All-New Venom #4-5

[laughing_tree]

Anyway, some folks are being a little cynical about this, which is just how things are these days in a world where everyone fears the worst in big and small ways - honestly, though, I just want to make fun comics. Our true intent is all for your delight, as they say... --Al Ewing

Comments

[blues32]

Well, we already know who it is. Stupid Marvel...what was even the point?

[cyberghostface]

Yeah Marvel always does that whenever there's a big reveal or a character death. I think Dan Slott at one point warned fans to stay off social media until they read the latest issue because of it.

[deh_tommy]

I’m not mad at all at who the All-New Venom really is, I’m just a bit miffed Ewing lied about it.

[akodo_rokku]

I'm completely unsurprised - as soon as it was said that it HAD to be one of the four of them, I knew it was going to be someone else.

[mastermahan]

Exactly, that's just how a three card monte works. If it's definitely one of these few suspects, then it's almost certainly not. Ewing and Spurrier pulled the same trick with "which of the four Sinisters is the Dominion"

[numeronone]

Not to mention Ewing specifically shouted out "Knives Out" as an influence - a movie that notably did not advertise its' protagonist (Marta) AS the protagonist in either the posters or trailers.

The first syllable of the word 'Mystery' is short for 'Misdirection'.

[scorntx]

I did not see the Sleeper twist coming.
Or the reveal of who actually is Venom this time.

(Benefits of avoiding social media and news websites, I suppose.
Although, having denied the possibility it could be who it was, am now required to get some Humble Pie...)

[beyondthefringe]

MODOK with the Sleeper symbiotic looks surprisingly cool.

Mary Jane with a symbiote--does she still have the Jackpot powers too? I guess we’ll find out—is just weird but okay, sure, why not. It beats some of the red herring choices.

[akodo_rokku]

Last we saw the Jackpot bracer was seriously bugging out, so I'd guess Venom gave her a good excuse to stop using it.

[dan_ingram]

I kinda liked that gimmick, though honestly not for Mary Jane

[xammax]

You know it has to be awkward since the Venom Wars made it clear what we all suspected for decades: the symbioite worships Peter. So MJ is bonded with an alien entity who calls her ex Saint Peter and also probably wonders who really needs a Paul around.

[thanekos]

Paul's existence, at the very least, makes for a " Peter, Paul, and Mary (Jane) " pun.

[beyondthefringe]

…
…
Dammit

[thanekos]

If Rick Jones' body isn't the most " piloted by other forces " thing in 616, it's definitely one of.

[cainofdreaming]

Rick should charge rent.

[remial]

is this a Claremont book?

[zachbeacon]

It's a timeshare. The Destiny Force is lucky to get a weekend a year these days.

[kamino_neko]

When did Venom start doing gold accents instead of white?

[cainofdreaming]

Since last Venom-event. Anti-Carnage injection changed his colour scheme.

[kamino_neko]

Gotta say 'Anti-Carnage' is a much less awesome name than Anti-Venom...

[laughing_tree]

Its actual name isn't Anti-Carnage, it's Eganrac.

[beyondthefringe]

That sounds like a bad Jack Kirby character.

[onsokumaru]

The symbiotes can be pretty cool when they are in just one book and they are not just some pile of goo, teeth, tongue and bloodlust.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I what I really appreciate about all of Masque's little callbacks here is how I recognize most (if not all) just from visiting here often.

[tcampbell1000]

Sincerely happy at the implication that Mary Jane has overcome her symbiote-phobia through the most radical exposure therapy possible. It's Ewing, so I know he hasn't forgotten that wrinkle in her history.

[zachbeacon]

So I heard about the Rick thing ...

(And the Venom thing but this doesn't seem like the place to address that)

...and thought it was an interesting idea but I was unaware that he was not a willing or knowing* participant and that's disappointing to me.

*(Or is he? The "sleeping" response to the alibi question feels on the nose)

"Father, I crave violence"

Yep, Sleeper is a cat.

Edit:

For villains as seasoned as these two, wouldn't the appropriate response to seeing Rick Jones be either "it's Rick Jones, kill him!" or "it's Rick Jones, run!", rather than "I have some questions for YOU, reporter that I don't seem to recognize is a celebrity/superhero"

[numeronone]

Of course the youngest symbiote would be both a furry AND create chemical weapons as a hobby. Damn Generation Z!

[numeronone]

TBH, ever since the reveal was leaked I've been delighted by the way the clues all built up to it on re-reading.

Things like Venom's taunts mosrly being based on playground games - i.e. there's a concerned parent in there.

Or the way that in #2, he asks his host "Tell me you learned some science hanging out with..." and then remembers that gunpowder contains saltPETER.

[zylly]

My initial reaction, based just on being spoiled, was to feel a little cheated. I really wanted to be able to be actually surprised by this. But I also initially felt like it didn't make a lot of sense. I took the book at its word it was either Rick, Masque, Robbie, or Luke. That was the one certainty in the mystery to me.

All the clues, as laid out by Robbie, do make sense in hindsight. So I suppose it's fair play.

Though the "or is it... someone else" will always feel just a little bit of a cheat.