Venom War- Venomous # 2

 By Mark Rodriguez

Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, has obtained a symbiote named Sliver. Together they form Widow are out to stop Alchemax from spreading a serum that kills symbiotes. Alongside Agent Anti-Venom, they storm Alchemas which is currently under attack by mindless symbiotes. In an attempt to stop them, the heroes try to trap them under cold storage, but now the symbiotes have started using all the dead bodies in there as their hosts. What will happen next?

 

The issue opens with a flashback with Black Widow (pre-symbiote) and Agent Venom facing off several HYDRA soldiers. Natasha narrates that even though Flash Thompson was using a different symboite back during their days as Secret Avengers, he was always good under the line of fire and his teammate's back. 

We see that Agent Venom is shooting at the soldiers to cover Black Widow while she runs off to operate a crane. Agent Venom runs out of ammo and tosses his gun at the men. Black Widow releases a huge storage unit, which crushes the HYDRA agents. Natasha narrates that it's good that Flash is so reliable, since they are currently screwed.

 

Currently at the Cadaver Lab in Alchemax, Black Widow and Agent Anti-Venom are being crowded by symbiotes using corpses as their hosts. As they fight, Widow notes that what the Zombiotes lack in speed, they make up in strength. Agent Anti-Venom says he got that, as he grabs one of the Zombiotes and headbutts it.

Just then, Agent Anti-Venom punches one of the symbiotes so hard, the alien goo flies off the man underneath, sending him up against a wall. Flash is surprised that his own symbiote suit literally punched the symbiote off the man, turning him back to normal. Widow is too busy fighting to deal with this new information. The man wakes up and notices that his knee is messed up. Flash apologizes but says he managed to cure him. Widow swings one of the zombiotes at Flash, telling time to cure that one.

 

Flash punches the incoming symbiote, but that one was already a corpse. Widow says she will focus on sending the live ones his way. One of the larger symbiotes is able to withstand Flash's punches and he knocks him into a wall. All the zombiotes start to dogpile onto Flash while he's down. Natasha tells Sliver that Flash needs their help.

Meanwhile, outside of the Alchemax Headquarters, Liz Allen, who also has a Symbiote named Misery, is sent falling out a window after the events of Venom War # 2. She smashes onto a car, As she gets up, she sees that the streets are full of zombiotes that are running around attacking people. Liz watches the Manhattan Megascreens that show several other symbiotes fighting, including Dylan Brock and Spider-Man. Liz is about to swing off when she gets tackled down by one of the zombiotes.

 

Liz is sent falling forward but uses her symbiote extensions to stop her momentum. The zombiote leaps out of her, and she catches it and slams it to the ground. Liz's hand starts to glow, making the symbiote vanish and turning the man back to normal. Liz realizes the Anti-Venom in her symbiote suit can cure the infections. She runs towards the crowd of zombiotes as she says that she can fix this.

Back inside the building, Widow gets the cured people into a safe area as she webs up the entrance. She tells the people to stay there, as Flash notes that the zombiotes are getting away. Flash and Natasha leap into the elevator shaft as the zombies are faster than the movies have shown. Flash punches one of the zombiotes, curing him but the person starts falling down the shaft. Widow swings in to save him, when she realizes it was just another corpse.

As they continue to follow the zombiotes, Natasha asks about the cured people they left behind. Flash says that Liz has people that will come and get them. Agent Anti-Venom and Widow make it outside where they see that the zombiotes are attacking the populace. Flash says Liz is there and Natasha doesn't recognize her. Flash explains that Liz has a symbiote suit now that's called Misery. Natasha asks who doesn't have a symbiote nowadays. Natasha leaps into battle. While she thinks this is all Liz's mess, she pushes that pettiness aside hoping that she has a solution.

 

Flash smashes through one of the Alchemax windows and Liz says he'll be paying for that. Liza note that Flash is also using an Anti-Venom suit so he can cure the people. Flash says he can punch the symbiote out of them. Liz says he's the same old Flash and notes that her method is gentler. Widow says they can both cure people and asks about an antidote since this is Liz's mess. Liz admits that Alchemax is partly to blame but things got even messier.

Liz tells Natasha and Flash that Eddie Brock and Dylan Brock are fighting over the Venom symbiote somewhere inside the Alchemax building. Liz wants to stop them but Flash says he will handle it and tells her to stay safe with Natasha. Flash says once he can get Eddie on their side, he'd be able to help. Flash swings off.

Widow narrates that Flash isn't afraid to leap into danger. This time it seems he got the better end of the deal, as we see that Widow and Misery are now surrounded by zombiotes.

My Thoughts-
 

So naturally, we're missing a bit of context since I'm not getting the actual Venom War comic. It seems there's a lot of action going inside that Alchemax building. Eddie and Dylan are fighting over the Venom symbiote, Spider-Man is somewhere in there, something or someone knocked Liz out the window, and Natasha and Flash are busy fighting zombie-symbiotes as the action spills into the streets. Liz has a lot more to worry about than Flash breaking a window or two. The comic preface narration does explain (as well as Natasha and Flash's origins for newcomers) that the symbiote infection came from an evil version of Eddie Brock named Meridius. Liz mentions him once but we don't get to see him in the comic as far as I know.

So we can easily say that Peter Parker, Flash Thompson and Liz Allan went through a lot since their high school days. Liz's symbiote Misery is pretty bad-ass and I like the extra spider-leg type appendages that she has. I remember one of the random symbiotes in Venom The Last Dance had similar powers. Those extra legs are good for stopping momentum when you get thrown back, and also for rapid stabbing. I like Misery's design and hope she continues to pop up past this story.

Overall this was an action-packed issue, and it's funny that Flash discovered a way to cure the symbiotes by literally punching them off people. I feel kinda bad for the dude that got his knee messed up. Poor dude was only doing his job before the symbiotes took over. There was also the randomness of not knowing which symbiotes are controlling living people and which ones are controlling corpses. I also liked the flashback to classic (not a clone) Black Widow and Agent Venom Flash. 

One thing worth pointing out is the typo on the last page. I've never heard of 'better part in of the deal'. Every time I heard the phrase, it's always been better/worst part of the deal. I'm sure someone accidentally added 'in' in there.

We'll see how this tie-in concludes in the next issue! The main question I have is... will Natasha keep her symbiote?