What has been going on in NYC so far?
Knull, God of Symbiotes, has made is way to Earth and managed to take over most of the planet’s superpowered community. On top of that, the Black King separated Eddie Brock from his symbiote and killed our (anti) hero without breaking a sweat. It seems, however, that while Eddie’s body was defeated, his spirit entered the symbiote hive-mind. Joined by Rex Strickland and Flash Thompson, Eddie Brock and his crew might be the universe’s last hope against the darkness!
A War on two fronts.
The issue starts with Peter talking to Dylan about grief, power, and responsibility; basically, telling him that it is ok to be scared, but that the young man has the power to help. Whether Dylan choses to fight or flight, Spider-Man promises him he will have his back. Dylan decides to go and attack Knull’s troops with the few remaining heroes, freeing some mind-controlled Avengers from the Dark God control.
Meanwhile, Eddie, Rex and Flash are trying to make their way through the Hive, with Eddie and Flash bounding (eh eh) over their shared insecurities. As Dylan frees more and more heroes on the physical plane, some strange rifts open in the hive. The trio quickly realizes that they are not merely ghosts, and that these rifts are a passage to the deepest level of the hive, where Knull keeps the symbiotes that were freed by Dylan, in order to reconnect them to the darkness.
Anti-Venom goes in, freeing the captured symbiote and merging with them becoming an Anti-Dragon and ascending back to the physical plane. Meanwhile, Rex is taken over by the king of the Abyss and attacks Eddie…
So, how was it?
This issue was phenomenal. More than just a tie-in, this book feels like King in black 3.1. The exchange between Peter and Dylan feels right and brings a ton of much needed context to the first few pages of King in Black. There, Dylan looked like a psychopath in the making wanting to hurt people out of sheer anger. Here he is a boy that, while angry, does what he believes is necessary to help. It is also refreshing to see Peter being both a mentor and a protector. You can feel his guilt when he speaks with Dylan, but he does not let that guilt guide him; he offers the boy support as well as wise words. A far cry from the incompetent and dumb Peter Parker we were reading a few years ago.
The Eddie/Flash portion work just as well. Brock always suffered from an inferiority complex. Therefore, seeing a man he hated at first, then idolized, telling him he is worth something is very powerful – both for him and for the reader. It’s also good to see Flash ultimate growth, from a dumb bully to an inspiring leader.
I’d give this issue a B+. Overall a very solid issue for any fan of Spider-Man, Venom (Eddie Brock Venom or Flash Thompson Venom) or for anyone enjoying King in Black.
What’s coming next?
Issue 34 is the penultimate chapter to cates Venom run. I expect a lot from this. Brock reunited with his symbiote, more Peter/Dylan interactions, maybe a guest appearance from a certain surfer… We might also be seeing the long-awaited return of Flash Thompson in the (gooey) flesh.
What did YOU think of the issue Loved it? hated it? Sound off in the comment section below!
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I always thought of the Toxin symbiote as a child, so I have never felt it was nasty.
Oh yeah! Now that you mention it I recall that conversation with the Maker! Thank you.
Ok, maybe I should re-read the entire run, I may have forgotten something else.
@Aqu@
The ending of Absolute Carnage did feel a little rushed and anti-climatic for an event that was THAT big. Hence why I tough it would have worked better as a simple mini with asm/venom tie in.
Dark Origins was a train wrecked (hell they couldn’t even be bothered to check Ann Weying skin color). It’s a lot like Spider-Man: Chapter One. While it’s technically canon, most people (and writer) just consider it non-canon and ignore it.
The toxin symbiote seems pretty nasty in The toxin mini-series. It basically doesn’t know right from wrong and being Carnage offspring… let’s just say it was naturally violent, with his host actively fighting to reign in its darker impulse.
Thank you so much for bringing up the fact that his depiction in the 90s is definitely that of a drug addict. I never actually realized that. The theme was much better explored later with Flash. But somehow I never connected the dots on that one! I always saw it more as an abusive relationship, with the symbiote mind-tricking/guilt-tripping Brock into missing him.
Dylan was described as a weapon by the Maker in Venom vol 4 20. He lists all of venom’s offspring and link them to a major event occurring at the time; basically saying that they were a biological reaction to the event unfolding. And that Dylan was “spawned” as a human/symbiote hybrid designed to fight “whatever was coming” at the time (we now know it was Knull).
Mainly the ending: it was obvious that Knull would have been freed, but it felt anticlimatic and rushed. It’s then that I lost track of how codices work.
Well, if I recall correctly, Dark Origin depicted Eddie as a liar way before the bonding (saying like that it sounds like a fetish LOL).
The Toxin symbiote never seemed that much unstable to me, are you referring to something in particular?
Fair point with the ’90s, but I’d like to point out that without a symbiote, Brock became a militaristic vigilante with the aim of destroying all the symbiotes, only to be bonded with one again and again, and being all “oh, lover, how I missed you”. He’s like a drug addict.
Indeed he also did some good, like when he renounced the AntiVenom powers to create a cure for the SpiderIsland virus. But so he did (or at least he thought he did) when he was a dark reflection of Spider-man as a “lethal protector”.
Maybe the problem is that after years of uncertain and sometimes contradicting characterization, it’s hard to say what’s in character and what not.
The theory of Dylan as a weapon specifically created by symbiotes makes a little more sense, but when was it said? Did I miss some important explaination?
I agree with you on the absence of Sleeper: it was a good addition from the previous writer’s run.
@Aqu@
Glad I was able to make some good points!
What let you down during absolute carnage? I thought it was a fairly good arc. Although it was definitely (and should have stayed) a venom story and not a major crossover. They should have pulled a venom inc and just make it a venom/ASM crossover. Not something THAT massive.
As far as codices and hive mind go I thought it grew organically from what was introduced during the run. It even built upon Bendis Spaceknight run and the of planet if the symbiote for the hive mind part.
As for Eddie’s character… I Agree with you. But you have to admit that before being corrupted by the symbiote Eddie was neither a bad or mean person. When he was told he had cancer he auctioned off the symbiote to give the money to a foundation. His “relapse” into villainy came after being bonded to the toxin symbiote that itself was pretty unstable (even by symbiote standard). Once he was reunited with a clean symbiote he became a lot less psychotic. Also don’t forget the 90s weren’t the best times for deep characterisation. Everyone needed to be a dark, edgy antihero.
As for Dylan I think the build up was done fairly well. His powers make sense in context since he was basically a weapon created by the symbiote to be used against knull. He doesn’t feel like a “mary-sue” to me. I’m more bothered by the absence of Sleeper to be honest.
I appreciate your reasons for liking the issue, because it forces me to reconsider my stance on it. My disliking of all this KiB mess is probably biasing my view, making me miss what good may be there.
I’m not against the idea of Knull per se, but it’s how Cates is writing that doesn’t click with me, especially after the let down that was Absolute Carnage. The whole deal on codices and hive mind seems just an excuse to pull out from a hat anything he needs to tell his story, without any clear rule. The character of Dylan, interesting at first, has become just a plot device, the holy boy with powers that conveniently will save us all. Even Eddie himself is written differently: suddenly he is a great man with a turbulent past who strives to do better and everyone is ok with it. The man was a delusional killer and a psychopath, but evidently he feels better now…
@AdamBParker:
I hope that Flash’s return is permanent. That would be the last nail in Slott’s run coffin and we could all collectively forget that it even happened.
Great review.
I really enjoyed this issue as well. The scene with Peter and Dylan stood out as something really special.
I don’t know if Flash’s return is a limit time deal, but hopefully it’s the real deal and we can get Flash back into this series and Spider-Man.