Ve’Nam opinions?

[WinterSoldier76]

The “Ve-Nam” one shot released this past Wednesday opens up a whole lot of questions regarding Venom’s true origin. Personally, I loved this issue and hope to see more of The backstory explained.

[Danileriver23]

it was dope.

Kind of confused about a few parts though. Namely:

So Rex Strickland died in the fire, but they ran tests on him to see if he was a symbiote...and he wasn't a symbiote? He's dead in venom so did he just die later?

Why did Rex's symbiote turn good at then and save Wolverine? Shouldn't all of them turned? Aren't they all connected?

[J. D. Guy]

it was dope.

Kind of confused about a few parts though. Namely:

So Rex Strickland died in the fire, but they ran tests on him to see if he was a symbiote...and he wasn't a symbiote? He's dead in venom so did he just die later?

Why did Rex's symbiote turn good at then and save Wolverine? Shouldn't all of them turned? Aren't they all connected?

For the first part, it seemed "Rex" was able to fool the testing.

For the latter, it's implied, between here and issue #5 of the current Venom run, that Rex was a good enough person that he was able to essentially purify his Symbiote and turn it good. The other men did not have that kind of positive effect on their own Symbiotes, it seems.

[Huntsman Spider]

The “Ve-Nam” one shot released this past Wednesday opens up a whole lot of questions regarding Venom’s true origin. Personally, I loved this issue and hope to see more of The backstory explained.

The backstory is actually explained in Donny Cates's Venom over the course of five issues so far. The symbiote that was used in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s experiments wasn't the same one that became Venom, but a symbiote that came to Earth a thousand years before Spider-Man brought the Venom symbiote back with him from the original Secret Wars. Beyond that, it also connects with Thor's backstory and the first major enemy Jason Aaron introduced when he started writing Thor, and even has ties with the Celestials, which Aaron is addressing as well in his Avengers run. Of course, with Venom and the symbiotes now having these ties to the wider Marvel Universe with Thor and the Celestials and S.H.I.E.L.D. and even Wolverine of the X-Men, how long before the other heroes of the Marvel Universe (feel they have to) get involved in this madness?

[The Cool Thatguy]

As a matter of personal opinion, I think it's a waste of a story-line with regards to Brock.

Brock, at his core, is an angry guy who fell into the suit. No matter how many guns he picks up, he's not a soldier, he's a crazy militia man. He's Burt from Tremors, only played straight.

I know, synergy and all that crap, but this is a story that's built for Flash and is glued to Brock

[Huntsman Spider]

As a matter of personal opinion, I think it's a waste of a story-line with regards to Brock.

Brock, at his core, is an angry guy who fell into the suit. No matter how many guns he picks up, he's not a soldier, he's a crazy militia man. He's Burt from Tremors, only played straight.

I know, synergy and all that crap, but this is a story that's built for Flash and is glued to Brock

That's an interesting point. I'd say that doesn't make him all that different from Flash, in that a childhood of parental neglect if not downright abuse created a venomous seed of anger and resentment inside them both that found expression in very negative ways. However, your argument is valid as well in the sense that by the time Flash became Venom, he managed to overcome much of that anger and resentment and felt nothing but guilt if not outright self-loathing for how he used to take his own pain out on others, whereas Brock as Venom used the power he had been given to vent his anger and resentment. In that respect, the two of them were profoundly different, and it was because of Flash's influence and partnership that the Venom symbiote genuinely wanted to better itself and become a hero, whereas Brock's influence turned the symbiote's heartbreak from Spider-Man's rejection of it into murderous mania and unleashed a terrible darkness inside them both. Yeah, I can see where you're coming from with that.

[The Cool Thatguy]

That's an interesting point. I'd say that doesn't make him all that different from Flash, in that a childhood of parental neglect if not downright abuse created a venomous seed of anger and resentment inside them both that found expression in very negative ways. However, your argument is valid as well in the sense that by the time Flash became Venom, he managed to overcome much of that anger and resentment and felt nothing but guilt if not outright self-loathing for how he used to take his own pain out on others, whereas Brock as Venom used the power he had been given to vent his anger and resentment. In that respect, the two of them were profoundly different, and it was because of Flash's influence and partnership that the Venom symbiote genuinely wanted to better itself and become a hero, whereas Brock's influence turned the symbiote's heartbreak from Spider-Man's rejection of it into murderous mania and unleashed a terrible darkness inside them both. Yeah, I can see where you're coming from with that.

I think, all things considered, Flash would take Brock's dad any day of the week. From what I remember, his dad was more aloof than anything else, while Flash's dad was physically and emotionally abusive.

I think their characters just pull in different directions.

Brock fell into the suit, used it for revenge and slowly evolved into a vigilante (because, frankly, his revenge angle was weak to begin with and they had to do something with him). He lacks a certain degree of internal conflict, IMO.

Flash, chose the suit. To him, his service was something he used as a guiding light, and his desire to control the suit reflected his desire to grow past his abuse and past petty self.

