In this week’s important evaluate, What If…? Dark Venom #1 brings a darker angle to the symbiote story when the Thing will get Venomized! If you’re seeking to keep away from SPOILERS, contemplate scrolling all the way down to the Rapid Rundown a spoiler-lite blurb of Magneto #1.
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What If…? Dark Venom #1
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Jethro Morales
Colorist: Israel Silva
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Main Cover Artists: Philip Tan, Jay Leisten, & Rachelle Rosenberg
What If…? Dark Venom #1 is one other spin on the early days of the Venom symbiote – which could seem to be too-well trodden floor at first. This storyline was even revisited for one more current What If…? experiment (extra on that afterward). However, putting the Thing in Parker’s function in the Venom storyline finally ends up providing one other entertaining twist on the symbiote story. While Marvel Comics has gone to that properly a complete lot in the previous few years – hell, in the previous few weeks, even – however this situation nonetheless proves to be one other enjoyable Venom story.
The Venom Thing
Pairing Venom with the Thing provides the symbiote a “perfect host,” and it provides the story an opportunity to go all-in on the violence… which is at all times welcome when Reed Richards is on the chopping block. As with different high-profile Mr. Fantastic killings (right here’s taking a look at you, spaghetti’d Multiverse of Madness Variant), a dying scene for Richards means the possibility for some bizarre physique horror.
This What If…? additionally pulls from the Spider-Man facet of the story not by together with Parker, however by ensnaring the Lizard in the scenario as a substitute. This provides Doctor Connors an opportunity to eloquently argue his cassse to the Venom Thing… which could even persuade the reader, at the least for a second. But quickly Connors betrays the Venom Thing and takes the symbiote swimsuit for himself.
The Lizard Thing is definitely accountable for the dying of Richards and Sue Storm. This is an efficient manner of offing these characters over the course of a narrative that’s encompassed by a single situation, since that’s not sufficient house to persuade us that the Thing would homicide his greatest associates, even after having been Venomized. However, the Lizard Thing’s killing of Storm and Richards does supply believable motivation for the Venom Thing to off Connors, which is likewise offered in suitably gory vogue.
While the story doesn’t punch too deep into among the underlying narrative potential, like a doable exploration of simply why the Thing is so inclined to the symbiote’s susurrations, that’s not likely doable in the span of a one-shot. In truth, it’s a testomony to the superheroic expertise of the artistic group that this situation proved to be as partaking because it was.
Spider’s Shadow
But talking of an extended What If…? storyline, I do have one query in regards to the broader What If…? undertaking: what occurred to these longer storylines, anyway? The first one truly involved this exact same story. In Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow by Chip Zdarsky, Pasqual Ferry, Matt Hollingsworth, and Joe Caramagna, with important covers by Phil Noto, readers have been provided a glimpse of a storyline in which Parker refused to give up the symbiote.
Initially introduced to be 4 points and subsequently expanded to 5, the collection supplied a variation on the What If…? system by permitting a narrative to final greater than only one situation. In a May 2021 version of the This Week in Marvel podcast, it was introduced that there can be a follow-up to Spider’s Shadow written by Zdarsky, together with extra prolonged What If…? titles.
Unfortunately, neither of these follow-ups got here to go. This is a disgrace as a result of Spider’s Shadow demonstrated how longer-form What If…? tales can show profitable. Furthermore, What If…? Dark Venom might have labored even higher than it did if expanded to 2 or extra points.
What If…? Dark
And whereas it isn’t a nasty concept to check out What If…? Dark, these are definitely not the primary What If…? tales to skew in direction of darkness. Really, there’s arguably a complete subgenre of “dark” What If…? storylines already.
An identical idea was additionally utilized for the long-delayed-but-worth-the-wait Darkhold miniseries, in which a collection of 5 one-shots gave a cadre of Avengers who had learn “just a little bit” from the titular tome the possibility to see darkish alternate realities the place, for instance, Iron Man was goop-ified inside his swimsuit and the Wasp actually bought even with Hank Pym.
Hopefully, What If…? Dark can be a springboard to stranger narrative pastures. Consider the potential in a What If…? Weird miniseries. This might discover the subgenre of What If…? tales that spring from premises that make you go, “Huh?” I imply, don’t you need extra storylines just like the one the place Aunt May is bitten by the radioactive spider as a substitute of Parker, or the one the place the Marvel Comics workers turns into the Fantastic Four? I certain do.
And hey, Marvel Comics editorial, contemplate this: you might do some bizarre and humorous Venom What If…? Weird tales, even. What extra are you able to ask for?
Verdict: Get Venomized (once more)!
Rapid Rundown!
- Magneto #1
- In the primary situation of the brand new Magneto miniseries, written by J.M. DeMatteis, with artwork by Todd Nauck and colours by Rachelle Rosenberg, Magneto steps into Professor X’s sneakers because the headmaster of the Xavier Institute. As the first instructor of the subsequent technology of mutant heroes, Magneto is pressured to mirror on his previous because the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants’ chief when following a lesson on compassion for the evildoer, Rhane Sinclair (codename: Wolfsbane) asks her professor about his involvement in the “Cape Citadel Event,” the location of Magneto’s first act of terrorism in his battle with humanity in X-Men #1 (1963) by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman, and Sam Rosen. Although Magneto received’t reply his scholar’s questions, the reader is given their first glimpse into how this miniseries will fully rewrite Magneto’s identified historical past (Erik notes that historical past is written by the victor, Charles Xavier). It additionally rewrites the beloved X-Men #1, which I need to marinate on for some time. Practically talking, I additionally discovered this situation troublesome to learn because of poorly positioned phrase balloons. However, from what I’ve heard in regards to the Marvel Comics manufacturing schedule, I’m wondering if the messy lettering layouts by VC’s Travis Lanham have been because of him speeding. The situation would have benefited from some callbacks to Rosen’s lettering fashion in X-Men #1, particularly the blocky, purple letters used at the start of among the phrase balloons. That’s a criticism I’ve of the entire guide: it wanted extra structural callbacks to Magneto’s first look.
Next week brings Children of the Vault #1 (a part of Fall of X), Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance #1, Spider-Man Annual #1, and in all probability some points in which the quantity 1 isn’t concerned!
Catch up on previous entries in The Beat’s Marvel Rundown archive.
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