Separated from the Venom symbiote, Eddie Brock finds himself partnered up with the murderous Carnage symbiote. He’s been Venom, he’s been Anti-Venom, he’s been the King in Black! Now Eddie Brock has made his darkest bond yet — with the one and only Carnage! But can he control his new other’s endless bloodlust? Or will Eddie end up giving himself over to madness and murder?
Whilst always being one of Spider-Man’s most popular villains since his debut, Venom has gone through somewhat of a renaissance in recent years in the comic pages. Well received runs from Donny Cates, Al Ewing and Ram V have seen Eddie Brock reach heights of popularity comparable to his 90s peak with symbiotes once again playing a big part in the Marvel Universe. Charles Soule is the latest writer to tackle a solo Venom series, but with both Dylan Brock and Mary Jane Watson currently hosts to the symbiotes, he takes Eddie in a bold direction by pairing him up with the Carnage symbiote.
Traditionally, whilst never being afraid to use brute force and often threatening opponents with eating their brains, Venom always operated with a code and believed himself to be on the right side of justice (even if his perspective was sometimes a bit skewed). But the Carnage symbiote has always been a force of pure evil that has no qualms about killing, particularly when its host for the majority of its life has been the serial killer Cletus Kasaday. Now Eddie finds himself as the new host and is immediately pushed to his limits.
Soule had always been strong with character studies – with his Daredevil and She-Hulk runs being stellar examples. Here, he gets to delve into a character who has always struggled with his morality now being connected to a creature that is pure evil. A misguided attempt to turn himself to the police goes south fast and Eddie finds himself hunting serial killers like Muse and Bushwacker in a highly brutal manner. Its intense stuff that never lets up.
One the art front, Jesus Saiz turns in some strong work. His recent work on The Punisher with Jason Aaron showed he had a knack for gritty storytelling, and he digs into that bag of tricks again for this series. Symbiote focused books are often heavy on the violence and brutality, and Saiz proves to be a perfect choice to bring Eddie’s dark struggles with the Carnage symbiote to the forefront.
Venom fans are bound to appreciate this dark look into the mind of Eddie Brock and the series is a strong action-packed thriller to boot. The symbiote renaissance continues.
Eddie Brock: Carnage Vol. 1 – Killing Me is out now from Marvel (9781302962760, p/b, £16.99)
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