Death of the Venomverse #1: Kill. All. Venoms.

She is serving as the direct follow-up to the short-lived Extreme Venomverse miniseries, Death of the Venomverse #1 sees Agent Venom fighting against all odds to stop Carnage from massacring every Venom across the multiverse. This Agent Venom is not former high school bully Flash Thompson but a variant of Eddie Brock’s deceased ex-wife, Anne Weying. A relatively new character introduced in 2020, Anne has kept busy trailing Carnage’s movements and assembling her rambunctious squad of battle-ready symbiotes.

Writing-wise, Death of the Venomverse does not avoid all the pitfalls that have become synonymous with this storytelling subgenre. As any fan knowledgeable about Marvel’s Spider franchise knows, this is far from the first plot revolving around the multiversal hunting and killing of variants. While respectably well-executed, the comic lacks a unique element to differentiate itself from what has come before.

The various Venoms that Carnage murders are all creations of the last six years, originating from Donny Cates’ run or the Edge of the Venomverse limited series. There is not enough familiarity with any of them to provide proper emotional weight, and their deaths do little to establish what a threat Carnage has become, instead feeling like tying up loose ends. Only young Mania’s demise comes close to tugging at the heartstrings, given how innocent and brave her attempt to save the day is. Even then, the comic goes out of its way to explain that this Mania was not the only version, leaving her open for future appearances and thus undermining her sacrifice.

The comic compensates greatly with excellent design work from penciller Gerardo Sandoval, who grants individuality to the multiple Venoms featured through subtle differences in their grinning jaws. The symbiotes’ massive white eyes squash and stretch to convey the person’s emotions underneath, and even the blue irises of maskless Anne Weying are broader and more vibrant than usual. The visual highlight of the issue is the Venom/Ant-Man amalgam that Carnage encounters, whose symbiote grants him a more insectoid form with three-clawing feet and boney, white pincers instead of teeth. The promise of more of this creativity is an excellent motivator to stay tuned.