Welcome to the third edition of Venom Unleashed, where we dive deep into the world of All-New Venom! With issue #3 out today, we had the chance to catch up with Jordan D. White, editor of the series, to discuss everything from shocking reveals to fan theories and the future of the symbiote.
From symbiote mysteries and big villain reveals to Venom’s straight pearly whites, Jordan dives into both AIPT’s questions and those submitted by fans. We discuss everything from the challenges of keeping a mystery protagonist under wraps to upcoming milestone plans for the 250th issue of Venom. Plus, Jordan teases appearances from fan-favorite Klyntars and a major villain showdown on the horizon.
Whether you’re curious about Venom’s host, his hobbies, or MODOK’s surprise entrance, this is a feature you don’t want to miss! Plus, don’t miss exclusive preview art for All-New Venom #4 and Eddie Brock: Carnage #1!
AIPT: Jordan D. White, we’re back for another edition of Venom Unleashed, and boy, it is getting exciting as we keep losing suspects! To start, what are you excited most for folks to uncover in All-New Venom #3, out today in comic book shops?
Jordan: Lots to love in this issue! Maybe the part I am most excited about is All-New Venom coming face-to-face with Dylan Brock. It’s a great mystery-person-fused-with-parent and child scene. We get to hear a little from their point of view in a more private moment (Chance eavesdropping aside). Plus, we get more of Carlos Gomez’s gorgeous Madame Masque interrupting it!
AIPT: As if you’re on the stand in court, I gotta ask. The poll for the second All-New Venom fan survey is in, and a whopping 55% of folks think it’s Rick Jones. The second-highest pick is MJ, with 13%. Care to comment?!
Jordan: Like I said, last time – I love Rick! If they’re right, I am a happy camper! And I see not TOO too many people thought it was Madame Masque, so our reveal of her and All-New Venom being in the same place at the same time didn’t blow TOO many minds. Although considering that some folks in this poll are still voting for Luke means folks suspect we may have some trickery up our sleeves. And that makes sense–we are a tricky bunch. And I also see “All of them!” as an option on there! That sure WOULD be a nutty way to solve it… or would it?
AIPT: Back to the fan survey, 35% of folks would pick a black symbiote, with 17% preferring blue. If you could wear a symbiote and choose its color, which would you pick and why?
Jordan: This is an INCREDIBLY CONFUSING chart, given that it’s colors represented by other colors. LOL. My own choice is complicated by the fact that my favorite color is red, but red is SO associated with Carnage in symbiotes, I feel like I cannot choose it if I do not also promise to be a psychopath. Which I hope not to be. So, steering away from that, I think I would go with yellow. Well, really yellow and black, but yeah. Yellow.
AIPT: Final fan survey question, we opened up the polls to see who they’d like to see All-New Venom fight next, and it’s a real smorgasbord with the likes of Scorpian, Stegron, Baron Blood, Headcase, and Hulk (with over 50 more too) all being thrown into the collective hat. Could you tease who might be another big bad Venom may face in the future?
Jordan: Our final page reveals this issue showed a big one–M.O.D.O.K. is coming to symbiote town! I suppose that isn’t too much of a stretch, given that A.I.M. has already been featured, but it’s always a thrill to see that big-headed brainiac coming to town. I also really like the idea of Hulk fighting Venom, and with me being the Hulk editor, I might be able to make it happen at some point. All that said, Al and I were just talking about a big-name villain–one of my all-time favorites–being in hopefully the second arc of the book. Fingers crossed.
AIPT: Digging into All-New Venom #3, I gotta ask: what goes into a design choice like Venom’s nice straight teeth, which appear super straight and clean, but we also get the sharp teeth in the very same issue?
Jordan: Good question! The original thinking behind the teeth being straight instead of pointy is that this is the most heroic and…let’s say, “controlled?” that Venom has been in a long time. All-New Venom is a straight up vigilante superhero in New York City, they’re not looking to scare people necessarily. The heroic angle was also the thinking on the shiny metal chest emblem. BUT…the symbiote is a living creature, and the moment in this issue is when it was shocked to see both that its son was present AND that its son was being injured by the fight! They lost it a little bit, went a little wild, and went a little more pure instinct, and their fangs came out.
AIPT: A more long-term question: We’ve got suspects falling off Dylan’s list, but might we assume that even with them no longer candidates, they’ll be appearing for some time in the series as main supporting characters?
Jordan: Yeah, that is a very safe assumption. I mean, even with ol’ MM not being inside the goop, her plans have still gotta be dealt with. While Mayor Cage wasn’t necessarily big on this issue, you probably have not seen the last of him.
