Queen in Black: Venom Unchained #1: Jailhouse Blues

If there’s any upside to being locked away in the dark, depressing recesses of The Raft, its that Eddie Brock doesn’t have to witness how much fun Venom and Mary Jane have been having without him. The king has lost his crown, to say the least, and every decision he’s made since the original Knull saga only seems to drag him further towards rock-bottom. Charles Soule explores Eddie’s less-than-glamorous fate in the aftermath of the Death Spiral crossover event, checking in on him a few days into an indefinite prison sentence served for the murders he and Carnage committed.

The isolation of Venom Unchained‘s setting allows room for nothing but character introspection, as Soule morphs Brock’s dependency on symbiotic bonds into a heavy-handed but nonetheless captivating metaphor for addiction. Even now, separated from both Venom and Carnage, Eddie isn’t “normal” by any means, so used to the presence of another voice in his head that his brain manifests one just to cope. There’s a humbling sense of futility usually not placed upon a tough-guy character such as Brock. It’s not an uncommon occurrence for Marvel’s heroes and antiheroes alike to face time behind bars and, whether they deserve to be there or not, its inevitable that their brain or brawn win them freedom.

But without the symbiote, Eddie doesn’t have much of either. There’s no clever escape plan or opportunistic explosion, only a meager, futile riot with no payoff. For once, this larger-than-life comic protagonist feels as helpless as any real-life person. Its all topped off with a wink of dark humor as Soule pokes fun at genre tropes: Brock must bide his time and wait for the next big doomsday event to leverage his usefulness in exchange for freedom. It’s obviously metatextual; a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the sidelining of this character in an era when Marvel seems interested in pairing the Venom symbiote with anyone but him.

Prisons for super-powered individuals are a dime-a-dozen in this world and their lack of unique features or architecture often render them interchangeable. Artist Juanan Ramirez doesn’t stoop for this bare minimum though, instead working to pain as much life onto The Raft barren concrete walls as he can. Graffitied caricatures of familiar heroes and villains alike are scattered on columns, while guards walk the halls decked in armor that’s halfway between a medieval knight and a space ranger. There’s ample personality amongst Brock’s fellow inmates as well, with Soule and Ramirez taking the opportunity to populate the cellblock with as many obscure villain cameos as possible. While the Venom Unchained tie-in may not be the most mandatory read or justifiable purchase in the context of the wider Queen in Black event, there is most life to be found in this comic than expected.