Venom #1

First off, the cover is good. While he doesn't match his appearance in the book, it does give you one chilling clue as to who is wearing the suit, which is what gave it away for me. Next issue we get a more accurate depiction of ol' Venom. 
 
For me, this book was a bit all over the place for my taste. In some ways, it reminded me of back in the '90s when Venom was a government operative/weapon for a brief stint; back when Larry Hama was at the helm I believe. I almost get the feeling this has been done before. Oh well.
 
If you didn't know that Flash Thompson was in the suit already, then you will really have no idea until you're told in a caption box, or later when he takes the suit off. 
 
There was really only one scene here where it resonated with me that Flash was in the suit, and that's when he puts the main mission at hand on hold to save an innocent mother and child. It's something Spider-Man would've done, which makes sense, since Flash idolizes the Web-Slinger and would want to be just like his hero.  For me, this was the highlight part of the book. 
 
Other than that? The rest of Flash's time in the suit seemed like it could've been anyone under the suit; not Flash Thompson. 
 
I felt like Betty might've went a bit overboard with her anger here, but then again, she did have ol' Ned Leeds running around in a Hobgoblin suit. But instantly thinking Flash was out drinking in particular? Perhaps she jumped the gun there... 
 
I did like how we got an insight to the childhood relationship Flash had with his father at the end. It was a nice touch for those unfamilier with it. 
 
Also, I wanted to like the new Jack O'Lantern, but he came off a bit more annoying and flat to me than he should have. 
 
This book had a lot of good points, like the opening scene with the armored peace keeping officers in Iron Man-esque armor and the arctic vibranium bullet subplots. Seeing the one armored guy get taken down by the first vibranium bullet was handled quite well. 
 
I also want to applaud the new uses the suit has been given, like being able to absorb an active grenade by acting as the pin for later use.  

Tony Moore does a pretty good job on the art; he makes it his own and unique. I loved the part where Flash begins to let the suit overwhelm him and we see the open mouth and tongue form. I hope to see more of Moore handling open mouthed Venom in the future. 
 
This was by no means a terrible issue, however, a few problems stop me from giving this issue a solid four stars. I'm hoping as a whole, the first arc will read very well together.  
 
Would I rather be reading about Brock's return to the role of being Venom than Flash Thompson? You bet! But I am willing to give this a few months to see if this goes anywhere interesting. If it doesn't, you can bet I'll be more vocal in my wanting Brock to be Venom again. 
 
As to whether I'll be back for next issue or not is not certain at this point, but the subplots I previously mentioned are intriguing, at least. I guess we'll know come next month.