Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Venomverse

Edge of Venomverse

Rate this book
Symbiotes are stirring all across the Web of Life and Destiny. Are they just hungry to find worthy hosts or has something more sinister got them riled?

Collecting Edge Of Venomverse #1-5, Venomverse: War Stories #1.

146 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2017

39 people are currently reading
290 people want to read

About the author

Matthew Rosenberg

786 books159 followers
Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name


"I haven’t always been a writer. My parents are writers and my brother is a writer, and I resisted that as long as I could. When I was 17, I hopped in a band’s van and I went on tour for a summer, and that was it, that was what I wanted to do. I ran a record label for 10 years, a small indie punk label. I did everything in music that you can do that doesn’t involve having musical ability. Eventually the music business, probably in a similar way to comics, will just start to break your heart, and I realized one day that I kind of hated music. I was resigned to thinking, if I’m going to be involved in music forever, I’m going to hate it for the rest of my life. I just stopped. I stopped having any sort of business with music, any involvement.

I read comics my whole life, so I just naturally fell back into another medium that is marginalized and hard to make a living in."

Source: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles...

Writer of comics WE CAN NEVER GO HOME, SECRET WARS JOURNAL, OUR WORK FILLS THE PEWS, 12 REASONS TO DIE, & MENU.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
108 (16%)
4 stars
161 (24%)
3 stars
245 (36%)
2 stars
126 (18%)
1 star
28 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
Profile Image for Jeff .
912 reviews815 followers
October 7, 2019
Marvel, just stop the Venom-lapolooza madness!

Please.

It’s great that you made yourself a decent chunk of change with the movie, now cease with trying to Venomize your books.

The story so far: a bunch of Venom is thriving in all the alt-universes that weren’t blown up during Hickman’s Secret Wars. And the symbiote is hosted by a gaggle of different multiverse heroes.



Is that Rocket VenomRacoon behind her? Yes, yes it is.

The black alien Spidey-symbiote outfit, tongue, teeth, bad attitude and royal-we self-referencing roll call:

Gwenpool is funny in a heady mixture of the cute and horrible.



Poor Gwen has to recover her creepy, smoochy doodle that professes her love for Daredevil. And gives away his secret identity. Awkward.



X-23 gets an “A” for atmosphere.



The art on the Ghost Rider Venom is a multi-tiered horror.





DeadVenomPool is stomach churning.



Who the hell knows what alt-universe Old Guy Wolverine has been up to?



Oh, and natch, The Punisher. Venom + Guns = Carnage Mayhem. Yawn.



All and more are summoned to battle by Captain Venomerica!



Don’t ask what Venom can do for you, but what you can do for Venom.

The editor who came up with the Venomization-Verse idea should be throat punched or maybe be the person in charge of Marvel merchandizing taco seasoning or toddler diapers or truck tires or feminine napkins or indigestible candy.

(Note to self: Hulk Giant Sized Vienna Sausages)

(Note to self: Jeff, you’re a f@#king genius!)

Another reason to skip this "event": A venomized Dr. Doom somehow figures into this.

Bottom line : We are not amusssssed!



(Note to self: Stop taking Venom books out of the library. You only have yourself to blame.)
Profile Image for Chad.
10.3k reviews1,061 followers
September 13, 2019
This is an anthology detailing how the various characters in Venomverse wound up with their symbiotes and were sucked into Venomverse. As with most of these books, when you've heard of the creative team the story is good, when you haven't it stinks. Matthew Rosenberg tells a nice little story with X-23 discovering the symbiote as a child. Then the regular Gwenpool creative team shows us how she turns into Venom. If you like Gwenpool's schtick (which I think is hilarious), you'll definitely dig this. The rest of the stories other than Declan Shalvey's story of the Punisher are forgettable to awful. That Punisher story is pretty great though. The Ghost Rider story by Si Spurrier and Tigh Walker is godawful. The art is horrendous and the story makes no sense. It looks and feels like something made by a five year old.
Profile Image for Paul.
2,787 reviews20 followers
February 27, 2018
This volume serves as a prelude to the main 'Venomverse' book and introduces a member of the cast in each chapter. Said characters are alternate universe versions of Wolverine, Gwenpool, Ghost Rider, Old Man Logan and Deadpool, each of whom has bonded with their universe's version of the Venom symbiote.

