"If you build it, they will come."
It was the early 90's and I was about 12 years old when I went in my local comic book store, "Swallow a Slug Comics." I bought my first comic, some Fantastic Four book with a shiny cover. I read it twice when I got home that night, partially because it was in the middle of a story line I didn't quite understand, but mainly because I found I enjoyed comics. The following week, I went back to blow another three bucks. I was tempted to add to my Fantastic Four collection, but instead was drawn to another book. Once again I was drawn to the shiny gold foil cover (I think I just enjoyed shiny things at that age) and the recognizable character on the front, Spider-Man. There one the top rack was The Amazing Spider-Man #375, my first official Venom comic book. I couldn't tell you why I was drawn to this character, I've never heard of him before owning this book. All I knew was that I wanted to learn more about him, so on my next bike ride down to the shop I picked up The Amazing Spider-Man #374. I could only stare at the amazing covers of #346 and #347 ($20 was way too much for a kid back especially to spend on comics). I think once the store owner told me about Venom's new limited series coming soon, I was sold...this is my guy...this is who I will collect.
I kept up with my collection the best I could, between the limited series, the Maximum Carnage story, and the comic cards I did quite well at adding to my collection with the couple bucks my dad gave me every week. But then like all my collections in the past, I moved on. It wasn't until about 10 years ago when I took a trip to Universal Studios and rode the 3-D Spider-Man ride (best ride ever!) that I got to think about comics again. When I got home, I drug out my old chest of comics. My goal was to start collecting again. By sifting through boxes of comic books at different shops, I was able to get the missing Venom series and Amazing Spider-Man books to complete my collection. I think this was also around the time Ultimate Venom came out, so I got to discover a whole new Venom.
Then I discovered a problem. I'm a completest. I wanted all of Venom's appearances. Sometimes I would get lucky and notice him one the cover, but what about all of the other instances where he appears on the last page or only one panel. The Internet was somewhat helpful. Back then, I searched a ton of sites - most only gave the limited series titles, some would give one or two titles I didn't have, and others would give books he wasn't even in.
After about five years of hardcore collecting, I feel I have a near perfect collection of Venom appearances. So, instead of making the next Venom collector struggle through finding the Venom comics he/she need to complete his/her collection, I figured I would start this little site as a guide.
So, please enjoy!
