Luciano Vecchio knows a thing or two about Venom, especially now with Black Widow: Venomous #1 coming out on July 31st. Armed to the teeth with symbiote mayhem and a script by Erica Schultz, the one-shot and Venom War: Venomous limited series following it has allowed him to flex his goopy alien drawing muscles.
The series ties into Venom War, a crossover in August in which Eddie Brock and his son, Dylan, have seen terrifying glimpses of the future and now realize only one can be Venom. Their father-son feud will become everyone’s problem as past and present symbiote characters are forced to take a side, including Black Widow!
What better time than now than to ask him all about the upcoming series? We dig into his work with Schultz, review a few never-before-seen pages, and get the inside scoop on Venom War you can’t get anywhere else!
AIPT: You and Erica Schultz are playing around with Black Widow AND Flash Thompson in VENOM WAR: VENOMOUS #1, is there an era or specific Symbiote that’s your favorite?
Luciano Vecchio: I grow very attached to the characters I work with, so my current favorite is definitely Black Widow. We got to revise and tweak her symbiote design, and I used the chance to link some of my favorite eras of her publishing history: Continuing the vibe of her last solo run by Thompson and Casagrande while linking it back to the classic Amazing Spider-Man #86 where Romita introduced her iconic leather jumpsuit. That issue connected Black Widow to the Spidey mythos in a way that we don’t usually think about, and now the Symbiote aspect brings everything full circle, thematically AND visually.
But the Venomverse is so vast! Some other favorites of mine are Flash as Anti-Venom, the Red Goblin, Kid Venom and Misery. As for Venom, my favorite is the current series by Al Ewing with all the existential cosmic madness.
AIPT: What goes into rendering the tendrils of the goopy Symbiote? Is it all Jackson Pollock about itself, or is there a science?
LV: Haha, I draw digitally, so I can’t use the properties of actual ink to my advantage. Drawing symbiote goo is always a fun creative exercise and an excuse to try tools, create custom brushes and such. I also focus on what makes each symbiote character different, for example Widow’s Symbiote decomposes into a myriad of spiders, I draw Anti-Venom’s goo as more thick and viscous, and so on.
AIPT: Is there an exciting moment in BLACK WIDOW: VENOMOUS #1 that you’re most excited for folks to see?
LV: Yes! There’s a whole scene where Erica’s script gave me an excuse to go wild with page layouts and crazy compositions that sent me into an aesthetic trip. This was one of the most fun books to draw ever because of that and I hope people will appreciate the result.
Also, creepiest magic girl transformation ever!
AIPT: Could you talk us through three panels we’ll be showing off. The first is below, was there a challenge in drawing Black Widow fighting a Symbiote copy of herself?
LV: We have Natasha confronting and training her Symbiote. Their movements are the same, but they have different personalities and reactions, so the challenge is to show that in the faceless Symbiote copy. Luckily, those fluid, spidey eyes can be super expressive!
Courtesy Marvel
AIPT: Next, where did you start with the top panel, Black Widow, or the circular blast?
LV: I’m a figure based artist I guess, I always start with the characters and their action, and work the rest of the compositions around that.
Courtesy Marvel
AIPT: When crafting a double page layout like this, where did you start? It’s so layered and awesome!
LV: Thanks! This one was super fun. I started with the main training fight between Nat and her symbiote, and then reproduced the poses in the second layer of flashbacks that show a young Natasha being trained and beat up in the Red Room.
The ominous presence of the Red Room Headmistress in the background was the last addition, a layer of oppressive atmosphere with her giving a severe look down at the scene.
Courtesy Marvel
AIPT: As an insider who “knows things” about Venom War, how might you describe this event?
LV: I’m only living it (and reading scripts) through Black Widow’s POV, and it feels like everything Symbiote-related has gone crazy, there is chaos and Zombiotes everywhere! Anything can happen, anyone can guest-star, and I’m drawing my pages with a sense of peril, like our heroes are giving non-stop badass action, but still, I don’t know how or if they’ll turn the situation around.
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