New Venom Ongoing by Rick Remender and Tony Moore

[Colossal Spoons]

I'd looove to see more of Toxin. She-Carnage can go away though

 

[Jennifer Walters]

She-Carnage hasn't even gotten here yet.

 

[runawayboulder]

In the same issue that gave us THIS:

Gotta love those wacky 1990s.

This was one of the few 90's stories I enjoyed.

 

[imdaly]

In the same issue that gave us THIS:

Gotta love those wacky 1990s.

I LOVED that story, design, and cover!

 

[Colossal Spoons]

She-Carnage hasn't even gotten here yet.

I hate her already. Cletus or GTFO!

 

[Shockdingo]

About she-carnage, who made the brilliant decision to space the story out that long? I even at one point forgot that it came out. :/

 

[runawayboulder]

It's kinda odd too because it seems like lately Marvel has been dropping mini's that release every 2 weeks.

 

[NightBeetle]

Rick Remender Reinvents "Venom"

Marvel's latest "Next Big Thing" press conference call took place Friday afternoon with writer Rick Remender is on hand to talk about what's coming up in the March-debuting "Venom" ongoing series. Someone new will be bonding with the vicious symbiote beginning in February's "Amazing Spider-Man" #654.1, someone not unfamiliar to the Spidey family. Whoever this person is, he'll be working on behalf of the United States government as a peacekeeping agent—so long as he can keep the black suit in check. Also on hand for the call are Marvel Senior Editor Stephen Wacker and Junior Sales Administrator James Viscardi, who moderated the discussion.

Asked about the rationale for the changes to changes, Remender said the original concept came from "Amazing" writer Dan Slott and Stephen Wacker. "My problem with Venom as a lead character is that he's such a bad guy," Wacker said. "It's hard to make him a hero when he's eating people." Wacker added that he could never get behind the "Lethal Protector" aspect. He said that Flash Thompson would be a great host for the Venom symbiote, and the pitch was built from there.

Wacker did not realize he was not supposed to reveal that Flash was the new Venom. "You're giving it away!" Remender said. There was general laughter.
Remender joked about a convoluted family relationship regarding J. Jonah Jameson, an uncle's-cousin or somesuch named "Snappy" Jameson, who is actually Venom. "It's a big bait and switch," he said. Wacker added, "I was waiting to see how far you went with this."

Getting things back on track, Viscardi asked Remender and Wacker to discuss the Marvel espionage community and Venom's role within it. Wacker said it's based in more real-life military aspects, which Remender said helps the series stay grounded. "What he's got is advanced technology, he's got the armed forces behind him, but it's just straight-up U.S. armed forces" rather than S.H.I.E.L.D., Remender said. Wacker added that Venom would have a large armament "beyond these giant teeth."

Asked about "building a threat that Venom can't eat," Remender said that making the weapon of the suit itself a danger helps build tension. The writer described Flash as "a true patriot" but "one with a temper." "He cannot let his temper get out of control, or the symbiote will take over," he said. At that point, "the teeth come out" and he may start killing indiscriminately. "The hard resolutions, the murdering that he might have to do, will come at moments you completely don't expect it—unless he loses control."
The suit will need to be removed after a certain time limit, Wacker said, to keep it from bonding with Flash's psyche. Remender added that there's a twenty-mission limit—"they don't want any one person wearing this thing more than twenty times." "You've also got a character in Flash who's been disabled serving his country, and now he's no longer bound to a wheelchair but is swinging through the city and bounding through the Savage Land," Remender said, adding additional stakes to the time limit.
The second issue begins with Venom chased by Kraven the Hunter on a dinosaur, Remender said, and is a continuous action scene—but one that will "define Venom through the decisions he makes."


Asked about what the government hopes to accomplish with Venom where the rewards would be worth the risks, Remender said the stakes are exceedingly high. "The first arc deals with a new boss on the scene who's not focused on New York, or Chicago—he's an international crime lord," Remender said. This character has weaponized Antarctic Vibranium as bullets. "Once distributed, you can't put that milk back in the carton," he said. The substance melts any metal. "He's preparing to sell it to DoctorDoom and every dictator and scumbag on the planet, so that every terrorist has these guns that can shoot bullets that are unstoppable. After that, it doesn't matter if you have the

Avengers."

