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Venom (2021)
Venom, Vol. 1: Recursion
Following a blockbuster turn by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, Marvel’s resident master of horror, Al Ewing, takes over the adventures of Venom — bringing the same style and sensibilities that made IMMORTAL HULK a smash to the symbiote hivemind! But like Eddie Brock himself, Al needs a partner in crime — and Marvel has enlisted Ram V, a titan of terror in his own right, to lend a dramatic and dangerous air to this new vision of Venom! And why stop there?! Every book needs an artist, and we’ve enlisted one of the best: the ultimate illustrator, Bryan Hitch! An industry superstar who’s drawn scores of fan-favorite books, Bryan brings his rich and detailed style to the Venomverse! One superstar era gives way to another — and you won’t believe what lies ahead!
Collects Venom (2021) #1-5
Collects Venom (2021) #1-5
144 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2022
29 people are currently reading
158 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
September 11, 2023
Not bad.
I went into this with no (low) expectations quite a bit after its initial release, so I think that had a lot to do with how undisappointed I am in this. I loved Cates' run on Venom and I loved Ewing's run on Hulk. But at this point, I already know this didn't live up to the hype machine.
However, this volume did set up a new storyline with Venom, Danny, & Eddie.
Eddie is spending too much time away from home. <--does he even realize it?
Danny is getting in trouble at school. <--are his anger issues normal or...?
And one of the Venom symbiotes went rogue and killed some people. <--that ain't right!
Not sure what's going on yet but is seems as though Eddie may be somewhere Danny can't reach hin, which means he's on his own with only Original Venom and Cat Venom (can't remember its name) to help him out.
This could turn out cool.
Or not.
Guess I'll find out.
I went into this with no (low) expectations quite a bit after its initial release, so I think that had a lot to do with how undisappointed I am in this. I loved Cates' run on Venom and I loved Ewing's run on Hulk. But at this point, I already know this didn't live up to the hype machine.
However, this volume did set up a new storyline with Venom, Danny, & Eddie.
Eddie is spending too much time away from home. <--does he even realize it?
Danny is getting in trouble at school. <--are his anger issues normal or...?
And one of the Venom symbiotes went rogue and killed some people. <--that ain't right!
Not sure what's going on yet but is seems as though Eddie may be somewhere Danny can't reach hin, which means he's on his own with only Original Venom and Cat Venom (can't remember its name) to help him out.
This could turn out cool.
Or not.
Guess I'll find out.
August 9, 2022
So far this is more the Ram V. show than the Al Ewing led book with Ewing writing the occasional Eddie Brock issue and Ram writing the Dylan issues. Dylan is missing the character of the Cates's run. There he was a brave and kind-hearted kid. Now he's just a punk teenager with no personality other than anger. He's being hounded by the Life Federation.
Eddie's off on his own Swamp Thing type journey through the ages, learning to evolve while the reader is just left confused until Ewing explains what's going on. Bryan Hitch fits the book better than I thought he would.
Eddie's off on his own Swamp Thing type journey through the ages, learning to evolve while the reader is just left confused until Ewing explains what's going on. Bryan Hitch fits the book better than I thought he would.
May 9, 2024
Reread: 09/05/2024
This was fun in reread and you can see a lot of set up for whats to come in this run and you see how it all connects and its all time travel and all which is confusing most times but its Eddie and Dylan's stories and they are separated and the bad guy Meridius orchestrating it all and well Life foundation and all how they play a role here, I guess the idea is to put situations infront of Dylan and Venom to force them to change which is interesting and whatever the Garden of time is. Fun stuff and fun new villains and concepts. Bedlam and Spearhead designs are interesting and I like the art here, feels classic in a good sense of the word.
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I guess it was okayish?
Honestly after Cates it was tough for anyone to hit the same levels but its a good attempt as we see the focus on Dylan and what he is feeling after what happens to Eddie in the first issue and then meeting some old friend of his fathers, the betrayals and the dilemma with the symbiote and what they do next and also we get to find out what happened to Eddie and this new enemy Meridius and how he is involved. A challenge through time I guess and also next up for Dylan: Bedlam!
