Eddie Brock gets his groove — and his symbiote — back
Eddie Brock has had a rough time lately.
Former King in Black. Former Venom. Briefly bonded to Carnage. Currently powerless, imprisoned at the Raft, and probably not receiving five-star reviews from the prison cafeteria.
So naturally, Queen in Black: Venom Unchained #2 decides the best possible therapy is: Jailbreak. Symbiote. Apocalypse. Go.
Written by Charles Soule, with art by Juanan Ramírez and colors by Erick Arciniega, the issue picks up with Sleeper—one of Venom’s children—breaking Eddie out because Earth is currently caught in the increasingly messy conflict involving Hela, the new Queen in Black, and Knull, now the God of Light.
What follows is basically Eddie Brock rediscovering why being covered in alien goo is apparently his happy place.
PROS
The Eddie/Sleeper relationship is easily the highlight here.
Sleeper arrives at the Raft claiming he wants to “right a wrong,” bonds with Eddie and immediately restores something Eddie clearly didn’t realize he missed quite this badly.
When Eddie eventually sprouts wings during their escape, his reaction isn’t fear.
It’s basically:
Oh yeah. I missed this.
And that little moment works because Eddie’s relationship with symbiotes has always been messy, destructive, occasionally horrifying…and also deeply personal. Bonding isn’t merely a power-up for him. There is a sense of completeness to it.
Of course, Eddie being Eddie, he immediately establishes rules.
He’ll help Sleeper stop the symbiote invasion and maybe clear his name in the process—but no killing.
Sleeper agrees.
“Within reason.”
That should probably have worried Eddie more.
The Raft escape itself is a blast. Sleeper’s abilities feel appropriately weird and alien, including his chemosynthesis-based attacks, and Juanan Ramírez gives the symbiote action a wonderfully fluid, slightly grotesque quality. Eddie and Sleeper don’t just punch their way through security; Sleeper constantly reshapes the situation—and himself.
Then they reach New York.
And things are not going well.
Hela’s symbiote forces are tearing through the city, giving Eddie his first real look at just how badly everything has escalated. What I like is that Eddie’s instinct is immediate: if this is happening, he needs to help.
That heroic impulse feels important given how far he has fallen.
Unfortunately, helping also involves encountering one particularly nasty symbiote creature that eats an old woman’s dog, Twinkie.
Poor Twinkie.
Eddie’s response—essentially deciding that while the monster may deserve whatever the furious owner wants to do to it, these creatures don’t exactly fight fair—is such an Eddie Brock moment.
Then things get weirder.
Sleeper abandons Eddie mid-fight to pursue his own mysterious objective, leaving behind what he calls a Sleeper Agent—not a full symbiote, but enough of one for Eddie to survive.
And this leads to my favorite action beat.
Eddie is getting absolutely wrecked until he asks himself one simple question:
What would Venom do?
Suddenly muscle memory kicks in.
The joy. The power. The instinct.
Eddie stops trying to understand the new suit and simply becomes Eddie Brock again.
He fights dirtier, goes full tooth-and-claw and eventually bites his opponent—earning the hilariously disgusting observation:
“Tastes like dog.”
Eww.
But also: welcome back, Eddie.
The issue’s quieter strength comes afterward, when Sleeper finally starts explaining himself. Eddie accuses him of being manipulative and cryptic—which, fair—and Sleeper delivers a surprisingly sharp observation: Eddie may have escaped the Raft, but he is still imprisoned by his own mistakes and failures.
Sleeper broke him out of one prison.
Getting out of the others is Eddie’s job.
That gives this otherwise action-heavy issue a nice emotional spine.
CONS
I have one very important complaint:
Justice for Twinkie.
Seriously, that sequence is mean. The issue is having a wonderfully pulpy symbiote romp and suddenly decides we need an elderly woman watching her dog become monster lunch. It certainly establishes how nasty Hela’s creatures are, but wow.
My other con is basically Eddie’s con too: Sleeper, please answer a question normally.
Every conversation with him feels like ordering information from a mystical fortune cookie.
“Why did you break me out?”
“You are still imprisoned, Eddie.”
Buddy. He meant the building.
The mystery is fun, but Sleeper’s evasiveness occasionally borders on trolling Eddie.
FINAL GRADE: A++ FOR ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN!!!
Venom Unchained #2 is messy, gross, funny and surprisingly heartfelt—in other words, pretty good Venom food.
More importantly, it feels like Eddie Brock is slowly becoming Eddie Brock again.
Not necessarily the King in Black.
Not even necessarily Venom.
Just a guy who has made an unbelievable number of mistakes, understands symbiotes better than almost anyone alive, and still chooses to run toward trouble when people need help.
Sleeper finally reveals the real mission: Hela has to go, and Eddie is apparently part of the plan. And then the final page throws Spider-Man into the chaos and leaves Eddie staring at one particularly familiar name:
Dylan.
Uh-oh.
Family reunion incoming.
With symbiotes.
Those always go well. 🕷️🖤
Queen in Black: Venom Unchained #2 is written by Charles Soule, illustrated by Juanan Ramírez, colored by Erick Arciniega and lettered by VC’s Travis Lanham.
