Venom is back in Part 4 of “Venom Beyond”! Published by Marvel Comics, written by Donny Cates, with art by Luke Ross, colors by Jesus Aburtov, and letters by VC’s Clayton Cowles, Venom #29 digs deeper into the history of this new dimension Eddie and Dylan have found themselves in.
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In the last issue, Codex unmasked Virus, exposing his identity as Mac Gargan—the original scorpion—who blames Eddie for paralyzing his legs. Codex provided Virus with a symbiote, resurrecting Scorpion on the condition that Mac finds Eddie.
After the revelation that Codex was actually the Dylan of this dimension, Venom #29 dives straight into flashbacks with Annie, Eddie’s ex-wife, telling the tale of how she lost her son to the symbiotes. Eventually, Dylan became so powerful that he was able to not only able to spawn thousands of symbiotes but also act as a hive mind and control them all.
Although about half of this issue is dedicated to flashbacks, the story doesn’t fail to keep pace with the other parts of this arc. Along with giving the background of this foreign dimension, these flashbacks really give readers a window into the inner workings of Annie’s mind. After becoming Venom, instead of Eddie, Annie fought villains alongside Spiderman. Juggling superhero business, she seems to have no trouble with being a single mom, up until Dylan’s transformation into Codex, of course.
Annie is undeniably a strong character and the flashbacks show this. But I also can’t help but appreciate Annie’s costume design as well. The creative team could have easily made her feminine but instead went with a traditionally more masculine body shape. Annie’s Venom is tall, muscular, imposing, and down-right commanding. But I think this choice really suits Annie’s personality and adaptability. It’s also just refreshing to see expectations of femininity and masculinity flipped on their head. On the topic of costume design, the other symbiote designs are equally intriguing and diverse.
There’s a lot of emotion rampant in this issue. With Annie telling the tale of how she lost her son to the symbiotes and having to face a Dylan that isn’t her own, and Eddie having to confront the mistakes he made with Scorpion, it’s an emotion-packed issue that will make you feel for these characters.
The dialogue is wonderfully witty and equally emotional. But what really draws the emotions out of these characters is the beautiful art. Ross takes over as the artist for this issue. Although their art style is certainly different than the previous artist, it isn’t enough to prove a stumbling point for the issue.
Ross’s art is only bolstered by Aburtov’s colors. The color palette keeps things interesting with flashes of color in the mostly dark panels. From the crackling blue of electricity to the sudden burst of red to represent pain, Aburtov keeps the panels lively even amongst the mostly dark backgrounds. Cowles’ lettering only strengthens the creative team, keeping the lettering simplistic while the speech bubbles never overshadow the characters or action.
With Annie telling the history of this dimension and her Dylan and Eddie facing his mistakes with Scorpion, this issue trades action for emotional content. The creative team has done a good job of marrying the flashbacks with the present story and the next issue will undoubtfully be an interesting one.
Venom #29 is available now wherever comics are sold.
Venom #29
TL;DR
With Annie telling the history of this dimension and her Dylan and Eddie facing his mistakes with Scorpion, this issue trades action for emotional content. The creative team has done a good job of marrying the flashbacks with the present story and the next issue will undoubtfully be an interesting one.
