Welcome, X-Fans and Ven-Fans, to the first lethal edition of Venom Monday at AIPT!
First, Ven-Fans, I need to address the X-Fans, who loyally supported X-Men Monday for 244 editions.
I’m sorry.
With current X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White transitioning to overseeing the Venom line, the switch from X-Men Monday to Venom Monday was inevitable. But I also thought there’d be more time. I thought we could give Krakoa a proper X-Men Monday send-off. But the orders came from on high and X-Men Monday is now Venom Monday. Kids… interview columns about comics will break your heart.
With all that said, I do hope X-Fans stick around as we pivot to all things symbiote. You may even notice a few of your questions have been adjusted to realign their focus from X-Men to Venom. And Ven-Fans who have never read an edition of X-Men Monday, this is a taste of what you can expect on a weekly basis.
Anyway, let’s dig into the future of the Venomverse with Jordan!
Courtesy of Jordan D. White
AIPT: Welcome back to X-Men Monday Venom Monday, Jordan! I’ll be honest, I’m a little blindsided by this sudden pivot and I’ve only got X-Fan questions for you about the Fall of X. So, you’ll have to be a bit patient with me as I adjust them on the fly. I mean, I guess we can start with me asking you how gearing up to oversee the Venom line differs from preparing for the X-Men line.
Jordan D. White: The biggest difference is that when I came on to X-Men, they were winding down that current batch of X-Books, so I came on to wrap them up and start prepping a new direction. With Venom, Al Ewing has been spearheading an incredible run and there are no plans to shut that down. “Venom War” — the epic Venom story we have planned for August — is going to shake things up a whole bunch… but this Venom train is not stopping, baby!
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
The other big one is the number of characters. There are about 525,600 mutants, while Venom is just Venom. He’s pretty much the only symbiote that matters. Well, him and Carnage, and that’s it. So, it’s a lot easier to — oh, Red Goblin, yeah. Him as well. But it’s so much less to — sorry, did I say Misery? OK, Misery. And Flex-O. But even so, that’s, what — five? Oh, plus Toxin. And the Life Foundation symbiote — Scream, Phage, Agony, Riot, and Lasher. Plus… Silence, if she counts separately? But that’s it, and — I forgot Sleeper. Ok, but that’s — wait, Deadpool’s “dog,” Princess. Look, there are more symbiotes than you’d think. But still, it’s nothing compared to mutants!
AIPT: And what’s your personal history with Venom? We know your love for the X-Men began with Excalibur, but how did you first encounter Venom?
Jordan: I don’t think it’s ever come up in our previous columns, but I am actually a Spider-Man fan going way back to my childhood. Despite being only 4 years old when the Black Costume debuted, I do remember how cool I thought it was. And I absolutely bought Amazing Spider-Man #300 off the newsstands when it hit and was immediately into this new villain. All his Todd McFarlane-drawn appearances absolutely sucked me in, but it was when Erik Larsen, my favorite Spider-Man artist of all time, started drawing him that I think Venom was really cemented into my heart. That crazy jaw of wonky teeth! That serpentine tongue! That… green saliva? Yeah, that, too! I absolutely spent a ton of time copying Erik’s Venom drawings as a kid.
In fact — you may or may not have noticed, but one of the variant covers for Fall of the House of X #5 is actually an homage to maybe my favorite Venom image of all, the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #347 — the cover of what’s probably my single favorite Venom story, as well.
AIPT: Interesting! OK… sigh, let’s get into those X-Fan questions. X-Fan Ven-Fan Jean Blade said the Phoenix Venom symbiote has had several hosts, but two are actually related — Jean and Rachel Eddie and Dylan Brock. Do you feel like the Phoenix symbiote is at its most comfortable and powerful when connected to the Grey Brock bloodline?
Jordan: Oh, great question! Well, if you look back over the other hosts — Lee Price, Mac Gargan, and Flash Thompson — the only one that I think really comes even close to giving the Brocks a run for their money is Flash. He was able to take the symbiote to some entirely new places, which is pretty awesome. And as much as I love (and SUPER consider actual legitimate cannon) the stories I worked on with Deadpool and the symbiote (Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars and Deadpool: Back in Black) I don’t think he was great for the symbiote. At the end of the day, yeah — they keep coming back to Eddie, and to Dylan… who, it is worth noting, is really both Eddie AND the symbiote’s child. Though… there is maybe ONE other person who might have been a more perfect host…
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
But the matter of whether the symbiote is best off with the Brocks (and even more so with WHICH of the Brocks they are better off) is actually quite central to “Venom War!”
