![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_hmOfolKlLFI/TYp7-HioiaI/AAAAAAAACI0/kwixhKWDbAA/s160/thevenomstorebanner1.jpg")
The Story: Flash is on a mission to stop a shipment of Vibranium from falling into the wrong hands. The mission takes him from Europe, to The Savage Lands, and concludes in New York. Along the way he battles Jack O'Lantern, Kraven the Hunter, and Spider-Man.
The Good: Venom - I'll admit that I was a little weary when I learned that Venom was going to have yet another host. However, I think Flash is perfect for the role. Under Remender's pen, he has a lot of the great characteristics I loved about Eddie Brock's Venom (wanting to be a hero, constantly reasoning with the symbiote) and none of the ridiculous Mac Gargan ones (eating people's limbs off, growing 20x original size). On the other side of the relationship, the symbiote is proving to be a main character in this series and not just a 'super power.' The Writing - Rick Remender is doing a great job of not telling the whole story right from the beginning. Other reviews have said that the pace is too slow and there are too many unanswered questions; I disagree. The reader gets a firm understanding of the mission (or backdrop of the arc), the fact that the symbiote wants/needs Flash and that Flash will do anything to keep the symbiote, and Venom gets an arch nemesis (other than Spidey) all in the first four issues. And of course there are going to be questions unanswered in the first arc, why else would there be a need to continue the series?
The Bad: Fowler's Art - Issue 3's Venom in particular. It's not that I hate his art, it's just not Tony Moore's. Spider-Man - I really hope he doesn't play a role in this series after Spider-Island because I can't stand that guy! He comes out of nowhere and starts fighting Venom (assuming he is responsible for Betty's disappearance and without evening questioning who is in control of the symbiote now).
The Overall: 4 outta 5. This series has met and exceeded all of my expectations for a Venom ongoing series!
Well... have you ever thought about... that maybe... just maybe we dislike Spidey because.... WERE VENOM FANS!?! XD idk part of me thinks they made Spidey a "douche" is because your supposed to hate him if your reading a "Venom" comic haha. But Flash hasn't sold me yet... Gargan seemed OK for the last issues of MK Spider-man then after that... well you know... I guess I'll see after all this Spider-Island stuff blows over :-)
ReplyDeletei really like Fowlers'art,
ReplyDeleteGood review although I'm not sure I'm into jack lantern being venoms main baddie honestly I wish he died from the grenade in his his mouth I like what they did with the character but I don't see what he adds besides lame Halloween themed gadgets like those devil babies lol wut was up with those but wutevs series is great
ReplyDeleteI hate Spider-Man because he unnecessarily dealt with the devil. This coming from the very same guy who is supposed to be a moral compass and role model for the ages makes me sick, I can't stand the sight of him or the good he does now in comics. Prior to that, I was actually a fan of both Spider-Man and Venom.
ReplyDeleteOn the other point, to me, Flash is alright for the time being (better than Gargan at least) but I don't think he should be the permanent host for Venom. Venom has for the most part been a villain, a Spider-Man enemy. I can't see Flash willingly becoming Spider-Man's enemy or bending over to the will of the symbiote like Gargan in the future.
It adds to Flash having a "hero" aspect and it parralels with him being Spidey. If Spidey's nemesis is the Green Goblin then Venom's nemesis is Jack. Both are "goblins" bascilly :/. And Betty is MJ (or whoever the fuck they say Spidey is dating now) to Venom. I think Betty should have died from the bomb. In 3 the timer read 00:00 but no big explosion.. And it would have been a pretty good parallel to Gwen Stacy's death for Venom. And I agree, there's no way you survive a grenade to the mouth, but hay, it's a comic book..
ReplyDelete@Radam - I think Flash is a good fit BECAUSE he is moving Venom from villian to hero. I can't help but to think of The Rock in WWF - he started as a villian but became mainstream when he turned good guy (The Rock? Man, I'm old!). I always liked Venom better when he was the anti-hero, which I think fits Flash perfectly - the symbiote will never be 100% good.
ReplyDelete@Freddie - I agree, Jack isn't the best nemisis...but I like that they picked an obscure character to develop into this role. I almost wish Remender would of created a new character to be Venom's rival. And yes, those stupid devil babies have to go!!
@ Aaron - I have mixed feelings about the Spidey parrallels. I don't want Venom to be an alternate version of Spider-Man, but I can see how that will work. I did notice the 00:00 on the bomb too...not sure what happened there. Betty's death would of been a great way to have Flash/Venom hate Spider-Man enough to stop idiolizing him.
Hopefully future missions will keep Venom out of NY and away from Spidey to help him develop.
100% Aggree
ReplyDelete^yah if she died it would have been a great way to start off the series, I could easily see that making flash hate spidey
ReplyDeleteNice review. I also thought Spidey was a douche in the Venom series.
ReplyDeleteThe Spider Island Daily Bugle that there giving away has a new interview with Remender
ReplyDeleteDo you have a link or scan of the interview?
ReplyDeletehttp://i.imgur.com/FnoP4.png
ReplyDeleteCrap didn't mean to do that, yeah quality isn't great http://i.imgur.com/FnoP4.png
ReplyDelete