blogging by Andrew Wickliffe


Venom 1 (May 2011)


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What a depressing comic. It’s like Rick Remender looked at some old Spider-Man comics and tried to figure out how he could make any even more depressed arachnid superhero.

Flash Thompson (the new Venom) comes into the comic a jingoist and leaves it a broken wretch. I initially had problems with Remender’s characterization because it seemed cheap–Marvel trying to sell comics to the U.S. Army. The end decidedly makes the book something quite different.

There’s a slight disconnect because Thompson’s “Agent Venom,” the worst detail in the comic is that name, comes in acting like a super-U.N. peacekeeper, but it’s soon revealed he’s just a black ops guy for the U.S. government. Neither fit into Flash’s self-image at the start of the comic.

But Flash was never smart, something Remender doesn’t shy away from.

Tony Moore’s okay enough. I think the overdone inks actually help him.

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CREDITS

Project Rebirth 2.0; writer, Rick Remender; penciller, Tony Moore; inkers, Sandu Florea and Karl Kesel; colorist, John Rauch; letterer, Joe Caramagna; editors, Alejandro Arbona and Stephen Wacker; publisher, Marvel Comics.


One response to “Venom 1 (May 2011)”

  1. All I can tell you is that I’m a half century old. I also know that I wouldn’t generally set within twenty feet of a Venom comic. For some god forsaken reason, this appeals to me. Having a somewhat sympathetic face in Venom by Flash Thompson doesn’t hurt. Moore does a decent job of aping the house style, and with Remender’s retro sylings this comic becomes remorely readable. Kudos.

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