AIPT: X-Fan Ven-Fan Harvey ‘97 said Marvel seems to resist giving characters like Spider-Man children in the 616, but then there’s no issue with a character like Cyclops Eddie Brock being a father. What gives?
Jordan: Oh man — it’s our FIRST column and you’re already asking me questions that are going to get me in trouble with the hardcore Ven-Fans!
OK, so… let me admit that… I don’t think the timeline for Dylan Brock makes sense. He was born (and, indeed, conceived) after Eddie became Venom, which means… in the sliding time scale of the Marvel Universe, I don’t think he should be as old as he is. Like — doing a SUPER simplified version of the math, if Spider-Man’s 60-year history is about 15 years of time, then his conception was ABOUT 20 years into that 60 years… which would mean he could be, at most, around 10 years old. I actually gave Donny Cates guff about that when he was writing Thanos for me.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
But you didn’t ask me why it DIDN’T work, you asked why it DID work. And the answer to that is that the writers who have handled the story in the time since he debuted have done a great job to sell it. Donny, then Ram V, Al Ewing, and Torunn Grønbekk — they have all made Dylan and, more importantly, the relationship between him and Eddie really rich and believable. The other factor is that Eddie is not a hero — he’s an anti-hero. Yes, he sometimes does good things, but other times he does awful things… so him being kind of a terrible father is not ruinous to the character in ways it would be with a really straight-up heroic character. Eddie’s story is, right from the beginning, the story of a guy who screwed up his life epically and then keeps making worse decisions. He’s turned things around in some ways recently, which is great. But I don’t think his story is a story that is hurt by him having a child the way some characters would be.
AIPT: X-Fan Ven-Fan Cajun Casanova wanted to know if she can expect any new romance on the horizon. Cajun Casanova said, “No offense to Orchis Carnage, but I read X-Men Venom comics for the soap opera and lovin’!”
Jordan: With a tongue that big, who isn’t tuning in to see some kissing happen? Now, listen…”Venom War” promises to make war, not love, so… probably not a lot of the ol’ romance happening in those pages… but it will share some things in common with ANOTHER type of soap opera storytelling. That said… the stuff we have planned for after “Venom War” ends might just lead itself to something SLIGHTLY more romance-inclined. Maybe. MAYBE.
AIPT: X-Fan Ven-Fan Puck Amuck has been obsessing over Mark Brooks’ Fall of X Philip Tan’s “Venom War” teaser image and needs to know everything! What can you share?
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Jordan: It’s a great piece, isn’t it? If you’ve been following along with the Venom series, you know who all these fine folks are, but if you don’t, I can help out! Over on the right, we have Dylan Brock as Venom (you can tell it’s him because of the chains — kids love chains, >wink<). With him are a bunch of the symbiote allies he’s picked up over recent issues — Red Goblin, Flex-O, Sleeper, and Black Widow — right, right, Black Widow has a symbiote, I forgot to list her symbiote earlier. Over on the left, we have Eddie as Venom along with Flash Thompson as Agent Anti-Venom… and then Bedlam, Tyro, Wilde, and Meridius, who are actually all ALSO Eddie Brock from different points in his timeline, and/or branch timelines. And now that I mention them, I also forgot to list them in that earlier answer as well — and Finnegan, too. Dang it.
Anyway — sides are drawn! Who do YOU want to end up as the one true Venom? Are you #TeamEddie or #TeamDylan?
AIPT: Sorry, there’s no time to pick a side because I have a very important question here. X-Fan Ven-Fan Vift wanted to know if Hellion will appear in the Fall of X “Venom War.”
