I thought Venom was pretty boring this week. The premise starts off well, building on the character depth Remender has shown so far with Flash, but it all devolves into mindless violence shortly after. Remender's Hobgoblin is so dull, as well, lacking any of the jokes or "Evil Peter Parker" juaxtoposition that Slott's version has. Wasn't a big fan of the artwork either, which is good because I usually really like Kev Walker. There's a fun moment here and there, but it all just feels silly, an excuse to get the Fly out of jail for the Savage Six story coming up. Oh well.
Remender has much better luck in Uncanny X-Force, though. Like Venom, it's a one-and-done fight comic, but it's backed by superior artwork(thanks to the team of Phil Noto and Dean White) and stronger character writing. It's perfectly paced and structured, with the interjections of the Betsy/Fantomex scenes gives the issue a proper balance in tone, hammering home the emotional toll the maligned "Otherworld" story arc inflicted on the characters. X-Force vs AoA Iceman strikes a good tone between outright funny(Deadpool's opener and Wolverine saving the day have to be seen), and deadly serious. AoA Nightcrawler and Iceman are two old friends turned bitter enemies, and it comes down to a intimate, personal duel with a haunting ending. Uncanny X-Force is back to being awesome, folks.
