Following the shocking finale of The Venom War, after Eddie Brock and Dylan Brock fought for control of the Venom symbiote (with both father and son positive that only their controlling the symbiote would protect the fate of the world), the crossover event ended with NEITHER Eddie nor Dylan ending up in control of the symbiote! Instead, it spurned both of the Brocks and headed off on its own. Now, in a CBR exclusive preview of All-New Venom #1, we see the debut of the NEW Venom, with some major clues as to who the mysterious new host of Venom is.

All-New Venom #1 is from writer Al Ewing, artist Carlos Gomez, colorist Frank D’Armata, and letterer Clayton Cowles, and it sets up one of the biggest mysteries in the Marvel Universe since the introduction of the Red Hulk, as, just like the Red Hulk, nearly ANYone could possibly be Venom’s new host, and they don’t have to have an existing relationship with Eddie Brock or the symbiotes. Luckily, the issue appears to narrow things down to four major Marvel characters as the possible new host of Venom.

• AL EWING (W) • CARLOS GOMEZ (A) • ADAM KUBERT (C)
• MARVEL VS CAPCOM VARIANT COVER BY BENGUS
• VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS GIARRUSSO • VARIANT COVER BY SKAN
• WRAPAROUND SYMBIOTE VARIANT COVER BY HUMBERTO RAMOS
• REMASTERED VARIANT COVER BY ERIK LARSEN
• VARIANT COVER BY STEPHEN PLATT • VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY STEPHEN PLATT
• CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
• INSIGNIA VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
• GOLD FOIL VARIANT COVER BY IBAN COELLO
• WHO IS THE ALL-NEW VENOM?
• The smiling, swashbuckling spider-hero New York loves to hate to love is back – and more fun-loving than ever! That’s right, it’s… Wait, it’s VENOM?! An all-new host is taking the symbiote in a whole new direction – but who? It could be the Journalist…the Terrorist…the Sidekick…or even the Mayor… We’re giving you all the clues, good believers – but you won’t know until the mask comes off! Writer Al Ewing (VENOM, IMMORTAL THOR) takes Venom in a completely new direction with artist Carlos Gómez (FANTASTIC FOUR, THE AMAZING MARY JANE) bringing the story to gorgeous life!
• 40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

The preview pages show Andrew Forson, the “true” leader of Advanced Idea Mechanics, attacking the trial of Madame Masque, following the events of the Spider-Man crossover, Gang War, where Madame Masque nearly conquered the whole city’s super criminal underworld. He plans on making an example out of Masque. Attending the trial are New York City’s current mayor, superhero Luke Cage, longtime superhero sidekick and partner, Rick Jones, and Daily Bugle owner and publisher, Joe “Robbie” Robertson.

During the attack, the A.I.M. operatives make a point of locking the room down, so the only people who were able to escape the room were Rick and Robbie, who ran through a materialIZING Forson (as opposed to a materialized Forson) to escape to ostensibly go look for help. Luke Cage was blasted out of a window, and Madame Masque used the distraction of the attack to escape from her prison pod, and tunneled under the floor of the court room.

Venom then attacks the room through the hole that Luke made, clearly suggesting that Venom’s new host was in the room previously, so it appears that the All-New Venom is one of those four characters – Luke Cage, Joe “Robbie” Robertson, Rick Jones, and Madame Masque. You’ll have to pick the issue up next week to see if there are any more clues beyond that!

Source: Marvel