Each issue collected here is by a different creative team so the quality is variable. The best story, for my money, was the Deadpool issue. The worst was the Old Man Logan story, although it did have good artwork.

Overall, we've yet to see how relevant these stories will be to the main Venomverse book, but these vignettes might appeal to lovers of 'What If-?' type tales.
Profile Image for James DeSantis.
Author 17 books1,203 followers
March 5, 2018
So this was...something.

I haven't read much of venom outside of Agent Venom by Rick (Which btw is fucking amazing) and I'm always looking for new stories to check out (If have any drop 'em below!) but I decided to try this little mini-event out before the major event just because I like some of the creative teams here a lot. We have 5 different stories, all focuses on different characters from Laura, to Deadpool, to old man logan. Is it good? Well...

Good: I really enjoyed Laura's story. Matthew was able to capture the feeling and hatred she has in her as a young girl from all the horrible things they did on her, and even with Venom on her, she still remains somewhat good. I also enjoyed the Gwenpoole one because it remains fun just like the main series and Gwenpool's venom design is rocking.

Bad: The Deadpool and old man logan story were pretty bad. But nothing as bad as the Ghost Rider story which slams the breaks on the pacing of this event and makes it dreadful to get through. All the art is by different people, and while some artist I enjoyed here, it made it very hard to flow through (especially Ghost Rider issue) also the overarching Venom Captain America coming in at the end to recruit felt soooo much like Metal Event going on in DC right now.

Overall this is a big old meh pile. I mean, Laura's story and Gwenpool were fun What-ifs, and I guess I'll check out the main event, but don't expect this to turn you into a venom fan!
Profile Image for L. McCoy.
742 reviews8 followers
February 12, 2019
Okay, this is better than expected though still not a masterpiece.

What’s it about?
A bunch of alternate world stories about various familiar characters who have Venom symbiotes infecting them.

In order to properly review this I have to talk about each issue.
What I thought of each issue:
#1 (X-23) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Exciting, well written story that makes readers care what happens to the characters despite not being particularly familiar with X-23 (meaning I’ve seen her in things but didn’t care for NYX and haven’t read All New Wolverine).
#2 (Gwenpool) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Surprisingly suspenseful, very funny and exciting! I haven’t read Gwenpool but just this story is so well done I ended up caring about what happens to her. Excellent writing all around!
#3 (Ghost Rider) ⭐️⭐️ I didn’t care for this one. It has some cool action but the story crosses that line between batshit crazy fun and goofy, the art is not good and it goes on for too long.
#4 (Old Man Logan) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A dark story that takes place in an alternate version of an alternate version. Yeah. It actually works though as a gritty story with Old Man Logan with Venom powers which is pretty cool and well written.
#5 (Deadpool) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This one is great. The action scenes are fantastic and there is lots of well written humor. Unfortunately I didn’t care for the bathroom jokes, I usually don’t care for them much though.
War Stories ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Good but nothing amazing. It’s a mix of various shorter stories. My favorite is the Punisher one, fucking amazing, well written and action packed take on the character! I don’t entirely know why we needed a story where Venom/Rocket Raccoon fights Carol Danvers/Captain America but it wasn’t bad I suppose.

Overall:
This book is good if you know what to expect.
Do you want an intellectual story that changes the superhero genre and is a masterpiece in comics? This ain’t what you’re looking for.
Do you want an actiony comic about superhero/Venom characters doing cool stuff? That’s what this is.
I’m giving it 4 stars because while most of the stories are good, only 2 are complete 5 star issues (hell one of them is a 2) and by the end it feels less like you read a bad-ass comic and more like you read a long teaser for the main Venomverse comic because of the way it’s written.
So yeah, good but not great comic. Recommended to Venom fans.
description
(We)
description
(Are FRENOM!)

