Superior Spider-Man #25 – Review

by Dan Slott, Christos Gage (Writers), Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba (Artists), Edgar Delgado (Colorist)

The Story: It’s the Avengers against the Superior Venom as chaos erupts in the city.

The Review: There’s always something rather nice in longer issues. While the normal 20 pages structures can be generally used well by most writers, there’s something satisfying in knowing that publishers aren’t against the idea to print larger book in order to tell bigger stories. They come as a bit more costly most of the time, but they are worth it more often than not.

However, I cannot say that the higher page count was used in the most efficient of ways in the big conclusion to Darkest Hour, the Venom story which pitted Otto as infected by the symbiote. There is plenty of nice ideas and a general sense of action that is rather entertaining, yet there are several problems that makes this large issue not the best it could very well be.

The most obvious problem is the number of plots and subplots the book tries to handle at the same time. The war against the Goblin King and Hobgoblin, the transformation of Carlie Cooper, the fate of Flash Thompson, how citizens reacts and many more such events are thrown at the readers, with not all of them receiving the buildup or enough space to have the impact it should have. It does get exciting at times, but most of these scenes ends way too soon for them to be satisfying.

Superior Spider-Man #24 – Review

by Dan Slott, Christos Gage (Writers), Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba (Artists), Edgar Delgado (Colorist)

The Story: Make place for the Superior Venom as Otto tries to prove that he can control the symbiote, a creature that renders people more arrogant and violent than they were before.

The Review: There are tons of characters that are mostly popular due to their concepts and their looks more than anything else. Characters like Ghost Rider, Venom and countless others are perfect examples of this, as they had been mostly used due to their designs more than anything else. Sure, we may have gotten good stuff like Rick Remender’s run on Venom and Jason Aaron on his stint with Ghost Rider, but those are more exceptions rather than proof of concepts, with nothing much else being done with the characters that warrant any actual quality associated with them. Things are changing, of course, but this was the sad reality of many characters like these two for a while.

However, I have to say that both Dan Slott and Christos Gage makes for a great use of the Venom symbiote in this issue, bringing the newer status quo of the character up with a touch of nostalgia. Connecting a multitude of eras in order to bring something new on the table, both writers manage to write a thoroughly enjoyable issue as Otto’s antics are getting even bigger and more chaotic than usual.

What this issue really does right, in a way, is in how it represents the symbiote almost as a character on its own in a subtle way. The way it acts with Otto in this issue is very reminiscent of the original symbiote arc, which is actually very different from the manner it has been presented with Flash Thompson in recent series featuring him. The rising need for violent behaviour, the aggressive tendencies with loved one and the lack of complete control is well shown here, leading to some rather delightful and excessive scenes.

Venom #4 – Review

by Rick Remender (writer), Tony Moore (pencils), Danny Miki (inks), John Rauch (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: It’s Venom vs. Spider-Man in the race to save Betty Brant.

What’s Good: Hurray, Tony Moore is back.  Tom Fowler is a solid enough artist, but there really isn’t any replacing Moore’s likable, characterful, and slightly goofy style.  His work is naturally fun and both his characters and action scenes look solid.  That said, a lot of credit is due to the inking and coloring of Danny Miki and John Rauch, respectively.  Together, they’ve really helped give Venom it’s distinctive look, one that’s feels dirty, smudged, and sci-fi pulpy.

As far as Remender’s writing goes this month, his strongest work is done with Flash’s narration.  It’s intense and really close to the action and it’s rather nice to see how the action actually has a direct effect on the narration and Flash’s stream of thought.  It’s a nice change from the usual detachment that narration usually has.  More than ever, Remender also does an awesome job using the narration to show the symbiote’s effect on Flash’s psyche.  It’s most effective when Flash himself doesn’t realize small things like his referring to himself as “we.”

What’s especially cool this month is how Remender is giving the symbiote itself an increasing amount of its own sentience.  Flash essentially has a running conversation with the symbiote, who responds primarily with wordless emotion that he intuitively senses.  More creepily fun still is how the symbiote subtly does things, unbeknownst to Flash, such as how it deals with the failsafe device.  Remender is slowly building the relationship between the two and the symbiote’s attachment to Thompson.

