Venom was the first book to adapt the Legacy renumbering, fifteen issues back with Venom #150. Venom #165 will be the last of the Legacy numbering, as a new number one looms. It is also the finale of Mike Costa’s 19 issue Venom run. There’s been a lot of lows, but also a couple highs.  Does Costa stick the landing? Spoiler: he does a damn better job than Cullen Bunn did with Venomized. 

Venom 165: Family Feud

Writer: Mike Costa

Artist: Mark Bagley

Colorist: Dono Sanchez-Almara

Inker: Scott Hanna

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

C. Artists: Ryan Stegman & Morry Hollowell 

Editors: Nick Lowe & Devin Lewis & Tom Groneman

Editor-In-Chief: CB Cebulski

Recap: Venom #165 begins with Eddie in the custody of Claire Dixon and the FBI. Venom enters into labor during the opening pages, which is ridiculed by Mac Gargan, who has returned to his Scorpion persona. Jessica Drew arrives in time to save Eddie and gives him an opportunity to get somewhere safe for the birth. Eddie takes Venom to Doctor Steve, but he has to separate from the symbiote to fight Scorpion. Eddie is getting his ass kicked, when Claire takes out Scorpion to save Eddie’s life. She tries to get a hold of the new born Klyn’tar, but Doctor Steve informs them that it was a still born.

A couple days later, Liz Allan and Eddie Brock visit the Klyn’tar baby, who survived the birthing process. Eddie plans to visit the kid on a regular basis, so that he and Venom can raise him to be better than Venom’s other offspring.

Thoughts: Here we are again, at the end of another Venom series with a relaunch looming right around the corner. Last time around, it was not only the end of Venom’s adventures in space, but also Flash Thompson’s time with the symbiote. The next relaunch looks to change very little about this current Eddie Brock based status quo, but Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman will be stepping in for Mike Costa and his artistic team. I am very excited about this upcoming run, but first I have to admit I’ve enjoyed more of Costa’s run than I haven’t. Overall, I would say the quality of this run is around the same as Venom: SpaceKnight, perhaps a little bit lower. Considering the last run had the incredible talents of Ariel Olivetti and a Venom host I actually enjoy, it is pretty impressive that Mike Costa and his artistic team could maintain some of that quality during his Venom series.

Mike Costa makes the wise call to bring Scorpion back as the final bad guy for the series; Scorpion played a large role in the first arc of this series, so it gives a nice sense of closure to the book to have him return once more. Last time around, he faced Lee Price, but this time him and Eddie have quite the show down in Venom’s delivery room. Mac gets a ton of great lines, while Eddie shows the same stoic determination he has this entire series.

Venom #165 also pulls in Claire Dixon and Jessica Drew to different degrees of success. As I mentioned last issue, I didn’t read Carnage (2015) so I am unfamiliar with Claire Dixon. This issue establishes she was bonded to a Klyn’tar briefly, but she also seems to have some form of super powers that are never clearly visualized or defined. Claire also lacks a personality and largely serves as the face of the FBI.

On the flip side, Jessica Drew steals the show in Venom #165. She only has about five pages worth of screen time, but she is given all the best lines and some great fights. Jessica also sparks a comedic conversation about trust between Eddie and Venom, that quickly turns into an emotional conversation that serves as the through-line for the back half of the issue. 

We also briefly touch base with Liz Allan and Doctor Steve. I enjoy Liz’s role as Venom’s “sugar momma”, serving as the one who cleans up his messes, even if there is a lot more that could have been done with the character. Doctor Steve is an excellent addition to Spider-Man and Eddie’s corner of the Marvel Universe. He’s visually distinct and he’s given a personality full of quirks like Mass Effect‘s Mordin Solus. Here we finally see the main cast finally coming to terms with, and accepting, who one another are. It’s a nice tone to end the book on. I really hope we see Liz, Steve, and the new Klyn’tar when Donny Cates takes over. The birthing sequence references a large swath of Venom history, from the 80s to present day. 

Mark Bagley and Scott Hanna handle the figures and world this time around. There is so many little details to their characters that I love. When Mac is angry and yelling, spit sticks between his lips and projects violently from his mouth. During the birthing scenes, the symbiote clings to Eddie like leeches, hanging loosely from a single attachment. Blood drips and clings to things. Both Jessica and Mac are given dramatic entrances that warp and manipulate the light, just before their big fight. Watching Jessica crawl around a vehicle while fighting Scorpion is a great sequence that really emphasizes the motion of Jess and the traffic around them. 

In the birthing room fight, a Venom-less Eddie gets in the first couple of punches, but there is such a dramatic emphasis on speed and impact when Scorpion fights back that it is almost humorous how out of his league Eddie is. Mac Gargan looks incredible this issue. He’s back in a more classic version of the Scorpion attire. What I really love is how Mac’s Scorpion mask mirrors the facial features of Venom. Mac’s mask draws attention to his creepy smile and erratic eyes, which are the exact features emphasized on Venom. Venom is given a bunch of little ridges and dips in his frame, emphasizing the anatomy of Eddie underneath. I am a bigger fan of Gerardo Sandoval and his looser anatomy than I am of Mark Bagley’s work, but Venom #165 is fantastic. 

Dono Sanchez-Almara and Clayton Cowles do a great job of adding a bunch of exciting details to the world. There is a ton of sound effects this issue and Cowles does a great job of using them to move the reader’s eye through action sequences. Alamara does a great job of making Bagley’s detailed city-scapes really pop off the page. I personally think Almara delivers his best work with Gerardo Sandoval, because it fits the quirkier style of Sandoval, but he does a lot of good here.  He colors Jessica’s venom blast is colored in a different tone of green than Mac’s scorpion sting attack as well, so that when they’re attacking each other you can tell who’s firing what.

Mike Costa’s Collaborators (Art, Ink, Colors, Letters): These are the creative forces who brought you this most recent run of Venom. I am giving Dono Almara-Sanchez the MVP of this run, he brought consistent energy to this series even as the different arcs allowed him to mix up the color palettes. Paulo Siqueira’s one issue also left a profound impact on me, because of how he enhanced the alien nature of Venom. 

Clayton Cowles: 19 issues

Dono Almara Sanchez: 15 issues

Gerardo Sandoval: 11 issues

Mark Bagley: 6 issues

John Dell: 4 issues

Scott Hanna: 4 issues

David Curiel: 2 issues

Juanan Ramierez: 1 issue

Iban Coello: 1 issue

Israel Silva: 1 issue 

Andres Mossa: 1 issue

Paulo Siqueira: 1 issue

Walden Wong: 1 issue

Cam Smith: 1 issue

Rachelle Rosenberg: 1 issue 

Javier Garron: 1 issue

Erick Arciniega: 1 issue

Andrew Hennessy: 1 issue

Tradd Moore: 1 issue

Felipe Sobreiro: 1 issue

Review: I can’t say I’m sad to see Mike Costa and crew leave Venom, especially when my favorite new creator at Marvel is taking over the gig. This run never reached soaring highs, but it was consistent in delivering good, not great, tales. There has been a lot worse writing on Venom and definitely a lot worse art.

This book reveled in its 90s aesthetic, but I really hope the next run decides to do something new while still picking up the parenting threads left here. A big thanks to Mike Costa, Dono Sanchez Almara, Clayton Cowles, and the various artists, colorists, and inkers who made this book happen. 

Pros: 

• Jessica Drew
• Exciting new status quo
• Great scene enhancement
• Excellent use of Mac Gargan

Cons: 

• Some off figures
• Claire Dixon

B+