Venom #150

by Mike Costa, Tradd Moore, Felipe Sobreiro, Robbie Thompson, Gerrardo Sandoval and Dono Sanchez-Almara

The newest Venom series has had some decent moments, but has ultimately not been well received. There were many problems, one of which being the main character being unlikable. Marvel has done the smart thing and is giving fans what they want with the return of Eddie Brock. This should be a boost to the series and bring in more interest, but sometimes forcing the return of a character doesn’t always mean a good story. Venom goes back to it’s original numbering with this weeks Venom #150. This may be the start of more classic stories with the symbiote, or it could be a modern take that doesn’t live up to expectations. Either way, at least Eddie Brock is back in the suit.

Mike Costa starts us off with an internal monologue with Eddie, which is a smart move since we haven’t seen him in a while. Costa shows us that Eddie is a conflicted guy who is trying to do the right thing, but old habits die-hard. Being teamed up with the symbiote again has an influence over him that he can’t seem to stop. One of the issues Costa pushes here is control. Who has control? The symbiote or Eddie? The symbiote wants to return to being a hero, but it’s methods, like killing several men who were stealing, may be a little extreme. This leaves Eddie questioning what he’s doing, and that’s never a good thing. There is a back up story by Robbie Thompson that details how the symbiote got free. This was a decent 8 page story, but it doesn’t really give you enough and leaves you hanging at the end.

The pencils this issue were handled by Tradd Moore with colors by Felipe Sobreiro. Art has been a problem on this series because original artist Gerardo Sandoval has a very exaggerated style that makes everything look huge. Tradd Moore does things a little differently; his approach is realistic in a sense, but his Venom looks cartoony at points. As Venom springs into action against Scorpion, it seems like it’s a panel from a cartoon. This is also probably attributed to the light colors used by Felipe Sobreiro too. His colors seem very pop arty and light. There is a rally creepy panel in this issue as Eddie gets ready to fight Scorpion, the symbiote just oozes out of his eyes nose and mouth. The imagery is very cool and creepy. There are some dark panels here, but the colors are too light at times to give you the full effect of the severity of the panel. The art was decent, but this is an issue that would have benefited from a darker palette on the color side.

Venom #150 is a step in the right direction, but it’s not perfect. Mike Costa needs to build up the relationship between Eddie and the symbiote more. It almost seems like we’re thrown in and things are already in place. The art needs to be a little darker for a title like this. It was light in certain spots and didn’t fit. We’re on our way to getting the Venom series we want, but we’re not there yet.