Eddie Brock: Carnage #2
Isaiah Hernandez
Recap
EDDIE BROCK and CARNAGE have bonded, and their relationship is anything but symbiotic.
While they are relying on one another to live, Carnage is pushing Eddie to act on his worst
instincts and become a killer as Eddie tries to steer Carnage’s bloodlust toward those he thinks deserve it, namely, serial killers. Working as an investigator for the true crime podcast Red Ones with Bailey Bushkin, Eddie tracked down a killer who held a day job as a pilot.
Confronting the pilot during a cross-country flight caused him to destroy the controls in retaliation, sending the plane plummeting rapidly. Eddie was able to use Carnage’s symbiote powers to form a net to save the passengers and remaining crew, but the strain was overwhelming, and he ceded control to Carnage, causing him to black out. He awoke in a motel with no idea how he got there or what happened to the passengers. Carnage made it clear to Eddie, that if he wanted to find out what happened to them, he’d need to keep the blood spilling
Review
Where exactly does Eddie Brock end and Carnage begin? That is the question writer Charles Soule seeks to answer in Eddie Brock: Carnage #2 as he sets the ground rules for this peculiar partnership. Soule puts his own twist on the classic symbiote and host dynamic, making it somehow more toxically co-dependent than it already was. Both left fatally wounded in the aftermath of Venom War, Carnage and Eddie are two halves forming an imperfect whole. The scarlet symbiote retains its insatiable bloodlust, but lacks the ability to act on its impulses as Brock has full control of its physical body and powers. Yet Eddie is not as in-command as he seems, because Carnage can shut his body down with a single thought. The duo might as well be pressing guns to each other’s foreheads as they wander the U.S. to kill those who deserve it.
This uneasy compromise brings them to a police station in Detroit, Michigan, where Eddie turns himself in for a murder he did not commit in the hopes of sussing out his next target. Meanwhile, the B-plot follows the FBI as they attempt to crack the case on the crashed airliner from issue #1. The agency calls in former hero-for-hire Misty Knight to lead the investigation, and she quickly deduces Eddie Brock as their primary suspect. It’s always a pleasure to see a daughter of the dragon, who drift amongst various team rosters and supporting casts, land a residency in another mainstream title. Soule’s voice for Misty is commanding and competent, making great use of her skills in the realm of Marvel espionage. It’s a smart choice bringing another icon to play this game of cat-and-mouse with Eddie and Carnage, making it hard to know who to root for.
Artist Jesus Saiz and colorist Matt Hollingsworth bring an ambience of shadows and cynicism to the issue, symbolizing the darkness that has enveloped Eddie Brock’s life since the loss of Venom. When he finally comes face-to-face with his prey, the psychopathic mercenary Bushwacker, there is an excellent sense of scale to the cramped interrogation room where they converse. And when biting words escalate into flying fists, the limits of this enclosed space are truly felt, with the two men destroying tables and chairs, launching each other against walls before finally crashing through one-way glass. The location and general grit of the battle feel like something out of The Terminator, a comparison that is surely intentional on some level.
The lead-up to their fight is equally exceptional and crescendos the issue to its shocking end. Bushwacker has spent months masquerading as a big city detective, abusing his police authority to kidnap and torture vagrants. Not knowing his cover has been blown, “Detective Brentwood” thinks he’s questioning a simple criminal, but Eddie quickly turns the tables to interrogate him. Eddie and Carnage almost manage to work together, using their combined minds to coax out Bushwacker’s true nature. But everything goes to hell as a result, with Bushwacker slaying just about every cop and detainee in the building, to Eddie’s horror. In an instant, his ambition to do some good for the world has been shattered.
Final Thoughts
Eddie Brock: Carnage #2 fleshes out the bizarre dynamic between its two protagonists, establishing them as a chaotically mismatched duo whose mission to do some good for the world seems doomed to fail. But that failure will certainly be entertaining to witness.
Eddie Brock: Carnage #2: Bad Cop, Worse Cop
- Writing - 6/106/10
- Storyline - 6/106/10
- Art - 8/108/10
- Color - 8/108/10
- Cover Art - 8/108/10
