Venom By Donny Cates Vol 4

So You Want to Read the New Venom Run

Donny Cates returned to Venom after his original run ended with King in Black. This fourth volume collects the latest storyline, and honestly, it's more of the same DNA he built before. You get Eddie Brock struggling with symbiote identity, cosmic threats showing up, and people overanalyzing everything on Twitter. I picked this up when it started coming out in single issues. The numbering got confusing for a bit because Marvel kept shifting how they counted volumes. Some retailers listed it as Vol 4, others just called it Venom again. I ended up using the ISBT number on the covers to track things down instead of relying on volume labels.

Venom By Donny Cates Vol 4

The collection runs through what Cates is doing now with the character. If you want to read it in order, skip straight to the first issue after King in Black ended. That's where the current saga properly begins. The earlier volumes are basically required reading if you care about why certain plot points land, but you don't need to re-read everything from scratch. Here's the thing most people miss. Cates doesn't actually write Venom as a horror character anymore. He writes him as a tragic figure trying to hold onto humanity while something alien keeps pulling him toward violence. The gore is still there, sure, but the emotional core is what makes these issues work. Readers who go in expecting pure splatter comedy tend to bounce off it quickly. I hit a snag when trying to track down the later issues. Certain retailers had them listed under incorrect volume numbers, and my local shop couldn't find Issue #25 of this run because they'd shelved it with the original 2018 volume instead. I just walked over to a different comic shop two towns over and they had the correct copy on order. Takes twenty minutes, saves you hours of digging through online listings that turn out to be mislabeled.

The artwork shifts between artists depending on the arc. Ryan Stegman handles some issues, Lucas Werneck does others. Both are solid, but Werneck's style leans more angular and aggressive, which changes the pacing of action scenes compared to Stegman's cleaner layouts. It's a minor thing, but it affects how you read certain sequences. There's also a problem with cover variants getting priced absurdly high on secondary markets. The standard edition holds value fine, but if you see a variant listed for three times the cover price, just walk away. These aren't rare enough to justify that. Wait for the standard collection to drop if you want the complete story without the reseller markup. The trade paperback collects roughly six to eight issues per volume, which is the standard Marvel run length. Reading time is about two hours per volume if you go at a normal pace. Not heavy material, but not mindless either.

One counterintuitive point: you don't actually need to read the entire Cates run chronologically from Volume 1 to understand the current plot threads. The newer issues reference past events through dialogue and internal monologue. You'll pick up the context without needing a refresher. The standalone arcs work well enough on their own. Where this stuff completely falls apart is for readers who just want straightforward superhero action. Cates layers in mythology, lore about Klyntar history, and thematic questions about nature versus nurture. If that bogs you down, stick with the older Todd McFarlane runs or the recent Al Ewing Venom run. Those are more direct. If you're picking this up, look for the standard editions at your local shop or order through the Marvel Unlimited app if you have a subscription. Digital copies sync with your library automatically and you can jump between issues without waiting for shipping. That's how I caught up last year without dealing with comic shop inventory nonsense.