Eddie Brock: Carnage #1: A Dark Passenger

Despite a rather menacing first impression, Eddie Brock: Carnage #1 is not the heel turn into villainy for Eddie Brock that one might suspect, at least not yet. These longtime mortal enemies now find themselves in a toxically codependent relationship, more parasitic than symbiotic, and the results are as messy as anyone would expect.

The nature of this unlikely partnership is bound to ruffle feathers amongst Venom fans; Eddie Brock’s demotion from King in Black to lonesome drifter is a hard pill to swallow with how it partially renders the last few years’ expansion on symbiote lore obsolete. It does, however, grant a refreshing sense of direction to the character of Carnage, whose stories leading up to Venom War had been as frustratingly scatter-brained as they were bold. Now, the mission objective is clear: travel around the world hunting serial killers to satiate the symbiote’s appetite while keeping Brock’s morality intact.

Charles Soule writes a dynamic heavy with tension, diving full-force into the psychological battle of wills between these two powerhouses to deliver a vigilante story which rides the line of the horror genre. The choice of a singular setting contributes to this spooky sensation, as the bulk of action occurs aboard the dimly-lit crowded cabin of an airliner.

While Eddie’s goals are well-intentioned, the actions taken to accomplish them are not framed in a heroic light. Artist Jesus Saiz embraces the alien side of his power leading to these fascinating yet unsettling sequences of mass mind probing and viscous dismemberment. When Brock must save the passengers of his flight as the plane hurdles to doom, he does not do so in a triumphant Superman fashion, instead scooping them all in a net of flesh like a demon transporting sinners to another depth of hell.

Moody shadows by colorist Matt Hollingsworth blanket every panel of the comic, while the blank void of Eddie’s mind is made equally dark. Carnage’s dapper humanoid form is present there, a dark passenger of Eddie’s psyche trying to unravel him and push him towards a path of violence. And while Carnage may no longer be a god, his ambitions for future prey have not grown any humbler.