Venom #1 – Review

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

The Story: Flash goes on a mission to stop an arms-dealer, and the doctor behind his weapons, amidst genocide.

The Review: Venom #1 is a very interesting issue insofar as it shows, truly, what a great creative team can do and how one such team can mine greatness from what looks, at first, to be a tapped reservoir.

Certainly, at it’s base level, Venom #1 has a lot that could make for a very mediocre comic.  There’s the fact that it’s about Venom, already a ho-hum franchise.  Then there’s the fact that it’s yet another superhero spec-ops book.  Meanwhile, having a faceless arms-dealer as a villain?  It doesn’t get much blander than that.  Yet, Venom #1 is a tremendous comic book that sees Rick Remender succeeding once again with the odds stacked against him.

One of the reasons is Remender’s outstanding character-work.  Flash Thompson, for instance, is an absolute star and, within pages, instantly recognizable as an incredibly compelling and sympathetic main character well worth his own ongoing series.  He’s a fully three dimensional human being and in 22 pages, Remender touches upon so much of what makes him tick: his devotion to his country in the face of political naysayers, his courage and natural heroism, his struggles with alcoholism and his own flaws and vulnerabilities, his constant conflict with the old high school jock football hero inside of him, and the toll his military career and heroism takes on his personal sphere.  There is just so much about Remender’s Flash that intrigues, and placed in such a balancing act as this one, where absolute emotional equilibrium is required to control the beast that is the symbiote only heightens everything that makes Flash interesting.

Remender also does great work when it comes to Flash’s narration.  It feels personal, heroic yet human, and fully captures Flash’s unique voice.  It’s not over the top in any way, but it’s great to see Flash having a distinct tone.  Remender also does ingenious work in manipulating these narrative textboxes to show Flash’s loss of control to the symbiote.

Cackling villain Jack O’ Lantern is a joy.  He’s maniacal and a hyperactive, exaggerated bit of murderous black comedy.  He’s a lot of fun and reminds me of something Grant Morrison would write, albeit a bit more comprehensible.

Echo #2 – Review

By Terry Moore (story, art), Brian Miller (colors)

I’m not sure if I’m going to continue with this book on a monthly basis. I’ll give the book a couple more issues, but if I’m not completely hooked by then, I’ll just wait for the trades. Echo is not a bad book by any stretch – it’s got a good science fiction concept, beautiful art, and excellent pacing. Now, you’re probably asking, “Well what’s there to complain about then?” And my answer is, I just don’t know if there’s enough story to get me by each issue. There’s also elements that nag me as disingenuine at times (which I’ll get to in a moment).

Terry Moore wastes no time putting us right on the heels of last issue with Julie’s metal problem. Try as she might, it won’t come off her skin. So, she drives to the nearest hospital for help to which the doctor completely blows her off; he believes she’s playing a prank on her. And even though the nurse is convinced that Julie’s problem is serious and reak, she wastes no time in discharging her. Now see, this is just stupid. No hospital would turn a patient away – especially when it’s something this serious. Prank or not, Julie easily could seek out a second opinion or at least fight for it. But she doesn’t, she just gives up and walks away. She also does this to her soon to be ex-husband when he blows her off. I mean, if her problems are as serious as this, wouldn’t she just drive down to his place of work and show him the problem first hand?

It’s this kind of characterization that annoys me. It’s like she’s playing the “stupid” character in a horror movie. You know the one I’m talking about – the one that gets killed. Moore has constructed events like these to play upon our sympathies for the character, but they do anything but. Readers are smarter than this. Don’t play them as fools. This is a serious problem for me, and it’s not one I’m going to let go. Moore should either let moments like these play out realisticly or he shouldn’t do them at all.

These rest of the issue is otherwise excellent. Moore does a great job with his compositions and narrative. They’re both much improved over the first issue. There’s a scene in particular with Julie and her dog that grounds this book with a lot of realism. We get more of the government conspiracy, and a new player enters the story who will most likely become Julie’s adversary. There’s a lot to like about this issue, but I’m just not convinced (yet) that this is a title that will read well on a monthly basis. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – Scalped and Walking Dead are similar books that read much better in trade form – so we’ll see. (Grade: B-)

– J. Montes