Great volume in a setting up sense and it does well to show the threats Eddie will be facing and the art by Hitch is okay and getting better. The characterization is okayish, not the best but maybe its due to writing change and them wanna trying to something different. So yeah good read, a lot of future plotlines established too and lets see how this run goes.
This was fun in reread and you can see a lot of set up for whats to come in this run and you see how it all connects and its all time travel and all which is confusing most times but its Eddie and Dylan's stories and they are separated and the bad guy Meridius orchestrating it all and well Life foundation and all how they play a role here, I guess the idea is to put situations infront of Dylan and Venom to force them to change which is interesting and whatever the Garden of time is. Fun stuff and fun new villains and concepts. Bedlam and Spearhead designs are interesting and I like the art here, feels classic in a good sense of the word.
__________________________________________________________________________
I guess it was okayish?
Honestly after Cates it was tough for anyone to hit the same levels but its a good attempt as we see the focus on Dylan and what he is feeling after what happens to Eddie in the first issue and then meeting some old friend of his fathers, the betrayals and the dilemma with the symbiote and what they do next and also we get to find out what happened to Eddie and this new enemy Meridius and how he is involved. A challenge through time I guess and also next up for Dylan: Bedlam!
Great volume in a setting up sense and it does well to show the threats Eddie will be facing and the art by Hitch is okay and getting better. The characterization is okayish, not the best but maybe its due to writing change and them wanna trying to something different. So yeah good read, a lot of future plotlines established too and lets see how this run goes.
May 9, 2022
I almost landed on a 2 out of 5 but the art and last issue did help.
After the explosive and well recived Cates run, Al Ewing and Ram V came on board. Both extremely solid writers working together with Hitch's art, what can go wrong?
Well, for starters, making Dylan kind of a meh character about half way through.
Dylan was a standout in Cates run. He was brave, kind hearted, and really helped push Eddie to become a better man. I would have loved to see more of that. Except Eddie does make a choice to leave at the end while Dylan stays behind on earth. And this picks up pretty soon after with a actually solid opening of Dylan on the run after his dad telling him to meet him somewhere despite his dad just being in the room a few minutes prior. Gives a nice "scary" moment that makes you question who is who.
But then the next few issues feel like drone on without much interest. Dylan being hunted, captured, hunted, fight. But none of it is hitting emotionally. Eddie is in some symbiot safe haven of some sort with a big bad pulling the strings...meh.
Overall it isn't horrible and the art is solid but I just can't help but feel it's missing the heart that made the last run so good. Let's see if they can turn it around in volume 2.
After the explosive and well recived Cates run, Al Ewing and Ram V came on board. Both extremely solid writers working together with Hitch's art, what can go wrong?
Well, for starters, making Dylan kind of a meh character about half way through.
Dylan was a standout in Cates run. He was brave, kind hearted, and really helped push Eddie to become a better man. I would have loved to see more of that. Except Eddie does make a choice to leave at the end while Dylan stays behind on earth. And this picks up pretty soon after with a actually solid opening of Dylan on the run after his dad telling him to meet him somewhere despite his dad just being in the room a few minutes prior. Gives a nice "scary" moment that makes you question who is who.
But then the next few issues feel like drone on without much interest. Dylan being hunted, captured, hunted, fight. But none of it is hitting emotionally. Eddie is in some symbiot safe haven of some sort with a big bad pulling the strings...meh.
Overall it isn't horrible and the art is solid but I just can't help but feel it's missing the heart that made the last run so good. Let's see if they can turn it around in volume 2.
May 22, 2022
And so we're off on a wild Al Ewing ride..if the recent Immortal Hulk run is an example to go by....
April 2, 2022
Donny Cates was always going to be a hard act to follow, but Al Ewing and Ram V grab the ball from him seamlessly and run with it to create something altogether new and exciting.
Ram V's issues focus on Dylan Brock for the most part; we get to see him bonding with Venom and a strange relationship form between the two. Both Dylan and the symbiote know Eddie in different ways, and the way they go about moving forward together is less of a partnership and more of a reluctant babysitter. That's without even adding in Sleeper (who's still a cat, adorably) who tries to keep them both out of trouble, and the return of the Life Foundation and Arthur Krane from Extreme Carnage. V's building a bigger story with a lot of moving parts, and that's before we even get to Ewing's part.