AIPT: Out of the first three issues, do you have a favorite panel or page, and why?
Jordan: No contest issue 2, page 6, panel 1–the panel where Venom unspools his tongue like never before. Really, that whole page is the best page, but that first panel is just superb. That was one of those golden scenes–when I read the script, I loved it. When the inks came in, it was spectacular. When the colors came in, it completely nailed it. It’s just amazing to me. I had to work really hard not to show that panel early because I wanted it to really jump at people when they saw it in context.
Courtesy Marvel Comics
AIPT: Looking ahead, you’ve got an Erik Larsen variant cover for All-New Venom #5, how’d you snag Erik for this one, it’s so rad!
Jordan: I am a big fan of Erik’s! He is my favorite Spider-Man artist of all time and also my favorite Venom artist of all time. His book, Savage Dragon, is a series I have loved reading for its entire run, right up to the most recent issue. As a side note–all the fans who write in saying that they want to see our characters age and grow–Savage Dragon is a series worth checking out as it happens in real-time–the characters have aged over 30 years since the book began. Characters who were not born yet when the series started have multiple children of their own. Anyway–I always jump at the chance to work with him, and this cover turned out fabulously.
Courtesy Marvel Comics
AIPT: Our recent survey opened up questions for fans, and we’ve got a couple of great ones. Zekehero asks, what’s the biggest challenge about editing a series with a mystery about your main character?
Jordan: Well, the first challenge is just how hard mysteries are in comics in general. Obviously, a mystery takes a lot of planning and forethought, which can be hard since comics do come out a bit at a time–but Al is a freaking pro and had it in the bag, so no worries there. But yeah–the fact that the mystery is WHO the MAIN CHARACTER of the book is is for sure a big challenge. There is so much we need to dance around while the character is hidden that later, after the big reveal in issue 5, we will be able to be much more open about it. In a lot of ways the book will change once that identity is revealed. But I think it makes for a really terrific introduction to this version of our hero.
AIPT: Owen asks, the tenth issue of All-New Venom is also set to be the 250th issue of Venom overall. Got any special plans to celebrate that milestone?
Jordan: That math is just a LITTLE bit off–it’s issue #11 that will be the 250th issue, legacy-wise. And yes–we are well aware of that and DO have plans cooking! Al and I were just talking about it last week, in fact, and locking in some of the details. I am looking forward to it.
AIPT: John Smith asks, will we get to see more of All New Venom’s hobbies? He’s gotta have some sort of side gig or talent to take his mind off of all that crime-fighting! Maybe its brushing his shiny new pearly whites? :0
Jordan: You know, I actually don’t think Venom brushes their Venom Teeth–they mostly don’t actually use them to eat. And even if they DO, the teeth are just made from general symbiote stuff, not specific teeth bits. So they could just clean the area by turning it all back into goop and purging out anything clinging to the surface. How’s that for a hobby! But in all seriousness–yeah, this is another one of those things that will be much easier to talk about once we have revealed the host! I guarantee the host DOES have hobbies–be they following around various superheroes, keeping up on current events, running cities, mask collecting…or some other weird ones we have not mentioned!
AIPT: Monarch Dafey asks what the mission statement is for this new volume of Venom. Like, besides his new host, what will make it unique?
Jordan: The biggest one was to bring it back down to street level. We just came off of two epic runs that went huge with them–got into enormous cosmic ideas–and they were SUPER fun! But you can’t only go bigger constantly. At some point, you have to rein it in and go back to the basic idea–there is a host with a symbiote and spider-powers. To that, we added the wrinkle of the new host and the fact that, as I said earlier, this is the most straightforwardly heroic take on Venom we’ve seen in a long while, at the least. But yeah, bringing it back to being a book about someone swinging around New York City was a big part of it.
AIPT: Final question from Jo-Nathan: With the downsizing of the Venom franchise and the refocusing on primarily Venom and Carnage, are there any plans that you can tease for where the other Klyntars could show up, or can we fans assume that they’ve all decided to lie low for a while?
Jordan: How’s this for service? I promise you will see a minimum of two more Klyntar in the next issue AND find out a bit about where they have been and why.
And that’s a wrap on the third edition of Venom Unleashed. Stay tuned next week, as we’ll have the fourth edition featuring the bloodiest bad boy himself, Carnage!
Without further ado, check out exclusive art from All-New Venom #4 below, along with art from Eddie Brock: Carnage #1 and the next fan survey!
But wait, there’s more. Make sure to fill out the fan survey for the next edition of Venom Unleashed!
You must be logged in to post a comment.