The enemy of Venom's enemy is his friend.
Venomverse may be a very underwhelming Marvel event, but at least it bucks the usual trend by getting slightly better, not worse, over time. For whatever it's worth, issue #3 is the strongest chapter to date. It doesn't necessarily address any of the fundamental flaws of the book, but this issue does at least have more fun with the premise and the large cast of characters.
Cullen Bunn and Iban Coello introduce a major wrinkle into the conflict in this issue by dragging another iconic Spider-Man villain into the fray. Where the first two issues found some success in exploring the lingering Peter Parker/Eddie Brock rivalry, this issue finds even more success in mining this particular relationship. The series has done very little to flesh out the Poisons and make these villains into compelling antagonists (even with the recent reveal of the mastermind pulling their strings), but this new free agent is at least an acceptable substitute.
Beyond that, the series makes a general shift towards a more ensemble approach here. Eddie himself is less the star of the book at this point than one Venom among many fighting for survival. This helps spice up the conflict as much as anything else in this issue. Granted, the biggest failure of Venomverse is that its cast of alternate universe Venoms are basically just symbiote-covered clones of regular Marvel heroes. None of these characters build on or subvert those archetypes in any meaningful way. But despite that, there is fun to be had in watching Rocket Raccoon Venom toy with his bombs and Doctor Strange Venom rekindle his rivalry with Doctor Doom. The highlight of this issue is easily Deadpool Venom, whose own role in the conflict is becoming increasingly murky with time.
And if nothing else, Venomverse is likely to go down as one of the more attractive Marvel events in recent memory. Coello brings a very sleek, dynamic look to every page. His battle scenes practically ooze energy. And the more the conflict heats up in this series, the more opportunity Coello has to shine. Coello's character designs also manage to impress. The Poisons may not stand out in terms of characterization or motivation, but they do look pretty darned cool.
The Verdict
Venomverse is still a frustrating read in some respects, but the fun is beginning to outweigh the more negative aspects as the series rounds the halfway mark. The new free agent introduced in this issue certainly helps, as does the generally wider focus taken by Cullen Bunn. Iban Coello's dynamic art also goes a long way towards making this formulaic conflict feel exciting.
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