There is a moment in Eddie’s life that is profoundly influential on who he became, and here he learns it was something implanted when he bonded with his companion. What’s going on here is that volume one is all about upending what the readers knew about the symbiote, and volume two does the same for Eddie’s past. This change in their relationship dynamic has a harsh effect on Eddie, he’s lost his way in the world and seeks out his father for help. The creature has become more like a dog, clinging to Eddie out of familiarity. The symbiote is cut off from its homeworld hive after the battle in the last volume. We don’t really get much from The Maker because the story focuses more intimately on Eddie’s relationship with his father and his newly discovered half-brother. It’s still decompressed storytelling but not dragging out storylines to an insane degree like some recent writers have done.Įddie Brock wakes up in the clutches of The Maker, Reed Richards from the dead Ultimate Universe.

In just a handful of issues, Cates introduces a new villain for Eddie, explores his childhood, and drops a major twist about our protagonist. Cates has retconned some of the shallow, annoying things about Venom and made him a layered and much more tragic figure. He was a character who existed more as a cool design than as a fully fleshed out star of his own title. One of my long-running reasons for disliking Venom was that he felt like a character who was “edgy” for edginess’s sake. There’s also a desire to build out the Venom mythos beyond just being a part of the Spider-Man niche of the Marvel Universe.

The title leans into its horror elements more than it’s superhero roots. It’s a fascinating study of body horror, precisely the moments where Eddie loses time and learns the symbiote was moving him around and speaking for him. Donny Cates’s run on Venom has been all about the strange symbiosis between Eddie Brock and his companion.

Venom by donny cates vol 2 the abyss