Venom War: It's Jeff #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeVenom War: It's Jeff #1 marks the first standalone, oversized print one-shot built entirely around Jeff the Land Shark, elevating the character from a beloved digital-comics curiosity to a genuine event-comics headliner within a major Marvel crossover. By pairing Jeff's signature all-ages charm with the symbiote horror trappings of the Venom War event, the issue demonstrated that a nearly wordless, humor-driven Infinity Comic property could hold its own as a 30-page print narrative — a meaningful milestone for Marvel's Infinity Comics pipeline as a creative incubator. The issue also anchors a West Coast Avengers reunion of sorts, reuniting Jeff with Gwen Poole, Kate Bishop, and Fuse for the first time since that team disbanded, giving the one-shot an emotional texture beyond its comedy. Coming just a month before Jeff's debut as a playable character in the video game Marvel Rivals, it arrived at the precise moment Jeff's pop-culture footprint was expanding from comics readers to a mainstream gaming audience.
In Venom War: It's Jeff #1, written by Kelly Thompson and illustrated by Gurihiru, a seemingly ordinary day takes a wild turn when Jeff stumbles upon a symbiote—only to discover it has a taste for junk food and a knack for chaos. As the duo hits the streets and makes their way to Coney Island, their antics turn the city upside down, one hot dog and cotton candy at a time. The cover by Gurihiru captures the absurd, sticky spectacle in vibrant, chaotic detail.
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Writer Kelly Thompson and artist duo Gurihiru — the same team behind the Eisner Award-winning It's Jeff! Infinity Comics series — reunited for this one-shot at Marvel's editorial invitation to tie the Jeff property into the summer 2024 Venom War event. Thompson had already established a symbiote-Jeff storyline precedent with the short story 'The Rhythm of the Night,' printed in Extreme Venomverse #5 (July 2023), which gave the creative team a tonal and narrative template to build from. The announcement was made exclusively through ComicBook.com in advance of the issue's November 20, 2024 release, with Thompson noting her excitement at working with 'surprising guest stars' — in practice, the West Coast Avengers core cast. The issue was lettered by Clayton Cowles and designed by Stacie Zucker, with C.B. Cebulski serving as Editor-in-Chief.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Released November 20, 2024 (cover-dated January 2025); a one-shot tie-in to Marvel's Venom War 2024 event, listed as issue #37 of 38 in the Venom War publishing line.
- Written by Kelly Thompson with art and cover by Gurihiru (the Japanese illustration team of Sasaki and Kawano, based in Sapporo); lettered by Clayton Cowles.
- Jeff the Land Shark (Jeffrey) is the issue's lead character; he was originally created by Kelly Thompson and artist Daniele di Nicuolo, first appearing in West Coast Avengers vol. 3 #6 (October 2018, cameo) and formally named in #7 (January 2019).
- The story is 30 pages — the longest print Jeff story at that time — in which Jeff bonds with a Venom symbiote, rampages through Central Park, then travels to Coney Island where he helps Kate Bishop (Hawkeye), Gwenpool (Gwen Poole), America Chavez, and Fuse (Johnny Watts) defeat Zombiotes before willingly separating from the symbiote.
- Fuse (Johnny Watts) and Kate Bishop (Hawkeye) are supporting cast, not debut appearances; both were created by Kelly Thompson and first appeared in West Coast Avengers vol. 3 #1 (2018).
- The It's Jeff! Infinity Comics series by Thompson and Gurihiru won the 2024 Eisner Award for Best Humor Publication; Thompson was subsequently nominated for the 2025 Eisner Award for Best Writer, with this one-shot cited among her qualifying works.
- Gurihiru's visual redesign of Jeff for the Infinity Comics — rounder and more expressive than his debut look — had by this issue become the character's definitive baseline design across all Marvel media.
- One month after this issue's release, Jeff debuted as a playable character in the Marvel Rivals video game (December 2024), making this one-shot part of the character's peak-visibility publishing moment.
Cast · 8 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in It's Jeff: Jeff-Verse #[nn] (2025), Venom War: Spider-Man / Lethal Protectors #[nn] (2025)
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