The trippiness of time travel was already confusing and complex, but under the pen of writer Al Ewing utilizing Venom, it’s downright mind-boggling. This series has seen Venom come to realizations about his ability to enter Symbiotes across space and time, and in the latest trade paperback out this week, he takes his time travel a bit further. This time, he’s time-traveling with Doctor Doom. Hope he survives the experience!
Venom by Al Ewing Vol. 5: Predestination collects Venom #22-25 plus material from Free Comic Book Day 2023: Spider-Man/Venom. This story has two main parts, the first being the use of Flexo. It’s a creation from 1940 that Ewing and artist Cafu recontextualize as a Symbiote via the FCBD comic, but at the time, nobody knew what it was. The second part is Doctor Doom, who enters this story via Flexo’s memory, sends Eddie Brock on a time-hopping adventure, and bookends the collection well.
It’d be amazing to hand this collection to a ’90s Venom fan and ask them what they think. The goopy boy that is Venom is ever-present in his fighting abilities, but it’s all elevated with time travel rules and a rather complicated plot to get us here. At the start, Venom isn’t even Eddie Brock, but his son, Dylan. We are reminded that Dylan is putting together an army of Symbiotes to fight against his father, or at least a version of his father that has turned evil. His next recruit is Flexo, a Symbiote who has recently awakened after being offline for decades.
So Bedlam is a backup?
Credit: Marvel
Flexo then takes us into another part of the story, revealing that Doctor Doom once interacted with Flexo in the past, specifically in Germany during World War II. Away Ewing, Torunn Gronbekk, and artists Ramon F. Bachs, Ken Lashley, Sergio Davila, Cafu, and Julius Ohta take us as Eddie and Doom first interact in Latveria, then head off to dinosaur times and other eras. The fun of time travel is apparent from the start, be it a Symbiote T-Rex attacking them, or Eddie interacting with Peter Parker himself! As far as satisfying time travel tales go, there’s a lot here to enjoy.
Evenually the narrative takes us to Kang, who has a heavy influence on Eddie Brock’s development of his time travel powers. Something this volume and the series has a whole has done well is tap into key characters and moments in history throughout its run, and the inclusion of Kang is no different. His presence makes the final pages of this collection matter, with clues as to where things may go from here.
The complicated plot can be a hinderence at times, however. One must keep in mind where Eddie is at currently, and where he is going. That includes Meridius, a hyper evil and evolved version of Eddie from the future. It can feel convoluted on some scale, and is certainly a different kind of meal for the comics fan who expects their superheroes to punch each other for the most part. One other gripe is the number of artists on this series, which tends to make certain parts look absolutely off base from the highly detailed art of most of the artists.
Venom by Al Ewing Vol. 5: Predestination is another example of how positively bonkers this series has gotten with its use of time travel and its various rules that have complicated Eddie Brock’s life. At this point, the hero and some fans may wish things were simpler, but there’s no denying the epic nature of this truly wild tale.
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