Something Old, Something New, Something Black: Reviewing ‘Venom’ #1

When it comes to ongoing narratives within the realm of superhero comics, what is old is new again, and again. The great status quo wheel in the sky spins right back to familiar faces and spaces more often than not.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that something new can’t be attempted, even when the clock is somewhat turned back. That’s what we’re getting with Venom #1, the latest volume relaunch for the symbiote duo from Charles Soule, Tommaso Bianchi, Yen Nitro, and Clayton Cowles.

A new era is dawning for Marvel Comics as a whole, with new Editor In Chief Stephen Wacker making waves. Some remnants of the previous regime are still trickling out. While Marvel itself has been a massive nostalgia-burdened mess for the past few years, there have been some things still bringing the spark and fun. The previous All-New Venom series, which became Venom with Mary Jane Watson and the symbiote bonded, was one of those things.

My thoughts about that series wrapping up weren’t the most positive. I found it to be one of the most fun and promising superhero books that Marvel was putting out, even as it got bogged down in the Queen In Black event whirlpool. Seeing that we were getting another series with Venom and Eddie Brock together again doing their thing wasn’t on my preferred bingo card.

Yet, here we are and I actually found myself liking what I read here.

It helps that I’m a fan of Soule’s work, especially the things he’s done for Marvel in the past. We come into this with the duo reunited and Brock wanting to try something different than what he’s been doing in the recent past. That includes stopping a minor villain Hazmat and declaring to Mayor Luke Cage, and some other big heroes, that he is going to be a hero in New York and they cannot stop him.

There are clearly still some issues and gaps between man and symbiote, they have been apart for some time now. Eddie pointedly asks the symbiote if they are happy, and they do not answer him. Turns out that the White Widow Yelena Belova is in league with them and a new love interest for the duo, which is a very interesting and unexpected throuple situation.

I am not as familiar with Bianchi’s art. That being said, I quite liked what I saw on the pages. There is a living feeling to the symbiote and their motion as it moves and there are tendrils happening all the time. A dense nature to the artwork gives much space for the action and the quieter moments an extra weight to them as they take up space. At the same time, the backgrounds and set pieces feel lighter on all accounts which makes the two aspects stand perfectly distinct.

On the same note, I also am not familiar with Nitro’s coloring, but I love the name. Their work is similar to Bianchi in the way that the light and the dark are scaled apart. Venom, and the various heroes and characters are more vibrant with a boost compared to the more toned down backgrounds. Such perfectly dark black is given to Venom, allowing the duo to appear menacing and large while they are trying to do lighter things. It adds to the fact that the other heroes can’t trust them, and how people feel about the smybiotic vigilante, giving that a stamp of understanding.

Speaking of those alternating light and dark themes, Cowles brings that to bear with the lettering as well. He gives us conversations between Eddie and the symbiote with each taking on one of the opposing colors for their boxes. They get the typical startling black bubbles when together, with a white bubble for Eddie’s voice alone. Cowles also shifts the font and the delivery of the bubbles gives the voices more power as we can feel each of the emotional wavelengths through the lettering.

Overall, this is a solid start, and I’m curious to see where it goes, even if I’m not as happy to have the wonderful Mary Jane Venom time being over.

Venom #1 is now available from Marvel Comics.