ultimate comics spider-man 20 preview

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man 20 Preview

Comic Book Resources gives us our first look at USM 20:

Any guesses on who is inside the Venom suit?

Ultimate Spider-Man 20 comes out on Wednesday.

venom 27 layout

Layout for Venom 27

I don't think we full appreciate what goes into making a comic until we get a glimpse at the 'behind the scenes'  work for an issue.  You might remember a couple years ago when we got to see the process of creating a cover.  I just love seeing how the final product is made!  Today, Venom artist Declan Shalvey, tweeted his layouts for Venom #27:

I'd like to see a step by step (writer's notes to artist layouts to inked pages to colorist art) process of how a Venom issue is made some day.

cullen bunn talks 'toxic'

Marvel's Interview with Bunn

Hey guys, I'm still here!  There just has been zero talk about Venom the last couple of weeks.   However, today Cullen Bunn broke some of the silence in his interview with Marvel:

Marvel.com: Flash Thompson's finally in Philly in VENOM #31 and 32 - how are you portraying the city? How do you give it its flavor in the book? 
Cullen Bunn: At least at first, we’re going to be seeing the city through Flash’s eyes, and this will definitely be a case of “people are strange when you’re a stranger.” My hope is you’ll see the city’s depiction change a little as Flash gets more used to it. Initially, he’s out of his element as both Flash and Venom.

Marvel.com: What will Flash like most about the move? 
Cullen Bunn: I think Flash likes the idea of the move more than the move itself. A fresh start sounds great, but relocation is stressful and off-putting and alienating. That’s some of what he’s going through in the beginning. He hasn’t even unpacked his boxes before he starts thinking about moving back home. He’ll need some baby steps to get into the groove of his new home. He’s going to make friends, learn who the quirky people in the neighborhood are, get a new job. If he survives.  

Marvel.com: And then “Toxic,” the new arc in VENOM—how toxic will it be for Flash? 
Cullen Bunn: “Toxic” is gonna be a rough storyline for Flash. At first, he’s getting his feet wet, patrolling the city, trying to help people. He’s doing the things a super hero should be doing! But things go south for him in a big way when Eddie Brock shows up with the Toxin symbiote. I’m writing one of the most brutal symbiote throw downs of all time, and even though Flash is the star of the book, it might not go well for him.

Nothing really new, but it is nice to start getting pumped up again for this next arc.  Venom #31 - Toxic Part 1 - comes out February 6th.

REVIEW: venom 28 - 30

Who else is happily astonished that Venom has made it to issue 30!?  He may have evolved from his secret agent days to this latest arc where he is possessed by a demon and investigating a conspiracy theory.  How does this story rank among his other adventures?  Lets take a look at Venom vs The U-Foes.

The Story: The U-Foes have stolen a device that can make objects and people vanish.  Venom hunts down the U-Foes in Philadelphia and fights them.

The Good: Flash/Demon/Symbiote - I gotta say, I wasn't super excited about Flash sharing his body with a demon.  However, this story made me nod my head and say 'okay, this could work.'  I loved the fact that we don't know who takes charge when Flash blacks out.  Has the demon learned how to utilize the symbiote?  Is the symbiote no longer neutralized?  Are they working together?  And the upcoming 'talk' Flash wants to have with them made me realize Bunn has a plan.
Philadelphia - Big surprise, right?  From the covers, to the mythology of Project Rainbow, to the locations, to the references and jokes, I loved it all.  I think it was a great move on Marvel's part to remove Venom from NYC (and an even better move to place him in Philly).  He can't get away from facing Spidey every other day and take some pride in being the sole protector of a city.

