Venom, Vol. 6: The Land Where Killers Dwell

Venom (2011) (Collected Editions)

by Cullen Bunn, Thony Silas (Illustrator)

If Venom's going to be the super hero Philly deserves, he's got to do it right! Venom wants it all - resources, allies, contacts, and an HQ - but he knows zip about setting that up! To make matters worse, he's already made an enemy of Philly's toughest crime boss - Lord Ogre! And Lord Ogre declares war! Venom's evolution as Philadelphia's makeshift, seat-of-your-pants Avenger continues! But Katy Kiernan dead set on learning all Venom's secrets! How does Flash protect his secret identity while trying to protect himself from a hit that's been called on him?

Collecting: Venom 36-42, 27.1

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Spider Man, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

136 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2013

About the author

Cullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.

All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.

And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.

Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the final volume of the series, and really I think it was time. This volume wasn't the best.

Jack O'Lantern shows up again, sort of. And he's annoying as ever. But what really got me was Venom's new sidekick. He attempts to save a teenage girl from Jack O'Lantern by covering her with the symbiote, and suddenly it breaks off and we have a she-venom named Mania. That part just didn't do it for me. There's a subplot where the devil's mark Venom received back in the Circle of Four storyline has been passed to Mania, and there's a group of villains collecting the devil's marks and killing the bearers.

Art was okay, but nothing special.

Overall this wasn't a great volume, and probably a good place to end the series. I enjoyed it overall, but I think it had run its course.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a weird way to wrap up this particular volume of the Venom comic. Still with the whole mark of the devil being a problem for Venom. Then he involves the upstairs neighbor's kid in the symbiote madness. And then there's a full-on gang war style vendetta with various mercenaries hired to take Agent Venom out?

There's a lot going on and it still provides decent entertainment but I'm not if it really did justice to the character or really wrapped things up well when the title concluded. And yes, I say this despite a variety of villain cameos and Mephisto to boot.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series never really did it for me. When I read through all of Venom's 90s mini-series, there was always an off-the-wall weirdness to them, even when they weren't great stories. But Agent Venom was always self-serious and Flash (with the symbiote) is such a downer, it was never fun reading his inner dialogue. It never clicked with me why the secret agent with the alien super suit would be dealing with demons and I always felt like it was never as bonkers as the concept sounds. Mania was fun though. I hope she stands up to the tests of time and gets her own series at some point.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The longest Venom run ends with a...well, a slight whimper. A lot happens here and Cullen Bunn tries to tie all these multiple threads together. Unfortunately there is too much going on. The introduction of Mania is really well done but just not able to breathe with so much around it. Lord Ogre was the opposite. He was a bland idea that goes nowhere. The art is hit or miss throughout. Overall, an uneven read to say the least.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collects Venom issues #27.1 and issues #36-42

This was the final collection in this run of "Venom," and possibly the best one. By his own admission, Cullen Bunn's story isn't fully told, but there are still some satisfying stories in here.

Final rating = 3.5 stars

SPOILERS:

This collection features the debut of a new Marvel symbiote character, Mania.

[FortressOfBookitude · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*

Ich bin hin und her gerissen, was diesen story arc angeht. Er hat alles, was ich wollte, aber leider ist er viel zu kurz. Allerdings denke ich, dass das Bestmögliche mit der Nummer an Issues, die zur Verfügung standen, um die Geschichte zu erzählen, rausgeholt wurde.
Trotzdem hätte ich gern mehr Coach Thompson gesehen.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great if I'm honest and left me with too many questions for the end of a series.

[Michael Kikle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just okay. Not good, not bad. Not really a fan of the girl Venom lol.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unsatifiying ending and the volume suffers from the changing artists. Mania is cool but she's basically Shadow the Hedgehog, at least visually. 2.5/5.

[Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decrease in quality and a somewhat meager send-off to an overall solid run. Marvel really should have let this one run on longer. Still, pretty fun volume with some good art.

[chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mania should have been introduced earlier in the run. I really like her as a character but I wanted to see more of her and Flash bonding.

[Guillermo García Rojas C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best story I've ever read.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wcześniejsza opowieść powiązana z Toxiciem podobała mi się nieco bardziej niż to co zaprezentowano tutaj, ale... Wracają demony, wątek naznaczenia idzie w zaskakującym i świeżym kierunku... Czego chcieć więcej?

Cały ten zabieg sprawia, że ponownie skupiamy się na walkach, a nie na rozwoju postaci, choć szczęśliwie znajdzie się i tu kilka okienek na pewne wewnętrzne rozmyślania... Tym bardziej, że przeszłość Flasha doprowadzi do pewnej tragedii. Nie wybrzmiała ona jednak tak jakbym chciał, choć na osłodę dostajemy całkiem nową bohaterkę. Manię.

To nowy typ symbiontu(powstały z symbiontu) i losy tej postaci nie były mi obojętne. Przeciwnie, jestem w stanie zrozumieć zarówno jej motywację jaki i tą Thompsona, który chce mieć nad nią pieczę (w końcu to co się stało to częściowo jego wina). Do akcji wkracza cała gama różnych czarnych charakterów, bo Venom wykonując swoje obowiązki w Filadelfii, podpadł tutejszemu bossowi półświatka kryminalnego, niejakiego Lorda Ogra.

Sojusznik bardzo się przyda, gdy ktoś wyznacza za twoją głowę nagrodę. Wraca też ta nieco irytująca dziennikarka, Kate Kieran, ale jej występy są nieco za szczątkowe. Niemniej Venom z Manią to dobry duet i ich walki ogląda się tym razem z przyjemnością.

Zwłaszcza, że do 40 zeszytu komiks wygląda moim zdaniem wyśmienicie. Potem już nie bardzo. Kreski w wykonaniu nowego rysownika są słabe, widać to zwłaszcza po przekrzywionych twarzach ludzi. A szkoda, bo gdyby nie to ocena była by wyższa niż te 2,5, które się tu należy.

[Anchorpete · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved this book when Rick Remender was writing it. Thing is, filling in Remender's shoes is no easy task. I think that Cullen Bunn does a really good job. I really wish I had read some of the previous trades. I really like that Bunn was trying to build up a mythology, Supporting cast, and world for the Flash Thompson Venom. Flash thompson Venom is one of my favorite Marvel characters made in the past few decades, and I really hope he doesn't get lost in the shuffle, now that his series is over.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seems a lot more like a beginning than an ending.

It's a decent beginning, but not a great ending.

One thing that people need to stop doing is making more symbiotes. There are enough.

And what's super confusing is why there's no follow-up on Mania's dead father. No police investigation. No funeral. No one taking custody of Mania.

[Alex Sarll]

Bunn's run on Flash Thompson, aka Agent Venom, finally gets all its elements meshed - just in time for cancellation. Flash's own troubled past, the symbiote, the mundane and the demonic; turns out they did all fit together, even if we never got to see quite how.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some of the art wasn't to my taste, I did like where the story was going.

I'm a little frustrated to find out it just sort of...stopped here.

I'd like to know more about what happened with Mania after Issue 42.

[Willow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt very much like Bunn was going somewhere and then got cancelled. Was it a great buildup? Meh. I'm mildly interested in the resolution, but not enough to be upset that the series was cut short.

[Anthony Lacroix · Rating 1 out of 5]

eurk je m'en souvenais meme plus que j'ai lu ce comics. ça dit à quel point c'est mauvais