Venom, Vol. 3: Lethal Protector: Blood in the Water

Venom (2016) (Collected Editions)

by Mike Costa, Mark Bagley (Illustrator), Paulo Siqueira (Illustrator)

You've seen things from Eddie Brock's perspective; now see how things look from the other side - from the perspective of the Venom symbiote! COLLECTING: VENOM 154-158

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

136 pages, Paperback

First published February 13, 2018

About the author

Mike Costa is an American comic book and television writer.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a little surprised at how solid of a title this is becoming. I'm not a big fan of the Eddie Brock Venom and this is actually turning interesting. First up is a unique story from the symbiote's perspective drawn by the sublime Paulo Siquiera. I wish he'd jump on a book regularly. His art's fantastic. Then veteran Spidey and Venom artist Mark Bagley jumps on board for a story about Kraven hunting down the dinosaur people living below New York. Venom is thrust into the role of protector. Bagley has turned his art up a notch. The amount of emotion he gives to his characters is quite astonishing. Costa has found an interesting angle for the relationship between Eddie and the symbiote, treating them almost like a couple.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]
Venom's got a new job cleaning up Alchemax's messes, but it looks like their first one is causing even more problems than they first thought. When the dinosaurs living beneath New York are targeted by Kraven the Hunter, Venom's about to put his Lethal Protector hat back on as he defends them from the man who killed Spider-Man!

I really enjoyed this little arc. There's a lot of fun to be had with Venom in positions he doesn't want to be in, but knows he should be because he's trying to be better than he was before. The relationship between Eddie and the symbiote is very different to how it's ever been portrayed before, and it really changes the dynamic between them. I also liked the appearance of a villain we haven't seen in a while, but she didn't really do very much in terms of story, so it's a bit superficial at the end of the day.

Also included here is a done-in-one story told from the perspective of the symbiote, which isn't something we've had before. It sheds a lot of new light on how it views both itself and Eddie, as well as past hosts like Spider-Man and especially Flash Thompson. There's also some set-up throughout these five issues for the next arc, the crossover with Amazing Spider-Man, which looks like it's going to be great fun.

How do you invoke Marvel Legacy without going backwards? How about throwing classic Venom artist Mark Bagley back onto Venom? (Todd Macfarlane wasn't available, calm down) Bagley is a quintessential Spider-Man artist, and seeing him turn his hand to this darker side of the Spider-Verse is delightful. Bagley's name is synonmous with quality, and that's what you get in these issues. Paolo Siqueria draws the symbiote-focused issue, and that also looks great; his art is very different from the last time I saw him, over on A-Force, so he's clearly evolving his style as he goes.

If you're looking for lots of symbiotes like the original Lethal Protector, look elsewhere. But if you want a fun romp through New York's dinosaur-infested underbelly with a Venom twist and some Bagley art, look no further.

[Oneirosophos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, thanks to Bagley.

Average storytelling, though...

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is getting to be a pretty good title, surprisingly. About the only thing I didn't care for here was the appearance of Kraven the Hunter, one of Marvel's worst supervillains. Also showcases the return of the dinosaur people living in New York's underground, with Kraven deciding they'd make great targets for a hunt, at least until Venom shows up. Strong artwork from Paulo Siqueira and Mark Bagley, for once, doesn't seem to be phoning it in.

[Will Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the symbiote becoming more of an actual character in recent years we're treated to Venom's origin from its perspective. Very cool. The rest of the book I found rather boring, but loved the art. Cool to see Bagley's pencils on a Spider-Man related book again.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buzzword Readathon #6

Look, I just really love Venom and Eddie, and their relationship, plus the art in this one was really nice.

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brock and the symbiote are reunited but all is not well .

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
Venom, now doing his best to be a hero and protector, is still dealing with medicine to help keep him more docile. However, sometimes you can't hold back when defending the defenseless. The dinosaurs of the underground are being hunted by Kraven and Venom (known as "The Savior" to them) must defend against their extinction.
Additionally, Lee Price is out of jail and looking for his symbiote. I wonder how that will come to a head... Also, we get to see how the symbiote learns... by watching TV while Eddie sleeps! LOL
Overall, this Volume was a good story and had great art, but also was a little too straightforward. I like a bit more chaos with Venom stories.
Recommend, but with slight reservation.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the previous arc. This arc featured Venom Vs. Kraven the Hunter, which ends up being a decent match up. Shriek also shows up, but really her appearance seemed a little forced and didn't really fit well. It was cool to say Mark Bagley on art, who illustrated Venom's first limited series. Bagley hasn't lost a step, and really, is probably better than ever. This arc reminded me of the early Venom limited series, in a good way.

[Luana_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Venom is learning ♥ and watching doctor shows "on the box" ahahah
I love him so much!

Been to many worlds, but none of them this strange. Understood feelings before, but simple feelings - like colors, bold and bright. Happy. Sad. Angry. Then... met Spider-Man. Feelings got complicated. Learned guilt. Also the first time I felt fear. Felt agony. Learned feeling: Betrayal. Learned first words they called me. Monster. Parasite. Bad. [...] Eddie was mad when the man didn't take the TV. I was happy. Confusing when that happens. [...] We feel different things. Not normal. Scary. If Eddie is good, why do we disagree? If disagree... am I a monster? Parasite? Bad?

Baby ♥

The first chapter was so good. I would quote every single thing tbh.
The scene at the hospital between Venom and the priest was incredible.

