Last month Marvel introduced an all new take on Venom, no longer his he the crazy cannibal villain looking to make Spider-Man’s life a hell on earth… well that’s all still there, boiling below the surface. For now however, Venom is bonded with Flash Thompson and being used as a tool for covert black op’s missions for the United States Army.
If you want to learn more about Flash Thompson’s origins as Venom check out Amazing Spider-Man 654.1. You can find my thoughts on the rebirth of Venom here.
Here we are March 2011, Venom #1 has finally hit newsstands, but was it worth the wait? Short Answer, yes. Picking up a short time after Amazing Spider-Man 654.1 left off, Venom #1 has Flash, or “Agent Venom” as he is known in the field, being sent into Eastern Europe to extract the Evil Doctor Ekmecic and his special recipe for weaponized Antarctic Vibranium.
This being the wonderful world of comic books and superheroes, it should be fairly obvious nothing in the mission will go 100% to plan. Apparently a war zone with super weapons, the villainous Jack-o-Lantern and Flash losing his temper add up to the emergence of our old pal Venom taking control of Flash for a brief time putting him and the mission in danger.
I really enjoy the new look of Venom and I really like the direction of the character, but because Flash can only wear the suit 20 times and for no longer than 48 hour, lest the Symbiote takes over, I don’t see this being a very long ongoing series without have to revert to the Venom we all know and love. Hopefully they’ll find a way around the limitations they have put on Flash for Venom missions.
I know what you are asking… should I pick up this book? Yes. It is a compelling story filled with action, drama and a fair bit of personal sacrifice from Flash Thompson. Check out Venom it’s a good story and if anything will be a hell of a ride to watch.