Wacker added that a challenge for the series was "finding a reason that sending Venom in is the logical step."
Venom will interact with other Marvel heroes, Remender said, and they will react to him based on their past experiences with the character as "a person-eater." Wacker added that Spider-Man's reaction will play into big plans for the Webhead this summer.
Asked about their outreach to fans who "see Venom as a relic of the '90s," Remender compared the series to his other book, "Uncanny X-Force," which "is doing pretty well in the X-Office." "I think people respond more and more to quality craftsmanship," Remender said.

"The reason we were able to get approval on this so fast is, there's still a market for Venom, even that '90s stuff," Wacker added. He said the original "Venom: Lethal Protector" miniseries has done well on Marvel's digital apps.
There was a question about Venom's weaknesses, such as "ringing a bell or playing music really loud." Remender joked that Venom goes to a "big show early on and gets bummed out, and then it's just Flash." He added that "the weakness is the weakness," which is necessary for a character with his power levels. Wacker added, "not everybody knows that weakness."

"If you're a villain, you don't expect Venom to show up to stop you," Remender continued. "He's not dealing with a lot of threats where you know he's coming for you."
Remender added that he looks forward to "honing in on" Flash, whom the writer described as "a classic Marvel character," as well as his relationship with Betty Brant.
There was a question regarding Flash's history with addiction and the potential for him to become addicted to the suit. Remender said this will "play in quite a lot," but unlike many of his heroes Venom will not ultimately be a cynical character.

Asked what the consequences could be if the government's use of Venom could be if the secret were made public—a la Wikileaks—Wacker said things would be "pretty bad." "in the real world, it would scare the hell out of me, but in our book we can have things go wrong—these are people who fly too close to the sun."

Asked about supporting characters, Remender said there would be a "Q"-type person supplying Venom with gadgets, and people from his personal life would also play a significant role. "It's also a classic Spider-Man scenario—juggling these two things, secretly. Betty doesn't know he's doing this, Peter doesn't know he's doing this," Remender said, adding that these characters might attribute Flash's absence to less heroic activities.

Remender said he enjoyed the idea that Venom could be deployed anywhere. "They could drop him into Utopia [the X-Men's mutant haven] to hunt a mutant terrorist hiding out there; they could drop him into Latveria," Remender said. Wacker added that he likes that Remender "is a writer who doesn't forget that he doesn't have a budget. He's not going to do a scene with two people eating dinner when they could be in Kilimanjaro."

JackO'Lantern's redesign by Tony Moore was the subject of some praise. "I think we've got a character here that people will be excited about," Remender said, adding that the first issue takes place in a war-torn Eastern European country while the next opens in the Savage Land. "The book kind of demands that you do that," the writer said.

Asked about the thought behind a sustainable "Venom" ongoing, Wacker said that the connection to the repeatedly-selling-out "Amazing Spider-Man" would help and that, however they're remembered today, "not many people have lost money doing a Venom comic." He added that Remender and Moore's concept is the real draw, though.
"There's so many different levels to this that it can appeal to fans of the initial concept," Remender said, "but we never lose sight of the number one factor: character, character, character." He described Venom as a "super-iconic character" and hopes that his version "is the one that people have been waiting for."
Remender said that, though the ability has not been used much in recent years, Venom's power to morph will play a role in his espionage missions, as will his Spider-sense-dampening ability.

"The other interesting thing is Flash, who is historically Spider-Man's greatest fan in the world, now has the powers and could be Spider-Man's greatest enemy in the world."
"Venom" #1 is on sale in March.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

i'll give it a couple of issues but honestly after what they did to carnage i've little hope of any decent development with these characters

 

[Dread]

So, editor Steve Wacker just "spoiled" the "WHO IS THE NEW VENOM" mystery on a Newsarama conference call. To be honest I don't know whether that was really an accident or whether it was one of their deliberate leaks. Like the whole "WHICH OF THE FOUR WILL DIE" thing. I mean, they spend most of a year promoting "THREE", they wrap the issue in a bag to prevent spoilers, and then LEAK IT ANYWAY. Compared to that, Venom is small fish. I mean, of all times to leak it, it's leaked during a conference call with one of the biggest comic book news websites on the Internet that they occasionally give exclusives to when they want to make CBR feel jealous. Gasp.

