Russell Braun

Wow. Dennis O'Neil knows how to write a Batman story. Venom is about responding to failure and the consequence of taking drugs for the "easy out." Rarely is Batman depicted with such emotional depth (or as a psychopath for that matter), and it makes the character very engaging.

The art doesn't seem particularly striking on first glance, but is actually quite excellent. It enhances the text rather than distract from it. And man is it eerie when the Dark Knight cackles! My only nitpick is a show more scene where Bruce Wayne goes from clean cut to caveman in one month. What, is there Rogaine in those pills?

It should be noted that DC Comics advertises this as an origin for Bane. Well, only kind of. The villain of the Chris Nolan flick is nowhere to be found, but the guy is addicted to the same strength-enhancing venom introduced here.

But even if DC's marketing for this book is a bit misleading, this is a great comic. Trust me: You'll be happy to be misled. show less

Wonder Woman by George Pérez Omnibus Vol. 3 collects Wonder Woman nos. 46-62, 168-169, 600, and War of the Gods nos. 1-4 featuring art primarily by Pérez and Jill Thompson. This volume begins on a more somber note than the other two, though it includes a celebration of sorts in Wonder Woman no. 50 before events begin building toward the War of the Gods. Pérez expertly builds toward this massive, DC-wide conflict while tying together various threads from his run, including the lost Amazon show more tribe of Bana-Mighdall, Circe, and Dr. Psycho to build to a massive conclusion in celebration of Wonder Woman’s 50th anniversary.

The War of the Gods ostensibly pits the Greek gods against their Roman counterparts, but soon the gods of various cultures as well as the New Gods of New Genesis and Apokolips are drawn in by Circe’s magic. Only the actions of Wonder Woman and the Earth’s magicians can prevent the destruction of reality. This omnibus only collects the four War of the Gods issues and the Wonder Woman tie-in issues, though the story extended to include Superman: The Man of Steel, Hawkworld, Flash, Batman, and others. Editors’ notes and dialogue help to fill in the gaps. To further celebrate Wonder Woman’s anniversary and show the character’s significance to the DC Universe, Pérez boldly killed her during the conflict with Circe. While she naturally returned from the dead to give the story resolution, this precedes The Death of Superman by more than a year and the aftermath was handled better. In a good connection with Crisis on Infinite Earths – which Pérez illustrated – Harbinger and Pariah play a role in these events.

In this volume, Pérez draws upon the full repertoire of characters he created for his post-Crisis Wonder Woman series in these final issues as well as Donna Troy (Troia) from his other seire,s New Teen Titans. The various Amazons and Dr. Julia Kapatelis and her daughter, Vanessa, play key roles in Wonder Woman’s life and in the coming of conflict. Meanwhile, Steve Trevor and Etta Candy offer insight into the growing paranoia surrounding the Amazons in Patriarch’s World. Inspector Ed Indelicato helps to give the everyman’s perspective, while villains Ares, Circe, Cheetah, and Silver Swan all get their due. Pérez handed off writing to William Messner-Loebs after Wonder Woman no. 62, but he gave a good send-off, seeing Steve Trevor and Etta Candy get engaged, all return to normal with Julia and Vanessa, and WW attend Vanessa’s junior high graduation. The message of turning the page and looking to the future pervades and strikes the right note on which to end.

This volume includes three additional stories with Pérez’s involvement. Phil Jimenez worked with Pérez to plot the stories in Wonder Woman nos. 168-169, which focus on the repercussions of reuniting the Amazons of Themyscira and Bana-Mighdall. This story also tacitly references the Mighdall Amazons’ part in the events of the War of the Gods. Gail Simone wrote the story for Wonder Woman no. 600 with inspiration and art by Pérez. It’s a small vignette with Wonder Woman and various women superheroes finishing a battle before WW heads off to see Vanessa’s high school graduation and echoes the note on which Pérez ended Wonder Woman no. 62. This third omnibus also includes character profiles and pin-up art from Brian Bolland, Cynthia Martin, Linda Medley, and others.

Wonder Woman by George Pérez Omnibus Vol. 3 is a must-read for fans of both WW and of George Pérez. Jill Thompson’s art is stunning, evoking the best of the comic book medium and the perfect compliment to Pérez’s mythical prose. show less

Overall, it was an interesting story arc. A bit of a product of its time. And more or less a moral tale of drug addiction and overcoming it. Venom could be substituted for heroin, cocaine, marijuana, whatever drug you want to put in bad form and showcase how "its bad" and how a "good" guy like Batman can overcome it.

Some interesting things are how Batman doesn't get true justice in this arc (Porter dies in jail/withdrawl, and Slaycroft dies by Porter manipulating Slaycroft's son). Another show more interesting thing is that this arc is spread out over a year's time, and has them going to Haiti, Priscia (made up island), and Gotham. Also has Superman in it (in one of Batman's delirium dreams).

The biggest thing to this arc is that it's the prelude to "Knightfall" which is the introduction to Bane. show less

Batman gets addicted to strength enhancing pills due to him being unable to lift a boulder to save a child. He changes character and at one point agrees to kill Gordon to get more pills.

Hmmm...this is one of the darker Batman books I have read from Batman being unable to save a little girl to a son being overtaken by addiction and on the verge of killing his father. I can’t help (disagree) think that Batman wouldn’t succumb to addiction in the first place or not question why the father show more wasn’t more upset of his only child dying; and, unfortunately, that ruined a lot of the characterization and does not correlate with his character. They did get their groove back with the last few issues but those first two issues really put a damper on the believability of it all and felt that the writer used Batman as a tool to narrate a story about the effects of addiction and how it affects those around you

Best:
-Batman failing to save someone
-him using drugs to cover up a trauma
-decent art
-great Batman characterization in the last 3 issues (very frustrating)

Bad:
-characterization of Batman in the first two issues
-he never would’ve been addicted like that in the first place (maybe should had a villain force him to take drugs instead)
-bad fight scenes show less