Deadpool’s latest encounter with Man-Thing just gave his entire team a painful reminder of what happens to whoever knows fear.

Venom War: Deadpool #2 finds the titular hero fighting tirelessly against swarms of cannibalistic Zombiotes alongside Poison, Morbius, and the other denizens of Monster Metropolis. Among Deadpool’s key allies in this particular fight is Andi Benton, better known as Silence, whose Anti-Venom strain of symbiote is perfectly suited for purging the Zombiotes that threaten to take over New York City. Unfortunately for her, those powers only work if she can make contact with someone, and the Man-Thing’s burning touch is keeping Silence from doing just that.

Written by CULLEN BUNN Art by ROBERTO DI SALVO Main cover art by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI Variant cover art by TODD NAUCK Deadpool may be trapped in a city full of zombified symbiotes and symbiotized zombies, but he’s always got old friends to call on when he’s against a wall! He’ll face the madness with monstrous allies like Frankenstein(‘s Monster) and Man-Thing — not to mention Silence, Princess… and another surprise guest star you will NOT see coming!

Introduced in Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Gray Morrow’s story “…Man-Thing!” from the pages of 1971’s Savage Tales #1, Ted Sallis was a genius biochemist working alongside Doctor Curt Connors to recreate the Super-Soldier Serum that transformed Steve Rogers into Captain America. Tragically, Ted would be targetted by nefarious forces, leading to a violent car crash that left Ted drifting through the Florida Everglades shortly after injecting himself with his serum’s only sample. This combined with the mystic forces of the swamp transformed Ted into the hulking protector of the Nexus of All-Realities, Man-Thing, whose touch infamously burns all who feel fear in his presence.

Andrea Benton made her Marvel Comics debut in 2013’s Venom #31 by Cullen Bunn and Declan Shalvey. An otherwise ordinary teen at the time, Andi became a neighbor of Flash Thompson, who she quickly deduced was actually Venom. Soon enough, Andi was targeted by one of Flash’s enemies simply for her proximity and apparent friendly relationship with him. In the attack, Flash gave Andi a portion of his symbiote for her own protection, ultimately giving rise to her alter-ego, Mania. In the years since, Andi has also become the host to the Scream symbiote, as well as its genetic offshoot with the Anti-Venom symbiote – Silence.

Monster Metropolis has been a key if rarely seen location in the Marvel Universe since its first appearance in the pages of 2009’s Punisher #12. Located deep beneath the streets of Manhattan, Monster Metropolis is where the surviving monsters of a centuries-long war between themselves and humanity ended up living alongside many of their former would-be oppressors. Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, first happened across Monster Metropolis not long after his death and subsequent resurrection as Frankencastle. Currently, it serves as not only the home for hundreds if not thousands of peaceful monsters, but also the home base for the supernatural team known as the Legion of Monsters.

Venom War: Deadpool #2 is on sale on October 16 from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel Comics