In which sonic pepper spray is enjoyed by all.
VENOM #18
“Savage Six, Part 1: Public Enemies”
WRITERS: Rick Remender & Cullen Bunn
PENCILS: Lan Medina
INKS: Nelson Decastro
COLORS: Chris Sotomayor
LETTERS: VC’s Clayton Cowles
COVER ART: Tony Moore & John Rauch
PLOT:
After venting her Flash frustrations on Peter, Betty bumps into Jack O’ Lantern’s civilian alter ego. Jack does the “I’m going to toy with my nemesis by getting friendly with his loved ones” schtick until Venom attacks him. Betty uses “sonic pepper spray” invented by Peter to stun Venom and runs away.
Megatak displays a Krueger-esque ability to attack through phones, preventing Venom from calling for help or warning Betty. Venom finds Betty, but Eddie Brock as Toxin ambushes them both. Toxin claims that with Venom dead, “he’ll be the only one left for the spawning.” Venom sonic pepper sprays Toxin and webs him to the street.
Knowing it’s the only way Betty will quit resisting Venom’s protection, Venom reveals his identity to her.
THOUGHTS:
Bursting with character development, plot progression, and fast-paced suspense, I would decree Venom #18 the best issue to date but for Eddie Brock’s disappointing turn as Toxin. I’m clueless about Toxin’s history and this comic tells me nothing about that symbiote’s unique characteristics. He crashes onto the scene shouting “WE’VE COME FOR YOUR SOUL!” just like ’90s Venom would come snarling for brains. Toxin-Brock acts indistinguishably from Venom-Brock, failing to capitalize on whatever characterization potential existed in mixing and matching symbiotes.
As an aside, Remender recently commented to the comics press that Blackheart beat Toxin’s former host to death in a gutter off-panel. By killing a cult favorite character off-panel, not even mentioning him by name in the comic, Remender once again implies disdain for the wider symbiote franchise.
Enough about Toxin. This issue’s crux is Betty Brant’s relationships. During her conversation with Peter, the visual cues and body language show a rich companionship between the two, and also a hint of attraction. This is the first time in the half-decade since One More Day when writers inserted romantic tension involving Peter and it didn’t come off as obnoxious and trying too hard. Neither character says so explicitly, but Betty sees Peter as the greener grass on the other side of the fence compared to Flash, Peter being more dependable and emotionally available. Adults with Betty and Peter’s mutual history would logically harbor unspoken feelings for each other even if they had preempting romantic commitments. Let’s please not devolve this into a too-obvious love triangle, Marvel.
Character moments flow in and out of visceral action scenes in an astoundingly organic way. Medina makes the straight-up fight scenes beautifully thrilling. Meanwhile, the scenes of Venom and Betty on the run provide yet more characterization to complement the adventure. Betty makes for a defiant damsel in distress, and I love how it isn’t clear how much of Flash’s shouting reactions are the symbiote’s influence and how much is pure human loss of patience due to intense stress and zero appreciation from the person for whom he has put his life on the line to rescue. The funniest thing is that Betty assumes that all these villains are after her because of her blog! Betty’s lives in her own little reality that she defines and where she’s the center of importance. She’s Venom’s love interest and his J. Jonah Jameson at the same time, and I make the latter comparison in the most endeared way possible.
By the same token, this issue’s cover is an instant classic. Betty’s rueful expression, the priceless look on Venom’s face as he shrugs under her inconsiderate positioning, and the harrowing drama of the entire set setpiece combine several distinct moods into one hilarious and exhilarating image.
I will mostly save discussion of the cliffhanger until we see how the creators handle it. Suffice to say that Betty learning Flash’s identity has exciting dramatic potential, and this development occurred at exactly the right time to keep the Venom saga engrossing.
RATING:
4 sonic pepper sprays out of 5 (great).
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@8: Crime master send Venom to retrieve the symbiote for him right before circle of four.
Blackheart killed Patrick to get the Toxin symbiote, right? If so, why does Crime Master have it? I hope they address what happened to him, because relying on Word of God is just lazy writing.
I’m curious about the Secret Symbiote event. It looks like it might be Minimum Carnage, but that hasn’t been solicited yet. It might be in September, but the Secret Symbiote event was supposed to happen in the summer, unless it got delayed.
I think Betty has overstayed her welcome in this title. Maybe Bunn will get her out of the book and introduce some new characters for Flash to interact with.
The Savage Six are the following: Crime-Master, Jack O’ Lantern, Megatak, Death Adder, Human Fly, and Toxin.
Not since the Bat-Female Villain Repellent Spray have I seen something so ridicuously awesome.
So, who are the members of the Savage Six? All I counted was Jack O’Lantern.
1 – Yep, right next to the sonic screwdriver.
2 – I think you’re right about the spawning.
3 – Betty is a straight trip, so it’s in character.
The issue was solid, but Betty was a straight trip throughout the whole thing.
I really don’t like where remender is taking brock AND the toxin Symbiote. I guess that what he wanted to do was oppose a more 90 ish venom vs the modern venom to show how far the concept have gone; but he might be devolving 2 characters at the same time to do so. And Am i the only one who’s eye was catch by the “spawning” that toxin mentionned? Could it be a hint about the mysterious symbiot event comming up?
The sonic pepper spray and the sonic toad both came from the TARDIS. They pop out of the console when they’re done.