Ewing instead follows Eddie Brock on his trip across the universe. With King In Black expanding the Venom mythos, you'd think it might get a bit ungainly, but Ewing introduces some new symbiote characters that have their own well-formed personalities and motivations that will no doubt add wrinkles to the tapestry going forward. While V's back on earth dealing with the nitty gritty, Ewing's going cosmic/temporal, and I can't wait to see what happens when the two threads meet.
Bryan Hitch wouldn't be my first choice for a symbiote book, but he's not a bad fit all told. His Venom can sometimes feel a bit static as opposed to the usual tentacley mess that we're used to, but you can't deny that the guy can choreograph a fight scene like no one's business.
Venom's not taking a breather - King In Black might have turned his world upside down, but Ram V, Al Ewing, and Bryan Hitch aren't about to let up the pressure now, and the ride's only just beginning.
Ram V's issues focus on Dylan Brock for the most part; we get to see him bonding with Venom and a strange relationship form between the two. Both Dylan and the symbiote know Eddie in different ways, and the way they go about moving forward together is less of a partnership and more of a reluctant babysitter. That's without even adding in Sleeper (who's still a cat, adorably) who tries to keep them both out of trouble, and the return of the Life Foundation and Arthur Krane from Extreme Carnage. V's building a bigger story with a lot of moving parts, and that's before we even get to Ewing's part.
Ewing instead follows Eddie Brock on his trip across the universe. With King In Black expanding the Venom mythos, you'd think it might get a bit ungainly, but Ewing introduces some new symbiote characters that have their own well-formed personalities and motivations that will no doubt add wrinkles to the tapestry going forward. While V's back on earth dealing with the nitty gritty, Ewing's going cosmic/temporal, and I can't wait to see what happens when the two threads meet.
Bryan Hitch wouldn't be my first choice for a symbiote book, but he's not a bad fit all told. His Venom can sometimes feel a bit static as opposed to the usual tentacley mess that we're used to, but you can't deny that the guy can choreograph a fight scene like no one's business.
Venom's not taking a breather - King In Black might have turned his world upside down, but Ram V, Al Ewing, and Bryan Hitch aren't about to let up the pressure now, and the ride's only just beginning.
July 27, 2023
I was quite excited to read Eddie Brock as a Cosmic God, but after this first volume, my excitement quickly evaporated. This was such an uninspired story, damn, is this how you follow up King in Black? With Kings in Black? That's some serious lack of creativity, not to mention the whole Garden of Time with travelling portals, that just reeks of plagiarism from Hickman's run on the X-Men. I don't know, I'm just not feeling it, but I'm willing to pick up the next volume, only because I still care about the Brocks, and I liked that initial part with Space Venom controlling all the symbiotes, give us more of that.
March 16, 2024
Venom is not really my thing, but I've decided to start reading everything Al Ewing because he's so great (who co-wrote this book).
I'll continue to give the series a chance. Interestingly, so far the story is more about an earthbound conspiracy involving Eddie Brock's kid than it is space aliens. There is the horror element, and Bryan Hitch's art as always is great.
I'll continue to give the series a chance. Interestingly, so far the story is more about an earthbound conspiracy involving Eddie Brock's kid than it is space aliens. There is the horror element, and Bryan Hitch's art as always is great.
October 21, 2022
After the events of King in Blank, Al Ewing takes over from Donny Cates on Venom and, predictably, brings a cosmic flair to the plotting. Eddie Brock is now the King in Black, zipping between symbiotes across space and time until, suddenly, he's pulled to the end of time by a mysteriously powerful King in Black, Meridius. The dude knows Kang, so put your time travel hats on!
We've gone from one King in Black (Knull) to many, so I guess the stakes have been raised. It's all a bit too "out there" for now - maybe future volumes will make it clear why I should care. Back on Earth, Dylan is caught up in corporate maneuvering as several organizations try to take advantage of symbiote skills. It's just as confusing as the cosmic plot, somehow.
For all the confusion, Al Ewing's a decent writer, so the characters, pace, and intrigue are all there. A few more volumes and I'm sure we'll see the big picture unfold. The new artist, Bryan Hitch, brings an action-packed style to contrast with Ryan Stegman's gross-out skills. Not necessarily an upgrade, just a change.
