Venom 165 Page 20 splash by Mark Bagley & Scott Hanna

As evidenced by many commissions in my gallery, I’ve always loved Venom as a character. To me, he meshes the best of Spidey’s world and that of the classic monsters such as Giger’s chara-design for the xenomorph.

And the artists I associate the most with the character would be McFarlane, Larsen and Bagley whose work on the Venom Lethal Protector miniseries was a big deal to me at the time.

This is the last page of the last issue of Venom volume 3 before Donny Cates set his world and comic fandom afire with his run.

I won’t lie, those stories Bagley drew in volume 3 were only okay-ish, both in terms of writing and art which looked either uninspired or to have been drawn in automatic mode, if still enjoyable and professional as always with Mr Bagley, save for some high-quality bolts here and there.

Case in point, this great splash with a massive Venom front and centre, in a great pose, thwipping some of that organic web amongst the cast of that ending volume (including the evil stinging Scorpion, a previous Venom host trying to get the symbiote back in that final arc).

I must say that on top of that fun full figure, the fact that his cast is represented as floating heads positively reminds me of all those classic John Romita Amazing covers on which he used the same device to great effect (in the Mighty Marvel Manner one might even say). Certainly a fun homage that adds flavour to the splash.

The composition is busy but remains well balanced and readable.

This is part 3 of my 2024 CAF birthday party.