The Bad: Poor Editing - I am no editor (hell, I'm not even a great writer).  I'm sure you could go through this site and find 1000s of mistakes.  However, it isn't costing you $3 (an issue) to read TVS.  I shouldn't be confused while reading this story because of mistakes that should of been caught before going to print.  Issue #28, how about a little note explaining when/where Flash previously met the U-Foes.  Issue #29, Katy's blank speech bubble.  Do I have a misprint or was it suppose to be blank?  If she really isn't saying anything, why have it at all?  Issue #30, the caption has Brooklyn but the police badge says Philadelphia.  Where is Toxin actually located?  Bunn did clarify this on Twitter (its Brooklyn), but is social media really how we should be getting clarification?
The U-Foes - They aren't bad, they are just boring.  It isn't fair, but I will compare Bunn's villains to Remender's villains throughout his run.  We never really got to meet the U-Foes; they were never really a threat.  It was obvious they were going to lose.  Unlike Remender's D-list bad guys (Jack and Fly), who we learned about and even though they weren't going to physically beat Venom. they affected Flash mentally.  I hope the next Venom opponent isn't part of a team.

The Overall: 3.5 outta 5 Aside from the drastic change of art, issue #30 was definitely the strongest of the three.  I do hope Valk and Katy stay in Flash's life, but not to save the day and be the damsel in  distress (respectively) every issue.  This arc left me with some very high hopes for the next chapter - "I've got some personal business to attend..." - Eddie Brock (who these days prefers to be called TOXIN!)

april 2013 previews

April 2013

Marvel's solicitations and actual covers have been off.  The original preview for the cover of issue 30 was never used.  In the solicitations, the 'Jaws' cover is listed as issue 34 and the 'ASM 316 homage' cover is listed as 33.  However per artist Declan Shalvey, Marvel will use 'Jaws' as issue 33 and '316' as issue 32.  So we have an extra cover floating around which means Feb and March previews will be off until Marvel fixes it.  Hope that clears up any confusion!  

VENOM 33
04/03/13
CULLEN BUNN (W)
DECLAN SHALVEY (A&C)

• It's Venom vs. Toxin in the schoolyard!
• But have these two symbiote-psychos created something far more evil in Philadelphia?!

VENOM 32 (COVER)
04/17/13

VENOM 34 (Solicitation)

CULLEN BUNN (W)
DECLAN SHALVEY (A&C)
• The Symbiote Slayers are here. You read that correctly.
• Toxin. Venom. Bunn. Shalvey. War.

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN 22
TBD
"VENOM WARS" CONCLUSION!
• Venom versus Spidey! The Final Showdown!
• How does Gwen Stacy figure into it and how will it change her and Miles' life forever?
• Guest-Starring Mary Jane Watson!

THUNDERBOLTS 8
TBD
DANIEL WAY (W)
• PHIL NOTO (A)
Cover by JULIAN TOTINO-TEDESCO
• A new terrorist mastermind rises...with close ties to a Thunderbolt!
• His cell has weaponized decommissioned Crimson Dynamos!
• Meanwhile, the Thunderbolts are tearing themselves apart!

TALK ABOUT: venom 30

Venom 30

What did you think of the final chapter of the U-Foes arc?  

Warning: Spoilers in Comments!

TVS EXCLUSIVE: q&a with declan shalvey

As Venom kicks off 2013, I was lucky enough  to email back and forth with Venom artist Declan Shalvey.  He was nice enough to take the time to answer some questions exclusively for our little community of Venom fans!

Thanks for taking the time to chat with our little Venom community. I know before you got the Venom gig, you were working on other Marvel titles. How familiar were you with Venom and symbiotes before you were the artist of Venom?

My pleasure! Yes, previous to VENOM, I was working on THUNDERBOLTS with Jeff Parker and Kev Walker. Really proud of the run we did on that book, but was really happy to get to offer of working on Venom. I was VERY familiar with Venom and the other symbiotes before I joined the series. I treasure the VENOM: Lethal Protector graphic novel I bought when I was a kid. When I got into Spidey, I had just missed Maximum Carnage and I remember really wanting to know what happened in that story; but comics weren't readily available where I lived in Ireland, so I couldn't hunt it down and find out. I loved the Venom storyline in the Spidey animated series too; that dream sequence were the symbiote and the Spidey costume fight over Peter Parker was excellent and really left an impression on me. I have some very, very bad symbiote fan art in some drawers back home, believe me.