We've gone from one King in Black (Knull) to many, so I guess the stakes have been raised. It's all a bit too "out there" for now - maybe future volumes will make it clear why I should care. Back on Earth, Dylan is caught up in corporate maneuvering as several organizations try to take advantage of symbiote skills. It's just as confusing as the cosmic plot, somehow.
For all the confusion, Al Ewing's a decent writer, so the characters, pace, and intrigue are all there. A few more volumes and I'm sure we'll see the big picture unfold. The new artist, Bryan Hitch, brings an action-packed style to contrast with Ryan Stegman's gross-out skills. Not necessarily an upgrade, just a change.
June 17, 2025
No tengo claro si me gusta. Desde luego, me parece un peor comienzo que la etapa de Donny Cates, pero puede que sea interesante llevar a Venom a un paraje menos tratado, como pueden ser los viajes en el tiempo y toda la filosofía que hay detrás. Veremos, aunque me gustaría poder disfrutar más de un Venom clásico llevado por Dylan.
July 6, 2023
not dylan...
November 21, 2022
Aparentemente a Panini Comics Brasil não deixou claro, mas a nova revista do Venom faz parte de sua linha de publicações regulares e ainda por cima, é uma publicação mix. Além das aventuras do Venom, acompanharemos também a mensal do Carnificina. Essa publicação mix está sensacional, principalmente por conter trabalhos de roteiristas do calibre de Al Ewing, Ram V e Phillip Kennedy Johnson, que trazem tramas de terror e ação, misturadas com space opera. Isso porque a narrativa de Venom se dá em duas subtramas: a de Eddie Brock, perdido no espaço-tempo, e a de seu filho, Dylan Brock, ao lado do simbionte original, na Terra. Ewing e V souberam aproveitar diversos elementos da mitologia dos simbiontes criada com sucesso por Donny Cates e ao mesmo tempo lançar esses personagens em novas possibilidades. Além disso temos a arte de Bryan Hitch que combina muito com o tema sombrio de Venom. Já a edição especial do Carnificina, que abre a nova série do outro simbionte, é terror puro, com uma menininha assumindo o controle do alienígena. Ou seria o contrário? Fiquei bastante empolgado com esse título!
February 16, 2023
pós donny cates ewing e ram v trazem algo muito legal envolvendo o rei das trevas e muitos mistérios, ainda com foco no filho Dylan fica muito interessante a história, estava até pensando em parar mas essa edição me deixou animado e vamo sver que caminho vai seguir a série do carnificina, já passei na banca e até peguei o vol 2 para verr e a arte está muito lindaa
February 26, 2022
The beautiful art by Hitch is the star of the show. Story side it’s a bit of a mess by the end of the volume, plot lines and hint are scattered everywhere over the four issues but at no time brought together in any way that makes sense.
December 8, 2024
A bit of a letdown. Two of my favorite comic writers at the moment co-writing a series. Perhaps I got my hopes up. Brian Hitch’s art isn’t my favorite these days. I don’t think it works very well for this series, particularly for the more surreal space parts.
Read
March 29, 2022DNF.
February 21, 2023
Hard to stitch together a universe spanning cosmic saga and a good old fashioned Earthbound political conspiracy but points for trying!
August 10, 2024
Depois de uma mensal elogiadíssima do Donny Cates, o Venom agora está nas mãos de Ram V e Al Ewing. O Knull está morto, e agora Eddie Brock é o novo Rei das Trevas. E ele precisa consertar o mal que o Knull causou pelo universo. Só que ele deixou o Venom na Terra, tomando conta do seu filho Dylan. E parece que os problemas do Eddie finalmente chegaram no Dylan. Ele ainda está aprendendo a verdadeira extensão de seus novos poderes quando descobre que nem todas as ameaças do Knull foram erradicadas. E na Terra, a Fundação Vida está caçando o simbionte pra transformar em uma arma, e o Dylan está bem no meio disso. Na segunda parte do encadernado, tem uma história do Carnificina, que agora não precisa mais do Kletus Cassady como hospedeiro, e descobriu que isso o deixa muito mais poderoso. Gostei da estreia da mensal do Venom. Não é o novo Watchmen, mas é bem divertido. Não sei se os desenhos ao Bryan Hitch combinam, mas é o que temos pra hoje. Mas gostei mais ainda da história do Carnificina. se esse clima de terror se mantiver em todas as histórias o acerto será muito grande. fiquei curioso pra continuar acompanhando.
