Venom: Unleashed, Vol. 1

Web of Venom #1-4

by Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, Cullen Bunn

Collects Web of Venom: Ve'Nam #1, Web of Venom: Carnage Born #1, Web of Venom: Venom Unleashed #1, Web of Venom: Funeral Pyre #1. Sinister tales from the web of Venom! First, journey back in time to the United States' struggles in the Vietnam War. Nick Fury needs a secret weapon to turn the tide. But when archaeologists discover an ancient creature, has he found the solution - or a waking nightmare? Then, reacquaint yourself with the sickening sociopath called Carnage! You thought Cletus Kasady was dead - but a cult devoted to the madman has gathered, hoping to resurrect their fallen idol and return his madness to the Marvel Universe! And take a journey through Eddie's old haunts in San Francisco - from the perspective of his alien "other"! But will Andi Benton, formerly the symbiote-wielder known as Mania, join the growing pile of bodies on the path to…ABSOLUTE CARNAGE?!

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Spider Man, Superheroes

136 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2019

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four Venom related one shots leading into Absolute Carnage. The first one is probably the best detailing Rex's history in Vietnam with his symbiote. There's also a Carnage story recapping his recent history along with a story where Eddie Brock's symbiote has become a dog. Finally, is a story where Carnage goes after Mania. If you're planning on reading Absolute Carnage, I'd consider these essential reading.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Venom unleashed is a super mixed bag.

First two issues are all about Rex and how he got connected to his symbiote. It's a story that includes Wolverine and it works really well since it is during wartime. The next story is about what carnage has been up to and why he becomes a god-like creature. The next story is all about what happened when Venom left brock and it's okay. The last story is...well...it's not very good.

This happens when have multiple writers. Ryan Stegman is an AMAZING artist but his writing here is...eh. Cullen Bunn gives a pretty bad story at the end of the collection too. However, both of Cates one shots are great, and build up his (great) event well. So for that alone it's worth reading. A 3 out of 5.

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential read to whoever is thinking about picking up the Absolute Carnage event, this is a companion book to the core Venom series, comprised of a series of one-shots featuring the resurrection of Carnage, some new details on the origin of the symbiotes, and other cool stuff, all very fun to read, with good art.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want more Venom? Look no further. This primer of four Venom one-shots sets the stage for Absolute Carnage while providing some backstory on the already released issues of Donny Cates' Venom book, and it's pretty much essential reading.

Unlike the solicitations (what a surprise), this book actually includes Ve'Nam, which expands on the origin of Rex from the first few issues of Cates' run, with a claustrophobic story set during the Vietnam War with art by Juanan Ramirez. This was the first one-shot, and it easily sets the bar for those that follow.

Next up is Venom Unleashed, the infamous dog one-shot, set between the pages of the second half of Cates' first year. This one, with art by the incomparable Kyle Hotz, is basically a two-part story with the next story, Carnage Born (art by Danilo Beyruth), which flesh out the aims and objectives that the Cult Of Carnage have going into Absolute Carnage (more on them at the bottom).

Bringing up the rear is the most recent one-shot, Funeral Pyre, which revisits Andi Benton, formerly Mania, and her Hellmark. This one's basically an Absolute Carnage tie-in, but it technically came out before that series so it's included here instead. I'm sure I'll mention it a lot when I come to review Absolute Carnage itself, but the care that Marvel are taking to address so much complicated symbiote history is really surprising, and in a good way for a change. The art here is split between Joshua Cassara and Alberto Albuquerque.

Not included here is the Cult Of Carnage one-shot, which is instead collected in Venom's War Of The Realms trade, which seems like a misstep since it's pretty important as well. Silly Marvel.

So yeah. Four one-shots, which if you're reading Donny Cates' Venom, you need to read. If you're not reading Donny Cates' Venom...what's wrong with you?

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting suspense-building lead-in to the main event eh? Reads like there’s going to be a Spider-verse level reunion of everyone who’s ever been in a Venom or Carnage story, and maybe even a mass culling?

I am down with that.

Plus the whole “symbiotes are brood of a space god” mythology that Cates brought to the table.

Let’s eat!

[Judah Radd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a neat collection of stories that supplement Donny Cates’ Venom run. They’re mostly pretty cool stand-alones that set up Absolute Carnage. Definitely worth reading if you plan on following the over arching Cates Venom arc.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good stories, some ok stories, overall if you like Venom and its Symbiote history then you'll most likely like what you're going to read. Great artwork too and a good entry for Absolute Carnage/King in Black.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of one shots leads into Absolute Carnage. I liked V'Nam the best, but the are all decent prequels to the big event. This is all prelude, but does a good job setting things up.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://youtu.be/_q2hBD-f2yY

[Crazed8J8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of one-shots is a great read, showcasing some different symbiote stories, including Venom, Carnage, and Maniac. The collection is kind of a filler between the current Venom run and the Absolute Carnage run, filling in gaps of things to come, laying the groundwork, and explaining some of the missing pieces of things to come.
I have yet to read Absolute Carnage, but am nearly there.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four one-shots that provide background information and fleshing out of plot points from Donny Cates's excellent Venom run, leading into the Absolute Carnage event.

