Next year, Kid Venom heads to the mainstream Marvel Universe for his very own four-issue limited series.
Created by manga artist Taigami, Kid Venom — a Marvel hero hailing from 10th-century Japan — debuted in the recent Death of the Venomverse series. Taigami returns to write and draw the character’s first solo series, which launches in April 2024. The debut issue features a main cover by Taigami, as well as a variant cover by Gerardo Sandoval.
Check out Gerardo Sandoval’s Foil Variant Cover for Kid Venom #1 below:
Who is Kid Venom?
Per Marvel, Taigami’s Death of the Venomverse tale introduced readers to Kintaro — a “young hero” who “protected his village from mysterious symbiote attacks by embracing a symbiote of his very own … As he bonded himself to a new symbiote entity dubbed Clinter, Kintaro embraced his wild new abilities as Kid Venom.”
An official synopsis for Kintaro’s upcoming solo comic reads as follows: “Japan, 977. Kid Venom has made his presence known to the evil symbiotes taking people and creatures hostage … but who else has their eye on Kintaro and his symbiote? Witness the world of Kid Venom expand as new characters and dangers are revealed!” Marvel further teases that Kintaro will find himself in present-day Earth-616 before too long.
Before the new series launches, however, Marvel fans will have the opportunity to get caught up on their Kid Venom lore. Kid Venom: Origins #1 — a one-shot collecting all four Kid Venom chapters from Death of the Venomverse — hits comic shops on January 3, 2024.
Taigami discusses his Marvel character’s origins
“It is an honor. I was a big fan of the Marvel Universe since I was in school, so this feels unreal that the characters and the stories that I came up with are in that Universe, and I still can’t believe it!” Taigami said of bringing Kid Venom to the MU.
“Kid Venom was based on a one shot that I sent for a manga contest Shonen Magazine and Marvel held in 2018. One of the rules for the contest was [to use a theme or a character from Marvel and write and draw a first episode for a new series], and the theme that I chose was symbiote,” the manga creator continued. “The next thing that I thought was who would be the best host for a symbiote. There were already many Venoms and there were enough variations, so I thought it had be something totally new to be recognized. In Japan, there are several famous folklores such as ‘0Momotaro’ and ‘Urashimataro.’ Among them, there is a story of ‘Kintaro.'”
Taigami concluded, “The legend is about a boy who was strong, living with his mother in Mount Ashigara. He later was hired by Minamoto Yorimitsu, a very high ranked samurai and defeats many yokai. Later, he becomes one of the four samurais of Minamoto Yorimitsu. This story is a mix of folklore and a historical story from the Heian Era of Japan. So when I mixed Symbiote to the legend of Kintaro, KID VENOM was born.”
Kid Venom #1 goes on sale April 17, 2024 from Marvel Comics.
