This issue's story actually seems to take place between the moments of the first four issues, and it's really fun to unravel it all, while Eddie's new look (courtesy of HItch) is really cool. Read Full Review

Marvel fans that craved the deep lore that Donny Cates brought to the character should consider this a must-read as it takes it even further and will be the key into a larger door of the next decade of Venom. Read Full Review

Five issues in and Ewing has put the pieces in play to dig deep and create yet another branch of deep mythology within the Marvel mythos. Read Full Review

Venom #5 picks up where it left off with Eddie Brock meeting the enigmatic Meridius. This issue is more about Meridius than Eddie, who's more of a tag-along in this comic. The artwork in the comic is great, it's written well, but the comic raises more questions than it answers. By the end, you get a feel for Meridius in terms of his personality, powers, and the danger he poses to the Brocks and the Venom symbiote. Read Full Review

Meridius reveals more of his plan in an issue that sets the stage for the next era of Venom. The final page alone is sure to have fans buzzing. Read Full Review

Venom #5deepens the lore of the Symbiotes but undercuts the ongoing story in the process, leading to a mixed bag. I would have preferred for the revelations surrounding Meridius to wait until a later issue, but they do hint at a larger story surrounding the Ewing/V/Hitch run and it's one I'm interested in. Hopefully, the next issue returns to Dylan Brock's battle with the Life Foundation as I've grown quite fond of the younger Venom. Read Full Review

OH.

This was something else.

The new venom run is really coming out of the gate in a fantastic way! It's unbelievable how far venom has come in recent years. I know it's early but al Ewing is already becoming one of my favorite venom writers. This issue and issue 1 are two of my favorite venom books

The return of Ewing to this title brings its best issue yet, in my opinion. The best part of this is the reveal with Meridius. I really enjoy how Ewing writes him and I'm definitely looking forward to what comes next with him and Eddie. It's just a shame that we'll probably have to wait until Issue 8 to get back to this. I hope Ram V.'s story with Dylan picks up with these next two issues.

Amazing stuff, this tied up a lot of the plot holes really well while managing to expand the venom mythology. Can't wait to see where this series goes.

In this issue, We had concept that are gonna be in this Run set up. But it's not like Immortal Hulk which was much more than Concepts. But I guess I should wait.

I am definitely intrigued by these concept. What's gonna happen?

I am missing Dylan side of story.

Art: Bryan Hitch is great artist. No doubt, Art will be good.

I appreciate the craftsmanship of this issue. It could be immensely confusing, but it isn't, thanks to an intricately fine-tuned script. It looks gorgeous and nasty in exactly the right way.

What it doesn't do is sink a hook in me, though. Meridius ain't much of a villain so far. Yeah, he's got timey-wimey powers and he *thinks* he's way out ahead. He's just seething with barely-repressed anger and self-doubt, though. It's not a matter of *if* he winds up shooting himself in the foot, more just *when*.

Hey, look. Al Ewing is back. Can you tell? I could.

This alternating writer experiment reminds me of when Hickman was taking turns with someone else on New Mutants. I would read the Hickman issues and skip the others. Maybe I should do that here.

Of course we will need to understand why this new vew Villain is going out of their way to become Venom but, it's interesting enough to add another layer to this story.

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it's definitely better than Ram V's deconstructed as hell story. On the other, it's just full of Ewing-isms, if I could say so. Some work, some don't. I'm interested but the way the story was told didn't work for me that much.

Weird as hell.

This one was a slog of a read for me

This is a book that suffers greatly from having two writers who don’t seem to be on the same page. On their own, Ram V and Ewing are excellent writers and their ideas work best when they’re the sole writers of their book. But here we have a messy clash of ideas and presentation that feels disjointed and jarring to read through. There’s no denying the talent of both writers but unless they come together and present a cohesive story soon, this title will not grab their readers’ attentions for much longer.

Compared to the last series, this is terrible. The writing is boring and there is something not quite right about how Bryan Hitch draws Venoms face and especially his mouth. The new villain has the personality of a raisin. I've given it 5 issues in the hope of some improvement somewhere, but that's enough.