December 14, 2023
I really had NO fucking idea what was going on but the cat venom was 10/10 I'm obsessed with him. 😭
There was a lot of time stuff and venom is a god or something and the entire thing was basically nonsense. I did like we followed Eddie's son Dylan as he travels with the cat venom and then Venom venom but it wasn't coherent with the confusing timeline. Like whatever Eddie had going on was ?????
I can't even be mad at this one though, I'm mostly just completely confused at what I even read. This is really one star but cat venom himself deserves two. 🥹
There was a lot of time stuff and venom is a god or something and the entire thing was basically nonsense. I did like we followed Eddie's son Dylan as he travels with the cat venom and then Venom venom but it wasn't coherent with the confusing timeline. Like whatever Eddie had going on was ?????
I can't even be mad at this one though, I'm mostly just completely confused at what I even read. This is really one star but cat venom himself deserves two. 🥹
September 2, 2023
Did not like this at all. Pacing is slow & dialogue redundant. I found timeline of story hard to follow, even before it was revealed this was due to time travel. Glad this was a Hoopla bonus borrow...
December 3, 2024
New Venom run starts off good with new rules for Eddie and Dylan taking up the role of main Venom in this run. Little confused with the one character they introduce but hopefully they explain more later.
September 11, 2022
2.5/5 Stars
January 17, 2023
I just love how Venom went from being dull and boring in the 90’s/early 2000’s to becoming some of the most metaphysic and incredible story in the Marvel Universe.
April 21, 2022
Not a fan of Venom, but I did enjoy most of Coates' run. He spent a lot of time making me actually like Eddie and have empathy for him. The King in Black finale was a little much for me, but it was an inevitable conclusion.
I primarily read this for Hitch's art, however, while it may be something different for him to draw I find his Venom to be...soft and not very intimidating. Because (so far) this is a smaller, personal story, Hitch's bread and butter, widescreen action, isn't present. There were only a few pages where I felt like his panel composition was best utilized. In short, it was a little disappointing.
Ewing, I'm still on the fence about. His work has been very hit or miss and this fell into the miss. He's building and exploring new ground with the current state that Eddie is in as well as developing a new story for Dylan, Eddie's son. For me though, none of it is piquing my interest. Ewing seems to love stories that are far out of the box, to where it's nearly incomprehensible. It's almost as if he's trying to achieve a Grant Morrison level of imagination. He has a lot of cool ideas but they don't always gel or come off as fascinating, just weird. That's where Eddie's story is. Dylan's falls into the trope category and I'm not invested in him as much as Eddie.
About halfway through this volume I lost all motivation for it.
I primarily read this for Hitch's art, however, while it may be something different for him to draw I find his Venom to be...soft and not very intimidating. Because (so far) this is a smaller, personal story, Hitch's bread and butter, widescreen action, isn't present. There were only a few pages where I felt like his panel composition was best utilized. In short, it was a little disappointing.
Ewing, I'm still on the fence about. His work has been very hit or miss and this fell into the miss. He's building and exploring new ground with the current state that Eddie is in as well as developing a new story for Dylan, Eddie's son. For me though, none of it is piquing my interest. Ewing seems to love stories that are far out of the box, to where it's nearly incomprehensible. It's almost as if he's trying to achieve a Grant Morrison level of imagination. He has a lot of cool ideas but they don't always gel or come off as fascinating, just weird. That's where Eddie's story is. Dylan's falls into the trope category and I'm not invested in him as much as Eddie.
About halfway through this volume I lost all motivation for it.
September 14, 2022
Not bad for a Venom story.
November 25, 2022
4
This has been a weird one for me. It gets weird, surreal, and confusing. But it can also be good. I'm sticking with it...for now.
This has been a weird one for me. It gets weird, surreal, and confusing. But it can also be good. I'm sticking with it...for now.
