I am one of the people that really enjoyed the idea of Flash Thompson as a hero. I loved the Agent Venom storyline, and I even enjoyed the Space Knight run and where he was a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. So when I heard that Venom #1 was going to have the symbiote find a new host, I was skeptical. I am all for changing things up, I just felt that Flash made Venom fun in a way it had not before. However, I guess there is only so much you can do with Venom being a good guy, and both of those series had seemed to become stale. Perhaps it was time to have him be bad again and try something and someone different.

That is exactly what Venom #1 does. It places the iconic Spidey villain back in that category, but with a twist. Our new host, Lee, is an Army Ranger who is home now and down on his luck. He is looking to be a hired gun, and the story does a good job of keeping details on our main character hidden. Is he a bad guy? Or just down on his luck? We do get those answers, for the most part by the end of the book.

I did not read the last few Guardians of the Galaxy issues, but I do know that with Civil War II, they are stuck on Earth with a busted ship. We don’t get Flash in this issue, but the writer Mike Costa does say he will be involved in this story, so that is exciting. Something happened for the symbiote to be in an alley, only to be found by an unlucky homeless man, and then finding its way to Lee. I did find it odd that Lee wasn’t scared, or shocked after the first time he was linked with the symbiote. He seemed in complete control and even seemed to control the symbiote. Perhaps the suit is very weak right now, and that would explain a lot. Still, I would think someone would be at least a little freaked out or terrified after an experience like that, but time will tell if they explain this more.

The art by Gerardo Sandoval is fine, especially when he draws Venom himself. I don’t like his character design on people as much as the monster, but it isn’t anything bad. I felt like the quality between panels varied from excellent to just okay. I will repeat however, Venom looks awesome. When he is on the page, he feels raw, violent, chaotic, and scary. That is how Venom should feel, and Sandoval does a nice job conveying that.

Who will be under control going forward? Lee, or the symbiote? This book has a pretty interesting twist with who that was in the thought bubbles, and once I discovered that, I went back and enjoyed it a bit more. I think this series has good potential, and this was just a setup issue. If you are interested in Venom being a violent, and dark book again, by all means give this a chance.

Story: Mike Costa Art: Gerardo Sandoval
Story: 6 Art: 7 Overall: 6.5 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review