Launching this week is the collected edition of Venomverse Reborn, a five-issue series revealing different Venoms of the multiverse. At face value, this collection may seem like a Spider-Verse clone with a coat of Venom paint, but upon further inspection, it’s a great read for horror fans. That’s thanks to the graphic violence and disturbing stories, but also, at its core, it’s about telling stories to haunt your dreams.
You’ll note right off the bat when you crack open Venomverse Reborn that this miniseries has a horror host, the Creep or the Crypt Keeper. Al Ewing and Danilo S. Beyruth set up each story with Eddie Brock from the far future. He speaks to the reader directly from the Black Engine as the final form of Venom. His knowledge of other Venoms and the multiverse is superior, and he harbors similar traits as other great horror hosts: He’s dead serious, can be funny, and is experiencing the stories as we experience them. This adds a nice shared experience to the tales.
Supplied in these tales is plenty to enjoy, from a Venom who straight-up kills Spider-Man to a Venom who eventually consumes all life in a prequel to Venom: The End. The first story may seem like corporate synergy — it features Venom from Sony’s Spider-Man 2 — but it reminds us there are rules when Venom crosses into other universes. The first story prominently features Knull and Christos Gage, who do a good job carving out how Harry Osborn as Venom is different.
Eddie Brock as a horror host works really well.
Credit: Marvel
From there, stories range from body-snatching tales of Venom eating Captain America and other Avengers from the inside in a deliciously scary story by Benjamin Percy and Brian Level to a super cute tale by Chris Giarusso featuring Captain Venom, who rushes to fill out his five-person basketball team. The variance between stories keeps you guessing at what is to come, with most leaning towards straight-up horror tales.
Other highlights include Ryan North bringing his Dinosaur Comics into the Venomverse in some cooky comedy one-page tales and Gerry Duggan and Brent Peeples turning in a hero helping a kid with cancer story on its head. The latter story is so twisted you won’t see it coming, and it’s a nice nod to the trope of heroes giving kids with cancer one last adventure. Dan Slott and Stephen Byrne close out the collection with a super-powered Venom via Hyperion that you won’t want to miss.
The Venomverse Reborn miniseries works well because it never strays from the horror roots that define Venom. Not only that, it introduces new versions of the character, plays with tropes in comics, and serves up a heaping dose of horror that Halloween fans won’t want to miss.
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