Venom Space Knight

“Forget the darts and the knives. You want to kill Spider-Man? Do something he won’t expect. Next time… try a gun.”

Venom

 

 

Greetings from the desert fellow CBSI members. Today’s column is a long time coming and has been requested by many of you throughout the last few months. Yes, I am speaking to the underrated, underordered, underread, thirteen issue thrill ride known as Venom Space Knight (VSK).

As with previous articles, I don’t want to completely spoil the entire story, as it’s worth an hour of your time to read thru the TPB. However, we will discuss some key story lines, and of course dissect some cool spec for you to find out there in the wild.

This is a free standing story that does have some ties to other Venom series. This essentially picks up where GOTG left off in 2015. It is written by Robbie Thompson. The art is top notch and full of detail by the talented Ariel Olivetti. Furthermore, it is important to mention Marvel partnered with the non profit organization Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) during this series.

Robbie spoke with this the spokesperson and double amputee Dan Nevins several times in order to get Flash Thompson’s day to day struggles, and rehabilitation as accurate as possible. In a sense to make him more of a realistic character.  At the start of issue #3 we see Flash abandon the symbiote at times, in favor of his prosthetic legs. Bravo Marvel, class act helping initiate this relationship with the WWP!

 

 

Alright let’s start with this, so what exactly is Flash doing in space and where does this story take us throughout its run? This will be a bit cryptic in design as I don’t want to give away too much… Flash’s symbiote Venom gets “purified” if you will on its home planet, and has left the nastiness behavior behind.

Together they take a vow to answer the Klyntar call and serve as an Agent of the Cosmos parading around the universe helping those in need of their services. Sounds simple enough right? Well the ironic piece of this includes the fact it has a great deal of Saga influence within its DNA. The quirky characters, and comedic tone at times blends right in to what our heroes are going thru during their adventures.

Here are some highlights: As Flash travels the galaxy he goes from guardian to gladiator when he is made to fight in an alien arena. Also, Flash faces an emergency on a planet of volcanoes, but how can he serve as a Space Knight when his symbiote suit of armor is afraid of fire? Finally, when an enemy seeks to corrupt the symbiote, will the real Venom please stand up!

In addition he picks up a few new friends along the way, cyborg 803, serpent-tressed Iqa, and mercenary panda Pik Rollo! This was a skeleton look at what’s cooking with Flash, there is plenty of more fun within the panels.

So let’s peel back the layers a bit and look into some key panels, characters, and overall spec. As with most books, print run can play a factor into long term sustainability in terms of an investment. VSK has a surprisingly low run. This includes some ratio variants that are worth a look.

 

Issue 1

59K print run

Five covers: 2 1:25s

*Shown below are the ratio variants

 

 

First appearances:

Robot 803

 

Cora

 

Issue 2

32.2K print run

Two covers: 1 1:25

Approx. 1288 copies

*Shown below is the ratio variant

 

 

First appearances:

 

Tarna in her symbiote form

(Agent of Cosmos)

 

Myntrill

(Agent of Cosmos)

 

Mercurio appearance

 

Original 1st app was Thor # 208

 

Issue 3

25.7K print run

Two covers: 1 1:25

Approx. 1028 copies

*Shown below is the ratio variant

 

 

First appearances:

Ira

*1st cover as well

 

1st cameo Pik Rollo

 

Issue 4

21.5K print run

Two covers: 1 1:25

Approx. 860 copies

*Shown below is the ratio variant

 

First appearances:

 

Pik Rollo 1st full app

 

Issue 5

18.8K print run

One cover

 

First appearances:

1st Venomized Mercurio

 

Issue 7

17.3K print run

One cover

 

First appearances:

 

1st Tarna (non symbiote form)

*1st cover as well

Issue 9

16K print run

One cover

 

First appearances:

 

Venomized Harrison Thompson (Flash’s Dad)

 

Original 1st full app in human form

Untold tales of Spider-Man #19 (1995)

 

Rosie Thompson appearance (Flash’s Mom)

 

Original first appearance

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #1

 

Mania appearance

 

Original 1st appearance

Venom # 38

 

Issue 10

15.5K print run

One cover

 

 

First appearances:

 

Andrea Benton appearance

 

Original 1st appearance

Venom # 31

 

Issue 11

17.5K print run

Two covers: 1 1:25

Approx 700 copies

*Shown below is the ratio variant

 

Issue 12

16.2K print run

One cover

 

 

1st “Host” appearance

 

Very interesting panel… Eggs?

 

 

Issue 13

14.5K print run

*Last issue

One cover

 

Panels of interest from the conclusion

 

*Andi fully possessed by the Hell-Mark, with the ability to summon demons at will, sends hordes of them at Venom in an effort to take him down for leaving her with this curse

*Interesting to see this creature after the newer events from Cates Venom series…

 

*Then this bad dude? Hmmm interesting

 

Phew, well quite a few cool nuggets littered in this series. Will any of these characters become household names? Probably not, but they are cheap issues to put away for a rainy day. I have stopped prophesying what is classified as a good spec. When GOTG revealed that a tree and raccoon can be known by more than half of America, all bets are off! In conclusion, this is a fun story. It has all the needed ingredients – smart writing, strong art, and likeable characters. Sprinkle some spec and you have a good recipe. I hope this helped some of you wanting a more in-depth look at this series. As always, please feel free to comment or discuss!

 

Talk soon,

 

 

 

 

 

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