VENOM (2011) #3 REVIEW

Hola, Spider-Faithful! Venom #5 was released today, but I thought you might appreciate a change of pace. Instead of reviewing the flavor of the moment, I will be taking a look back at one of the legendary Venom stories of yore. That’s right—it’s a good old fashioned retro review! So join me in my time machine as I travel back to a simpler time in comics history and review the now-classic Venom #3!

Ah, yes. The time was May, 2011. The USA had finally killed Osama, doomsday predictions were proven false, and kids across the nation were “grooving” to Katy Perry’s hit single, “E.T.” Speaking of which, go back and listen to that track to put yourself in the proper context. The part where Kanye West eloquently rhymes “I abducted you” with “I tell you what to do” to convey his intention to “disrobe” and “probe” the song’s protagonist truly captures the innocence of the era. Ironically, Venom #3 also features an extraterrestrial, the alien symbiote. Coincidence? Alas, we may never know.

Read the rest of this review and leave a comment!

VENOM #3

“Web of Death!”

WRITER: Rick Remender

ART: Tom Fowler

COLORS: John Rauch

LETTERS: Joe Caramagna

PLOT:

Now aware of Venom’s identity (Flash Thompson, for those of you struggling to remember), the new Jack O’ Lantern targets Betty Brant in her bedroom. Meanwhile, Flash’s handler, Katherine, informs General Dodge that Flash has been missing in the Savage Land for three days. Katherine recommends activating the “fail-safe,” which means blowing Flash up over remote control. Dodge, who being a blind man in the military is sympathetic to “long-shots,” allows Flash more time to complete his mission.

The comic cuts to Venom massacring some henchmen named “The Henchmen” inside the Antarctic vibranium mining station. The Henchmen are gun-toting  gangsters who wear skull masks and fly on neon, ghost-shaped hover boards. Don’t you wish today’s comics still had that kind of flair? Flash’s internal monologue explains that he’s suffering from memory gaps and is enjoying the symbiote’s power a little too much. Flash blows up the compound and escapes on a helicopter loaded with vibranium.

The shadowy mastermind behind the mine appears on the helicopter’s communication monitor and informs Flash that this was his plan all along. The villain needed someone with Flash’s security clearance to fly the shipment into New York. And if Flash doesn’t participate? Betty Brant dies via giant bomb. Flash arrives in New York and faces the man pulling the strings: The Crime-Master. Flash hands over the vibranium and leaves to rescue Betty. Crime-Master lets him go, calculating that he can use his knowledge of Flash’s identity to blackmail him later.

Spider-Man has also noticed Betty’s abduction. Thinking Venom responsible, Spidey attacks him. At this point, Flash completely loses control of the symbiote, which wants nothing more than to kill Spider-Man. General Dodge sees footage of the fight and pushes a big, red button.

THOUGHTS:

This was not my favorite issue when I first read it back in the day, but one aspect that has held up after all this time is the cliffhanger. Venom and Spider-Man trashing Manhattan! Betty’s bomb clock striking 00:00! General Dodge pushing Venom’s destruct button! We now know that all the major players survived, and I expected as much back then, but it was nonetheless a masterfully constructed monument to suspense. I also recall feeling quite optimistic about the book’s future. Remender had set up a clever scenario with the Crime-Master, and I really dug the other rivals the author had cooked up. The Henchmen are visually hilarious (in a good way) and I just can’t get enough of this new take on the Jack O’ Lantern. He always looks and sounds like he’s having more fun being dastardly than any villain I can think of, including the Joker.

Unfortunately, not even the passage of time can fully mitigate my disappointment with this issue. I get the impression that the Spider-Team wanted to finish this arc before the Spider Island crossover and also that they wanted to spend the majority of issue #4 on the Venom/Spidey battle. Issue #2 was utterly wasted on Venom’s fight with Kraven in the Savage Land. Thus, #3 had to blow through Venom’s primary mission in the Savage Land, get Venom home, and get the slugfest with Spidey started. That’s a lot of legwork for one issue to accomplish, especially for one released in May, 2011. I know it seems like a long time ago, but comics were already well into the age of decompression by that point. Frustratingly, Remender chose to save space by mostly skipping over Venom’s mission in the Savage Land, attributing the missing scenes to Flash’s “memory gaps.” Considering that the first two issues hyped up this operation, I feel cheated. It’s as if the story was rushing to its conclusion without much concern for the missed opportunities for fun along the way.

Speaking of missed opportunities, Tony Moore missed his opportunity to pencil this issue due to the historic blizzards of early 2011. Tom Fowler filled in, and his work proved to be a poor substitute. To be fair, he was probably on a tight schedule considering the circumstances. Therefore, I am not going to conclude upon his potential as an artist based on this issue. Still, many pages here look blurry, unfinished, and unattractive. I also do not care for his rendition of Venom’s face, with his jaw jutting out at an awkward angle.

Perhaps it is unfair of me to judge such a vintage issue based on modern standards. After all, this was the month where the top-selling comic was something called “Fear Itself,” an obscure, now-forgotten artifact of the mid-2011s that clearly evinces a less-discerning attitude among the era’s comic readers. Instead of holding them up to the impossibly high bar set by contemporary comics, a better way to evaluate the impact of older issues is to think in terms of their influence. For instance, a careful observer will quickly notice how Venom #3 has inspired subsequent works, such as Venom #4. And without Venom #4 we might never have gotten Venom #5. By taking account of these threads of artistic inspiration working their way forward to the present day, we can see that Venom #3 is still as vital a work as it was when Marvel first unveiled it to the reading public.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5.