Venom #2 Review

After a somewhat lackluster debut, Venom’s new ongoing series returns this week for its second issue.

Venom #2 (Marvel Comics)

Observations

• Gotta respect this new host for having the guts to walk right into the Black Cat’s den.
• Um…is this a metaphorical fistfight or is it really happening?
• Well played, symbiote. Well played.
• Felicia may be a badass, but she’s also a bit of a diva.
• I think we all know where this is going…
• Yep.

Is It Good?

Maybe the previous incarnation of Venom is required reading. Otherwise, the way the symbiote is behaving makes absolutely no sense to me.

I can accept the organism wanting to be heroic now, especially after its time with Flash and the Guardians of the Galaxy. But since when does a human soldier’s psychological training mean that it can be controlled like that?

And speaking of the soldier, I’m not sure he could be more unlikable if he tried. Aside from being an example of the tired broken soldier trope, he also manages to be bland and wholly unremarkable. Maybe that will play into the narrative (it’s hinted that it will), but as of right now, it makes for a pretty boring story.

Not helping matters is the fact that the last few pages lack any of the tension they were going for—primarily because the end result was so painfully obvious.

On the plus side, Gerardo Sandoval’s artwork is good, especially the way he draws Black Cat.

He also does a great job with the aforementioned climatic (and predictable final scene).

As far as the writing goes, Mike Costa generally does great work. Perhaps it’s just the new host that’s rubbing me the wrong way…or maybe the symbiote’s new status quo just isn’t my thing. Either way, this series has only an issue or two left to get better before I find the nearest bell tower and rip it off of my pull list.