4/5
Profile Image for Michael Hicks.
Author 38 books506 followers
December 25, 2019
So, I’m taking a break from binging my backlog of X-Books since the next volume of X-Men Blue ties into the Venomverse event, which kicks off with this book here. Edge of Venomverse is an anthology style collection showcasing the various Marvel heroes of the multiverse that have bonded with the alien symbiote. Unfortunately, this one’s pretty lame overall. The saving graces come in the first issue, revolving around X-23 and her becoming the host to Venom, and a couple of the short stories told in Venomverse: War Stories. Hopefully the main Venomverse book is better than this...
Profile Image for Mitchell Friedman.
5,839 reviews230 followers
September 12, 2019
Venom is generally awful and stories with Venom are also awful. And yet this collection of almost connected Venom stories are really pretty good. Okay, except for Deadpool but I never expect much from Deadpool or Venom so together they are not improved. Gwenpool was a standout but I'd expect nothing less. X-23 Venom was a bonus.
Profile Image for Michael Mills.
354 reviews23 followers
August 25, 2017
*Sigh*

In my review of The Unworthy Thor, I said the great thing about it was how the story used the wider continuity of the Marvel Universe to create dramatic irony, to give actions consequences, and to put its characters in new and interesting situations.

Edge of Venomverse doesn't do that. Edge of Venomverse is an exercise in merchandising, throwing the fan-pleasing Venom symbiote at a handful of currently hot properties so the hardcore (of whom Marvel appears to have a very low opinion on the evidence of this) can get their rocks off and buy the limited edition Funko Pop a few months down the line.

description

Each story spends its first half attaching Venom to its latest character. Each story spends its second half having Venom/Property Ech slaughter a bunch o' folk. Each story ends on the same cliffhanger.

One of the featured characters was already a parody of one of the other featured characters. Another featured character is the daughter of a fourth featured character. The only other featured character is Ghost Rider. Yay.

description

I know it's only meant to be a set-up for the main Venomverse event but does it to have be so small? So formulaic? So shameless?

I'm not disappointed, I'm just angry.

(+1 star for the nice art)
Profile Image for Nelson.
369 reviews18 followers
January 9, 2018
This was a really good surprise. Don't go in expecting anything enriching, you won't find it here. What you will find are some fun "What if?" one-shots leading up to the main Venomverse event where these characters will feature. Each one-shot does its best impression of the main series the character is from in both writing and art, all with a a dark humor edge to it. Just a lot of fun: silly, corny, over-the-top, and bordering on satirical.

Issue #1 - X-23:
Writing 4/5
Art 5/5

Issue #2 - Gwenpool:
Writing 5/5
Art: 4/5

Issue #3 - Ghost Rider:
Writing 3/5
Art 5/5

Issue #4 - Old Man Logan:
Writing 2/5
Art 2/5

Issue #5 - Deadpool:
Writing: 3/5
Art 5/5

War Stories Minis:
1: Writing 4/5, Art 3/5
2: Writing 3/5, Art 5/5
3: Writing 5/5, Art 5/5
4: Writing 3/5, Art 4/5
5: Writing 5/5, Art 5/5
Profile Image for Quentin Wallace.
Author 34 books178 followers
November 2, 2019
I really thought I'd like this, but I just couldn't get into it. It's a series of stories featuring "Venomized" characters from alternate universes. We get X-23 (not bad), Gwenpool (silly), Ghost Rider (just not that good, and stop with Reyes and bring back Ketch and the motorcyle already), Old Man Logan (pretty good) and Deadpool (once again, silly.) Then we get shorter stories with Black Panther, Doctor Doom, Rocket Raccoon, and the best, The Punisher.

