The Books of Peter Milligan

If you don't know the story of the symbiotes, here's a quick rundown; Venom was created when an alien symbiote, which had once been paired with Spiderman, joined with a man who hated Spiderman and Carnage was created when Venom spawned a new symbiote which joined with the demented series killer Cletus Cassidy. As this book begins Venom and Carnage are fighting (they don't like each other, by the way) over Carnage's immanent birthing of another symbiote. The baby monster is spawned in the police officer Pat Mulligan who then finds himself caught between Venom and Carnage. Ultimately, Pat's moral code and the support of Spiderman and the Black Cat allows him to control the symbiote's murderous urges, creating a new superhero called Toxin. It's not all roses, mind you. Seeing Toxin's heroic nature causes Venom and Carnage to form an unlikely alliance against him. Perhaps the most poignant part of the story relates to Pat's life with his wife and newborn son, who he is forced to leave for fear of bringing his new enemies home to them. The art in this book is stunning and what I enjoyed most about it was the combination of Crain's luscious artwork and Milligan's writing in creating some great sexual tension between Pat and the Black Cat.