Marvel is adding some new wrinkles to the Venom character. The alien symbiote that has been a long time villain and Spider-Man hater, has been contained by the military and is being used as a super suit to give super abilities to a special ops soldier on field missions. The first special ops agent chosen to wear Venom is Eugene “Flash” Thompson. Flash is a war hero and a huge Spider-Man fan-boy, who lost his legs serving his country, and now he becomes Venom to serve, and walk, again.
Venom # 1 opens in a Eastern European country that is being ravaged by war. A UN Peacekeeper unit in Stark tech heavy mech armor has been sent in to stop the devastation. To their horror they are met by a new Jack O’ Lantern. This Jack is being backed by a mysterious benefactor, and is outfitted with weapons that burn right through the mech armor. Then Flash drops into the scene.
With Venom’s special abilities, Flash moves fast and hits hard. Jack O’ Lantern is out to capture a doctor who has turned Antarctic Vibranium into a super weapon. Flash is out to make sure the bad guys don’t get him. However, the mission takes a back seat when Flash comes across a mother and her baby, and he makes it a priority to get them to safety. And he does this amidst the hail of gunfire, grenades, and tank artillery.
When Jack and Flash cross paths, Jack actually gets the drop on Flash, and is taking it to him. But Flash starts to lose control over Venom, and when more of the symbiote comes to the surface, he dispatches Jack O’ Lantern rather brutally. Some how Jack is able to keep himself together and stay on mission, and seems to be getting away with target. But Venom makes sure that the bad guys don’t get him.
Back at base a containment unit is used to separate Flash and Venom. And there Flash’s commanding officer gives him a dressing down and asserts the severity of the situation of working with Venom. Afterwards Flash returns home to wait his next mission. And he finds that being a super secret military agent is greatly damaging his personal life.
This is a cool super hero action comic. They’re handling Venom a little differently then he has been in the past, and that makes this an interesting read. Rather than someone who hates Spider-Man and/or Peter Parker, they have a friend of Peter’s and a Spider-Man fan tyring to control Venom. And the book has something of a military/dirty dozen feel to it, rather than a straight super hero genre. In this issue they set up that Flash will be in a struggle to keep from sub-coming to Venom, and watching for that ads to the tension. The ending where they seem to throw some of Flash’s personal problems at you at the last second seemed to come out of nowhere, and felt a little clunky, but this is likely to be another wrinkle to the character that will be developed more as the series goes on.
My first impression of the art was that it seemed a little muddy. But after giving it a second read, I think it fits with the bulk of the story where they are in the middle of war and devastation. The art conveys a frantic battle, and Venom and Jack O’ Lantern do have stand out moments. I also like the new design for Venom, taking on more of a soldier in armor armor look when Flash is in control, but at times a bit of the overly bulky Venom comes out.
Rick Remender wrote the issue, with Tony Moore as the penciler, Inks by Crimelab! Studios w/ Sandu Florea and Karl Kesel handling a few pages. John Raunch is the colorist, and VC’s Joe Caramagna is the letterer.
I recommend this book, and I also recommend finding Amazing Spider-Man # 654.1. Its the first appearance of the Flash-Venom, its a good issue, and it gives a little more background on the situation with using the symbiote.
Venom is the new super soldier. Stay out of his way, but buy his book.
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