Warning! Spoilers for Howard the Duck #1 ahead!Venom is one of Marvel’s scariest and most dangerous heroes, but Howard the Duck also pointed out how Venom is kind of the grossest hero as well. The symbiotes are some of the strongest aliens in the Marvel Universe, and they grant their users incredible strength, but they also have a few attributes that are pretty gross when someone stops and thinks about them.
While Venom is a respected member of pretty much any team that he is a part of, Howard still had to ask him one major prying question in Howard the Duck #1 (2023) by Merritt K, Will Robson, Pete Pantazis, and Travis Lanham. In an alternate universe where Howard the Duck takes the place of Starlord, he ends up getting rather close with Flash Thompson’s Agent Venom.
They become so close, in fact, that Howard feels comfortable asking Flash if he is naked under the Venom symbiote, or if he bothers wearing clothing. While this isn’t something most people would like to think of, it has been shown before that some hosts are very close to their symbiotes.
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Howard The Duck Asks Venom A Very Important Question
The symbiotes can grant pretty much anyone a huge increase in strength and agility, as well as allow them to form weapons and other instruments at will. The way symbiotes do this is by bonding to their host, and they bond so closely that they even edit the host’s DNA, leaving a permanent marker to show everyone that they have been there. Some symbiotes and their hosts, like Cletus Kasady and Carnage, are so perfectly bonded that they’re nearly indistinguishable from one another. Eddie Brock and Venom also famously have a tight bond as far as hosts go, and this has led some characters, like Howard, to wonder just how far that bond goes exactly.
Usually, characters wear clothing when bonded with symbiotes, but it’s actually been shown that this isn’t always the case. Symbiotes are shapeshifters and can take on pretty much any form or texture that they want, and this includes clothing. It’s not that unusual to see a character like Eddie Brock or especially Cletus Kasady wearing their symbiote as actual clothing, with nothing underneath. This has been shown a few times when they’re forcefully separated from the symbiote.
The images of Cletus or Eddie lying completely bare as the symbiote is removed from them shows how vulnerable and exposed they really are without their symbiotes.
Even The Thing Thinks Venom Is Gross
There are tons of ways to gain superpowers in comic books, and not all of those ways are the most hygienic. There are a lot of disgusting things about the symbiotes, but the fact they’re practically painted onto their hosts in some situations might give a few people pause. Just like most things in superhero comics, it’s best not to think about things too seriously. In a world full of billionaires in metal robot suits and high school teenagers getting bitten by radioactive spiders, the idea of a practically liquid alien that can take the form of clothing isn’t too absurd. But as Howard the Duck points out, the specifics of Venom‘s transformation can be a bit gross to think about.
