Venom #259: Somehow, Knull Returned

In all seriousness, this review is titled in jest, as the return of Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman’s co-created supervillain hasn’t occurred out of nowhere. For the past several months, writers and artists have planted the seeds for the former King in Black’s return across various comic titles. And, like most resurrections, it involved a lot of complex sci-fi and fantasy jargon along with the scheming of a villain from an entirely different rogues gallery. Al Ewing spares the reader from a potentially droning recap on all of this, knowing it’s not necessary to get the ball rolling on the plot at hand. He graciously sticks to the basics: Knull has reinitiated his conquest of all life and the universe must depend on Venom to stop him as they did once before.

It’s a very lean “A-plot,” all exposition and set-up that would leave a lot to be desired if not for the B-plot picking up the slack. One of the more fascinating aspects of Venom is how the comic has expanded its scope from its titular character to the collective adventures of his extended family. Eddie Brock’s son Dylan and the juvenile symbiotes Sleeper and Toxin, who are practically cousins to him by this point, have occupied the book for a couple years before Al Ewing’s run even began, and he continues to keep them at the heart of the narrative in commendable ways.

They provide the action as they face off against an old armored villain dusted off from the Marvel vault, but also have time for some emotional introspection amidst the fight. Series regular artist Carlos Gomez ensures that everyone looks fantastic and imposing whether they be throwing haymakers or having a simple chat.

Old-school Spider-Man foe FACADE is the issue’s villain of the week, and Ewing continues the decades-long running gag of building up the mystery behind his identity while never revealing it.
It’s incredibly amusing how every word balloon and thought bubble emerging from FACADE feels ripped straight from the silver age rulebook on scripting. Even down to delivering evil monologues to himself when no one else is around.

Venom #259 lands an effective last-page reveal as MJ accepts the call to action and cashes in a favor from an old ally who turns out to be the invincible Iron Man. It’s a surprising callback to her often-overlooked period as Tony Stark’s assistant, and an effective way to imply that her approach to defeating Knull will be different than Eddie Brock’s. Venom and Iron Man isn’t the sort of team-up anyone asks for, which means it has all the more potential.