Saying that, I lost track of Venom while it was attached to Mac Gargan. It was this series by Rick Remender and Tony Moore that got be back into Venom, as I just thought the idea of him being attached to Flash was a really interesting one.

Venom has had numerous artists since the series began in 2011. How to do you visually approach drawing Agent Venom or Carnage (in Minimum Carnage) to give the character your style and feel? Were there any other artists that influenced the look of your symbiote characters?

Well, my starting point is Mark Bagley. You may not think it from looking at my work, but I was a HUGE Mark Bagley fan when I was a kid. I loved how he drew Spidey, Venom, Carnage, etc, and when anyone else drew them, I remember being disappointed. Saying that, I think a lot of artists over the years have pushed what you can do with Venom, visually. I liked what Leinil Yu did with a couple of Venom covers I've seen, and how he drew symbiotes in a New Avengers arc. James Harren has some fantastic symbiote sketches on his website that i use for inspiration too. However, I think Tom Fowler's issues of Venom was absolute knockout stuff. I think Tom really knew how to draw the hell out of Venom, especially in this current incarnation, and his work really helped me figure out how I was going to draw Venom, which was a very intimidating prospect. Really like how Kev Walker drew him in his two issues and also how Matteo Scalera drew him in Secret Avengers. Those are my touchstones, a mix of old-school and contemporary, and from there I try and build my own look.

I'm not too familiar with the artistic side of creating a comic book. Could you give us a quick rundown of what happens after you receive a script from Cullen? Are there specific details outlined or are you free to create the characters and backgrounds as you interpret the writer's notes? How long does it take to ink an issue?

Sure. Well, it's a fairly recent partnership with Cullen, and each issue gets more and more 'symbiotic', if you will. Generally, I get a full script from Cullen (like a screenplay in film terms) saying what happens in each panel in each page. From there, I spend a couple of days working on layouts. This is where I make all the storytelling decisions like 'what is the focus of the page', the 'flow' of the page, work out interesting compositions, etc. I also work out logistical problems, like the geography of a room, or where characters are positioned, building up research, making sure the reader will be able to follow the story, etc. It's where all the mental brainpower comes into it and it can be quite stressful. It's this stage where I might decide to tweak the storytelling a little form Cullen's script, or add a panel here and there, etc. The more I work with Cullen, the more I've seen how open he is to collaborating on the series. More than that, he actively encourages it, so I'm starting to add more and more stuff of my own.

Once all that is done, I'll lightbox my small layouts to the Marvel artboard. Takes at least 2 weeks to pencil the issue, which is all the technical drawing; constructing figures, working out perspective, etc. Then comes the inking, which is my favourite part of the process. I love inking. one of the appealing things about taking on Venom was that I knew it would be fun to illustrate symbiotes, especially with my inking style. It takes about the same amount of time to ink a page as it does to pencil it. With layouts, pencils and inks, it takes between 4-6 weeks to illustrate a whole comic. Add another week or so for it to be coloured by Lee Loughridge and lettered by Joe Caramagna.

As a Venom fan who frequents Philadelphia a lot, I am extremely excited to see your interpretation of The City of Brotherly Love! You mentioned before that you utilized Google Earth to get a feel of the city. Do you plan to make the city as real as possible or will it have a Marvel twist to it? Can we expect to see famous landmarks, buildings, etc.?

