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Warning! This comic has a recent publication date, thus the article below may contain spoilers! Read beyond this point at your own risk! |
Part of the "King in Black" event 
Venom Vol 4 #34
Production
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I hear it. It calls to me. Tells me I have been chosen. Tells me to rise. Tells me to choose my new form. I can barely hear it over the power of the light. But I laugh as it asks me... ...because there's only ever been one answer to that question... It's different, this power. It's ancient. Strange. But somehow... ...familiar. I don't know what I am now. I don't know if it'll be enough to beat back the void... All I know... ...is that I'm back. And I'm mad. So now... ...win or lose... ...good or bad... ...light or dark... ...everything is about to change.
Appearing in "Rise"
Featured Characters:
- Venom / Captain Universe (Eddie Brock) (Bonds to and loses the Venom symbiote; bonds to the God of Light)
Supporting Characters:
- Agent Anti-Venom (Flash Thompson) (Controls the Anti-Venom symbiote-dragon; reanimation)
- Venom Symbiote
Antagonists:
- Symbiote Hive
- Numerous unnamed symbiotes
- Numerous unnamed Symbiote Dragons
- Knull
- All-Black
- Grendel (Mentioned)
- Dark Carnage Symbiote (Mentioned)
Other Characters:
- Dylan Brock (Mentioned)
- Venom (Lee Price) (Referenced)
- Dark Carnage (Cletus Kasady) (Mentioned)
- Wraith (Zak-Del) (Mentioned)
- God of Light
- Captain America (Steve Rogers) (Cameo)
- Invisible Woman (Sue Storm) (Cameo)
- The Thing (Ben Grimm) (Cameo)
- All-Father Thor Odinson (Cameo)
- Storm (Ororo Munroe) (Cameo)
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker) (Cameo)
- Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards)
- God (Yahweh) (Invoked)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- Symbiote Hive-Mind
- God-Hive
Items:
- Knull's Symbiote-Armor
- Enigma Force
- Captain America's Uniform and Shield
- Fantastic Four Uniforms
- Mjolnir
- Thor's Herald of Thunder Armor
- Spider-Man's Suit
Events:
- Venom Inc. (Referenced)
- Absolute Carnage (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "Rise"
As Anti-Venom - incarnated as a white-and-black symbiote-dragon - battles one of Knull's dark symbiote-dragons, Eddie Brock recaps some how Flash Thompson started as a bully before becoming a soldier, sacrificing himself as a superhero, and finally being resurrected as a dragon. Little more than a ghost trapped inside the symbiote hive-mind, Eddie thinks to himself that he's given up on trying to make sense of his life. As Knull's manifestation dangles him over the edge of a cliff by the next, asking if he really thought he could defeat the dark god in his own domain, Eddie admits that he didn't before elbowing Knull's avatar in the face and saying everything is worth a shot. Grinning maliciously, Knull's avatar reminds Eddie of his words during their first encounter - that his real self is elsewhere - as living abyss oozes from his hand onto Eddie. Knull gloats that he will destroy the Earth and claim Dylan as his own, dropping Eddie off the cliff. As he falls and the symbiote engulfs him, Eddie remembers all the moments in his life leading up to this and laments that the endless cycle of death and darkness will start again with his son. The voice of the Venom symbiote interrupts, informing Eddie that while Knull was distracted in the world above it managed to break free from his control and return to him. As the symbiote's spider-emblem forms on their chest, Eddie thanks the symbiote for retuning to him. Venom once more, Eddie and the symbiote manifest a pair of draconic wings and soar skyward; Knull screaming that he killed Eddie and that the symbiote belongs to him. As they fly through the void towards the street above, Eddie asks the symbiote why they're not taking the fight to Knull, and the symbiote reminds him that the Knull below them is merely an avatar. As the Venom symbiote says they must rejoin the battle in the world of the living, Eddie asks how given that he is only a memory; the symbiote saying he is a codex and that it can take Eddie with him: they need but choose a form.
Reborn from the symbiote dragons' living abyss covering the street, the Venom symbiote takes the form of a building-sized Venom inspired by Lee Price's final transformation as Maniac. Crushing and absorbing symbiote dragons, Venom is approached by Anti-Venom, who offers him backup. As Anti-Venom offers him backup, Venom says this is between him and Knull and that he needs Flash's boots on the ground. Flash protests that his physical body is dead and buried, Venom asking if he remembers what happened when Cletus Kasady's corpse was bonded to a symbiote-dragon. As Anti-Venom reminds Eddie that he was dead for that, Venom tells him to go find out. As Venom charges towards the Empire State Building - where Knull has coccooned Dylan in living abyss - and leaps towards the dark god, the symbiote tells Eddie that the God of Light that Wraith told them about has arrived. A blinding light pierces through Venom as the symbiote says it has sensed the God of Light before and that it is like its kind but different. The various heroes and Knull shield their eyes as the Light pierces through Venom, ripping Eddie's codex out. As the symbiote dissipates, Eddie begs it not to leave him but it replies he must go with the God of Light and that it will find him again when everything is over. As Knull screams in rage, Eddie's codex shatters.
At 4 Yancy Street, Mister Fantastic identifies the God of Light as the Enigma Force just as Eddie's consciousness returns to his body. As the Enigma Force tells Eddie that he has been chosen and to choose his new form, Eddie grins and tells it there's only ever been one answer to that question. As the Light surges through him, Eddie thinks to himself that it's different but somehow familiar, and he doesn't know what he's becoming or if he'll be strong enough to defeat Knull, but that either way he's back, mad as Hell, and regardless of the final battle's outcome everything is going to change.
At Arlington National Cemetery, the symbiote-dragon controlled by Flash Thompson's codex plunges from the sky and ploughs into the ground overtop his grave, merging with the webs and tendrils of living abyss encrusting the tombstones before seeping into the ground. For a few seconds nothing happens, but then the earth above Flash's grave cracks and ruptures as an arm bursts skyward.
Solicit Synopsis
THIS IS IT!
• After a pulse-pounding race to the finish, VENOM #34 stands as the series’ final tie-in to the KING IN BLACK epic!
• But is this issue also the end of the Venom symbiote as we know it?!
• From maestros DONNY CATES, IBAN COELLO and JESUS ABURTOV, this one sets the stage for VENOM #200 – and EVERYTHING that follows!
See Also
Footnotes
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