"The world can be a hopeless place. Without people who care about you, it can be isolating. I have seen men in this hospital lose their will to live without love. But out there, men lose their souls. Do you have love in your life? Someone who matters to you?"
"I do... He sleeps now, but he is always with me"
"Love is a precious thing. Painful. Confusing. But precious. Every day, work to earn it."
"We will earn love. We're learning."

"We will keep you alive, Eddie. Your body will heal."
"No love, too much damage. I need... a hospital."
"Eddie? Need to wake up, Eddie. Need help! I don't remember where hospital is, Eddie. Don't worry, Eddie. We'll save you."

I want to put Venom in my pocket.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Realmente, eu nãos ei de onde ele saiu, mas esse roteirista Mike Costa não tem muito talento para quadrinhos de super-heróis. Desde a DC Comics onde trabalhou com alguns personagens dos Novos 52 até a Marvel, onde se dedicou à linha dos heróis e anti-heróis aracnídeos, os resultados foram basicamente os mesmos: BLÉ! São roteiros bem qualquer coisa, que no máximo dos máximos cumprem o que foi ordenado a ele. Aliás, o Venom vinha amargando uma fase bem xoxa até a chegada de Donny Cates no seu título. Este número de Venom, neste terceiro volume, mostra que Eddie Brock resolveu voltar a ser protetor. Mas adivinha quem ele vai proteger? Um povo-dinossauro (sim, voC~e leu direito, povo-dinossauro), que vive nos subterrâneos de Manhattan (sim, mais um povo que vive nos subterrâneo de Manhattan, o lugar mais superpopulado do planeta) e que são caçados por Kraven, o caçador. Mais do mesmo? Sim, mais do mesmo. Pelo menos temos os desenhos de Mark Bagley para dar aquele ar do "Marvel Legado" e retornar nos tempos nos anos 1990, quando o Venom e o Carnificina estavam na crista da onda. Essa fase do personagem é melhor esquecer.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really didn't enjoy the previous volume but decided to read the next one since reviewers on Goodreads said the art was better and that was one of the bigger problems in the last story. Thankfully, it was definitely better here and the plot was a bit better too. Exploring the story through the eyes of the symbiote was certainly a factor in the improvement and having less plot holes never hurts either. It is also nice to have some straightforward hero action with Kraven compared to the unimpressive previous villains. There's nothing groundbreaking here but it was enjoyable and made me feel like this was a good point to jump off this book and read something else. Venom deserves another writer like Rick Remender to bring out his full potential but there were at least moments in this series that were fun even if it is weighted down by some bad ideas/execution as well.

[José · Rating 2 out of 5]

50/100.

Esta nueva etapa de Venom me gusta mucho menos que la de Flash Thompson. Quizás porque ese va a ser siempre *mi* Venom, al igual que para muchos otros el suyo es Eddie. La dinámica entre ambos, Venom y Eddie, me gusta mucho. Me falla un poco en este tomo todo lo demás.

Veremos cómo termina en el último. Por la última página del último número de este tomo, parece que será mucho más interesante.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike Costa has a nice take on Venom and I really enjoy the dynamic between Eddie and the symbiote. The story here was very 90s to me. Kraven versus dinosaur people screams wacky nostalgia and it was done...okay. Not bad but definitely not something super high on Kraven's greatest hits. The art by Mark Bagley was very well done. Overall, a decent read more so for what was said rather than what was done.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects Venom (2016) issues #154-158

This series continues to be surprisingly entertaining. I really enjoyed the Lee Price character, so I'm glad he is still on the peripheral of the story. Kraven the Hunter appears in these pages as an antagonist to Venom, but in a lot of ways, Venom is an antagonist to himself.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG this is such glorious crack, and I love it.

Dinosaur people and Venom as "the Savior" and Eddie's weird, intimate relationship with the symbiote. This whole thing is ridiculous, and I love every bit of it.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a great new Venom art and I'm loving Mike Costa's take on the Venom story, but I'm tired of Kraven. And the dinosaur people are a little over the top, but I like that Eddie was very aware of that and even said so in the last volume.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the last volume was kind of a mess, Venom vs Kraven the Hunter worked well because Venom feels responsible for the underground dino-people society. The fact that they were dino-people? Not too relevant.

[Nathanael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series started off with a stinker, but is getting steadily better and is actually pretty good with this volume. It was cool to see Venom tangling with another iconic Spidey villain and the dinosaur people community is so weird and comic-y.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, the Venom symbiote has a bit of an identity crisis while Eddie is sleeping. Then, Kraven the Hunter shows up to hunt the dinosaur people Venom met in the previous volume. Most of the art is by Mark Bagley, so it's great.

[Michal Vámoš · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5*. Škoda, že tak slibná řada skončila jako tuctová ždímačka.

[Sean Goh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprising amount of feels reading about Venom trying to do good while struggling on the inside with their old demons + seeking absolution from their past victim.

[Ioana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing I might have to say about this is GR appropriate :D

[Yuiko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhh sorta boring

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean it was okay, but it felt all over the place, which isn't really my thing. 2.5/5.

[Nicole Westen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sorry Marvel, but Venom can no longer be a super villain. He's too damn adorable.

[Enigmaticblue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really enjoying this series, a lot more than I thought I would.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how this Kraven can co-exist with the Squirrel Girl Kraven.

Yes, that's what I care about.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Venom

Vol. 3 was pretty good, a quick read, but still enjoyable. Loving the involvement of dinosaurs the last two books. Can't wait to read the next book.

[Guillermo García Rojas C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buena historia.