Frankly, most people who care and were reading ASM guessed him, anyway. I'll get the .1 issue but I don't know if I will bother with the ongoing. I haven't read Rick Remender before and a $4 #1 issue is a bit much to ask of unproven talent for me.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Who is it? I want to know, Dread, spoil me

 

[runawayboulder]

Scroll up 3 posts^^^

 

[Dread]

Who is it? I want to know, Dread, spoil me

Yeah, NightBeetle posted the Newsarama chat. It's

Spoiler

Flash Thompson

after all. Who most of us were figuring was the likely or a likely candidate (out of only two), and variant cover all but gave it away.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Man, I'm not reading that mess, don't care that much. Is it Flash Thompson? That's who a lot of people were thinking.

EDIT: Hah, there I go.

 

[Dread]

Man, I'm not reading that mess, don't care that much. Is it Flash Thompson? That's who a lot of people were thinking.

EDIT: Hah, there I go.

U-Go Girl!

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/u-go-girl.jpg

 

[Tron Bonne]

U-Go Girl!

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/u-go-girl.jpg

Haha, nice Dread. I actually have the Milligan/Allred X-Force Omnibus I need to get through.

 

[JewishHobbit]

The premise sounds interesting so I'll likely give it a few issues.

 

[Gamma Goliath]

I love venom so I'll give this a look see . It sounds like an interesting take for sure.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I cannot care one bit. This book just continues to prove how badly Marvel is oversaturating the comic book market with crap that no one is really asking for.

 

[Dread]

I cannot care one bit. This book just continues to prove how badly Marvel is oversaturating the comic book market with crap that no one is really asking for.

In fairness to Marvel, this book is a spin-off from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, in particular it's upcoming .1 issue. And Venom has been capable of selling comics before. The problem is the last time his sales were anything to write home about was at best about six years ago (if not about 14 years ago), and this isn't the same incarnation. The bigger problem is while AMAZING SPIDER-MAN is doing modestly well (every weekly/bi-weekly issues averages no lower than 50-53k sales and occasionally spikes higher due to promotions), that title has been incapable of sustaining any spin off series. Even random side mini's of supporting characters do not do well. SPIDER-GIRL had a lower debut than HAWKEYE & MOCKINGBIRD, and that title was canceled at issue #8. Rick Remender may have a "cult" following for Franken-Castle, but it was hardly a sales juggernaut. In fact he likely got away with that run because sales were SO BAD he was allowed to "go nuts" by editorial.

I don't think it will sell well or last long, either. In particular, I am aware that a #1 issue for $3.99 has pretty much killed every franchise in the cradle unless it was the launch, or relaunch, of an Avengers series by Bendis or Brubaker, or a relaunch of something X-Men related. 2010 is a graveyard for canceled or dying $3.99 launches of $2.99 comic series. David Gabriel claimed that would end in 2011, but it hasn't.

 

[Themanofbat]

I think having Flash as Venom might appeal more to the older Spider-Man readers... so it might last longer than your typical "new" Marvel book... I say 24 to 30 issues...

 

[Dread]

I think having Flash as Venom might appeal more to the older Spider-Man readers... so it might last longer than your typical "new" Marvel book... I say 24 to 30 issues...

I wouldn't bet on any new launch at Marvel that isn't a relaunch of Avengers, X-Men, or Wolverine lasting more than a year these days. Marvel has been completely unable to get anything new to last beyond 12 issues without a relaunch, a "mini that is really just the next arc or two" or so on since about 2008-2009. Especially if they are going to insist on making the debut, try-it-out issue the most expensive for short term price gouging. What, I'm the only one who calls it what it is?

 

[Jennifer Walters]

How the hell does Betty factor into all of this? Or is she just going to be thrown to the wayside or turn into a ***** and ditch Flash because he's running around with a symbiote working for the government?

 

[Dread]

Poor Betty has had a rough life. Her brother was involved with mobsters, and was killed by them. She was a perennial hostage for Spider-Man for years. Her husband/fiance Ned Leeds was killed as the Hobgoblin and it took years to get to the truth. And she's once been brainwashed and turned into an "extreme" gun-toting killer lady. In the time she has dated Flash, he's been rendered a vegetable, given partial amnesia, and just recently lost his legs.

I'd say him becoming Venom is just an above average weekend for her life.

 

[shogunrua]

I'll give it a try, it might be cool. They might pull something at least enjoyable out of this mix. But, on another hand, I really miss the old Venom, you know the one that meant business, the one who completely freaked Spidey out.