After debuting in backup stories throughout Death of the Venomverse, Marvel announced that Kid Venom’s story will continue in KID VENOM: ORIGINS #1 this January from the character’s creator Taigami. This special one-shot will collect each of the four Kid Venom backup stories, as well as revealing Taigami’s future plans for the new symbiote star later in the new year. Keep scrolling to see Taigami’s cover colored by Richard Isanove for the one-shot releasing January 3, 2024!

On introducing Kid Venom 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,” Taigami continued. “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.”