Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Slott, Christos Gage
Art: Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba
What They Say:
As Otto Octavius takes another big step in his life as Peter Parker… could a big part of Flash Thompson’s life be coming to a close? Will he be…Venom no more?!?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The arrival of Flash Thompson as Agent Venom in the previous issue kicked off the Darkest Hours event, which is definitely getting going in a fun and dangerous way here. While Octavius knows of Venom as most people of his persuasion do, he hasn’t been able to keep up on things since with what Flash has been able to do with the Symbiote and that they’re largely working for the side of good. The fight at the end of the previous issue drops us into things here with Octavius having the edge and basically waiting for the Symbiote to give him any excuse to just outright kill it. Not that it can be, of course, but it would certainly be amusing if Octavius was the one after all this time to end its overall threat.
Flash has always been quick on his feet in situations like this, so it’s good to see that he’s able to figure out how to escape – following Crime Master’s plan only adds to it. With Flash getting away, damaged and in pain much as the Symbiote is, isn’t exactly an unqualified victory. And for Octavius, the way he lashes out is really well done to highlight just what kind of differences there are between him and Peter after all this time. Seeing him brought back to “normal” with a kissy-kissy called from Anna Maria is perfect though gas it’s that humanized side that really draws you to him overall, even amid his darker moments like this. With Octavius using his hired men to find Flash and Venom while also getting ticked that they’ve had no luck on the Green Goblin yet, that gives him a bit of time to try and deal with other things in his life.
And those things are fun – and complicated. Bringing Anna Maria to his apartment so she can cook for the meal that has her meeting May is full of cute since the place is full of Spider-Man gear that he can explain away. Her ability to put him in his place is adorable and very human, making Octavius more of a fleshed out character than most of the usual rogues. The meal itself, unfortunately, isn’t quite as fully fleshed out as it should be and it goes in some difficult places since May didn’t know of Anna’s stature and that has her really concerned about a whole host of things that she expresses awkwardly as hell, but in a way that fits for the character overall. It’s almost comical in some ways, but just unfortunate in others since there was so much positive energy going into it, especially with May getting the nanotech to help her walk now without a cane.
The other thing that drives part of the tensions here is that while preparing for the meal, Flash ends up going to visit since he has few other places to go, particularly since MJ’s place is full of first responders that are getting in free for the moment. Octavius is shocked to have him basically walk into his place, but he wheedles him into coming with him to the company later to help with some quick research that could use the nanotech to help veterans, appealing to Flash’s altruistic side. It’s all quick and very forced to get to where they want to be, but what we get is a pretty interesting new position to put the cast in. With Octavius reappearing as Spider-Man to oversee the test with Wirtham, Flash gets his legs back in mechanical form but he also gets Venom separated from him, resulting in an overpowered creature in pain that’s stronger than Octavius realized after all these years. Remembering that Octavius was back in the original Secret War as well, and followed what Reed Richards did to contain it years ago, really is a long connection to the past, but it certainly makes me smile even as it gives birth to a Superior Venom.
In Summary:
My interest in Venom waned years and years ago so I admit it’s hard to get too all enthused about the character here, no matter the form. The connection with Flash as Agent Venom just feels forced and dorky, so I’m kind of interesting to see how Superior Venom can play out. The issue beyond that has some good stuff in general, especially the time between Octavius and Anna Maria, but the more human side of the book got sidelined far quicker than it should in order to get to this point. It’s like a broken record, but that’s what continues to really sell the book for me, though I continue to enjoy seeing how Octavius proves he is a superior Spider-Man, but one that simply makes a different set of compromises and concessions to achieve his goals.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: December 4th, 2013
MSRP: $3.99