The Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie

If you are curious, this is version of the trade that I own. I'm guessing that there is a more updated volume of the original story, so however you can get your hands on it, I would recommend that Spider-Man fans check this out. While he has no problem killing Spider-Man, he feels sorrow over innocent lives that are lost in the midst of his mission.

I'm not certain that Marvel originally planned to eventually make him an anti-hero, but even in these early issues, Venom has a sense of what is morally right and wrong. Venom truly seemed unstoppable, and I can see why he became such a popular character in the 1990's. Even though I knew that Spider-Man would ultimately survive the battle, the story-telling made me feel like there was a chance that Peter would be killed. The reason I give this story such a high ranking is because the writers do a fantastic job at making the reader feel like the stakes are very high. In issue 300, Spider-Man and Venom come face-to-face for the first time, and we learn how Eddie Brock took on the symbiote costume. These issues chronicle the original 'Venom' storyline. The trade was published in 1990, and it collects two small sections of Amazing Spider-Man 298 and 299, plus full issues of Amazing Spider-Man 300, 315, 316, and 317. Today I read this classic story in the oldest trade paperback that I own.

The Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie