Kid Venom #2

History

The Kid Venom series grew directly out of a pitch Taigami submitted to a manga contest co-hosted by Shonen Magazine and Marvel in 2018, where contestants were required to use a Marvel theme as the basis for an original first episode. Taigami chose symbiotes and fused that concept with the Japanese folkloric hero Kintarō, reasoning that the symbiote landscape needed something entirely new to stand apart. After the character debuted as backup stories in Death of the Venomverse (2023) and was collected in the one-shot Kid Venom: Origins #1 (January 2024), Marvel greenlit a four-issue solo limited series; issue #2 landed September 4, 2024, with Daniel Khazem editing and Mattia Iacono providing colors to complement Taigami's fully self-executed line art.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Ashiya Doman (Marvel Universe version of the historical Heian-period onmyōji) — appears in flashback only, on Earth-91029.
• Sakata Kintoki (Kid Venom) is the series lead; his adult name was bestowed by Minamoto no Yorimitsu in issue #1 — issue #2 is his second full appearance under that name.
• Written, penciled, inked, and covered by Taigami — a fully creator-controlled art package rare for a mainstream Marvel title.
• Colored by Mattia Iacono; lettered by VC Joe Sabino; edited by Daniel Khazem.
• Story is set in Japan, 977 CE (Heian period), on the alternate-universe designation Earth-91029.
• Plot centers on Ibara's symbiote-hive assault on the Minamoto Samurai Corps headquarters; Kintoki is gravely wounded by Ibara and must consume a tsuchigumo to regenerate, emerging with a mysterious infant from another dimension.
• Variant cover artists for this issue include Philip Tan, Peach Momoko, Salvador Larroca, and Stan Sakai.
• Issue #2 of a four-issue limited series (September 2024 – March 2025); the full series has been collected in a TPB edition.

Cast · 2 characters

Full credits

Variants (4)