Chucking Stuff At The Wall — Reviewing ‘All-New Venom’ #2

Ever wanted to see a pirate theme villain or clear Philly Gritty pastiche throw cannonballs or cheesesteaks at a hero? Well by golly does Marvel have a book for you then!

Those antics are just one of many over-the-top comic books are fun sort of things that come packed into All-New Venom #2 from Al Ewing, Carlos Gómez, Frank D’Armata, and Clayton Cowles. This creative team continues to deepen the mystery of the symbiote’s newest host while reveling in the wackiness that is the Marvel Universe.

Comic books are such a multifaceted storytelling medium. Sometimes they offer up stories of hefty, dark, or prominent importance. Other times they are light and fluffy, just good old fashioned good vs evil superhero stories. Then there are books like this, that are just everything thrown to the wall wacky fun romps. That’s not to say there aren’t some more serious and world-building gems to be found in here, but this is truly Ewing at his most off-the-wall.

I’m all for it.

When a creator dips into what makes these long-form universes fun, it’s a breath of fresh air. As the intro notes, we have the wild group of villains known as the Death-Throws kicking things off against Venom. They audition new members, which include the aforementioned cannonball chucking pirate Heave-Ho and the hurler of cheesesteaks that is known as Chuck Stuff. That’s poetry-level stuff right there.

Similarly, the way that Ewing takes the been-done-a-million-times “who is behind the mask?” story beat makes it feel fresh. Marvel is no stranger to these sort of dragged out reveal stories. More often than not, they fall flat or become glaring as they go on forever.

What helps in this case is the fact that Ewing narrowed it down to four possibilities already, and is using those characters to his advantage. It helps that the three of the four are Marvel characters that used to be and still should be in the spotlight far more.

About time someone actually used Mayor Luke Cage and gets Robbie Robertson out there doing what he does best!

All of this is just beautifully and densely rendered by Gómez, who really leans into the bold nature of the story. His work really understands the assignment by being bold and dynamic, really giving life to every moment no matter how large or small they might be to the overall narrative.

Characters are dancing across the pages with kinetic force, radiating that joyful superhero camp with every turn of the page. It really leans into a solid mix of smooth and rough, with the smooth mostly dominating to leave the roughness to give textures and depth to faces and other elements.

I mean, just look at the pages shared in here. Paneling choices kick everything up ten more notches, alongside the colors provided by D’Armata.

Being a shinier colorist, at least from the examples I’ve encountered in the past, he’s a solid companion for Gómez. His work adds another level of slickness to the whole thing. Color palette choices for the overall setting spaces skews towards the more natural or sort of neutral and toned-down aesthetic. This gives the overall spaces more tangible and relatable feelings and leaves the more bombastic and fantastical beats to have color palettes able to slide into the more vibrant or out there at times. There’s  just enough of the surreal, without leaving reality behind, which achieves the campy, swashbuckling effect the series leans upon.

Rounding out the artistic endeavors is Cowles, who remains one of the best letterers out there. He hits all the marks with style, allowing the older school sort of dialogue delivery to feel bold and fresh even though it’s evoking comics of the past. Cowles brings a bit of flourish to the whole thing by knowing when to go bolder or smaller, with just the slight change to font or a bubble. His work gives everything plenty of room to breathe as the lettering and other artwork strengthen and prop each other out like they are meant to do.

Oh, before I forget.

There is a legion of Paul haters that are likely eating it up that Dylan keeps heaping massive levels of teenage disrespect upon that man’s lap. I’m not one of those that is mostly ambivalent about Paul, but those moments are pretty darn funny.

All-New Venom #2 is now available from Marvel Comics.