October 30, 2024
3.75🌟
SUMMARY
eddie brock is basically an absentee father as she goes over galavanting across the universe as a god fighting intergalactic enemies. he has the ability to warp time and space, and as he sees into the future he comes face-to-face with a new enemy—one that his after his son.
dylan brock is acting as a usual brooding teenager, getting in fist fights at school and having a general displeased attitude. with his father off saving the universe, his only companion is his cat, sleeper.
💥 comic
💥 time travel
💥 animal companion
SPOILERS
eddie is considered the king of the symbiotes, able to connect with any symbiote at any given time or place. he’s on a mission to aid a damaged space ship with the added assistance of his team—paul, john, george, and ringo—except ringo sabotages the mission.
OMG that cat is so cute!! he’s the real STAR of the show. he follows dylan everywhere he goes from walking him to school to being on the run from a top secret agency intent to harm him.
eddie return home and urgently wakes up dylan telling him that they have to leave immediately. while packing, he gets a call from his father telling him that the man in the house with him isn’t him. he gives him instructions to meet him at a nearby hotel, but when he gets there, it’s an ambush. an explosion separates him from his father and venom bonds with dylan to protect him amidst the chaos.
his dad only ever had one rule for him to follow that whatever he does, don’t bond with the symbiote. he breaks that rule. he asks venom why he saved him instead of his father and he replies that it’s what his father would have wanted.
his dad left him a voicemail instructing him to go to a specific diner and to ask for archer lyle. she has a plan to break into a laboratory chasing a lead but i think she set him up, allowing dylan and sleeper to be captured.
it was a little confusing to follow along but i tried my best to get the gist of everything. eddie seems to fall into a void, landing in the garden of meridus. there are other symbiotes there that are his followers, but they are all basically trapped in the garden.
meridus can move through time and we see him leave the garden and transform into eddie, even mimicking his voice back to the beginning scene of eddie asking his son to pack. meridus can clearly hear the phone call and he wants him to go to the hotel to see his fathers demise. his plan is to eventually become venom.
SUMMARY
eddie brock is basically an absentee father as she goes over galavanting across the universe as a god fighting intergalactic enemies. he has the ability to warp time and space, and as he sees into the future he comes face-to-face with a new enemy—one that his after his son.
dylan brock is acting as a usual brooding teenager, getting in fist fights at school and having a general displeased attitude. with his father off saving the universe, his only companion is his cat, sleeper.
💥 comic
💥 time travel
💥 animal companion
SPOILERS
eddie is considered the king of the symbiotes, able to connect with any symbiote at any given time or place. he’s on a mission to aid a damaged space ship with the added assistance of his team—paul, john, george, and ringo—except ringo sabotages the mission.
OMG that cat is so cute!! he’s the real STAR of the show. he follows dylan everywhere he goes from walking him to school to being on the run from a top secret agency intent to harm him.
eddie return home and urgently wakes up dylan telling him that they have to leave immediately. while packing, he gets a call from his father telling him that the man in the house with him isn’t him. he gives him instructions to meet him at a nearby hotel, but when he gets there, it’s an ambush. an explosion separates him from his father and venom bonds with dylan to protect him amidst the chaos.
his dad only ever had one rule for him to follow that whatever he does, don’t bond with the symbiote. he breaks that rule. he asks venom why he saved him instead of his father and he replies that it’s what his father would have wanted.
his dad left him a voicemail instructing him to go to a specific diner and to ask for archer lyle. she has a plan to break into a laboratory chasing a lead but i think she set him up, allowing dylan and sleeper to be captured.
it was a little confusing to follow along but i tried my best to get the gist of everything. eddie seems to fall into a void, landing in the garden of meridus. there are other symbiotes there that are his followers, but they are all basically trapped in the garden.
meridus can move through time and we see him leave the garden and transform into eddie, even mimicking his voice back to the beginning scene of eddie asking his son to pack. meridus can clearly hear the phone call and he wants him to go to the hotel to see his fathers demise. his plan is to eventually become venom.
October 5, 2022
Straight off of "King in Black", this Volume of Venom is the start of something new, focusing both on Eddie and Dylan. We get a new villain, and the fun and excitement seem like the start of a good new run.