They're well drawn, generally well written, but really only suited for people who have read the first two Venom trades (Rex, and The Abyss), and they do assume quite a lot of knowledge of Venom and his publishing history. 3.5 stars.

[Kris Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very mixed bag of one-shots that are all related to the Absolute Carnage crossover. I really enjoyed Ve'Nam but the rest were very skippable as their events are related in Absolute Carnage.

[Xen · Rating 3 out of 5]

really liked the artworks, the dialogue however could be more complex

[Alex Sarll]

Various one-shots chiefly concerned with setting up the Absolute Carnage crossover, whose plot appears to be 'Why does Carnage, the cuntiest symbiote, not simply eat the other 500-odd?'

[Rolando Marono · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este tomo contiene one shots que conectan la historia de Venom de Donny Cates con el tercer arco de esta serie que sería Absolute Carnage. Tiene cuatros números sueltos.
El primer habla sobre la historia de Rex en Vietnam y detalla un poco más lo que vimos en el primer volumen sobre la llegada del Dragón de Knull y el origen de los simbiontes en el planeta tierra. Es interesante porque no me esperaba que los protagonistas de esta historia fueran en realidad dos conocidos personajes del universo Marvel. Los diálogos están bien pero la trama no tiene muchos más misterios de lo que vimos en el primer volumen.
El segundo número funciona como un breve resumen de la historia total de Carnage y conecta lo que ha vivido este personaje en otros eventos de Marvel, unos un tanto viejos y otros más recientes, y cómo llega hasta el punto en donde estamos para poder comenzar a contar Absolute Carnage. Me gustó porque aquí vemos qué sucedió con el equipo que robó partes de Knull al final del tomo uno y al comienzo del tomo dos. Se siente un poco forzado el tema del regreso de Cletus a la tierra, pero son cómics de súper héroes, tampoco me puedo poner tan pesado.
El tercer número es una historia que sirve de cierta manera como homenaje a los días de protector letal de Venom y conecta los siguientes números del volumen con la historia de Venom. En esta aventura vemos al perro Venom (recordemos que tras sucesos en el tomo dos, Venom asume esta forma) descubriendo lo que está pasando en el submundo de la ciudad y cómo Carnage comienza a moverse para buscarlo. Es un número prácticamente mudo y aunque nos dice cómo se entera Eddie de que Carnage viene por él, es un número flojo en ejecución.
El último número es Cult of Carnage y es más bien el comienzo de Aboslute Carnage. Vemos exactamente cómo pone en movimiento su plan Cletus y cómo está reuniendo fuerza para su objetivo, el cuál aprendemos en Carnage Born y es bastante claro: quieren liberar a Knull fortaleciendo su conexión con Carnage. Este fue mi número favorito porque es muy tenso además de que las cosas que estamos viendo en el cómic son grotescas y se asemejan a una película de terror.
En general es un volumen débil pero lo que busca es conectar dos tomos con un tercer tomo que además podría leerse como un evento, quizá eso necesite un tomo como este. Soy de la idea que las historias deberían de irse conectando solas y que no deberías de necesitar muchos libros de tie ins para disfrutar un evento así que no soy muy partidario de este formato, estos cuatros números deberían de ser parte del tercer tomo aunque lo haga un poco más grande. Ya veremos qué tan bueno está el evento y si ameritaba la aparición de este libro.

[Jirka Navrátil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tohle je jak horská dráha. Něco je dobrý a něco špatný.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
(I should have read this before I got into Absolute Carnage...)
What we have here is a collection of short Venom stories, and while all are entertaining and lead into AC, they are seem like added filler building up to the overall story.
- "Ve'Nam" is the story of Nick Fury and Wolverine going to Vietnam to put down some symbiote soldiers who were created by SHIELD as a replacement for the super-soldier program when Cap went missing on the ice.
- "Carnage Born" describes the origins of Cletus Kasady and how the cult of Knull resurrected the Carnage symbiote. Also describes the concept of the Codex. (Did I read this issue at the beginning of AC?)
- "Venom Unleashed" is a tale about when Venom was separated from Eddie following the battle with the Grendel. Taking a form of a guard dog, Venom is very active in protecting Eddie from Carnage zombies looking for him.
- "Funeral Pyre" is a story of Andi Benton (previously Mania) and her Hell-Mark, and her origin story. Also, we get to see a battle of her summoning demons to fight Carnage.

Overall, it was entertaining, but not nearly as the cover led it to be.
A good read, but not necessary.

[Ant Tellez · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5.0

A quick collection that sets up what is yet to come for Cates' Venom run.

