**** (four of five stars)
Favorite Quote: "I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you. Sorry. Wanted to say that since I was six." -- Flash to the oil baron he's rescuing.
Summary
We see Venom break into the third tallest building in Madripoor, web up the security cameras, and then change into a tuxedo-ed Flash. Flash (who still wants to be called the new Spider-Man) meets his handler, Kate; the two are there to infiltrate "a secret summit of the biggest financial linchpins in our economy." The target of their mission is Countess Demonico, who they believe to be part of Flag Smasher's Ultimatum terrorist group. Flash mingles, meeting a Middle Eastern oil baron and charming the Countess while implanting her with a tracking chip. Back in DC, the mission is declared a success and Flash is de-symbioted. He returns home, anxiously awaiting his next mission. Betty comes home crying, telling Flash about Marla. Flash (who's gotten used to legs as Venom) stands to comfort her, and falls. He tells Betty not to worry about him and asks if she needs anything. She tells him to talk to Peter, who's completely shut-down since Marla's death. Flash goes to do so, and Pete's doorman tells him that Pete went with his "ladyfriend" to the Coffee Bean. There, Flash sees Peter talking to MJ; he's talking to her because she's the only one who knows his secret, but Flash thinks he's cheating on Carlie. Before Flash can do anything, he gets a call for his next mission, rescuing the oil baron he met in Madripoor. The Countess was one of his abductors, so they manage to track them to Uzbekistan via the chip Flash implanted in her. Flash's handler informs him that he might be on his own during the mission because the stealth shielding on their plane is interfering with their communications network. Venom drops into the base, mimics an Ultimatum guard, and makes his way into the interrogation room, where Flag Smasher is trying to get the baron's bank codes. Flag Smasher leaves and Venom breaks out the baron and is pursued by Ultimatum. Someone throws a grenade, blowing off Venom's legs. Flash loses it and fully becomes Venom, eviscerating two guards. Flag Smasher threatens to detonate the bomb attached to the baron, so Venom bites off (and then spits out) Flag Smasher's arm. Flash reverts to his ordinary Venom mode and escapes with the baron. His handler asks Flash and the baron whether Flash "Venom-ed out" and the baron, who's grateful for the rescue, covers for Flash. During the de-symbioting process, it's revealed that they can only extract 99 percent of the symbiote from Flash. Returning home, Betty rides Flash for missing the funeral and not talking to Pete, which Flash blames on the V.A. sending him on some business. Flash apologizes, saying he'll try to do better.
The Review
This issue really sets the stage for the "Venom" series, with Peter only appearing briefly, discussing his guilt over the death of Marla Jameson with MJ. The relationships between Flash and his supporting cast -- his mission handler, Kate; the tech guy, Aaron; and the project leader, Dodge -- are still a little stilted, since they've only just been established. But, it's overall a really enjoyable issue. The concepts are cool, and Slott does a good job with the plotting and pacing, delivering an action-packed issue that feels like a "Captain America" story. All in all I really have no complaints. I'm giving it a four, instead of a three, because I think the concept is really clever and I'm impressed by the creative team's initial efforts to flesh it out more fully.
The Good
1) Right off the bat, I liked the "Captain America"-style recap page. It was a visual (and clever) reminder of the fact that we weren't really dealing with a Spidey story here and gave a point of reference of the type of story Slott was trying to tell.
2) Flash's combination of charm and bombast really gives itself to these sorts of stories and missions. He is often portrayed as a likable oaf in "Amazing Spider-Man." He is here, too, more or less, but here it helps him achieve him goals, giving him some depth we haven't really seen since "Brand New Day" began (well, except for when he lost his legs, but one would assume that even Flash would have to approach that with a certain level of seriousness).
3) I enjoyed how Slott had Flash suffering the same pangs of guilt for having to let down people in his personal life so he could go play superhero as Peter does. Peter is occasionally portrayed as being overly serious for feeling the way he so often does vis-à-vis letting down people in his personal life, so it's nice to see the parallel in Flash -- a guy very different from Peter -- as a reminder of what a strange reality it must be, being a superhero.
4) The foreshadowing at the end of the issue -- how Peter is "gonna ruin everything" -- is ominous. We all know none of this is going to end well, but I'm really intrigued to see how exactly it's going to go. I actually hadn't anticipated them getting to the symbiote influencing Flash so quickly. But, then again, he's only got 17 missions left, so we're not dealing with a long time-frame here for Flash either becoming Venom, super-villain and all, or staying Flash.
The Bad
The only bad thing about Flash being Venom is, OMG, can Betty Brant NOT date a super-villain for once? Can't we just find her a nice, un-powered guy? When everything here ends in tears, I'm afraid our girl Betty might not be all together. (I actually meant that mentally, but, re-reading it, that could also be true physically, too...)
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