That’s it, keep those covers good and generic. We accidentally let last issue’s cover sell the fact that the very popular Venom was in the issue, that was a mistake! What do you want, Venom fans to possibly give you money? Seriously, this era of “iconic” covers is so stupid. Bill Jemas had some baffling ideas about marketing. Also: Peanut Head Spider-Man. To my surprise, this issue has a recap page, like USM and eventually the entire Marvel line. This came out the same month as ASM 55, and it hasn’t had a recap page yet despite publishing 4 issues since this one. Interesting. Well, Venom and Spider-Man are still in that tunnel and almost get hit by a 2nd train. Time to go.
I like that Zoloft joke.
Now, I’m no doctor, but I’m pretty sure a bleeding wound doesn’t “chatter.” Why is there a “SMACK” in panel one? What could possibly be happening to warrant a “SMACK?” Is Spidey meant to have headbutted Venom? I literally don’t know.
I wonder what’s meant to be happening in that last panel. If only an artist could have drawn it for us. Meanwhile, Police Detective Garrett is at the scene of yet another “vampire” killing.
It’s really hard for me to imagine being a writer scripting a terse exchange between 2 cops about mysterious killings, seeing it illustrated like this, and thinking, “Yes, perfect. Just what I was going for. I knew the captain would be a bug-eyed goblin.” Elsewhere, Spider-Man arrives home, to the apartment I presume he doesn’t live in anymore now that he’s married again, briefly interacts with Barker the Mystery Dog, then creeps past a sleeping Big John on the roof. He changes clothes in the stairwell, thinking getting in and out of this place is a lot harder now that people party on the roof (Lucky for him, he already moved out). But also meanwhile:
Oh right! I forgot this plot point. Eddie Brock has cancer. This will lead to something stupid later.
Right. That all makes sense. The symbiote feeds on adrenaline, after all. Later, its now raining, as it tends to do in Jenkins/Ramos comics, and Spider-Man is stopping a thief while waxing poetic about how his Spider Sense makes it feel like life moves in slow motion sometimes. He even tells us that’s why he’s funny, because he has so much time to think of the jokes. Then cops arrive, and seem to think he’s the vampire as he flees the scene.
The symbiote enjoys Eddie’s adrenaline as it throws him off the side of the building, taking over his body and looking more traditionally Venom than they have in this story.
Well, it’s nice of them to remember Liz is a Mom and CEO and has no time to be doing this. Shame they forgot about Betty! It was only 4 years ago, not much in comics time, that shee & Flash were in a happy, committed relationship, now she doesn’t even show up when he’s in the hospital. Lame. Anyway, Spider-Man’s tracked down Detective Garrett to talk. Is Jenkins gonna have his own pet cop while Straczynski has one in ASM? TWO Spider-Friend cops at once?? Well, he tells Garrett he thinks he has a tip in the vampire case: Eddie Brock.
I mean, maybe it’s Garrett, look at him. He’s clearly not human. What secrets does he hide? Maybe he’ll be revealed as a lizard-man next issue. Jenkins wasn’t so good with these cliffhangers as some of his contemporaries. A Bendis comic would make the wait for next issue painful, while Jenkins just tends to do a closeup on Spider-Man saying something not particularly earthshattering. Jenkins seemed much more at home doing those single-issue stories, and based on the relative quality of his Big Serious Stories, like the Goblin one and this, I wonder if he was simply told he had to write for the trade.