Expert: Kellen Tyler - 9/17/2009

Question
Hello, there. I'm a novice when it comes to comics, and so far my collection consists of a Hellraiser collection, a few Buffy the Vampire: Season 8 issues and Stephen King's The Dark Tower series from Marvel.

But lately, I've decided to dabble in more traditional comic characters, and since I used to love the Spider-Man animated series from the 90s, and I currently consider the Spider-Man trilogy one of my favorite movie series,  I figured I'd start there.

I've already decided that I will begin by purchasing The Marvel Masterworks Volume one, which collects the first ten Spider-Man comics. I've been told that's the way to go. It will help establish a base from which to work. After this, though, I would really like to buy some collections that deal with the character of Venom, but I'm not sure which ones He appears in. If you could, could you give me some direction in this matter? Preferably, I'd like to get the Venom story from the beginning, as well as any major arcs that he plays a role in.

Thanks for considering the question. Looking forward to hearing from you.

-Andrew

Answer
Hi Andrew,

I'm not a HUGE Spider-Man reader myself... I've only been reading his title since 2007.  So, I can't really tell you what the best past Spider-Man and/or Venom stories are but here are some suggestions.  Definitely check out these websites:

Spider Fan -- http://www.spiderfan.org/
The Venom Site -- http://www.thevenomsite.com/
The List of Spider-Man Comics -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Spider-Man_comics
Venom Chronology (in order of appearance from first to last) -- http://www.chronologyproject.com/v.htm#VENOM


You should also go into your local comic book store and ask to see all the Spider-Man trade paperbacks... these are collections of comics put into anthology books that tell whole stories (so that you won't have to try and find each individual comic to complete the story yourself).  Usually, the most popular and interesting stories are collected in trade paperbacks so you can check each of those out and pick up one that looks interesting.  If you don't have a comic book store close by, check out eBay and there should be tons of great Spider-Man trades for you to peruse.

Hope that helps,

K