REVIEW: Venom : The Cage Opens

Al Ewing : those two words has one of the overall greatest lovable losers in comic book history going the route of hallucinogenic mystic science that could usually be found amongst some of the best pens to ever script a funny book page.

The self loathing Eddie Brock goes through in “The Cage Opens” is written like a track from Ozzy Osbourne at his best. The environment drawn by Bryan Hitch and brought to life by Alex Sinclair looks like something that could only be spawned from a bad trip from the type of fungus Eminem warned listeners who heard the rare “The Kids” track that replaced “Kim” on exclusive versions of “The Marshall Mathers LP” to avoid. The violence is top notch and the comedy to see symbiotes get squished and then reform is both gut bustingly funny and torturously horrifying. Meridius has went from being Venom’s biggest threat to becoming a threat to the entire philosophy of self determinism.

Possibly the best page in this chapter of Ewing and Hitch’s latest epic is Hitch’s rendering of Meridius and Eddie flying like Daedalus and Icarus over a maze that could be better related to the ouroboros than any morning star. It’s one page (11 on the digital edition), but the panel extends to two pages, really bringing home the horror of having one’s life completely laid out before them.

For those who don’t like surprises, this one page of Venom will make them change their mental taste bud preference. And the mythos nods don’t stop there as Venom starts the story out murdering his own son like Abraham out the Talmud.

This Venom book is bleak and intelligent at it’s foremost with a comedy that pops in here and there, but is not the focus of the precious time of such a precious character. It’s been about time that Todd McFarlane’s baby gets the respect that he deserves, and Ewing and Hitch are the one’s paying those dues in dividends.

Score : 5/5

(W) Al Ewing (A/CA) Bryan Hitch