Sometimes a hero just needs a little space...
Venom: Space Knight is a 2015 - 2016 All-New, All-Different Marvel comic written by Robbie Thompson, with artwork by Ariel Olivetti, Kim Jacinto, R.B. Silva, Ario Anindito, and Gerardo Sandoval. The series focuses on Flash Thompson, aka Agent Venom, during his time in space in a post-Secret Wars (2015) Marvel Universe. As part of Marvel NOW! (2016), it was an indirect successor to Venom (Remender & Bunn) and was itself succeeded by Venom (Mike Costa) — with Flash losing the Venom symbiote to Lee Price.
After travelling to the Planet of the Symbiotes, learning of the true nature of the "Klyntar", and having the Venom symbiote purged of its hatred and bloodlust, Flash becomes an Agent of the Cosmos. Directed by the will of the Cosmos, Venom travels to worlds in need of protection or assistance in between missions with the Guardians of the Galaxy. During his adventures, he picks up an eclectic group of allies: 803, a suicidal robot; Iqa, the queen of a species of amazonian Gorgon-like aliens; Pik Rollo, a "space-panda" mercenary sent to kill him; Hilla Rollo, Pik's bloodthirsty daughter; and Tarna, a hot-tempered Skrull bonded to a symbiote and Flash's mentor as an Agent of the Cosmos.
An encounter with the space pirate Mercurio reveals that the Venom symbiote still has some unresolved anger issues, and Flash and the symbiote learn that if they are to redeem themselves they have to confront the failures of their pasts... provided that redemption is even possible.
For tropes related to the symbiote itself, individual hosts, and characters from the series, there is a Character Sheet here.
Venom: Space Knight has bonded with the following tropes:
- Aborted Arc: Mercurio swears revenge on Flash Thompson after Venom nearly kills him... and hasn't been seen since.
- Addiction-Powered: An unconventional example, as the symbiote is addicted to rage and hatred, which it feeds off of to become stronger and more vicious.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind:
- When the corrupted symbiote rebonds to Flash, it drags him into its Mental World and forces him to relive his worst memories in order to break him.
- When the symbiote rebonds to Spider-Man, Peter is ready to engage in one of these, but the symbiote instead opts to have a long-overdue heart-to-heart with him, showing him the memories of its past before their first encounter.
- Big Bad: Mercurio the 4D Man makes his return as a Space Pirate disrupting the stability of planets.
- Bloodbath Villain Origin: More of the Venom symbiote's pre-Earth backstory is revealed, namely that its original host was an Omnicidal Maniac who used it to slaughter every living thing on his homeworld.
- Boldly Coming: While Flash turns her down, Iqa kisses him and offers him a prize position in her husband stable. She later makes it clear to Pik Rollo that she called dibs on Flash.
- Breaking Speech: The re-corrupted Venom symbiote subjects Flash to a doozy as it takes him over.Venom Symbiote: This... this is who we really are. What we really are. Agents of death. Not the cosmos. You've never been good. You've never been selfless. You've never been kind. You've always been venom. Now it's time to accept your fate... and achieve your true potential. Flash Thompson is dead. Long live Venom.
- Breaking the Fellowship: In Issue 10, Iqa, Tarna, Pik, Hilla, and 803 send Flash home to reunite with Mania, while they go search for the Fountain of Purity, the only thing able to break the hell mark's hold on her.
- The Bus Came Back: After having not been seen since the end of Venom Vol. 2, Mania makes a comeback.
- The Corruption:
- Bonding to Mercurio for a short period of time is enough to undo Venom's cleansing, leaving the symbiote struggling to suppress its rage and oscillating between it's old evil self and its repentant self with very little provocation.
- It's revealed that Mania's hell-mark has corrupted her symbiote and turned it into a bloodthirsty monster that dominates its host. More than that, it's burnt its way through the symbiote and has corrupted Andrea herself.
- Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: When Iqa asks if she thinks the Venom symbiote and Tarna's symbiote are going to mate, Pik Rollo dismisses the notion, pauses, then covers her daughter's eyes just in case.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: During their fight, Spider-Man gets a few good blows in on Venom — who, admittedly, was trying not to fight back — but the moment the symbiote is separated from Flash it turns the tables and easily trounces Peter.
- Deadly Euphemism: When Tarna and her klyntar show up after Mercurio's defeat, Flash and the Venom symbiote both think their intent to have the latter "returned to the Cosmos" is simply a polite way of saying they're going to kill it. Despite Tarna's klyntar attempting to clarify (Tarna herself, not so much), a fight breaks out that results in the Venom symbiote going berserk.
- Death Seeker: Venom comes across a suicidal robot with a death wish named 803.
- Descent into Addiction: The story arc chronicles the symbiote's relapse into its hateful, rage-addicted state, and subsequent struggle to recover.
- Fight Off the Kryptonite: The Venom symbiote shows just how much more powerful its become when it not only withstands but destroys a sonic cage intended to incapacitate it.
- Giant Enemy Crab: One of the alternate covers shows Agent Venom fighting a bunch of alien crabs in space
◊. - Green-Skinned Space Babe:
- Iqa and the other Wugin are Amazonian red-skinned Medusa-like aliens who live on a volcano.
- Tarna is revealed to be a Skrull, and stays in her Shapeshifter Default Form when not wearing her klyntar.
- Heroic Host: Space Knight chronicles Flash's activities as the host of a cleansed and redemptive Venom symbiote... at least until it's corrupted by Mercurio and goes berserk.
