#i think i would've not even posted this out of SHAME if robbie thompson hadn't topped this list

[kitausuret]

So, out of curiosity, I went through all my fics and picked out the ones that were inspired by specific comic series, arcs, or issues. I then took a tally to see who inspired my fics the most, either out of spite for what they wrote, or out of love - sometimes a weird combination of the both.

Robbie Thompson tops the list with 18. This didn't surprise me - I write a ton of stuff directly inspired by Venom: Space Knight.

Dan Slott is in second place with 16 - mostly spite-writing but also this is what happens when you write on Spider-Man for 10 years. He'd also written Venom Inc. with Mike Costa so that skews things a little in his favor.

Brian Michael Bendis was surprisingly third at 8 works inspired, mostly for his work on the Planet of the Symbiotes arc during Guardians of the Galaxy and just having Flash/Venom as Guardians in general.

Mike Costa is still pretty high up here at 7, since he worked on Venom Inc. I almost feel like he should get more credit from me though since Dust to Dust is so heavily influenced by Venom vol. 3.

Cullen Bunn and Rick Remender are both at 6, but like Mike Costa, Bunn was a big influence on DTD so I feel he should actually get skewed higher LOL.

Len Kaminski and Donny Cates each have inspired 5. I was honestly expecting there to be more for Cates.

Paul Jenkins, David Michelinie, and Tom DeFalco are all tied at 4. I always assumed Michelinie would've influenced my works more, given that he created Venom, but also his stories are just so strong I guess I typically don't feel the need to build on them much? But also you can assume with me that I'm always trying to channel Michelinie when I write Eddie.,

Gerry Conway, J. Michael Straczynski, and Roy Thomas (for some of my older fics) are all at 3. Again, I'm surprised by the low number for Conway since I do like his work so much.

Christian Cooper, Marc Guggenheim, and Zeb Wells all sit at 2. I always assumed Wells would be higher since he helped create Scorn but I also haven't actually written her that much.. hmm...

And lastly, Fred van Lente, Howard Mackie, Brian Reed, Ben Acker & Ben Blacker, Christos Gage, Larry Hama, Mark Millar, and James Robinson each inspired a single fic from me. Of these I'm most stunned by Larry Hama because he actually wrote.. a lot of 90s Venom.

Looking at this list is really interesting for me though because it also kind of makes me realize where I pull so much influence for how I write characterization and dialogue and such? Obviously Robbie Thompson is a huge inspiration for how I write Flash - but I also approach his character with the writing of many many others in the back of my mind. When I write Eddie Brock, it's usually some amalgamation of how my favorite writers for him (Michelinie, Kaminski, Bunn, even Conway) have depicted him.

Notably absent from the list, at least for me I think it's notable, is J. M. DeMatteis, considering how much I've gone on about how I love his writing. But I think it's because a lot of his comics I've read touch on some pretty dark subjects that I don't always feel comfortable addressing myself.

Taking a peek at some of my current WIPs and the comics that directly inspired them, I could add the likes of Stan Lee, Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, Ann Nocenti, and yeah, definitely JMD to the list.

I do feel it's worth mentioning that if I've ever written anything with Peter and the Venom Symbiote, though, you can bet that I've got Louise Simonson's Web of Spider-Man #1 in mind. Every single time.