There’s quite a bit going on here, most of it fighting –
these four issues are little more than one massive action scene. The villains
are all B-list and C-list (Ghost Rider’s rogues’ gallery tends to pretty
obscure, even for serious comic fans), and the story never manages to feel significant.
What little plotting there is is totally contrived: whoever needs to show up
for the story to progress at a given point just drops in.
The dialogue is pretty rough, even by comic standards. Venom
and Demogoblin are on one-note rants through the entire story (Venom’s like a
wise-cracking zombie and Demogoblin’s a religious nut-job). Much of the rest is
stiff and formulaic.
The art here is generally good, and, given the story, a
definite plus. Saviuk’s long run on Web of Spider-Man was always solid,
if never spectacular. Kubert’s art is more stylized, more detailed, more
cinematic, and, overall, superior.
On the whole, Spirit of Venom is a passably
entertaining mess, a model of quantity over quality. Unless you’re a huge fan
of both Spider-Man and Ghost Rider, you won’t be missing much if you pass on
this one.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