- It's Personal: Flash takes the Venom symbiote relapsing back to its old evil self very personally, since he himself is a recovering addict and knows exactly how it feels. The symbiote is aware of this and goes out of its way to antagonize him, deliberately mocking his old alcoholism issues.
- Journey to the Center of the Mind:
- When it takes over Flash, the Venom symbiote walks him through some twisted memories to show him he's not the good person he thinks he is.
- After bonding to Spider-Man, who was expecting a Battle in the Center of the Mind, the Venom symbiote instead has a long-overdue heart-to-heart with him while showing him memories of its birth and first host.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Due to its memories being erased by its cleansing, the Venom symbiote had forgotten Spider-Man was a former host. Upon being reminded of this during their fight, it promptly bonded to him, though rather than take him over it has a long-overdue discussion.
- Laughing Mad:
- Mercurio, after bonding to the Venom symbiote, lets out a maniacal laugh.
- After succumbing to corruption, the Venom symbiote lets out a maniacal laugh of its own.
- Let's You and Him Fight:
- Then they first meet Tarna picks a fight with Venom, having deemed him not worthy of being among the ranks of the Agents of the Cosmos. They later come to blows a second time when she turns up looking to apprehend the Venom symbiote.
- After Venom returns to Earth to look for Mania, Spider-Man picks a fight with him seeking to free Flash from the clutches of the evil symbiote, ignoring Flash's protests that the symbiote is no longer evil and that he's friends with it. After being separated from Flash, the Venom symbiote proceeds to go berserk and Curb-Stomp Battle Spidey before taking over him.
- Mind Rape: The symbiote subjects Flash to one derived from his dark past as an abused child, bully, and alcoholic, intended to convince him that he's not the hero he thinks he is.
- The Mirror Shows Your True Self: When gazing into a mirror after being separated from Mercurio, the Venom symbiote sees its monstrous form reflected back at it.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Even with its new look, the symbiote is still very capable of forming its trademarked fanged maw.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: After being cleansed, the Venom symbiote becomes able to hear the voice of the Cosmos and can take on a humanoid form without a host for brief periods of time.
- No-Sell: The symbiote tanks an RPG to protect Spider-Man and Flash, and is surprisingly no worse for ware.
- Off the Wagon: Midway through the story, the Venom symbiote succumbs to its rage addiction and goes on a rampage across the galaxy before Flash and his team are able to get it under control.
- Paint the Town Red: After returning to Philadelphia, Flash checks out a gore-spattered warehouse that was the site of a battle between Mania and the Red Hand gang.
- Person of Mass Destruction: After its re-corruption, the Venom symbiote blazes a path of devastation across the worlds it had helped alongside Flash.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Venom's crew of 803 (a suicidal robot), Iqa (the warrior-queen of an Amazonian medusoid species), Pik Rollo (a mercenary "space panda"), Hilla (Pik's equally-bloodthirsty daughter), and Tarna (a Skrull bonded to a symbiote), are as ragtag a bunch of warriors as they get.
- Redemption Failure: Zig-zagged: The Venom symbiote bonds to Mercurio as part of a deliberate gambit on Flash's part, and while Symbiote reveals it is still very much loyal to Flash, its brief bonding to Mercurio causes it to succumb to rage and bloodlust once more.Venom Symbiote: I wasn't always a good guy. But people can change. I changed. And you know what? It was fun while it lasted.
- Series Continuity Error: In a flashback scene in #13, Flash tells Andi he's going to be joining the Guardians of the Galaxy. He's incorrectly depicted with his Agent of the Cosmos appearance, rather than his Agent Venom appearance.
- Ship Tease: Iqa, the Queen of the Wugin, kisses Flash after he helps save her planet and offers him a place in her husband stable. She is turned on by his symbiote-induced anger issues, and jealously warns Pik Rollo to keep her paws off.
- Shout-Out: The series' title is a reference to Rom: Spaceknight. The Space Knights from Guardians of Infinity show up late in the arc.
- Space Opera: Robbie Thompson has stated in an interview that he intends Space Knight to be this.
- Status Quo Is God:
- Despite having been purged of its bloodlust and hatred in Guardians of the Galaxy, ten issues in the Venom symbiote is back to its old evil self and loving it, though Flash helps it suppress its rage and it resolves to take things one day at a time.
- The ending of the final issue is a return to the status quo of Venom Vol. 2. Mania is still cursed, and Venom is back on Earth. He even returns to his old Agent Venom appearance.
- Take That Us: The series almost completely undoes what Brian Michael Bendis did in Guardians of the Galaxy. Flash even returns to his Agent Venom form when Mania tells him she prefers his old look.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: The Venom symbiote espouses that it's been Evil All Along, ever since its first host used it to commit a genocide.
- Top-Heavy Guy: While Flash typically has a Heroic Build, the symbiote's new form has noticeably longer and bulkier arms, invoked as a call-back to its appearance when it was first bonded to Eddie Brock.
- Trial by Combat: In Issue 10, the Venom symbiote is placed in an arena with several other Klyntar in order for the Agents of the Cosmos to "see what he really is". Flash bitterly remarks that the ensuing battle isn't a trial, but an execution. The trial's purpose was to assess the Venom symbiote's aggression levels, and with some coaxing from Flash it was able to reign its rage in and scrape by.
- Ursine Aliens: Pik Rollo, whose species — the Ruu'lto — resemble bulky panda bears with lemur tails.
- We Help the Helpless: The symbiotes of Guardians of the Cosmos can sense those who are in need of aid and are compelled to assist them.
- You Don't Look Like You: Mercurio the 4D Man returns as the main villain of the first arc... looking completely different from his appearance in Thor.
