Pick of the Brown Bag
June 7, 2026
by
Ray Tate
Black Cat: King in Black #1
I can only guess that the device sends a teleport beam to search the universe for new threads. The beam struck a puddle of ooze. Venom thought to itself: "Face it, Tiger. You hit the jackpot."
Before its lucky break, Venom being Venom probably lurked in fashion shops all over the galaxy. Taking advantage of the old adage that every woman should have at least one little, black dress. Feeding on anybody who tried it on or took it home. Though not Mary Jane Watson in early days.
Amazing Spider-Man #300
Upon discovering that the pair of pants threatened Mary Jane, Spider-Man soon does the right thing. He hunts down the deadly dungarees, overcomes new host and punk murderer Eddie Brock and wards both to the Fantastic Four.
Ben Grimm is clearly wearing a Felix the Cat robe to
intimidate the planet-hopping long-johns in Amazing Spider-Man #300.
Because of Mary Jane's experience with Venom, she asks Peter to discard even his regular copy black suit.
#300
Perhaps not wanting to take chances, Peter decides to burn it.
Also 300
Venom didn't just terrify Mary Jane, it also victimized the other woman in Spider-Man's life. Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat. Felicia was onto Venom from the very start.
Amazing Spider-Man #257
It rewarded that knowledge with violence.
Amazing Spider-Man #316
Venom makes the Punisher look like a pair of comfy pajamas. The Punisher is a bona fide antihero. However, if we redefine heroes in the context of James Bond or the Shadow, the Punisher can be defined sometimes as outright heroic. Venom not so. Venom is pure bastard. That hasn't stopped Marvel from trying to parlay Venom's bizarre haute couture success into something other than villainous.
Only whatever his fanbase looks like buys into this. To all of us who know what it and Eddie Brock did to Mary Jane Watson and Felicia, the creature is dead to us. We also wish it only a permanent comic book death perhaps eaten away by voracious moths. Tall order, but there it is.
Black Cat's opinion on Venom and Eddie Brock hasn't changed an iota.
Black Cat: King in Black #1
This brings us to a recent Black Cat and Mary Jane Team-Up.
Hey, babies, how about some cunnilingus with your space-louse abuser.
MJ and Black Cat despite being exes and one-time rivals for Peter Parker's affection kind of like each other.
Jackpot and Black Cat #1
Mary Jane and Felicia have in fact teamed up often. Still, this is a bit much.
Black Cat #7
Yeah. MJ loves Felicia? I don't think so. Thoroughly likes Felicia. Sure, but loves? Is this another "love ya" vs. "I love you," kind of thing?
Black Cat #7
Anyway. The entire story feels like fan-fiction created by some whiny little Venom fan. Indeed, this whole exercise is an exploitation of talent meant to serve marketing. You have to like Venom now. Mary Jane is Venom.
You are incorrect, Sir. I can still loathe Venom, even with the shiny gold Spider on its chest, plainly indicating meritorious conduct from its kindergarten, but still like Mary Jane and Black Cat.
Actually, liking MJ and the Black Cat precludes ever liking Venom. You may as well ask me to like the Joker and Batgirl. I like to see the Joker beaten to a pulp. I'd like to see Venom harvested by silkworms. Does that count?
Venom is essentially a garbage domestic abuser. Like all abusers, it also happens to be an energy-vampire taking the form of a cheap-jack costume. It has inexplicably been artificially ballyhooed to be raised upward into the scope of the public eye.
Yeah. Venom is that guy.
How did this recent nonsense happen?
Black Cat #7
What's an Archiniote? No idea. Doesn't matter. Mary Jane could have said "stabbed by a unicorn." It still would present a situation just as contrived.
Marvel: There's a whole bunch of people who loathe Venom. We can increase sales if we get Venom a host nobody can deny. What about Mary Jane? The survivor of Venom's domestic abuse? Are you nuts? Wait. Wait. Maybe the maniac's got something.
For the record, I didn't read the book where this happens, and you can make the argument that it's unfair for me to judge the fusion since I don't understand the whole story. Let me present a counterargument.
Jackpot and the Black Cat #1
Mary Jane was already a super-hero with a decent costume and an impressive gadget granting her superpowers before she subsumed her identity to her former domestic abuser. Like many victims of domestic abuse, mental and/or physical, regrettably do,
Number One
If you can't make out what's happening in the above graphic. Mary Jane known as Jackpot possesses a bracelet which she operates like a slot machine. The spin decides on what superpower the bracelet grants. There's no limit to what the bracelet can bestow, nor how many times MJ can spin.
So here's another contrivance I must accept. Mary Jane didn't wear her bracelet when threatened and forced to bond with Venom. Alternately, the bracelet suddenly proved to be worthless for getting out of this particular situation. Or the bracelet conveniently gets destroyed before she's threatened. No matter what. It seems to me that Marvel set up MJ "to be pinched by the leprechaun," disregarded her other identity, all to try to drum up fans for the domestic abuser.
#300 again; Even MJ's clown pants are more attractive than Venom, as outerwear.
Marvel's message to survivors of domestic abuse seems to be. You'll never escape. Your identity will never be your own. I'm sure that this was an inadvertent social motif because only Nazis would be that cruel on purpose.
Another means of defense. Mary Jane could have contacted Felicia and using the bracelet, whip up an anti-Venom suit.
Felicia uses an Anti-Venom Suit to bloody Venom's nose and steal Dr. Strange in King in Black #2
G. Willow Wilson is Black Cat's current scribe. Her run hasn't been as wacky nor Lupinesque as Jed MacCay's terrific turn. Wilson's Black Cat is more street level. However, Wilson respects Felicia. She gives her dignity ninety-percent of the time. The differences between Wilson's and McCay's Black Cat are many.
Wilson makes the Black Cat a little more vulnerable, a little less cocksure, self-reflecting. It's a valid characterization. Wilson also subtly ties her into the Spider-Man universe more frequently and in a less spectacular way. Both characterizations for the Black Cat fit. They connect. They're complimentary. That being said. If you want episodic heist and adventure, you go to Jed MacCay. If you want a day-in-the-life comedic drama of sneak-thief Felica Hardy, you go to Wilson.
Until this Venom garbage, I was content to read G. Willow Wilson's Black Cat.
To Wilson's credit, in the team-up, she focuses mainly on MJ and Felicia.
Unfortunately, she still must pay the bills. So, she tailors her work to suit an ugly pair of pants. Some of her choices are missteps to be kind.
That scene never would have happened. There is no way, in any universe that Black Cat hugs Venom. Black Cat hates Venom more than Mary Jane. That scene highlights the insidiousness of this whole exercise. Mary Jane gains nothing from this story. Black Cat gains nothing from this story. Venom in theory gains respectability from this story. Or Marvel wants Venom to gain acceptance and credibility from this story. Too Bad. I see what you did there.
A turd is a turd. Putting a caramel in its center doesn't make it more appetizing. That's why I cannot recommend this story in an otherwise consistently good Black Cat run.
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