Reddit reviews Venom by Donny Cates Vol. 1: Rex (Venom (2018) (1))

Ok, here we go. So the most relevant Venoms to get into the story are the Cates run.

If you want to go trade paperback

https://www.amazon.com/Venom-Donny-Cates-Vol-Rex/dp/1302913069 - Collects 1-6. It's an important Knull story.

https://www.amazon.com/Venom-Donny-Cates-Vol-Abyss/dp/1302913077 - Collects 7-12. It's a story about Eddie's brother who's going to be very important to Absolute Carnage

If you want to go digital the marvel digital store has a MARVEL50 code until 9/3 and issues 1-10 only cost $1.99 right now anyway, so you can get the first 10 Venoms for $10 there and the whole 1-12 run for about $15 with that code. I'd REALLY recommend reading those 12 issues. I wouldn't be enjoying Absolute Carnage as much without them.

Supplemental material!
https://comicstore.marvel.com/Web-Of-Venom-VeNam-2018-1/digital-comic/48925 - Prequel to the Volume 1 "Rex" story. Entirely skippable for Absolute Carnage but if you like the Rex character, Wolverine or Vietnam you could read this after #6.

https://comicstore.marvel.com/Venom-2018-Annual-1/digital-comic/49531 - I don't have this yet and I don't think it's crucial for Carnage but I'm told it's a good epilogue to the Volume 1 "Rex" story.

https://comicstore.marvel.com/Web-Of-Venom-Carnage-Born-2018-1/digital-comic/49788 - This takes place immediately after issue 8 and is, IMHO, all you really need of Carnage's backstory as long as you have a passing familiarity with the character

https://comicstore.marvel.com/Web-Of-Venom-Venom-Unleashed-2019-1/digital-comic/50356 - Supplemental bit that takes place right after the opening of issue 9 (immediately following the bus ride). You could read this right after Carnage Born, right after #9 or you could skip it entirely.

https://comicstore.marvel.com/WEB-OF-VENOM-CULT-OF-CARNAGE-1-1/digital-comic/51107 - This is probably "Absolute Carnage #0". I'd 100% read this.

https://comicstore.marvel.com/Web-Of-Venom-Funeral-Pyre-2019-1/digital-comic/51911 - You said you were getting all of the tie-ins so I'll just say that to me this is "Absolute Carnage Scream #0". I'd 100% read this before you start Scream.

I'm told Venom #13-#15 is not that important for Carnage. I think I know what they are about and I think they are, by and large, quickly explain at the very start of Absolute Carnage #1. I'm told #16 is pretty important though. I haven't read that yet unfortunately.

Additionally the Free Comic Book Day 2019 story, which is available for free in digital form (https://comicstore.marvel.com/Free-Comic-Book-Day-2019-Spider-Man-Venom-1/digital-comic/51479) is supposedly also good supplemental material, but I haven't read that yet.

Feel free to ping with any questions.

There has been a lot of different Venom series, and not a lot of them are really well-regarded. My personal recommendation would actually be the recent 2018 series by Donny Cates. It's pretty accessible for new readers, and takes a deep dive into the mythos behind the symbiote. The first collected volume comes out in December. If you want to read digital single issues, you can buy them off Comixology (a digital store), but they'll be a bit expensive.

Another popular but unconventional pick is Venom Collection by Rick Remender, in which a crippled Flash Thompson bonds with the symbiote and becomes an agent of the government.

If you're looking for the original versions of the Venom stories you see in movies or cartoons, that'll be a bit trickier, since adaptations often consolidate and prune long-running storylines that sometimes have too many crossovers and a lot of outdated 80s writing. You can try asking /r/comicbooks for more information. Also, if you have a library card, I highly recommend making an account on Hoopla Digital. You'll be able to borrow old digital comics on there.

See below. Reading Jason Aaron's Thor first, then Cates' Venom, then Absolute Carnage is a really rewarding reading experience for new/returning readers IMO. That and Thanos Wins + Cosmic Ghost Rider are what got me back into comics.

Thor: God of Thunder #1 - #11 by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic (#1 - #5 are on Kindle unlimited here)
Thanos Vol. 2 #13 - #18 by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw
Cosmic Ghost Rider #1 - #5 by Donny Cates and Dylan Burnett
Secret Wars by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic
Venom Vol. 4 #1 - #6 (on Kindle Unlimited)
Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin and George Perez
The Vision #1 - #12 by Tom King and Gabriel Walta

I've heard Hickman's Fantastic Four and Avengers runs are very good as well, but I haven't read them myself.

Some ongoing books worth checking out are:

House of X / Powers of X
Immortal Hulk
Venom
Absolute Carnage

Absolute carnage 1-2 are good so far if your looking for spider-man related on goings. A Venom run led up to this which i also liked https://www.amazon.com/Venom-Donny-Cates-Vol-Rex/dp/1302913069

For current Marvel stuff I'd recommend Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky. The first volume comes out soon

Venom by Donny Cates. The first two volumes of that are out and are a ton of fun.

Immortal Hulk is probably my favorite thing being published right now. It's the reason I started reading comics as they come out rather than trade waiting. The first three volumes of that are currently out.

This recommendation list also has tons of places to start for all sorts of characters

Ok, thanks for the help!

2018 version is the right one?

There are a lot of older comics, will I be missing out or confused starting with this one?

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