Marvel is giving fans a whole slew of fresh looks at the Venom symbiote's new black and gold style with a wave of variant covers for All-New Venom #1 by writer Al Ewing and artist Carlos Gomez. And though I've got some questions about the new direction - including the mystery identity of Venom's new host - the vibes the variant covers are cultivating are immaculate, even referencing one of the best Venom comics of all time.
I'm talking about Amazing Spider-Man #347, one of my own personal all-time favorite comics, which tells a classic Venom story in which Eddie Brock lures Spider-Man to a remote island, hunting him like the Predator. It's an absolute ripper of an issue by Venom's co-creator writer Dave Michelinie and artist Erik Larsen, showcasing the peak of Venom as Spider-Man's most bloodthirsty foe.
Marvel has "remastered" a page of Erik Larsen's art from the issue, which leads off this gallery of variant covers. There's also the main cover by Adam Kubert, and variant covers by Iban Coello, Humberto Ramos, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Skan, Stephen Platt, Chris Giarrusso, and of course, a revival of Marvel Vs Capcom 2 concept art by Bengus:
"The smiling, swashbuckling spider-hero New York loves to hate to love is back - and more fun-loving than ever! That's right, it's... Wait, it's VENOM?!" reads Marvel's description of All-New Venom #1. "An all-new host is taking the symbiote in a whole new direction - but who? It could be the Journalist...the Terrorist...the Sidekick... or even the Mayor... We're giving you all the clues, good believers - but you won't know until the mask comes off!"
As implied in the quote, Marvel has narrowed down the identity of the new Venom to four candidates - Robbie Robertson, Luke Cage, Madame Masque, and Rick Jones, any of whom would be pretty surprising. And if Marvel is channeling the vibes of the early, monstrous Venom, I'm on board to find out the answer, as those early Venom stories are a pitch-perfect blend of alien body horror and superhero action.
We'll find out more when All-New Venom releases on December 4.
Learn about the best Venom hosts of all time.
