Mithridatism: The slow build of tolerance to repeated exposure to Venom
and other comic news!
First off, you may have noticed some slight aesthetic changes to the newsletter. I’m slowly building to a rebrand of the Leave it the Bad Beaver Newsletter in which I will offer a special paid tier with some really cool benefits. The new…newsletter will be called THE BEAVER BLAST. Yes…I hear it too and I know what I’m doing😁. Some of the paid subscriber benefits will be Kickstarter exclusives, amongst other goodies.
Now you’re probably wondering what the hell is with my title. Well, strap in and here…we…go…
The Venom War
Over the years, it has become quite evident that the The House of Ideas is more of a bachelor apartment. The comic industry always goes through these cycles were quality stories ebbs and flows. For a while it seemed like every other issue we were getting a hard reset of the universes, Ultimate Marvel, The New 52 in DC and many others.
Lately it seems like Marvel has adopted the approach, if it worked once, try it a thousand times over. Which is kind of how I’m feeling with the latest arc featuring Venom. I’ve just started getting caught up with what’s going on with our favourite lethal protector.
It’s pretty hard to follow up after Donny Cates. The guy likes to tell grandiose, larger than life stories with big stakes and he does them well (Thor, Hulk, God Country). When Cates and Ryan Stegman did their run of Venom: King in Black, I thought that it was probably the upper limits of the character and now I’m starting to feel like I could be right.
Let me be clear, I’ve just started into the Venom War so take everything with a grain of salt, but the Venom stories are starting to sound tired. Venom (Eddie Brock specifically) and Carnage have been super charged to mightier than god levels and it’s hard to tell a story with stakes that seem real or manageable when they can cut across time or alter reality to their will. Even Thanos needed a Macguffin to do so.
In Venom War, we get a full gamut of symbiots, a time travelling Dylan Brock with some strong Cable vibes and Carnage is back. I’ll keep reading though because there are some really quality pages like this one:
God, I love a black suit Spider-man…
What do you think? Is Venom better as an anti-hero or a villain?
Kickstart My Heart
There are some great projects by great creators on Kickstarter right now and I just wanted to highlight a few!
Eat Fighter
Eat Fighter is a competitive eating, zombie murder epic that follows Missy, a thirty-something fitness nut who throws away her kale and step-counting ways to become a superstar on the competitive eating circuit. Following the lifestyle of her late brother, who was a champion competitive eater himself, she embarks on a quest to Seoul to become the World Champion Eat Fighter. But eating barrels of barbecue and acres of apple pie doesn’t come without a price—so what’s Missy’s secret as to why she can eat as much as she wants and never gain a pound?
This one is illustrated by Fernando Pinto and he has such a cool style! You can back it here!
Immortal Coil #1-#2
In Immortal Coil Issue #2: Awakenings we open with a special 5-page flashback. This flashback will give new readers and fans alike a glimpse into how Odin and his family set things in motion and how Loki was deceived and banished to the dreaming - there he is set on a path by the mysterious voice of the Faceless God.
Loki continues his plot of revenge, seeking to kill the human hosts of Thor's children before they can awaken to their true selves and power, so that he may unleash cosmic destruction with the help of Nyarlathotep (The Faceless God), and his daughter Hel.
The series combines intense character-driven storytelling with breathtaking visual designs, aiming to resonate with fans of Sandman, American Gods, Hellblazer, and Lucifer, while also appealing to those who crave fresh, dark, and complex stories in the comic book realm.
This story is right up my alley with the mythology and is written and illustrated by Gerald Von Stoddard (remember that name because you my see it some time soon, maybe during a long and dark winter😉). You can back this project here!
The Devil’s Gate #1
1870. Welcome to Heaven's Gate, Arizona, a town controlled by a dangerous and enigmatic cult and right on the brink of collapse.
Enter John Glass, a mysterious outlaw hellbent on avenging the brutal death of his younger brother at the hands of a group of ex-Confederates.
His quest for vengeance leads him to Heaven's Gate, where the local sheriff - a man only known by the name Royal - does all he can to keep the community afloat and out of complete chaos. But that's easier said than done, considering the amount of influence the priest has over the townsfolk.
John arrives in town to discover that much something much deadlier than a handful of rotten Confederates is at play here. A dark, sinister secret lies in the air, thick like fog. While he attempts to track down his brother's killers, John forms a reluctant alliance with Royal and begins investigating whatever goes on behind the walls of the Church of the Sovereign Saint.
What John soon learns is that every man harbors secrets and that most are willing to kill to keep them hidden...
The art in this book looks incredible and I’ll be backing it for sure, you can too here!
Some Final Housekeeping
Don’t forget that Long Dark Winter #2’s prelaunch page is now LIVE on Kickstarter and you can sign up to be notified HERE!
You can also enter my contest to win 1 of 3 signed copies of Frederik Hornung’s super creepy Vintage Variant Cover! ENTER NOW!
If there’s something that you’d like to see in a paid tier of the Beaver Blast please leave a comment!
That’s all for now!