Last week, readers witnessed the finale of Cullen Bunn and Gerardo Sandoval’s Death of the Venomverse limited series as well as the final chapter of acclaimed manga creator Taigami’s Kid Venom story. Told across backup stories throughout the series, Kid Venom’s introductory saga was a hit with fans and it’s far from over! The new symbiote superstar will headline his very comic book this January– #1. The one-shot will collect all four chapters of Kid Venom’s story from Death of the Venomverse along with behind-the-scenes content including the original work that led to Taigami’s exciting journey with Marvel Comics. In addition, Kid Venom: Origins #1 will reveal Taigami’s future plans for the character as both Kintaro and his symbiote Clinter prepare to make the leap to bigger things later next year!
Hailing from 10th century Japan, Kintaro will do anything to protect his village from mysterious symbiote attacks, even if it means bonding to a symbiote of his own! As he attaches himself to a new symbiote entity dubbed Clinter, Kintaro embraces his wild new abilities as Kid Venom! But is he in way over his head when Carnage’s fury swings his way?
On introducing this character to the Marvel Universe, Taigami said: “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!
“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 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 ‘Momotaro’ and ‘Urashimataro.’ Among them, there is a story of ‘Kintaro.’ The legend is about a boy who was strong, lived 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.”
On Kid Venom’s future, Taigami shared: “The story that I had the chance to work on this time is just a small part of Kintaro and the symbiote in the Heian Era. How Kintaro come to be and what will happen to him? And how will that world and the modern world will be connected? I hope I can have fun working on those story deeply. And I hope that my story will become a starting point for the people to know and have interest in the Japanese legends and cultures for the people around the world.”
Check out Taigami’s cover below colored by the incomparable Richard Isanove and pick up Kid Venom: Origins this January. For more information, visit Marvel.com.
KID VENOM: ORIGINS #1
Written by TAIGAMI
Art and Cover by TAIGAMI
On Sale 1/3
Image via Marvel Comics
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