This is all leading to Venomverse which is some type of alternate universe crossover where everyone has a symbiote and the "poisons" are killing the universe. This is what I pieced together from this volume, but I won't know details until I read Venomverse.

Overall this was okay, but really should have been better.
Profile Image for Anna Sorensen.
228 reviews4 followers
December 12, 2018
Again, love me some Venom and this was a really cool way to see a large span of comic book characters all ties together with Venom.
Profile Image for 47Time.
3,455 reviews95 followers
May 25, 2025
Entirely skippable. Unless you like any of these characters. Wolverine is probably the most famous and he gets the crappiest one-shot.

While trying to escape the facility that bred her, X-23 merges with the Venom symbiote.

Gwenpool tries to stop a drug deal, but gets shot instead. The Venom symbiote merges with her lifeless body which puts her back in a killing mood.

Robbie Reyes is the Ghost Rider + Venom. Calvin Zabo aka Mister Hyde is being transported by SHIELD to testify against bad buys who want to shut him up permanently. Robbie will have something to say about this.

Old Man Logan has been staying away from the X-Men for a while, traumatised from killing them while under Red Skull's influence. Angel reveals that Logan's son may still be alive, but in reality wants vengeance.

Deadpool gets his own Venom symbiote while being overwhelmed by mutated humans infected with some sort of worms.
Profile Image for Chris Lemmerman.
Author 7 books123 followers
October 15, 2017
[Read as single issues]
Edge Of Venomverse is an anthology series, where each issue focuses on a different character bonding with a Venom symbiote and then being drafted into Venomverse proper. To the writers' credit, all of them do show up in the main story, with varying levels of importance (from a little to barely any at all, but still), and as with any anthology, it's full of ups and downs.

The opening issue focuses on X-23, which is a heartfelt little story about saving your friends, with some very decent art from Roland Boschi (who I'd kind of written off as too scratchy but he has surprised me recently), before Gwenpool takes over issue two. This one's the only one that's written and drawn by the character's usual creative team of Chris Hastings and Irene Strychalski, and it's pretty damn funny actually. Ghost Rider is probably my favourite, not just because it's by Simon Spurrier who always gives something special to his series, but because it's a clever twist on the idea of a symbiote taking over a host - how do you deal with the fact that there's already someone in there?

The Old Man Logan issue is probably the weakest one, because it takes three quarters of the issue to get the symbiote into play, and even then it's a bit contrived. André Araujo's art doesn't really fit the setting either, feeling too clean and bright for the apocalyptic future of the Wastelands. Deadpool brings it to a close (because of course Deadpool gets in on the act), and this one's gross as hell, mostly because artist James Stokoe goes to two on alien parasites and poop jokes. It's pure Deadpool, and aimed at a very specific type of Deadpool fan.

Venomverse itself didn't really need this lead-ins, in retrospect, but they're good for a laugh, I guess.
Profile Image for Subham.
3,071 reviews102 followers
May 31, 2023
This was such a fun read omg and a nostalgic one too, its been 6 years since I read this as it was coming out in singles and most stories are quite fun just like I remember!

So theres like 5 different single stories of individuals merging with symbiotes like there is one with Laura/X-23 which was fun, the Gwenpool one was wordy but funny too and I like the light take on Daredevil and Gwen's crush on Matt that was fun and the Logan one should have been more violent but it was alright, and the Robbie/GR one was weirdly entertaining and very complex if you think about it.. and the Deadpool one if you have read the "Back in black" arc of it, you will like it more and I like how its just crazy dark and entertaining at the same time!

Its one of those books which is just crazy fun to think about and have a good time reading it, not meant to be taken seriously but does its job to set up the stage for the main Venom-verse trilogy, the fight against Poisons and who they could be and that will be fun to read!

