I wasn't really trying to rip into your opinion or anything, I just thought I'd give a little of the background on the original Venom arc for you and others who may not have read it (it's out now in trade paperback though if anyone is interested in picking it up). Don't get me wrong, when I was a kid growing up I had the same fascination with Venom you did, but as I got older my opinions on the character started to change and I started to see him as pretty uninteresting as a character on his own and as an anti-hero. It was only a few years ago that I read the original arc myself, but once I did, it pretty much sealed my dislike for everything they did with him since. There was a sense in the original arc that he had truly lost it and become someone twisted totally by his hate and need for vengeance. In fact, I found it hard to believe he had been made into a "hero" at all after that arc as there was something truly twisted and disturbing about him then. Since reading it, that story has been one of my favourites, representing essentially everything I think was great about the character when he was originally introduced and I was happy to see the movie version take so much from that story, including ditching the tongue, and rediculous proportions.

It may not be to everyone's tastes, but I think it suited what they were trying to do with the character.