When we last left, we had covered the first segment of Remender’s Venom run. We had a lot going on , both with the emotional side and character moments, as well as heavy paced action.Flash Thompson’s life was not on the steadiest of ground in that arc, however as we get into arc 2 things ramp up. Flash has everything completely fall down around him, the action picks up a pace and to top it all off, Hell itself manages to spread to Earth (only Flash can go to Vegas and bring Hell to Earth!). This second arc of the story for my money is the strongest segment of the overall story.
Part 1: https://wethenerdy.com/venom-project-rebirth-the-rick-remender-run-a-retrospective-part-1/
Part 2 Overview :
Venom Vol.2 Circle of Four
Issues: 10- 14 , and 13.1-13.4
Collected in both Hardcover and Trade Paper Back
Guest Writers:
Rob Williams: 13.1-13.2
Jeff Parker: 13.3
Artisits:
Lan Medina: Issues 10-12, 13.4
Tony Moore: 13-14
Lee Garbett: 13.1
Sana Takeda: 13.2
Julian Tedesco: 13.3
We left off with Flash in the Spider Island conflict, where he managed to help save Cap, and help save the day overall. However those issues while being quality issues, are almost separated from the overarching plot. Issue 10 brings us right back on track , and we pick up with Flash and his friends at his father’s funeral. Obviously a very mixed bag of emotions for Flash, who did care for the man naturally, but also has a ton of resentment toward him as well, for the dark past and abuse he brought. Of course Flash has other problems come to roost, Jack’O’Lantern actually shows up to the funeral , not in costume but in civilian clothes (disfigured face of course, courtesy of Mr. Thompson). Jack approaches Flash and makes it clear that he must meet with Crime Master, and Flash now has to deal with the fact that Crime Master will use his leverage to blackmail poor Flash into assisting him with various deeds, under threat of Betty and families safety. In this instance he needs Venom to obtain a item, which the symbiote will recognize, so Flash is in the dark as to what exactly it is, but it is in Las Vegas.This ends up being the central problem in Flash’s life and fuels the drama that is to come throughout the rest of the story. Flash while meeting Crime Master , decides to play along for now, but will find the time to get him and Jack in a room at the same time and kill them to solve his problems. Things are obviously coming apart at the seems, but it can not get much worse…can it?
Well as it turns out, because Captain America found out the whole Venom and Project Rebirth in Spider Island, he has some reservations about trusting the symbiote (hey Cap, Venom saved your life!) in any capacity and has come to the base in order to confiscate the symbiote. Well obviously Flash needs the symbiote in order to kill Jack and Crime Master, but as it turns out he is started to become addicted to it, playing well with the the theme of addiction which has plagued Flash. This is where we get one of my favorite moments and why issue 10 is one of the best issues of the series! The Captain America/ Venom match-up! Seriously who does not enjoy that!
Pure Awseome
It has to be emphasized that Remender is a master at balancing the right amount of action with the right amount of character building, and this chapter emphasizes this as much as anything in the arc. This is the beauty of superhero comics. Issue 10 then caps of with another true bad ass moment with Venom hijacking Cap’s bike as he leaves for Vegas….and goes AWOL in the process thus amplifying his problems just that much more….which of course seems to be Flash’s specialty.
Great Cover! Great Moment, Great Issue!
From here we cut to Flash on the road talking to Betty Over the phone, screaming at her saying its over. His obvious intent is to try and drive Betty away from him, in order to ensure his safety. This whole relationship dynamic is a tragic one and is a microcosm of Flash’s life as a whole. With all the potential he has in life, he still always manages to ruin something good, because he constantly screws up as a person. It is part of the often too common trait in families with alcoholics, the mistakes of the father get repeated by the son. The other interesting part of the dynamic, is that Betty does not know Flash is Venom, and furthermore believes Venom is a bad guy who tried to kill her. Flash lacks the true support that many super heroes have these days with a romantic partner who actually knows the struggle he has to deal with.