Highlights:
- Eddie/Venom has assumed his new role as the King of the symbiotes. On a mission to help a damaged ship in space, he takes 4 symbiotes with him (Paul, John, George, and Ringo... LOL) but Ringo sabotages the mission. A new villain speaks unseen as Ringo fades away.
- Eddie shows back up at home and says he needs to leave with Dylan. As Dylan packs, he receives a call from his dad who tells him that the guy downstairs is an imposter. His real dad is waiting at a nearby hotel.
- Dylan goes to the hotel, and an ambush explosion has him bonded with Venom and Eddie falling into a void and into the Garden of Meridus
- Now following a voicemail, Dylan/Venom goes to a diner to meet Archer Lyle, a friend of Eddie's. Ambushed again, he is rescued by Archer. That partnership only goes so far, as Archer takes Dylan to the Life Foundation (Venom stayed behind)
- Dylan and Sleeper are captured, but make a stand when Venom catches up, morphing into something better and stronger.
- Meanwhile, Eddie is in the Garden of Meridus. There are other symbiotes there, and there is a conflict, but Meridus leaves. We see him change into the "Eddie" that showed up at home earlier to try and get Dylan.
Everyone is left in the middle of something big! What is Meridus' plot and does it have anything to do with the several time name dropped Kang? Who really has Venom?
Hopefully this Al Ewing run can live up to the greatness that was the Ram V run of previous.
Check this one out. Seems like Venom is going to change again.
Recommend.
Highlights:
- Eddie/Venom has assumed his new role as the King of the symbiotes. On a mission to help a damaged ship in space, he takes 4 symbiotes with him (Paul, John, George, and Ringo... LOL) but Ringo sabotages the mission. A new villain speaks unseen as Ringo fades away.
- Eddie shows back up at home and says he needs to leave with Dylan. As Dylan packs, he receives a call from his dad who tells him that the guy downstairs is an imposter. His real dad is waiting at a nearby hotel.
- Dylan goes to the hotel, and an ambush explosion has him bonded with Venom and Eddie falling into a void and into the Garden of Meridus
- Now following a voicemail, Dylan/Venom goes to a diner to meet Archer Lyle, a friend of Eddie's. Ambushed again, he is rescued by Archer. That partnership only goes so far, as Archer takes Dylan to the Life Foundation (Venom stayed behind)
- Dylan and Sleeper are captured, but make a stand when Venom catches up, morphing into something better and stronger.
- Meanwhile, Eddie is in the Garden of Meridus. There are other symbiotes there, and there is a conflict, but Meridus leaves. We see him change into the "Eddie" that showed up at home earlier to try and get Dylan.
Everyone is left in the middle of something big! What is Meridus' plot and does it have anything to do with the several time name dropped Kang? Who really has Venom?
Hopefully this Al Ewing run can live up to the greatness that was the Ram V run of previous.
Check this one out. Seems like Venom is going to change again.
Recommend.
Read
August 21, 2023I read the first issue of this when it came out, because anything Al Ewing writes is on my pull list by default, and was sufficiently unimpressed that I cancelled my order before I'd even sobered up. Coming back to it a year or two down the line, ever so slightly less tired of symbiote stories, it's better than I remembered, but still far from the best work of anyone involved. Part of that is the art - Hitch hasn't outright lost it like some of his peers, and perhaps it's partly that he's being smudged into house style by less sympathetic inking and colouring, but where his noughties work made comics feel like widescreen blockbusters (and was instrumental in causing that to come literally true), now he feels more like a Netflix movie. Not the best match for Ewing and V, both of whom excel when paired with artists who are both beautiful and somehow odd - and they do try to find new directions for the symbiotes after the sheer bombastic overkill of the Cates run, bringing in a timey-wimey element as Eddie Brock comes temporally unstuck, but they're still lumbered with his mopey son, not to mention the default Venom background of sinister scientists and politicians with designs on that dangerous goo. And even new elements like the symbiote at the end of time are stuck with the problem that I haven't been capable of excitement at a new symbiote character since Toxin. I'll probably keep following if I see the collections in the library, but for now it feels like classic 2020s that this and X-Men Red keep chugging along where Defenders and Guardians were cancelled.
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