By: Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Carlos Cuevas (inks), Edgar Delgado (colors), Joe Caramanga (letters) & Stephen Wacker (editor)
The Story: Flash Thompson is introduced as the all-new Venom.
What’s good: This is yet another example of great art making all the difference. Just merely having Humberto Ramos doing pencils on this issue pushes this comic to a higher grade as a starting point. I’ve gushed about his art plenty and if you’re interested in the details, go check out my reviews of ASM 648-650. His loose and cartoony style is so effective at conveying the kinetic energy of a character like Venom. The other thing that really puts Ramos’ art over the top are the great layouts and page designs such as one page where Flash dances with the fem fatale on this issue. This comic is really well executed from an art standpoint.
And, the story isn’t too shabby either. The concept of Flash as Venom is really cool. We all know what a devious little bugger the Venom symbiote is and it is clearly a major problem when you put that symbiote together with someone like Mac Gargan. It is going to be very interesting to see whether the symbiote will corrupt a good guy like Flash and what Flash will be willing to do to retain the symbiote since it allows him to walk again. This particular issue has a done-in-one kinda feel to it as Flash/Venom goes out on a one-man hostage rescue mission. The whole thing is well told and well paced by Slott and it is a very different type of superhero comic than we’re used to getting from Marvel. This is almost more of a military/espionage comic.
A final note on how well these two creators seem to work together. You can just tell that Slott must be very aware of what Ramos draws well when he is writing the script. That makes a huge difference and there is a LOT to be said for a writer having trust in the artist to carry their part of the story. Let’s hope that these two have plenty of opportunities to work together in the years to come.
What’s Not So Good: This is an “A” comic book, but I’m going to ding it a little bit for editorial dishonesty. We were told this whole .1 initiative was to create good jumping on points for new readers. The first two .1 issues (Invincible Iron Man & Wolverine) were solid stories, but not necessarily good jumping on points. But, this issue is now the clubhouse leader for worst jumping on point because this issue is not about Spider-Man at all. It is a great jumping on point for Venom but Venom will have it’s own jumping on point with its #1 issue in a week or two. Venom didn’t need a .1 issue. Honestly, neither did Spider-Man. ASM moves so fast that there is never a bad time to jump onto Spidey. But if you INSIST on a traditional jumping on point, how about #648 just a month or so ago?
Let’s just say that until further notice, fans should not buy these .1 issues as jumping on points. They might get an outstanding comic (as in this case), but they are not jumping on points the way “they” marketed them to us. The whole thing makes me intensely curious about the genesis for these 1 scripts. I refuse to believe that writers as good as Fraction, Aaron and Slott were told to write a “jumping on point for new readers” and came back with these three scripts.
Conclusion: Editorial dishonesty about the .1 initiative aside, this is a great issue. Remender and Moore had better bring their A-game in a few weeks, because Slott and Ramos have established a very high mark for them to aim for. This is a very new and unique Venom and I can’t wait to see him play out in his own series.
Grade: A-
-Dean Stell
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