Venom #2 – Review

by Rick Remender (writer), Tony Moore (pencils), Crimelab! Studios (inks), John Rauch (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Flash fights for his life as he finds himself hunted by Kraven in the Savage Land.

The Review: It seems that a lot series put out fantastic, promising first issues and then fail to deliver after that.  Well, breathe a sigh of relief Remender/Moore fans, because Venom isn’t one of those titles.  Venom’s second installment is just as good as the first, if not better.

Remender makes a daring creative choice this month, throwing Flash into the Savage Land jungle, hunted by Kraven, with no set-up.  We’re only given information throughout the issue, as the hunt continues.  The result is an issue that is frantic and disorienting, if not desperate.  As you can imagine, that’s absolutely fantastic for a story like this one, as it accurately reflects Flash’s predicament and enhances the theme and tone of the issue.  That’s this issue’s greatest strength really, that sweaty, dirty, desperate jungle horror tone.

Kraven is also put to perfect use and is fantastic under Remender’s hand.  The guy is batshit crazy, and his mental derangement infects the story and environment of the book overall.  His weird love for Venom and his desire to be killed makes for good reading and an awesome villain.  Furthermore, he really does feel like a hunter here.  He truly feels dangerous and it’s as though he’s everywhere, constantly at Flash’s heels.

Remender also does the little things well.  Flash’s narration is sharp as ever.  Remender does a good job of reflecting the effect poisoning on this narration and Flash’s thought patterns.  He also shows just how integral Betty is in Flash’s psyche, providing a sort of anchor for Flash.  Then there’s the ever closing relationship with the symbiote, which is continually creeping and, this month, gets further heightened and all the  more interesting, as it starts to have a personality of its own.  That’s good reading.

Then there’s Remender’s juxtaposition of Betty’s normal life soap-opera-like scenes and Flash’s insane jungle battle.  The two are such opposites that it effectively shows the massive chasm between the characters.

Amazing Spider-Man #635 – Review

The Grim Hunt, Part II by: Joe Kelly (writer), Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano & Matt Southworth (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors) & Joe Caramanga (letters)

Hunting the Hunter back-up story by: J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Max Fiumara (art), Fabio D’Auria (colors) & Caramanga (letters) and additional untitled back-up by Stan Lee and Marcos Martin

The Story: The Kravinoff’s continue their quest to catch Spiders, believing that sacrificing them on the altar of Kraven the Hunter will bring their patriarch back to life.

What’s Good: I’ll ask that you please run out and read this issue before reading this review.   This is the type of issue that deserves to be unspoiled for true fans.

That warning out of the way…  Holy crap!  I didn’t see that coming!  This issue kept me off balance from start to finish!  The Grim Hunt has really evolved at a break-neck pace since getting started in the last issue and I give a lot of credit to Joe Kelly for covering a lot of ground efficiently.  This issue had it all…  Fights, big-time villains, damsels in distress, a major bit of plot misdirection and a very shocking ending that builds for about 3-4 brutal pages.  As comic book fans, we’re trained to see our heroes get into dire circumstances but escape in the nick of time.  In a way, those miraculous escapes make us understand what it must be like to be a superhero: You can just wade into danger and somehow, someway…the good guys will escape.  But, this issue ramps that danger up just a little beyond the comfort zone and leaves us with a big payoff.

There…. Hopefully I’ve extolled this issue enough without spoiling it. Go read it twice!

Of course, you cannot have a spectacular issue without some really sharp art.  The overall style is a bit on the muddy side (which isn’t my favorite), but you cannot beat the storytelling and the expressive faces and body language.