Venom (2016) #1 Review

Venom (2016) #1

Recently a brand-new ongoing Venom series has launched and we are here today to discuss issue #1 of the series. This book is long awaited as this book once again changing the host of the alien Symbiote and what you’re going to notice here is that he is not a Guardian of the Galaxy any more or the so-called Space Knight or anything like that. They are trying to go back to basics and make the Venom Symbiote part of someone who is a scumbag because the Symbiote bonds with its host and it amplifies if they are evil.

So at first glance, this new person who is destined to be the next host of the Symbiote, isn’t very likable at all and they are definitely trying to go for that feeling here. The hero is Lee Price, who is a disabled military veteran, which kind of reflects on the Flash Thompson story with Venom but not really considering throughout this entire comic while reading it. But this guy doesn’t feel like Flash Thompson. Instead he’s got a very much douchebag like persona to be honest. And it’s sort of unfortunate that they just undo all that character development that they had with Flash Thompson as Agent Venom.

The Tough Life of Good Guys

Since Venom is a known Spider-Man villain, a lot of Spidey’s other enemies also come down to the same path. It’s the story of a small-time crook that needs money and he turns to the life of crime so that he can make some quick bucks. Something that was really different about this Venom is the fact that normally when you read the comic; the voice that’s been heard is of course of the person who is inside the suit.

Looking for a Little Help

This is the first time that we see a major change up here that you’re going to notice that the Symbiote now has its own voice. It’s a cool wrinkle to toss in there to the regularity which we have grown accustomed too and I think it’s going to be the really big pushing point for the story. I’m feeling that they are definitely going to be playing up with how Venom is reluctantly here and sort of being pushed towards the evil side by this character. While Lee Price was desperately looking for a job and came to New York to get one, the Symbiote was also lurking in the dark to find a host to live with.

The Unfavorable Odds

Running out of options, it eventually grabs a nearby old bum and temporarily bonded with it only to realize the amount of pain the citizens bears of the city. Whereas, it gave the Symbiote a moment of relief to take a breath for now, Lee got enlisted in Black Cat's gang by former super-villain Mac Gargan, who was also a former host of Venom during Dark Reign and some time prior. He and his friend Tony is sent by him to oversee a deal with another gang, which turns out to be the one that is ran by the villain Tombstone. The deal was supposed to be an easy one but suddenly turned out to be against their favor as member of Tombstone's gang started pointing guns at them. All Lee Price needed was a salvation at that moment and his wish is granted in an instance.

Salvation is Found

Lee was pretty sure that he is going to be riddled with bullets the next second but then the Symbiote suddenly made a dramatic entrance right in the middle of the confrontation and saved Lee from the shooting. As soon as it catch a moment, it let go of the old bum and bonded to Lee. At the same time, the Venom Symbiote also took a look back at his old life where it sees that even he was a soldier but he and his former host Flash Thompson are two completely polar opposite personalities.

A History of Violence

The recent development over the Venom character showed us that he wasn’t actually evil because he was just going insane as he was separated from his host. The Symbiote and its host, it all has to be one collective, which is why he says “We are Venom”. The Venom Symbiote almost immediately took care of the whole situation for Lee and saved his life big time. But as soon as a calm but desperate Lee Price gained its immense control, he showed a drastic change of character and unleashed his inner devil.

Venom is Back

This issue does a decent amount of job of getting me interested in to where they are going but it doesn’t have a good enough pace for a first issue as a whole. It may almost feel like that they should have made everything in this one issue and almost half of it. It’s just a little bit slow and there could be more to the story. It is mentioned by the new host that the Symbiote is already talking with him in his head and he also is planning for his own ends. That means, in the upcoming foreseeable future, Venom may even turn out to a ruthless new crime-boss of New York City, antagonizing the other bad-guys in the city and it turns out to be a disaster.

Power to Advantage

If you are looking to get into a Venom comic then you are expecting violence and a story that thrust you right into the action. Overall, the book is written decently enough which I like very much and the plot directions were devised by writer Mike Costa (Spider-Verse – Warzones, Web Warriors). I really don’t know how long the readers are going to stick with it since they undid almost everything that was been slowly built up to this point and made Venom a remarkable character. At first glance the book and the plot may seem sort of lazy but it might get better towards the end. The art by Gerardo Sandoval (Age of Apocalypse – Warzones!, New Avengers – A.I.M. Everything is New) is also pretty good as it may not be my most favorite but I do notice the minor resemblance of the art style with Joe Madureira (Battle Chasers, Uncanny X-Men)’s.

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