Venom: The Boneyard Hop!

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Amazing Spider-man, Boneyard Hop, David Michelinie, Erik Larsen, Randy Emberlin, Spider-man, Venom, Venom Returns

Amazing Spider-man #347 brings a multi-part Spider-man story to its climactic conclusion in “The Boneyard Hop.” On a deserted island, Spidey and Venom wage a life-or-death battle. While many Spider-man villains pursue the usual world domination or petty heists for their own self-interest, Venom gleefully revels in the sheer horror he can inflict on Spider-man.

Writer David Michelinie first brought together Eddie Brock and Spidey’s black “symbiote” suit to form Venom. The art team of Erik Larsen and Randy Emberlin carry the stylistic torch established by the previous penciller, Todd McFarlane. Together, they make Venom just as much fun as he is evil!

We also enjoy the look Larsen brought to Spidey’s traditional threads, filling in most or all of the blue areas with black. Some fans disagreed with this rendition, but we love it. Bring back the red and black!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Amazing Spider-man #347; Marvel Comics, 1991.
– Reprinted in Venom Returns TPB (collecting ASM #330-333 and 344-347)

Mark Ginocchio, who chronicles his quest to collect every issue of Amazing Spider-man at Chasing Amazing, counts this as his fourth favorite Spider-man battle of all time.

Doctor Strange: The Tongues of Men and Angels!

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alien, Chris Warner, Doctor Strange, Peter B Gillis, Peter Gillis, Randy Emberlin

The second volume of Doctor Strange went out with a bang in 1987. Strange fights one of his most outrageous, cosmic-light-drenched battles of all time against a really evil alien.

Back Story: This alien fascist came to earth, stole all of the Doctor’s mystical doo-dads and his house, kidnapped his friends just to torture them, and mortally wounded Strange’s body. What a dick! Aliens really suck sometimes.

While his body recovers, Strange finds an ally: a really nice alien who was fixing his Cloak of Levitation. The nice alien plays host to Strange’s astral body, so they can fly across the universe to kick alien ass together. And – cue the mystical light effects!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Doctor Strange #81; Marvel, 1987.

We threw in a few panels of the evil alien fascist world from issue #79 for you!

Doctor Strange: What Song the Sirens Sang!

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Chris Warner, Doctor Strange, Mark Badger, Peter Gillis, Randy Emberlin, What Song the Sirens Sang

You know, it’s not always exploding aliens, rampaging dinosaurs, and mutant brains around here. We also enjoy tender romance. That’s right. Love, sweet love.

Take this issue of Doctor Strange, for example. A gnarly demoness casts a spell on a lonely human being. She makes him fall in love so he will open up a dimensional portal. Then, she can suck the life essence out of his very soul.

Doctor Strange steps in to prevent this unholy matrimony, but it turns out he’s not doing anyone any favors. In fact, he pretty much ruins this hideous interdimensional love affair for everyone. On the upside, the light show is cool as hell!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Doctor Strange #76; Marvel, 1986.
Script by Peter Gillis, breakdowns by Mark Badger, pencils by Chris Warner, inks by Randy Emberlin.