Web of Venom: Wraith: #1: Some People Call Me The Space Cowboy…

The Season of Knull is in full bloom which means the leaves are turning, the weather is getting cooler, and side stories are starting to appear, and what better way to start the ball rolling then giving Wraith a mini-series to get things warmed up. Now, we do have the main story in Venom that is in the driver seat for the big event coming up, but it is nice to have the occasional side story that actually feels like it belongs. Web of Venom: Wraith #1 definitely feels like he’s been at the party from the start.

Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the strange man known only as Wraith (he knows the name Zak-Dell and believes he was once called this). We got to go back to 2007 during the Annihilation: Conquest: Wraith #1 for our first introduction. He dabbled with the Guardians and now he is ready to stand on his own in 2020. This first issue plays heavily on the loner, space cowboy, seeking revenge tale which we have all read before numerous times but this is Donny Cates we’re talking about and we all know Cates will do Cates things.

Wraith is somehow connected to Knull (as we get closer to King in Black I’m sure we’ll see a lot more folks tied to Knull in some fashion) which has interesting aspects considering Wraith’s powers and could he possibly tie-up with Knull in the future? Do not take this mini as just another side story to a big event, make no mistake about it this is pure science fiction with big bold flavors that will surely satisfy the most discerning palate. The book opens with Wraith trying to find out who he is and what his purpose is. Are we seeing a hero’s journey in the making? Could Wraith be that unsung hero in hopefully taking on and destroying Knull? The pacing of the story and when we begin to find out more about Wraith really set the tone for the next issues and sets a great foundation. In December when King in Black begins I think we will be coming back to this series as reference material looking for the tiny Easter Eggs that we might have missed.

I was surprised a little that Wraith got his own series tie-in for King in Black as we saw him in Cates’ Guardian’s run but we really haven’t heard from him since 07 so I get that some folks could be scratching their heads (I know I was) but this book is really good and plays well with the current Venom run, and the Knull storyline. The art does a fantastic job of bringing the story to life. It’s dark, moody, dirty, and slightly gives you the creeps. Guiu Villanova and Dean White play off each other beautifully in issue 1 keeping the vibe of the Venom books without trying to make it a Venom book. They absolutely captured a picture of horror and sci-fi with nightmarish visuals with their way of blending colors that take on an unreal aspect and keep you admiring the panel long after you are done reading.