My take on Philly will be as grounded as possible. With Flash being the only superhero in Philly, I think it's best to keep it as realistic as possible, making him all the more prominent. I spent a couple of days looking up the history of Philadelphia (I'm also a huge fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and worked out where Flash's neighborhood was. The fist 2 issues are specifically set in that area, as Flash is unfamiliar with the city. As the series progresses, he'll get more familiar and explore the city more. I don't really want to shoehorn-in landmarks in a distracting way, but as long as it makes sense story-wise, I'm more than happy to have Flash interact with more well-known areas of the city. I don't want to pull anyone out of the story with distracting landmarks, but I would like to have some in the background to further inform the story.

I wish I had the money/time to go to Philadelphia and take lots of reference. I was recently in Philadelphia ......airport, where I had a Philly Cheese Steak, so hopefully that's helped me with my interpretation of Philly in Venom.

You began illustrating Venom on Rick Remender's last issue (#22). Since then you've been drawing every other arc (Minimum Carnage #26 & #27 and 'The Toxin Arc' #31-#35). Are there any plans to be the full-time Venom artist?

Yes, Rick's final issue was my first and it's still one of my favourite pieces of work. I think it's one of the best comics I've produced and it's mainly down to the amazing, intense script that Rick wrote.
Unfortunately it's just not humanly possible to be the full-time artist on Venom. The book double ships a few months of the year, so you end up having 16 or 18 issues in a year, but no artist can draw that quickly (not without dramatically reducing the quality of the artwork). If the series has 12 issues a year, which is the usual standard, then I could be the full-time artist which is what I would love to be.

What i am happier about though, is that with this upcoming Toxin arc, is that it's 5 issues instead of 2 or 3, so I feel myself and Cullen have more room to tell a better, longer-form story. My plan is to draw the majority of the Venom issues in the coming year, being the 'main' artist. I hope we can work out the schedule to accommodate that for 2013. I think myself, Lee and Joe make a great-looking comic, and with the great stories Cullen has coming up, I'd love to do a good, solid run on the series. All credit to editor Tom Brennan for making it happen.



Fan Questions:
From Carlos Sanchez: What do you find most interesting about Agent Venom that makes you want to draw him?

When I met Cullen at NYCC I told him that very thing; which is that I find that Flash's relationship with the symbiote is much more compelling than any previous Host. I know that will anger Eddie Brock fans out there, but Eddie/Venom's motivation was revenge. That's it. Flash however NEEDS the symbiote to walk. He already had huge dependence issues regarding alcohol, which he's dealing with, but now he has another drug; the Venom symbiote, and without it, he's completely stuck in a wheelchair. I find that idea very, very interesting and that's what keeps me interested in the character. In order to explore that, I told Cullen i really didn't want to have the artificial legs that the Secret Avengers gave him.That muddies the water a bit with the Flash/Venom relationship. Even though that means I have to draw Flash in a wheelchair all the time, which is hard to draw, it ultimately means that the symbiote is that much more important to him. Also, Flash is a flawed character who is really, really trying to be a better man, and I have a weak spot for those type of characters. I think we can all relate to that. In a much more superficial approach, I just think Venom looks cool and is really fun to draw! I've drawn a few pages of Venom in action on the city streets and think they're some of the best pages I've ever drawn because I enjoy them so much.


Orion Petitclerc wants to know: What's your take on drawing just the symbiotes themselves? Like if you looked between the classic depictions of the symbiote acting alone, the Spider-Man Animated Series (90's) symbiote, and the Spider-Man 3 symbiote, what is your style for the symbiote?

It's trickier to draw the symbiote than you'd think. Some draw it like it's sharp and scratchy, some like it's globby and gooey, etc. I love the Spidey animated series, but I think the symbiote animation wasn't the best (aside from that dream sequence). I like the oilyness of the movie symbiote, but as I recall it kinda lacked form and character (saying that; I haven't seen Spidey 3 since the cinema.... bad memories). I try and strike a healthy balance between all interpretations to get the best of all worlds. With the different symbiotes though, I will try different though. Carnage was more textured, slick black and had long sharp tendrils. Toxin will have long, vein-like tendrils that bubble off him, but won't be slick-black. If I get to draw other symbitoes in the series I will rty and do something different with each one. Venom however, is the Daddy of all these symbiotes, so that symbiote is the most versatile one to draw. It can be all the above and more.

