Venom #29: A Moment Too Late

After three consecutive issues following the diminishingly thrilling exploits of Dylan Brock and Natasha Romanoff, the return of Eddie Brock and previous Venom scribe Al Ewing is off-putting to put it lightly. While somewhat abrupt, September’s Venom #25 felt like a send-off to Ewing’s long-running plotline or, at the very least, an indication that the time-traveling journey would be spun-off into another comic or crossover event. Instead, this month’s issue picks up right where the story left off as if a three month detour never occurred.

In his best efforts, Ewing places the last piece of the puzzle he’s been assembling for over a year. This adventure kicked off when Eddie Brock encountered five alternate versions of himself, products of his mental state deteriorating from being trapped in a solitary time loop. Bit by bit and in a non-linear fashion, the truth about how each corrupted doppelganger morphed into the next was unveiled. Finally, it is revealed how the meek, boot-licking Typho evolved into his ultimate form: the tyrannical Meridius.

Seeking power and a way to escape his prison, Typho severed mind from body to travel through the spacetime continuum, landing in Kang the Conqueror’s armada somewhere in the distant future. Kang offers to help Typho hone his power in return for an advanced army of weaponized symbiotes. The duo spends decades training and strategizing until Typho’s skills have evolved enough to change his own form at will and peer deep into the future. Doing so, he witnesses firsthand the ultimate fate of the Venom symbiote, a cosmic horror that Ewing cleverly leaves up to the reader’s imagination. This experience is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, transforming Typho into Meridius, a being with the raw power of Venom and genius brain of Kang.

For the first time, it becomes noticeable that Meridius and Kang’s malicious grins are nearly identical. It’s excellent visual storytelling on artist Cafu’s part, implying that everything about his persona has been shaped by the conqueror’s teachings. Cafu takes multiple opportunities to impress, drawing sweeping views of Kang’s intergalactic armada, dynamic laser barrages, and vast alien landscapes. The final symbiote hive at the end of time is depicted as a planet covered in an inky black ocean, all the hosts living in harmony as a mass of identical, featureless figures with glowing white eyes. It’s imagery tailor-made for abstract, high-concept science fiction.

The issue caps off with a surprise entrance from prime Eddie Brock, ready to ambush Meridius and put an end to his scheme once and for all. It’s a fine and dandy answer to many questions, stretching as far back as Venom #9, but it comes at an awkward time where readers have already started to move on. So much has occurred in this volume of Venom, more than can be explained in an opening summary and a few exposition boxes. Those who assumed the arrival of Black Widow indicated a fresh new era for this book and a good jumping-on point will undoubtedly feel alienated by the contents of Venom #29.