[Stone Joseph]

Venom: Unleashed Volume 1, written by Donny Cates and illustrated by Juanan Ramírez and Danilo S. Beyruth, is a comic book about Venom, one of Marvel's most popular superheroes even though he's sometimes referred to as a supervillain. This comic book tells the story of Venom and Eddie Brock, who is Venom's main host and closest friend. A host is a person which a symbiote uses to keep them alive on planet Earth and not be seen all the time by the outside world. This comic book also tells the story of Carnage, one of Venom's main villains and/or rivals in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When Cletus Kasady, Carnage's soon to be host is in prison for murder, the symbiote Carnage is born when a piece of Venom is accidentally mixed together with the blood of Cletus Kasady. This inspires both Cletus Kasady and Carnage to want to create more chaos since they are both psycho killers. This forces Venom to fight Carnage to prevent him from committing more murders and havoc on New York City. How will Venom prevent Carnage from murdering the people of New York? Venom: Unleashed Volume 1 is a quality text. It is a quality text because it uses great illustrations and clearly explains what is going on in each page of the comic book. For example, the comic book includes Venom and Carnage fighting it out in New York City. It also includes the names of the different characters with pictures and illustrations to see what they look like and what they are doing. While this is a quality text, there are some potential issues with this comic book. For example, some pages of the comic book don't give any explanations or thought bubbles as to what is happening in the illustration. While the illustrations on those pages are highly detailed and it is very easy to see what is happening in the illustrations, there still needs to be either some explanation or thought bubbles to go with the illustrations for more clarification. In my personal opinion, I really enjoyed this Venom comic book, and reading this comic book got me interested in other comic books and texts about Venom, including the comic book King In Black.

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para ser un popurrí de one-shots puente o anexas a Absolute Carnage, se ha quedado un recopilatorio altamente disfrutable al estar todas más o menos ligadas a una dinámica puramente terrorífica en sintonía tanto por la nueva encarnación de Cletus Kassady y su simbionte homicida como la creciente amenaza primigenia de Knull. Desde Ve´Nam y su revisión mash-up de "Predator+Aliens" hasta el retorno de un mayormente desconocido huésped de simbiontes con poderes infernales de invocaciones monstruosas de saldo, las 4 historietas se desarrollan en diferentes estilos visuales pero con las narraciones siempre potenciando las estampas más terroríficas o grimosas (como esos "zombis" rastreadores al servicio de Matanza mediante partes agusanadas parasitarias o el Culto que nos ofrece la información relevante a qué se necesita para seguir atrayendo a Knull a la Tierra y la puesta al día de qué había pasado hasta ese momento con Cletus).

A diferencia del tomo anexo a la Guerra de los Reinos, este sí que creo que merece su lugar como añadido paralelo a la saga simbionte de Donny Cates.

[Luke Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good supplement to Venom and Absolute Carnage

Web of Venom is a short selection of one shots that give greater depth to Donny Cates' Venom and Absolute Carnage series. As individual stories they aren't anything special, but they aren't meant to stand alone, despite the fact that they are one shots. More background is given for the symbiotes' and their various hosts, and the storyline of the Venom series is weaved into the beginnings of the Absolute Carnage series. I would say this is essential if you want to read Absolute Carnage, but not so for Venom. It is good and gives more depth, but you can easily continue that series without this comic. Overall, it's a good comic, but it doesn't really stand alone.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Venom Unleashed features a quartet of interesting, action-packed Venom stories, the majority of which serve as prequel to the Absolute Carnage event. As standalone issues, they're a bit hard to make sense of if you don't know the latest mythos, even with backstory text introductions to each issue. Still, the art is good, the action is intense, and the writing is above-average. A worthwhile read, particularly if you're planning on reading Absolute Carnage.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book collects four separate but connected stories involving Venom and/or Carnage. The ideas here are very strong but I'm not sure it needed to be told this why. Seems like it might have been better served just being apart of the regular Venom series. The art in all four books were all good but nothing spectacular. Overall, a decent but limited book.

[Fuuma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was really hard to get through. Venom was barely in it, I think? We spent a lot of time in a backstory and then a lot of time with Carnage, which is all important to story telling, but also... just wasn't that interesting. I think the last issue was the most compelling, but getting to it took me months of just not wanting to pick it back up.

[Will Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning story with Wolverine and Fury trying to clean up SHIELD's mess was pretty great, but everything after that was mixed bag. Not sure how much of this will be collected once Absolute Carnage wraps up, but either way I think you can pass on this one.

[Cole · Rating 2 out of 5]

it’s fine. all one shots that apparently lead into Absolute Carnage, so i’m hoping after reading that it will make this one better, but i really just did not care about these issues EXCEPT carnage born.

[Adam Šilhan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nevím jestli je to sbírka tie-ins k jiným sériím, každopádně zbytečná, ne moc kvalitní výplň.

Za začátku mě Venom od Catese chytnul, ale dal jsem tomu tak o díl víc než dávalo smysl.

Dvě hvězdičky jsou asi moc, jedna spíš tvrdé. Horší než druhý díl za mě.

[Dawn Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jumps around a bit with unconnected stories to help setup an event.

[Angelika Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first ever Venom comic. Definitely a fan. I do wish it had been a continuous storyline though.