The most popular fan questions seem to revolve around Toxin. I am sure you are sworn to secrecy, but is there anything Toxin related you can share?
Spidergeek 2000 asks: What can we expect with the new Toxin design?

As mentioned above, I'm drawing Toxin in a way where the symbiote is very vein-y. Cullen and I decided that the 'spahetti-monster' look was too much and wanted to pull thinks back a bit. Not back as far as the original Toxin, as ...well ...I just think it looks silly. The original Toxin to me, looks like a symbiote wearing no trousers! One thing to keep in mind is that the Hulk-Venom look was never associated with Eddie. When Eddie was Venom, he was big and powerful (since Eddie was a bodybuilder) but he wasn't huge and monstrous til Mac Gargan had the symbiote. I'm keeping that in mind when drawing Eddie/Toxin. Thinking old-school Venom, with a nuttier-looking symbiote.
Jared Marn asks: How strictly do you have to follow past artist when designing your take on characters you haven't drawn before? 
I imagined the "spaghetti monster" version of toxin was to show his uncontrolled rawness. When Eddie gains control are there plans to show any signs of that in his over all look?
I'd agree with that. The spaghetti-monster version was a cut-loose version of the symbiote. Now, Flash and Toxin have a more symbiotic (pun intended) relationship due to their mutual hatred of Venom and you will see a much more stable interpretation of Toxin in the upcoming arc. To answer your first question, the degree to which I want to follow past artists is completely up to me. Marvel hire artists as they want to see the take that artist has on a character, so they've never told me to change something (I'm sure thy would if I did something TOO crazy though). As far as I'm concerned, I'm doing my own thing, but that comes from all the influences I previously mentioned.
Lee Michael Burns asks: Can we expect a more consistent look for toxin as even when pat was toxin the look seem to change a lot from page to page?
Definitely :)

Declan also did some promo art exclusively for TheVenomSite - Hasn't been seen anywhere else!

He also sent me a double-page splash (from Venom #27) in 3 stages; Layouts, Pencils and Inks:

Thanks again Declan for taking the time to answer our questions and give us a sneak peek into whats to come.

thunderbolts 4 preview

Thunderbolts 4

This week's CBR 'Axel-In-Charge' featured previews from Thunderbolts 4:

 

Also, it seems as though they forgot Venom still has his own series:


We haven't talked too much about "Thunderbolts" here in A-i-C, but it strikes me that that book is now made up of characters who have at one point held their own series but largely don't now except for Deadpool. Was part of the plan there to give Dan a space to call the shots on folks like Punisher and Elektra without having to worry about stepping on the toes of their monthlies?

Alonso: It was easier than that. We were in an editorial summit, the topic was the Thunderbolts, and somebody -- Jeph Loeb, I'm pretty sure -- said, "How about Thunderbolt Ross leads the Thunderbolts?" And it was like lightning bolt struck.

It was downhill running from there: What if Ross assembled his Marvel Universe wet works team? And it all fell into place: Punisher, Elektra, Deadpool, Venom -- all the hard-hitting #$@#$%$ers who'll put you down for good. It went without saying that this team would have a very different M.O. -- a very different inter-team dynamic -- than any other team that's out there.

[Writer] Daniel [Way] is building some fascinating subplots, and the budding romance -- if that's the right word -- between the Punisher and Elektra is just one aspect of that. This is a very volatile team, filled with deep fissures and unexpected bonds. Does Ross have a contingency plan for the Punisher if he steps out of line? Can Venom abide the methods of his teammates? And Deadpool -- readers are going to look at him in a whole new light. Let's just say, Wade isn't going to like Frank and Eleltra's relationship at all.