I kinda enjoy these "edge of.." tales as it has crazy fun variants and what-if stuff and leads to some pretty crazy stories and one can have a great time reading them! The art maybe an issue for some as its rushed work seems like but you know.. it grows on you. So yeah give it a read!
Profile Image for Rolando Marono.
1,944 reviews19 followers
December 11, 2018
Siguiendo con la fórmula de hace unos años de Spiderverse, introducen el evento con 5 números mostrándonos a versiones alternativas del protagonista y que de cierta manera serán relevantes para el desarrollo de la historia.
Este Venomverse está conformado por las versiones simbiontes de:
-X-23
-Gwenpool
-Ghost Rider
-Old Man Logan
-Deadpool
Todos los números de este volumen son la misma acción genética con un protagonista que no es para nada interesante, asesinando malos genéricos. Parece que la alineación para este Edge of Venomverse fue escogida por lo que está de moda, no necesariamente por los personajes que nos podrían dar una historia de calidad.
El único que se me hizo interesante en su planteamiento fue Ghost Rider, porque al ser un simbionte, no soporta las llamas, estando unido a Ghost Rider le produce dolor y tortura permanente a Robbie Reyes.
El de Old Man Logan también se me hizo interesante pero más que por el héroe convertido en simbionte, por lo que nos muestran como la continuación del universo de Old Man Logan si él no se hubiera ido al universo principal de Marvel.
En fin, todavía no leo Venomverse y no sé si estos personajes representarán un papel importante en la serie. Lo único que sé es que de entrada, Venomverse se me hace cada vez menos atractivo.
Profile Image for Jessica.
501 reviews2 followers
January 17, 2020
This was a mixed bag, but I think overall worth checking out. I picked it up just because of Gwenpool, and I liked her story. Doom's worked for me, as did Rocket's, X-23, and, to a lesser degree, Black Panther's. The one I felt worked surprisingly well was the Punisher, as honestly, he's a murder machine and so why wouldn't he do well with Venom?

What didn't work for me at all was Old Man Logan's, probably because I don't know nor am I interested in that version of the character, and the Host Rider, largely because a lot of that issue wasn't even about him, just this evil scientist guy I've never heard of (who I'm sure has a long, complicated backstory, because comics), plus the art was a bit confusing.

I also wasn't much into Deadpool's story, as it was just too gross and he wasn't at his, well, Deadpool-iest. It wasn't awful, but again, gross.

Overall, this did make me curious enough to pick up a copy of Venomverse, so mission accomplished. It could have been better, but there were some decent intros in it.
Profile Image for Villain E.
4,000 reviews19 followers
January 22, 2023
A bunch of alternate reality stories where (mostly) characters we know bond with the Venom symbiote. The first couple of stories were good but the formula gets old fast. The series is by different writers and artists each issue so the writing and/or art is hit and miss.

I appreciated that they made the effort to be true to some of these characters. X-23 encounters the Venom symbiote in the Weapon Plus facility she's escaping from and she still encounters the other kids from NYX. The Gwenpool story is by Christopher Hasting so he gets the character right. The Ghost Rider story features Robbie Reyes versus Mr. Hyde, but the art is atrocious. The Old Man Logan story takes place in the Old Man Future, or whatever. The Deadpool story is drawn by James Stokoe who should draw all Deadpool stories from now on. Then some even shorter stories featuring Rocket Raccoon, the Punisher, and a new character created by Nnedi Okorafor among others.
Profile Image for Adam Fisher.
3,594 reviews23 followers
March 4, 2018
I got this Volume because I knew there was an event known as 'Venomverse' coming up and figured this would be a type of prequel. It was, but they way the stories were linked wasn't obvious from the beginning.
Basically, each story is an adventure of a hero we know (though from a different timeline) and at the end of each issue, they get pulled to another dimension to meet up with a Venomized version of Captain America, needing their help for a fight coming up (see Venomverse). In this "Edge of" Volume, we meet: VenoX-23, Gwenompool, Robbie Reyes: the Host Rider, Wolvenom, Deadpoolenom, Punishevenom, Rocket Venomcoon, and Doctor Doom-venom. Also a Venomized Doctor Strange!
How will these characters interact in the main story? Guess I'll see.
Good story and a fun ride. Recommend.
Profile Image for Maciej.
436 reviews18 followers
May 5, 2018
PL
Ta kuriozalna miniseria obfitująca w przedziwne team-upy oraz zaskakujące zwroty akcji to bardzo przyjemna lektura która rozbawi do łez i porwie czytelnika w wir walki kosmicznych bytów, które na gospodarzy wybrały dobrze nam znanych herosów. Wizja autorów jest szalona ale w tych kilkudziesięciu stronach spisuje się świetnie. Podobało się bardzo!
EN
This bizarre miniseria abounding in bizarre team-ups and surprising twists is a very pleasant reading that will entertain tears and grab the reader into a vortex of cosmic beings that the well-known heroes chose for us. The vision of the authors is crazy but in these dozens of pages it works great. Liked very much!
Profile Image for Drew.
5 reviews
November 5, 2018
I'm not really big into the Spider-Man books. Never have really. I enjoyed Maximum Carnage the video game back in the 90's and enjoyed the novel it was based on and also enjoyed. I decided to start the Venomverse from the start, silly enough, because of the Funko Pops based on Venomverse that came out. They look really good. But I digress...

