in the last decade.

Spider-Man comics have not "meant something" since the mid-80s and they definitely have not "meant anything" in the past 5 to 10 years. Continuity has nothing to do with it.

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I've said it before, I'll say it again: Kids love Venom.

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SER: Venom is a great concept but he was doomed in his first appearance. A character who knows Spider-Man's true identity will quickly become a one-trick pony (or worse an "anti-hero" who our hero makes deals with). I don't think there was any plan for Venom outside of his first appearance.

I can't believe I'm saying this (especially since I actually haven't seen the film) but I prefer the film concept of Venom -- Venom should truly be the "evil Spider-Man," so I like his being around the same age (and physical shape) of Spider-Man and Eddie Brock being very much a Peter Parker "gone wrong." Eddie Brock, the bad '80s body builder from the comics, didn't work for me.

"I think the main problem with Venom is that there was not enough characterization spread to thin with too many appearances in the nineties."

Oh, I'm not arguing that Venom is a great character or anything (one of the things I thought the third movie got right was giving Eddie Brock some character) but that there are an awful lot of people (kids) who like Venom.  Once we start retconning where do we stop?  Just because we old timers don't like a character that young 'uns love, aren't we denying them?

Andy

 It's weird to read these long, impassioned posts from people who must surely be too old to be complaining about Spider-Man comic books. 

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As opposed to the 18 pages on this thread! :)

Andrew is right - Venom is an extremely popular character with younger fans and he's not going anywhere, nor should he.

Actually, I'm not sure why so many folks here dislike the character. The "mirror image" villain is a great concept - see Professor Zoom, Sinestro, etc. I thought Venom's first battle with Spider-Man in ASM #300 made for a really good story.

My only problem with Venom is that he became an anti-hero in the mid-1990s. Considering he murdered a police officer in his first appearance, he should always remain a villain. Put him on the side of evil and he's a great foe for Spider-Man.

Can't say I've ever cared much for Carnage, though. He generally comes across as a cheap knock-off.

QUOTE: <<<When Brian Bendis had the Sentry kill Carnage in an early issue of New Avengers, I was surprised. But the character won't be missed.>>> Apparently not! I've read every issue of NEW AVENGERS, and I don't remember that happening AT ALL!

And it certainly couldn't have happened "on panel."  This is Bendis, after all...so anything remotely resembling action must be sacrificed for more talking heads repeating the same 2 or 3 lines over and over.