The story presses on with Jack O’Lantern showing up to Flash’s motel room. He lets Flash know that he is going to accompany him to Vegas to assist Flash in obtaining the still unknown to Flash object. Flash again reluctantly has to go along with this because he needs to kill Crime Master and Jack at the same location in one sweep in order to ensure Betty and his families saftey. This creates a very compelling buddy picture dynamic to the story at this point as we spend some time getting to know Flash’s arch enemy. The two actually team up to save a crew of miners from a collapsing mine (well Jack kills one who is hopelessly trapped and is a goner anyway). We then cut to a scene of them at a diner where Jack reveals his origin story. How a psychopathic young boy ran away from home and the Crime Master took him in as a surrogate father ( a interesting contrast is the Jack loves his “daddy” in Crime Master, while Flash harbors deep resentment towards his dad), trained him to be a killer, and would eventually go back kill his parents and develop a signature mark, of carving his vicitim’s brains out and replacing their hollowed out head with a candle.He would then proceed to murder the previous men who bore the mantle of Jack’O Lantern. A disturbing origin, which fits the character to a tee. As Flash stomachs the uncomfortable exchange, they leave to go back to the road, which Jack says he already handled the bill, of course we see the reveal that Jack had done to the diner owners what he did to his parents.
Remender has remarkably shaped a previously C list villain, and revamped him into a force of nature. I absolutely love reading the issues which featured him. Jack O’Lantern is a hint of Joker mixed with the Green Goblin all in a pretty cool costume. I am actually surprised that their was not a great incarnation of the character before this, which goes to to show that in comic’s there are no bad characters, all it takes is good writing to bring the intrigue, and Remender’s fantastic characterization is perfect for making this foil for Venom in the course of this story.
The beginning’s of Jack O’Lanterns signature kill mark.
Flash then executes a perfect heist of the item in which he was looking, for……which turns out to be the TOXIN symbiote. However the Symbiote in Flash is enraged around it’s presence in which he wants to fight Jack O’Lantern to get Toxin and kill him. In a Venom-out moment Venom and Jack O’ Lantern have round 2 in the city of Las Vegas. Things do not bear well for Jack as Venom is in his all out rage mode, however Jack manages to talk Flash into taking control with the underlying threat that if he kills Jack, Crime Master will kill his mom. Flash regains his composure and Jack flies away with the Toxin symbiote in tow. Flash may of checked something off his list, but he is still wanted for being AWOL (and unbeknownst to Flash, Cap has sent Hulk (Red) to bring him in), and things with Betty are a mess. Flash then turns to the bottle. Though in this series Flash has manged to be sober, this reflects the scary truth about alcoholism, it is never cured only managed and Flash is not only losing to his addictive urges over the alcohol, it is a symbolistic parallel of him losing to his addictive urges with the symbiote.
Things keep unraveling on Flash.
We are then put into the Circle of Four mini-event, which Jeff Parker and Rob Williams helped write as guest writers. This event co-starred Red Hulk , Ghost rider and X-23 a odd team. The event starts with Red Hulk finding Flash and battling with him on the streets. X-23 is in Vegas to find out what someone has done with her DNA. As this is going on Ghost Rider is drawn to souls set as trap by Blackheart, the Son Of Mephisto, and she inadvertently opens a gateway for hell to spread on Earth. Doctor Strange and Damion Hellstrom come to contain the damage to Las Vegas (which arguably is already a hell on Earth 😉 ) Ghost Rider Hulk, X-23 and Venom come together (mainly out of proximity to be honest) to try and stop Venom from spreading Hell on to Earth
The team of four which would stop Hell itself!
This mini event ends up being a very fun part of the story. We are side tracked from all of Flash’s problems with the blackmail of Crime-Master to deal with this very interesting bunch of of characters. All four characters get a fair chunk of story developed to them. we see their antitheses battle with them in the form of a cheerleader,angel, giant brain and a pastor.Another great part of this story was teh scene in which we saw each of the four heroes deepest desires. Flash’s desire in particular is the best of them, as all he wants to do deep down is be Spider-Man and have Betty by his side. The montage of their dreams are really well done and placed well in the story. We also get to see Mephisto, who is always a interesting character to deal with for Marvel fans, however the implications of his presence most play in the post Remender Venom issues. Flash in this event takes a huge leadership role and actually goes above and beyond in his effort to stop Blackheart, even managing to help despite not having his symbiote. For those wondering he lends his symbiote to the Hulk to help create this piece of awesomeness, a Hulk, Ghost Rider and Symbiote combination! :
All sorts of awesome, by this story just for this!
Unlike the Spider-Island segment, The Circle of Four was a event which heavily involved Venom, it seemed right for his character and was his story and not someone else’s .The Circle of Four in the end served a greater purpose for the overall plot, it regained Flash’s legitimacy in the eyes of the U.S Military and Captain America. Captain America even allows Flash to join the Avengers(well the Secret team but still an Avenger!) after approval from Hulk. This limits Flash’s main problem to simply dealing with Crime-Master and Jack O’Lantern, and he can be focused on that, as well can the readers, as this story enters the home-stretch!
The Circle of Four, was fun as HELL (bad pun intended)
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