Venom #31: You Cannot Hide the Face of Death

When you have a god invade a planet you expect destruction, bloody battlefields, and all-out war. Along with such a story, you must have top notch art to accompany it. Iban Coello and Jesus Aburtov’s visuals are a first-rate trip into Eddie’s mind and Knull’s nightmarish vision. Whether showing utter fear on Eddie’s face, the cynical pride of Knull, or symbiote tentacles reaching for their next victim this art team was firing on all cylinders from cover to cover.

Venom #31 continues the tradition of reaching into Eddie’s past and bringing some Easter eggs along for the ride. Rex Strickland is back, and his appearance raises some questions regarding his possible knowledge of the coming of Knull. Furthermore, we have to ask the question: did S.H.I.E.L.D know what was coming, and if they did, what is their plan is now that Knull is here? In one panel Rex is lamenting how Eddie wasn’t his first choice for the mission. Rex wanted Flash Thompson. Does he know something we don’t? Is Eddie just a patsy in all this? If the possibility is there that Rex knew about Knull, we also have to ask does he know about Dylan and Codex?

Donny Cates continues to showcase his talents in a way that is a steady show of brilliant and thought-provoking writing. There’s a natural feel to how he has taken Eddie and Venom and made it his own. Creating new characters, including aspects of the characters story-lines past, revamping but respecting the character of Eddie Brock and making him into someone that we as Venomaniacs have never seen in the character’s existence. Issue #31 is another example of why it’s good to be a Venom fan.