Venom #10 May Be The Beginning Of The End For Eddie Brock
by Tony Thornley
Eddie Brock has been through a lot lately, and even more before his latest volume started. However, Venom #10 may herald the end for our intrepid symbiote host.
Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Frank Martin, and Clayton Cowles follow up last issue’s story by digging deeper into the evil man that raised Eddie, and his own past.
Eddie finds himself face to face with his half-brother, an abused young boy who didn’t even know he existed. He reveals a tragedy from his own past to illustrate the evils of the man who raised them both and tries to figure out how to help the boy. However, that help may never come, as something is wrong with him!
Cates’ story has been so much about reinventing the stereotypical anti-hero as a much deeper character, or more accurately characters. That continues to great effect here. We saw hints about the car accident that changed his life earlier in the series. However he twists it on its head here and in doing so makes it much more tragic, and gives us a greater understanding of the character at the center of this story.
Stegman is a great superhero adventure artist, but this series has been about making him stretch his other muscles. We saw he and Mayer do horror in the first arc, and in this story we see their talent for drama. Their character acting is fantastic, especially as the two damaged brothers sit across a table from each other, trying to find their common ground. Add Martin’s moody colors, and we get another strong outing for the Lethal Protector.
If you’re not reading this series, I still recommend each and every issue.
Venom #10 is available now from Marvel Comics.