The Web of Life and Destiny, the supreme being of the Spider-Verse, and the Symbiote Hive Mind, the supreme being of the Venomverse, conclude that there can only be one collective. They assemble their best fighters from across the multiverse for a Spider-Man vs. Venom brawl.
Web of Spider-Verse/Venomverse one-shots
This was a welcome surprise for the trade paperback, adding more to the overall lore and helped provide context. The one-shots aren’t super heavy and have enough to make each character compelling when they make their return in the main series. This is where the multiverse and years of Marvel lore stand out: when the creators are given creative freedom to put everything into a blender and see what comes together.
My biggest issue was the consistency of the structure. I initially had a hard time following that it was a series of short stories in more of an anthology format. They had a pattern in place with a final splash page on the left, and then the start of a new story on the right, but more visual indicators, such as a “The End” graphic, or a small title card to introduce the next character, would have gone a long way. They relied heavily on the page layout, so it was surprising to see the aforementioned page layout broken in the Venom miniseries (one of the short stories went long and broke the pattern). Does it make it unreadable? No, but it is an unforced error that hurts the reading experience.
Marvel
Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse Main Series
The event is an excuse to get a bunch of Spider-Men to fight a bunch of Venoms, but the overlay to explain why they are fighting was a good one. The philosophical debate between the two supreme beings create valid arguments on both sides on why their side should be the only one. The “same, but different” narrative style Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom employ throughout the series is engaging and reinforce that there is not a hero or a villain to this story, but two competing ideologies.
It’s amazing how flexible the Spider-Man and Venom costume designs are. Every time you think you’ve seen it all with a new Spider-Man, they introduce a new one with *just* enough of a tweak or a flair to give them originality and personality. It’s a testament to all the artists involved who continually push the boundaries and stretch their design templates to the absolute limit.
Event comics are great because they give specific characters time to shine to see if they are ready to be featured more. Spider-Ham has multiple fantastic character moments, like making a huge decision on behalf of the Spider-Men, and always comes with the right quip. Spider-Prowler and Agent Venom leave off at the end in a spot that would be a great mini-series down the line.
Marvel
Luciano Vecchio provides art on issues #1-2, while Jim Trowe handles #3-5. Luckily, they both bring the bombastic. Epic fights and poses dominate each panel, and they are not shy about fitting as many characters into the pages as they can. Sometimes it becomes a hindrance, but the book has a great look and feel. What was more impressive was the consistency between the two artists. Their styles blend so well together that you stay focused on the book and the action, and Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse never lets go.
The ending is a bit of a mess. Visually, there’s too much going on, and it’s tough to gauge who is fighting whom. To add to it, a major plot point makes those lines even blurrier. The escalation of the plot has a nice, steady pace (topped by an appropriate Kaiju battle), but once the final climactic reveal occurs, the story runs out of gas. The ending connects the theme, and, on paper, what happens is a logical conclusion to the build, but the execution just wasn’t there.
As a trade paperback, this is a great value. To include the lore-building comics with the event, there are a lot of comics, Spider-Men, and Venoms to justify the price tag. A fun romp through the multiverse, and as long as they keep bringing out new creative iterations of these characters, I’ll keep coming back.
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