Jordan: Oh — that is a really good question, and the absolute, for real, not-a-joke, serious answer is that I asked incoming X-Editor Tom Brevoort if we could use Hellion in “Venom War” and he said no.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: Whoa. Makes me wonder what Tom’s got planned for Julian. X-Fan Ven-Fan Ya Maggott Me There said with so many fan-favorite mutants symbiotes running around, how do you decide which gets a shot at a solo title?
Jordan: You know, at the start of this interview, I’d have thought this was a no-brainer, but now I am starting to feel like we might need a bigger line to show off all these folks! For now, check out the Black Widow: Venomous one-shot in July for a sweet tale of Widow and her new goopy pal from Erica Schultz and Luciano Vecchio, and I will get started on Flex-O Goes Hollywood for December and Finnegan Begins Again in time for the blockbuster slot next summer.
AIPT: And Ven-Fans, in a Venom Monday goopsclusive, here’s a bit more about that upcoming Black Widow: Venomous one-shot:
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
BLACK WIDOW: VENOMOUS #1
ERICA SCHULTZ (W) • LUCIANO VECCHIO (A) • Cover by LEIRIX
BLACK WIDOW VARIANT COVER BY DERRICK CHEW
BLACK WIDOW VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY DERRICK CHEW • VARIANT COVER BY INHYUK LEE
DEADPOOL KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE VARIANT COVER BY LUCIANO VECCHIO
THE WIDOW’S BITE IS VENOMOUS!
Natasha Romanoff, the infamous spy known as the Black Widow, didn’t go looking to bond with an alien symbiote. But a good spy works with all the tools available to her, and when one of the most powerful and versatile weapons in the universe lands in your lap…you take it. Now she just needs to figure out how to work with a weapon with its own drives and desires. Redefining Widow’s relationship with her symbiote, and setting the stage for her appearance in Venom War!
On Sale 7/31
Ooh, Jordan, I found one I don’t have to change! X-Fan Ven-Fan Burger King Crown Above All Things devours everything Al Ewing writes and wants to know what it’s like collaborating with him.
Jordan: Oh, man — you know who is a bigger Al Ewing fan than you? Me. I LOVE his work so much. I am so sad to be leaving many things behind when I depart the land of Krakoa, but still being able to collaborate on a great book with Al Ewing is absolutely easing the heartbreak. Al is a dream, and I ADORE every project I have ever done with him. If you have never read Rocket: The Blue River Score by him, you absolutely must check it out — I still remember the day I reached out to ask him to do a Rocket title, and him responding, “Can we do it like a Parker novel?” Something I NEVER would have dreamed of, but something that is SO perfect. And another one — we did You Are Deadpool together, and that is a comic book that is actually a GAME. You make decisions for Deadpool (because you ARE Deadpool) and you roll dice for skill checks, keep track of your stats… and try to save the entire Marvel Universe. Seeing the AMAZING amount of work Al put into making this series work across the whole series was truly breathtaking, and the series absolutely KICKS ASS.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
AIPT: That’s it, Jordan. There are no other usable questions for this interview, so for the final question, I’m going to ask something I assume will be just as appealing to Venom fans as it was to X-Fans: If you had to recommend a Weezer album to Eddie Brock, which one would you go with?
Jordan: Thank you for finally giving me a softball question.
OBVIOUSLY, it would be the Black Album, Weezer’s 6th self-titled album. I have a sneaking suspicion that the symbiote did some moonlighting modeling work for the cover, draped all over the band.
Courtesy of Tension Division
Add to that the fact that we have a story coming up that might just include some zombie bastards, that Al’s Eddie Brock time-travel story is very byzantine, that as the King in Black he sort of wanted everything, and — if I’m just being honest — the choice is a piece of cake. You can say Eddie makes a lot of poor choices — I know I say that — but for sure, you can’t knock the hustle.
AIPT: Bravo, well done. And of course it would the Black Album. And hey, it’s not too late to get Weezer on the Venom 3 soundtrack! (Sorry, Eminem.)
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to talk Venom, Jordan! And Ven-Fans, before we wrap our inaugural edition of Venom Monday, Jordan grabbed a few goopsclusive preview images from upcoming Venom comics. You can see how Jordan’s time on Krakoa is influencing the art and costumes in the Venom line…
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Until next time, Ven-Fans, eat some brains!
AND APRIL FOOLS!
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