The transformation Venom has gone through continues to impress this week with Venom #9. Al Ewing and Bryan Hitch have explored Eddie Brock’s journey from death to a mysterious garden and finally in Kang the Conqueror’s presence. It’s very zen, especially when you realize Eddie Brock is flexing a new ability he never knew he had until he was the King in Black. Now untethered from a human body, the latest issue takes Eddie on the trippiest journey yet.
There’s almost nothing conventional about Venom #9. It opens where we left off but soon jumps into the past, with Eddie stopping in on key moments. This jumping is all to communicate to Dylan, Eddie Brock’s son, that he’s in danger. Soon the narrative touches base on past moments seen earlier in the series. What was once confusing and weird is now explained due to Eddie learning he has the power to go back and maybe even change things.
This is all kicked off by Kang at the start of the issue. This scene is the best of the issue, thanks in part to the excellent dialogue and message delivered by Kang. There’s some talk about dancing through raindrops instead of wrestling thunder that plays out throughout the issue. Building off these moments and the dread of a larger threat Eddie is unaware of, the issue balances itself out as Eddie rushes to save his son.
Dude brings a gun to a Symbiote fight.
Credit: Marvel
This opening scene is well drawn by Hitch, who makes Kang look prestigious and elegant. He’s also quite serious and smug. The glow of yellow light by Alex Sinclair creates a godly feel to the characters. Based on what Eddie does in the issue, he basically is a god.
Following that scene is Eddie’s first jump which features an innocent man and a funny crossword joke. The hulking mass of Venom in this new form is quite impressive by Hitch. There are good details in the tentacles and muscles. Paired with the horns, he’s like a demonic alien.
Most of the rest of the issue fills in some blanks, but it also retreads scenes we’ve seen before. It’s only seven pages, but it feels overly long since we’ve seen these events before. The cliffhanger leads to another key scene, but it also promises some major answers involving Bedlam. Given Marvel was teasing, we’ll find out who he is. One might assume we already know by the end of this issue.
Venom #9 is a satisfying chapter in the narrative as it begins to tie things together. It’s also further developing Venom’s abilities, taking the Symbiote from a cool-looking villain of the ’90s and turning him into a time-traveling cosmic entity.
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