When it comes to Venom there are countless great issues to choose from that tell the story of everyone’s favorite tongue-lashing, psychopathic symbiote. But in this list we’re looking purely at the greatest Venom comic covers of all time. Our caveat is that these books have to stand on their own based purely on the art rather than necessarily being a pivotal first appearance or key moment in Venom character history (although we’ve included details on why certain book are considered keys among collectors). To make things easy, we’ve listed these in order of publication date and included estimated price and details on why we chose it. So without any further ado, below are our picks for the 20 greatest Venom comic covers of all time.
Amazing Spider-Man #316
- Published: June 1989
- Estimated Price: $215 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 1st cover appearance of Venom (3rd appearance overall)
- Why We Picked It: Not only is this the first Venom comic book cover appearance, but it’s also an absolutely stunning work of art from Todd McFarlane. It’s no wonder this cover has been swiped, reprinted and praised over 30 years after it first appeared, making it a classic comic book cover.
Amazing Spider-Man #317
- Published: July 1989
- Estimated Price: $25 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 4th appearance of Venom
- Why We Picked It: Another absolutely beautiful Todd McFarlane cover, this one doesn’t really get the attention it deserves and remains a classic Venom cover dripping with pure symbiote style.
Amazing Spider-Man #332
- Published: May 1990
- Estimated Price: $25 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: New Venom design by Erik Larsen
- Why We Picked It: While Todd McFarlane may have created the original look of Venom, it’s artist Erik Larsen who took him to the next level and introduced the slobbering, long-tongued monster we all know and love today. This issue offered the first glimpse of the new and improved Venom, making it a classic must-have cover.
Amazing Spider-Man #346
- Published: April 1991
- Estimated Price: $20 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Classic Erik Larsen cover
- Why We Picked It: This issue might actually be in the running for one of our all time favorite Venom comic book covers, with Erik Larsen bringing a new level of detail and depth to the character and also putting this in the running for one of the best Spider-Man comic covers of all time.
Amazing Spider-Man #347
- Published: May 1991
- Estimated Price: $15 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Classic Erik Larsen cover
- Why We Picked It: Another classic Venom cover we just had to include. Shakespearean-minded readers may scoff at the cheesy borrowing of a classic Hamlet line, but for our money it’s a beautiful, tongue-in-cheek (or is that tongue-in-skull?) cover that even the Bard himself would likely approve of.
Amazing Spider-Man #362
- Published: May 1992
- Estimated Price: $40 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 2nd full appearance of Carnage
- Why We Picked It: While this book marks the second appearance of Carnage, we chose it because it’s a classic Mark Bagley cover showcasing the artist’s dynamic take on Venom, showcasing Bagley’s sharp lines and sharper claws.
Venom: Lethal Protector #1
- Published: February 1993
- Estimated Price: $25 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 1st Venom solo series
- Why We Picked It: While the early 90s is saturated with countless Marvel foil and holographic covers, this one still manages to stand the test of time and is both a landmark story that the recent Venom films borrowed heavily from, as well as an absolutely awesome cover.
Amazing Spider-Man #375
- Published: March 1993
- Estimated Price: $15 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 1st appearance of Ann Weying (Eddie Brock’s ex-wife who later becomes She-Venom)
- Why We Picked It: Yet another classic Mark Bakley Venom cover that we just had to include in this list. While Marvel may have flooded the market at the time with foil, in this case it only adds to the striking visuals of the cover.
Venom: The Enemy Within #1
- Published: February 1994
- Estimated Price: $30 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Glow-in-the-dark cover
- Why We Picked It: Let’s face it: Venom is the ultimate boogey man. Which is why we just had to include this glow-in-the-dark cover, which features an incredible design from artist Bob McLeod that far surpasses what might otherwise be a cheap comic book cover gimmick.
Venom: Finale #3
- Published: January 1998
- Estimated Price: $12 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Separation of Eddie Brock from alien symbiote
- Why We Picked It: While this issue is perhaps best known as one of the final Venom books of the late 90s (fans cooled on the character and Marvel significantly reduced his presence shortly after) it also marks an absolutely beautiful cover from Kyle Hotz.
Venom vs Carnage #1
- Published: September 2004
- Estimated Price: $85 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 1st appearance of Pat Mulligan (later becomes Toxin)
- Why We Picked It: Each artist who works on Venom seems to add something new to the visuals of the character and that’s definitely the case here with this amazing cover by Clayton Crain, whose work clearly would go on to influence other artists sketching the slavering symbiote.
Venom: Dark Origin #4
- Published: January 2009
- Estimated Price: $10 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Origin of Venom and Eddie Brock
- Why We Picked It: While this book offers some rich details on the backstory of Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote, we chose it for this list entirely because the stunning cover art by Angel Medina, which features the tongue-lashing villain in gorgeous detail.
Venom / Deadpool: What If? #1
- Published: April 2011
- Estimated Price: $300 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 1st appearance Venompool
- Why We Picked It: In addition to introducing “Venompool”, one of the weirdest and most awesome two-for-one characters of all time (sorry, Cosmic Ghost Rider), we love this book purely for the insanely beautiful cover by Skottie Young.
Venom #6
- Published: June 2017
- Estimated Price: $3 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Return of Eddie Brock as Venom
- Why We Picked It: While this book marks the return of the classic Venom, it’s also an absolutely jaw-dropping cover from Gerardo Sandoval that’s both a throwback to classic Venom designs and offers a fresh new take on the character.
Venom #1
- Published: June 2018
- Estimated Price: $12 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 1st appearance of the Grendel Symbiote
- Why We Picked It: While this issue marks a return to form for Venom (and was a peak period of renewed interest in the character) we love it simply because of the incredible cinematic cover by Marvel artist Ryan Stegman.
Venom #3
- Published: June 2018
- Estimated Price: $200 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 1st appearance of Knull (creator of the alien symbiote race)
- Why We Picked It: One of the most pivotal books in Venom history, this issue introduced Knull (who would go on to be one of the most popular villains in modern-era Marvel history). Again though, while the story is awesome it’s really this amazing cover from Ryan Stegman that made it a must for this list.
Venom First Host #1 (1:25 Variant)
- Published: August 2018
- Estimated Price: $35 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Variant cover art by Rod Reis
- Why We Picked It: This may just go down as our all-time favorite Venom comic book cover, with this stunning variant from artist Rod Reis offering an absolutely glorious take on the salavatingly sinister symbiote.
Venom #7
- Published: October 2018
- Estimated Price: $215 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 1st cameo appearance of Dylan Brock (Eddie Brock’s son)
- Why We Picked It: While we love this book because it’s another key moment in Venom history, the cover is the main reason it’s on this list, with Ryan Stegman absolutely killing it with his legendary run on the series.
Venom #9
- Published: December 2018
- Estimated Price: $40 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 1st full appearance of Dylan Brock (Eddie Brock’s son)
- Why We Picked It: Another classic Ryan Stegman book with serious cover appeal, you can practically feel the alien slime flying off the page, making this one Venom cover we absolutely had to include.
Marvel Action Spider-Man #10 (1:10 Variant)
- Published: October 2019
- Estimated Price: $100 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Debut of Venom in the Marvel Action title published by IDW
- Why We Picked It: While this book marks an interesting historical turning point in the relationship between Marvel and IDW, we love it for the insanely cool cover from Jonboy Meyers.
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