That said, the storyline could work, IMO, if it were framed differently.

Brock is a journalist, why is he being told all this stuff instead of finding it out himself?

[berserkerclaw]

I think, all things considered, Flash would take Brock's dad any day of the week. From what I remember, his dad was more aloof than anything else, while Flash's dad was physically and emotionally abusive.

I think their characters just pull in different directions.

Brock fell into the suit, used it for revenge and slowly evolved into a vigilante (because, frankly, his revenge angle was weak to begin with and they had to do something with him). He lacks a certain degree of internal conflict, IMO.

Flash, chose the suit. To him, his service was something he used as a guiding light, and his desire to control the suit reflected his desire to grow past his abuse and past petty self.

That said, the storyline could work, IMO, if it were framed differently.

Brock is a journalist, why is he being told all this stuff instead of finding it out himself?

He was a journalist. And its not like he had time to research it. Rex was already there telling hom stuff.

[The Cool Thatguy]

He was a journalist. And its not like he had time to research it. Rex was already there telling hom stuff.

Again, that's my complaint, the framing.

Eddie isn't investigating crap. He's being given plot points without any effort at all.

[Prof. Warren]

Again, that's my complaint, the framing.

Eddie isn't investigating crap. He's being given plot points without any effort at all.

How would he even know otherwise?

It's not like he can research old newspaper clippings or have any inkling that there was info hidden from him in the first place.

This is all completely outside the realm of his knowledge so of course it's going to have to be revealed to him.

[J. D. Guy]

Was Eddie ever supposed to be that good a journalist? That's something I've been wondering.

He blamed Peter/Spider-Man, but I got the feeling that he was never as good or upstanding a journalist as he probably fancied himself to be.

[TheCape]

Was Eddie ever supposed to be that good a journalist? That's something I've been wondering.

He blamed Peter/Spider-Man, but I got the feeling that he was never as good or upstanding a journalist as he probably fancied himself to be.

Is inconsistent, some time he was other times he wasn't, then you had to take into account than the guy narration of events is obviously not reliable and that he was defonetly insane before bonding with the symbiote.

[The Cool Thatguy]

How would he even know otherwise?

It's not like he can research old newspaper clippings or have any inkling that there was info hidden from him in the first place.

This is all completely outside the realm of his knowledge so of course it's going to have to be revealed to him.

1) Eddie somehow stumbles across an old 'Nam photo that shows the suits in action. He wants to dismiss it as a hoax, but his suit confirms it as true. He starts digging.

2) An informant comes to the Daily Bugle, claiming that the venom suits were used in 'Nam. Dismissed as a loony, he leaves a flashdrive before being kicked out. An hour later, he's dead. Now JJJ and Eddie must team up and discover the truth.

3) A scientist who's been working on the 'Nam suits goes AWOL, and Eddie is the first suspect. Baffled about why the authorities think he is responsible, Eddie digs into the man's past, and discovers the suit, and something much, much worse.

There are a million plus possible angles to this story line other than 'Guy shows up and delivers exposition'

[Prof. Warren]

1) Eddie somehow stumbles across an old 'Nam photo that shows the suits in action. He wants to dismiss it as a hoax, but his suit confirms it as true. He starts digging.

2) An informant comes to the Daily Bugle, claiming that the venom suits were used in 'Nam. Dismissed as a loony, he leaves a flashdrive before being kicked out. An hour later, he's dead. Now JJJ and Eddie must team up and discover the truth.

3) A scientist who's been working on the 'Nam suits goes AWOL, and Eddie is the first suspect. Baffled about why the authorities think he is responsible, Eddie digs into the man's past, and discovers the suit, and something much, much worse.

There are a million plus possible angles to this story line other than 'Guy shows up and delivers exposition'

I prefer to judge a story for what it is, rather than the million other ways I could think to tell it.

While someone could tell a story along the lines that you suggest, none of them sound all that appealing to me and they're all centered around pushing the idea of Brock's journalistic credibility and, as far as I can recall, that's never been a thing. Has there ever been a story where Brock's been shown to be a great reporter? Off hand, I'm gonna say no. So making the most roundabout story just in order to prove Brock's investigative chops seems like a waste of time.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I prefer to judge a story for what it is, rather than the million other ways I could think to tell it.

While someone could tell a story along the lines that you suggest, none of them sound all that appealing to me and they're all centered around pushing the idea of Brock's journalistic credibility and, as far as I can recall, that's never been a thing. Has there ever been a story where Brock's been shown to be a great reporter? Off hand, I'm gonna say no. So making the most roundabout story just in order to prove Brock's investigative chops seems like a waste of time.

Well, the story as it is is pretty lame, relies on exposition and doesn't use or develop Brock's character in any meaningful way. Just sayin'

I like stories where the main character moves the plot instead of being swept up in it or simply being told it. I don't see how him doing actual investigation automatically makes him a great reporter, and him investigating would actually be a good way to explore his character.