Venom #35: Glimpses Of The Future

The playing field has been evened as the once omniscient tyrant Meridius has at last been cut down to size, both figuratively and literally. After the countless millennia Eddie Brock spent futilely fighting an unbeatable foe, it turns out the secret weapon he was missing was the pure unpredictability of his old nemesis, Carnage. Declaring war on all Eddies indiscriminately, Carnage pierced its god-killing weapon through the garden at the end of time, evaporating the realm and leaving its inhabitants falling through the timestream.

With Meridius’ illusion of control thoroughly shattered, Brock’s alternate forms turn on the half-torso of a man and seize back their destinies. Now a united militia dedicated to setting things right, the group zips away to finish Meridius off for good. Down on Earth, Dylan Brock, no stranger to misfortune at this point, suffers clairvoyant nightmares about his father and the fate of all symbiotes. A mysterious figure emerges from the shadow, revealed to be an older grizzled version of Dylan looking very much like Cable with symbiotic weaponry in place of cybernetics. War is coming, and Dylan’s own faction must prepare.

One of Dylan’s allies, a symbiote named Sleeper, takes the form of a cat for the entire issue. The anatomical accuracy with which the cat is drawn and the precise attention given to its mannerisms is just one example of penciller CAFU’s excellency. CAFU brings a much needed sense of grace and fluidity to the rapid succession of events in Venom #35, giving distinct visual cues as to where and when they take place. While there is no real action to be found, Frank D’Armata’s colors and lighting present the quieter settings with enough moody flare to never bore. There is an organic subtlety to the drawn facial expressions, and a certain light within the character’s eyes that sells every emotional beat. It is clear that Venom #35 has multiple plotlines to set up for the approaching Venom War, and it does so in a dutiful, engaging way.