Are you guys still getting this series for Venom appearances?

venom 30 preview

Venom 30 Preview Pages

Venom wraps up his encounter with the U-Foes next Wednesday.  Are you ready for "the most TOXIC final page in Venom history!?"

cullen bunn talks about toxin's return

Toxin's Return

Newsarama has an interview with Venom writer Cullen Bunn.  Below are some of the highlights that got me excited for March:

Cullen Bunn: Now, coming out of "Minimum Carnage," we've got Venom moving to Philadelphia, and it really does, to me, feel like a fresh start on the character. This three-issue arc — #28, #29 and #30 — in a lot of ways, it feels like a brand-new Venom. He actually makes the move in #31, and there are new supporting cast members, Flash has a new approach to being a hero, and [we] introduce some new threats that I think will really shake things up. Venom fans — and I'm talking about the die-hard Venom fans, and the die-hard symbiote fans — are going to go crazy, especially starting with #31, and get some things that they have been clamoring for.
Nrama: Is one of those things the return of Toxin?

Bunn: It is. You'll start getting glimpses of him before issue #31, but in #31, Toxin returns. There are a lot of people who say, "Eddie Brock should be the only Venom. He's the only person worthy of being Venom." My goal, as lofty as it may be, is, I really want people to forget about Eddie as Venom. What [artist] Declan [Shalvey] and I are trying to do is, once we tell this story, I want people to associate Eddie Brock with Toxin. It's a lofty goal, because he has such a big history with Venom, but a lot of people really liked when he was Anti-Venom. We want to make Toxin a viable, interesting, dynamic character on his own — the Eddie/Toxin combo, or "Broxin" as I've seen him referred. [Laughs.] Our goal is to really make people love and hate and fear Toxin, and Eddie Brock.

Nrama: So it sounds like Eddie Brock will be pretty solidly a villain this time around, maybe more so than he has in the past?

Bunn: When Eddie and Toxin were bonded in "Savage Six," he was almost like this mindless killing machine. That is not the Toxin you are going to see. I don't want to say he's solidly a villain, but for Venom, at least, he is solidly an antagonist. The one thing that Eddie and Toxin have in common is that they both hate Venom — both the symbiote and the man. That solidifies their partnership to some degree. Nrama: Valkyrie has a budding romance with Flash Thompson, and you'll be writing her in Fearless Defenders. So will she remain a part of Venom's life going forward?

Bunn: She's definitely a big player in the current arc, #28-#30. She appears in every issue there.

I kind of lucked out. A lot of times when you have romances with two characters, you have one writer writing one of the characters in the book, and another writer writing another character in the book, and sometimes the puzzle pieces don't seem to fit. I have gotten into a situation where I'm writing the main books for both of these two characters, so I get to play both sides of that relationship. You'll see Venom in Fearless Defenders; you'll see Valkyrie in Venom — not every issue or every arc, but there will be a presence in those two books.

Nrama: To wrap up, with the new Superior Spider-Man era starting, can readers expect to see some interaction between the new Spidey and Venom at some point relatively soon?

Bunn: I would say that it's a certainty.

And if all of that wasn't enough, here is some line-art to go with this great news:

Well it looks as if Cullen is giving us old time Venom fans what we want with the return of Brock and still keeping the newer generation of Venom fans happy.  Are you guys ready for a great Venom/Toxin filled 2013?  I AM!

marvel select venom fan review

Time for another Fan Spotlight.  This month TVS member 黒Carlos Sanchez毒 shares his review of the Marvel Select Flash Thompson figure:

venom 31 preview pages

Venom 31 Pages

 

The SymbiWrote section of Venom 29 gave us a couple previews from next month's issue 31.  Now thanks to Cullen Bunn's Tumblr, they are available online:

 

 

Combine these with the previously released pages from this interview as well as this one and you already have half the book!  Are you ready for Flash to officially move to Philly?



TALK ABOUT: venom 29

Venom 29

What did you think of Venom and 'girlfriend' Valkyrie taking on the U-Foes?