I just realized why I always liked Venom and why those comics stuck with me more than others. Spider-Man was actually put in compromising positions because of Venom.

Peter was commonly outmatched, scared, it felt like there were stakes. There are enemies with more frightening powers, like Sandman and Electro, but you know it's not in their character to be fully psycho, and that somehow they'll always fail to utilize their godlike powers, and that Peter will manage to "outsmart" them by making them get wet or whatever so it can get back to the boring shit about Mary Jane or Aunt May or whatever

I like Venom as much as the next guy but I feel like he was too similar to GG back then at points.
The way Eddie differs from Norman during ASM 39 and 40 is that Norman feels a lot more threatening with how he is insane. He still wants to plan out some of his actions so he doesn't have to reveal his own identity. But at points Norman/GG still puts Peter in those situations at that risk of hurting Harry or revealing his own identity. He does for the most part take good care of keeping his identity and not hurting Harry but that makes it more surprising when for example in Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine issue 2 which has him goad Peter and try to get him to react. He is walking the knife's edge by trying to instigate the situation but then framing it according to his own whims. Norman is threatening to spill their secret but he is more pragmatic and will spill it in the way he wants.
Eddie does the same in Sand and the Fury but Eddie's morality makes it less of an issue and prevents him from going as far as Norman. But I feel like Eddie's obsession is the key sticking point that makes him more threatening and maybe Eddie's investigative abilities combined with his invisibility could have made him more of a unique villain like MJ's stalker on steroids (literally and figuratively).
Eddie in the Spec (2008) show is really cool from an origin standpoint but there are times where he seems to not care about innocents as much or sees Peter's relatives/friends as accomplices or enablers. That is an interesting AU idea. And it did fall in line with 80's Venom back then when he still killed that guard even if he saw him as innocent. Does show Eddie's sense of justice is warped but it kinda seems like a narrative contrivance. Yeah him being picky and contradictory is the point but if you construct a story where that is the norm then it gets a little weird and confusing to the point where they just become the Joker and they kill for no reason.

>>149209633
Yeah there are some similarities with him and certain Goblin stuff in that way. Though I also think what gives Venom a different feel, like you said was his obsession, and his general feralness. Norman being Norman always feels like he kinda has his shit together, even when he's batshit, he's one of the archetypical super criminals/arch enemys. Whereas Venom was like living in the sewer, prowling around, killing criminals here and there, like he just feels like a wacked out crazy hobo who's obsession you don't want to be the target of

Venom was also designed to be an overwhelming physical force to Spider-Man. He was part of a trend along with Doomsday and Bane.

>>149208998 (OP)
>Electro, but you know it's not in their character to be fully psycho

>>149210678
I've seen multiple moments like this with Electro and at the end of the day it's just another moment he briefly monologues before doing nothing of importance, which is the problem

>>149210678
Why is Peter in a porn girl pose

>>149209904
Now that I am thinking about it, even though Venom is a loner besides the symbiote and the host, the character could make for another inverse of Spider-Man by using the symbiotes to make his own set of underlings like the Life Foundation symbiotes. I could see if Eddie was still evil that he would band together Anne, Dylan, and others who he think have been wronged into following him. Kinda like Cletus did.
But I'd save that for an AU.

Besides that yeah Venom also had the advantage of shifting his civilian clothes as well like in that one scene while Norman can be spotted a mile away with those rows he got.
Eddie should also stick to having his symbiote only be able to form tentacles, a shield like MvC1, some blunt shapes, and morphing the head to become big or grow more fangs like MvC1. I don't like Knull stuff allowing Eddie to just grow wings and make swords. Carnage should make sharp stuff, be strong, but be more fragile. I dunno more balance and uniqueness.
Also while not as overstated as other things but Spidey in some adaptations also makes the point that the symbiote must have brainwashed another person to bond to it when he sees Venom so that threat of it continuing to use people to get to Spidey could be used in the context of the drug/addiction metaphor too. The symbiote becomes its own dealer. A story where the symbiote takes over a whole town like body snatchers could work like Carnage USA but instead of just boring action or all the citizens dying, a bio Big Brother type situation could take place. Like Spidey walking into town and using Eddie's own logic of protecting innocents against him so that he can not bond to one and then see if the people are happy with this situation would make for a tense and interesting story.
Effort post over. Not shilling pic rel but it happened to line up with what I was saying.

>>149208998 (OP)
I like that Venom will never harm anyone he thinks is innocent. Of course he has to think that they are but he's been right a good number of times.

>>149211978
Usually lolol

I have never liked Venom. Ever. I feel like alien symbiotes are ridiculous for a street level hero.

>>149212842
Nothing about Spider-Man is truly street level, it's the weird thing about him. Him and his villains are all F4 or Avengers tier, but they just hang out in the city instead of outer space or Russia or whatever the hell

>>149212842
Peter's been beating up street level villains for decades. Makes sense someone on his level comes around to give him a real challenge that doesn't involve nerfing him.

>>149211765
He's trying to seduce Electro, sometimes it works.

>>149213418
Bugs Bunny

>>149210678
Remember when he fucked Peter so bad Spidey begged Dillion not to kill him?

>>149210316
I really wish they would use the camouflage ability that symbiotes have more often. Or like, at all in general.

>>149210678
>>149214038
As much as I dislike casual child murder in cape comics, this page raises a good point: that Electro should be a far more dangerous foe than he's usually treated

>>149208998 (OP)
kinda true

>>149212842

Is why Marvel never bothered to do anything with them for nearly two decades after they were first introduced most likely. I remember reading in Maximum Carnage they were just f'ing exhausted with them and didn't even want to write anything more about them, they were just cool designs fans adored and lapped up and nothing more.

Eddie didn't want to rob banks or take over the world, he wanted to kill Spider-Man. And he knew that Spider-Man was Peter, and the symbiote bypassed Peter's spider-sense. That simple combination of traits was enough to make him Peter's most dangerous enemy at the time.
Also the very first thing Venom ever did was scare the crap out of Mary Jane, which made things even more personal for Peter as well.

>>149208998 (OP)
these issues are pure kino:

The Amazing Spider-Man #300, #316-317, #332-333, #346-347, #362-363 y The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #25 (1991)

>>149216400
It's kinda weird when Marvel creatives boil down their own works into simplistic narratives so that they can then justify throwing them away so they can bring them back later as if they didn't do that shit themselves.
Plus they didn't bother recognizing what worked about Venom and why it did besides just saying they looked cool. Oh well they brought them back, Absolute Carnage and ended up with the same problems of writing bloated stories that forgot to have depth.