We’re in the final stretch of Mike Costa, Mark Bagley, Gerardo Sandoval, Tradd Moore, Paulo Siqueira, Scott Hanna, John Dell, Walden Wong, Cam Smith, Dono Sanchez-Almara, Rachelle Rosenberg, Felipe Sobreiro, and Clayton Cowles’ Venom run. It has some highs, it’s had some lows, but how will this final story-line kicks off? Check out below. 

Venom #164: The Nativity Part One

Writer: Mike Costa

Artist: Mark Bagley

Inker: Scott Hanna

Colorist: Dono Sanchez-Almara

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

C.Artists: Ryan Stegman & Morry Hollowell

Editors: Nick Lowe & Devin Lewis & Tom Groneman

Editor-In-Chief: CB Cebulski

What Do You Mean, You Should Be Scared: Venom #164 opens with Eddie having a nightmare about the various spawn of Venom. When he awakes, he believes it is Venom’s dream he is experiencing; when questioned about this, Venom is quick to change the topic and force them to patrol. A trust issue between Venom and Eddie grows, impacting their ability to work together. They are taken down by The Shocker, but after his victory, The Shocker runs directly into a police vehicle. Venom escapes but before Eddie can question it, Claire Dixon (from the recent Carnage series) arrives with a tactical squad to take them down. Eddie and Venom try to escape, but their weakened bond sees them overpowered and captured. The issue ends with Claire telling Eddie that is about to be father, as Venom is pregnant. 

You Just Told Me Not To Be Scared: Venom #164 marks the beginning of Mike Costa’s final story-line on the Venom title. I have not been the biggest fan of Costa, but he’s delivered enjoyable content with the series, despite a bland lead in Eddie Brock. This issue reaffirms that Venom is actually the central character by redefining its relationship with Eddie to something more akin to father and son than star-crossed lovers. It’s a bit of a jarring shift, but one I like more than the previous status quo. Here, Venom acts like a teenager, who refuses to explain himself to Eddie and constantly seeks to change the topic when it becomes focused on him. Venom can not handle being questioned or criticized by Eddie, which screams parental relationship to me. I do wonder if Momma Drew will return to the title during the pregnancy shenanigans; Spider-Woman would be a good fit for the current arc. 

There is also a nice mystery around whose dreams we are seeing; the script tells us they are Eddie’s but there seems to be enough material in both dream sequences to justify it being either Eddie or Venom, or perhaps both. Either way, they serve as the dividing rod between Eddie and Venom. This feeds in nicely to the two fight sequences in the issue, especially The Shocker one. Having Shocker emerge victorious works in this context, especially given the environment they fight in amplifies Shocker’s powers. I do love that The Shocker’s moment of victory is almost immediately ruined by his own dumb decisions.

Venom #164 really is the Mark Bagley and Dono Sanchez-Almara show. With Bagley’s return to the book, he brings back the hipsters and a style that is both well detailed and also underdeveloped enough that the fight scenes feel fluid through environmental impact. Even when there is nothing in the backgrounds to illustrate, Bagley adds in a lot of physical effects to detail the world or actions taken within the world. The world is constantly in motion, even if it is just steam rising off puke. The fight between Venom and The Shocker has a lot of strong moments, such as Shocker’s blasts rippling through and breaking panels. His attacks also blast Venom in ways that allows the symbiote to leak out of the panels. There is strong contrast of colors during fight scenes, but the contrast waxes and wanes during the fight. Some panels, the orange of Shocker’s powers is overpowering everything else around it as it creeps in from the borders. At other time, the colors are restricted into a specific area, often by heavy shadows that influence Venom’s presence over the panel. It’s interesting to see the colors fight it out as much as the figures do. 

Bagley’s figures in this issue are fantastic. The Alien influence on Venom is played up this issue and at times, it gives him a truly monstrous figure. Both Venom and The Shocker cut impressive figures in Venom #164. The Venom symbiote is given a sense of fluidity, but it is nothing compared to the fluidity of Carnage and the other symbiotes in the dream sequences. The symbiotes are both disgusting and impressive, thanks to the way Bagley envisions their fluid bodies. Scott Hanna’s inks are a huge factor in the success of the symbiote designs. He does a great job of enhancing (or diminishing) the physical presence of Venom and others on the page. But he does an even better job of enhancing the facial features of characters. When Venom splits from Eddie, the way it pulls his lips in uncomfortable directions is beautiful. Hanna inks the eyes heavily, so that the black of the eye contrasts against the color of the iris. Hair is given thick definition and there is numerous examples of hair reflecting the light sources around them, which changes the coloring done for the hair. Even something like Shocker’s mask reflects light sources, as well as objects in the background. Scott Hanna, Mark Bagley, and Dono Sanchez-Almara work together to elevate each other’s art. 

Verdict: Venom #164 is a strong chapter that hopefully will see Mike Costa leave the book on a high note. I rather like the new relationship between Eddie and Venom, and I hope the story-line  utilizes the father-son dynamic. Mark Bagley’s art this issue has finally brought me around to the Bagley praise everyone else seems to have for the artist. Mark Bagley creates a detailed but fluid world that Scott Hanna and Dono Sanchez-Almara bring to life in complex ways. All-in-all, a strong issue from the entire creative team and I look forward to the next chapter. 

Pros: 

• Artistic team works to improve one another
• Interesting new relationship for Eddie and Venom
• Manages to convince me Shocker could win in a fight with Venom

Cons: 

• Some repetitive designs
• The spawn of Venom is not an uncommon idea

B+