Acts of Evil: Venom Annual #1

The "Venom Annual" #1 Double Feature doubles down its bets that you want more Lady Hellbender! If more Lady Hellbender isn't what you're looking for in an Annnnnnnnual Venommmmm, then the art, by masters Di Meo and Ibez, is worth the price of admission alone. Read Full Review

Venom fans might be a little disappointed with this considering Cady's story doesn't do anything exciting with Eddie and his partner, but readers looking for new characters to get excited about might be enticed by Lady Hellbender. Read Full Review

Overall, I didn't like this issue. I came out the end of this book with zero inclination to ever read this again. The fanatic in me had issues with how Venom was written, how he looked, and overall what role the symbiote and Eddie played in this book. I'm not excusing the fact that its a "one-and-done" story because I've read better one-and-done Venom stories before (we just had a great one in the previous Venom #16). What a waste. Read Full Review

Venom Annual #1 isn't bad by any means, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone for $4.99. Sure, there's a whole other store in those 34 pages that I didn't even touch on, but it's not doing the book any favors. The main story is pretty run of the mill in more ways than one, and the art doesn't really wow me at any point. If you just have to pick this up, do it when it's on sale. Read Full Review

The majority of the main story in this annual is focused on a space queen hitting on Eddie Brock because he's strong-willed. That's not a stretch and I don't really think you need to know anything else about this issue to pass on it. Read Full Review

CrazyforRAMU

Feb 27, 2020

I liked this more than most readers, I think, but I recognize it's a pretty dumb idea to present an alternate take on Venom (visually and narratively) while he's in the middle of a definitive run. I'm a fan of Lady Hellbender, but these strips develop her poorly, hanging clichéd choices and motivations on a character that could be so much more.

Soul Assassin

Jul 31, 2019

this was complete shit. an embarrassment to a great venom series by cates

EDiakota

Aug 01, 2019

Run ! Fight ! Kill !

Psycamorean

Aug 06, 2019

Neither story here was particularly well written. This annual is less about Venom than it is about Lady Hellbender, a character whose tragic backstory doesn't really help her as she bounces from cliche to seductress cliche. And the whole "villain" angle goes out the window when you already know what she actually does, which you would if you've read Totally Awesome Hulk or Monsters Unleashed. The entire origin story feels like a pointless tack on to an already pointless story being told with Venom. I don't expect that much from these Acts of Evil annuals, but this one didn't even clear my low bar. The only thing interesting (notice: I didn't say good or bad) is Venom's weird design. It's so odd that you just have to see it.