Last week in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #667, we saw the beginning of this summer’s major Spidey event, Spider-Island. Masterminded by, ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ scribe Dan Slott, ‘Spider-Island’ follows the story of New York City as it is plunged into chaos by an infestation of spiders that are giving every single person that they bite their own version of Spider-Man’s powers! Wow! Talk about trouble!

With Spider-Island in full effect, Mayor J. Jonah Jameson has declared New York City a disaster area and put the city on full lockdown. Naturally the military is called in to investigate and that’s where Venom comes in.

For those who haven’t been following the story of Venom lately, the psychopathic Spidey-hating villain of the past is no more. Now Peter Parker’s old pal, and head of the Spider-Man fan club, Flash Thompson is wearing the symbiote suit. Flash, after losing his legs in the military and now coming up after struggling with bouts of alcoholism, is offered a second chance at being a hero by wearing the symbiote suit. Under strict control of the military, the new Venom can only wear his suit for forty-eight hours at a stretch or else he risks permanent bonding with the symbiote.

This Venom series has shaped up to be a brilliant take on the character so far. I love the internal artwork from Tom Fowler. It reminds me of the weird war and western comics that I read as a kid and is fitting to the military angle of this series. Rick Remender’s writing started this series with a bang and has yet to lose its momentum!

[Warning: spoilers below!]

With Spider-Island already underway, this issue begins with Venom being asked to capture a huge spider-powered creature that is rampaging through NYC. Just as he’s heading into the fray, he gets a call from his already spurned girlfriend Betty Brant informing him that his estranged father is dying. It seems that, like his hero (Spider-Man), Flash can’t get a break as his personal and professional lives continue to collide.

After catching the creature, Venom and his handlers are in for more shocks as the huge spider-creature breaks loose in their compound and reveals itself to be harboring an egg-sack full of mutated spiders! Flash comes to the conclusion that the military should just burn the compound to the ground to keep the contagion from spreading beyond the borders of NYC. It is only then that the military reveals why Venom had to capture the creature instead of just killing it. The creature is actually Steve Rogers… aka Captain America! With some help from a canine friend, Venom is able to subdue Captain Spider. As the issue comes to a close, Flash/Venom is prepared to impersonate the Captain Spider creature and head back into NYC to find the source of the mutated spiders. Meanwhile, Betty Brant and Flash’s father are still waiting.

VENOM #6
Written by RICK REMENDER
Art by TOM FOWLER
Cover by TONY MOORE