Batman: Venom

I have no problem with a dark story where a rookie Batman makes mistakes but this was poorly written.

First, while I can totally see Batman having regrets at the loss of a life and turning to drugs to cope, it undercuts his detective persona when a) he isn't suspicious of the chemist whose daughter just died having no emotional reaction; b) dude... You're just going to take random pills? Not going to look into it?

Second, glossing over his recovery process sends the message that if you go cold turkey you'll kick the habit, without talking about the potentialy fatal consequences of going cold turkey. Considering he's been taking these for quite a while in the story? But sure. Lets chalk that one up to fiction. But at least give us some time in the cave and show us more of Bruce's perspective? That could've been an entire issue into itself.

3) there are 3 female characters and they're all disposable for the purpose of the plot. The misogyny took me out of the story. Plus the army general almost makes a homophobic remark (he doesn't... But it's implied).

4) this is supposed to set up the island of Santa Prisca, and Bane. While I get the need for that, it does perpetuate stereotypes of Latin American countries as dangerous. This particular island is entirely run by drug cartels. On top of that, O'Neil writes the dialogue for Consuela (yes that's the name of the only named Hispanic person in the entire story) with her accent. Ex. Instead of saying “Tim, I don't think I want to see you no more”, her chooses to write “Teem, I don' theenk I wan' see you no more.” It just feels racist. Plus, Consuela falling in love with Tim right away pushes that false motion that a white American can just swoop into a foreign country and have women just falling at his feet.

5) the fact that they don't decide to kill Batman right away nor reveal his identity (for more gross reasons) but rather put him into a James Bond style slow death trap. Sure it's under the pretense of having him take a more addictive formula of Venom, but it just feels campy. The tone is all over the place.

Those are just some of the issues I had with this story. It's not a Dark Knight that you'll recognize. Sure, he's early in his career, but it's no excuse for him being so naïve.

Interesting read given that it sets the backdrop for Bane. Batman fighting an addiction is pretty novel too