I thought this was a really good setup of short stories into the main Venomverse. I thought it could of been a lot longer, but it was a nice setup as I mentioned. I liked the Laura (X-23) and Gwenpool stories the most.

I would only recommend this to someone who wants to read the entire Venomverse which I am currently in the middle of.
96 reviews
October 15, 2018
It seems like a set up for multiverse spanning symbiotic team up, but the story is told by a plethora of writers in stories stemming from comical to (semi) grim. It might have merited a higher score but The Ghost Rider story is pure crap and the art is awful. The Wolverine story line near the end that is supposed to be Old Man Logan with a symbiote and is pretty bad too. The Pools (Gwen and Dead) really save the whole volume from being trash. Those stories and Rocket Raccoon all venom-ed up take the book to a safe "this is alright but not great" status. Get this one from the library.
Profile Image for Albert.
1,453 reviews37 followers
May 31, 2019
Edge of Venomverse by Matthew Rosenberg is a collection of tales that retell the origins of various characters in the Marvel Universe. The key being that these characters have the symbiote in them that makes them a Venom character. These stories coincide with the Venom Event during this time and also lead into the Carnage Event coming up.

They are told well and I especially enjoyed the X-23 retelling but overall, it was nothing really new to the Marvel lexicon.

Good but not worth searching out.
Profile Image for G. Edweird Cheese.
480 reviews5 followers
January 17, 2022
I absolutely loved this prequel. As a casual reader of graphic novels, (not going out of my way for any specific title, but rather just reading whatever catches my eye when i come across it) i had no idea there was series called Venomverse, where symbiotes and hosts from across the mutiverse are transported somewhere by Strange and Captain America (with their own symbiotes) to fight someone for some reason. Now i have to hop on amazon to find the rest of the series.
Dark, funny, with a slew of amazing styles, this is a fantastic example of why comics are an artform.
3,013 reviews
May 24, 2019
These "Edge" stories are like weak creative writing exercises. Each issue is kind of beat-for-beat the same. Someone faces a challenge, becomes Venom, and is about to do something what a Captain America Venom whisks them away to, you know, the actual story.

It never feels creative enough. When there's no consequences, why not give us more rather than give us nothing because you want to hold everything in reserve for the main story?
Profile Image for Crazed8J8.
759 reviews2 followers
February 29, 2020
Some good stories (Gwenpool, Deadpool, X-23) and some less good (Ghost Rider, Rocket, Doom, Wolverine, Punisher), but a decent collection. I felt like i came into the middle of a story and left feeling unresolved. This should be paired with other books to be more complete, or at least give history (i.e. read Old Man Logan to understand this story). I read it to understand the Venomverse stories,but could have skipped this collection.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.