Venom War #4: The Absent Throne

As fun as it was to have Uncle Spidey mediating the world’s strangest family therapy session, Venom War #4 sees him swinging off-stage, leaving the Brocks to reconcile in peace. It’s especially sad given the excellent grasp Al Ewing has on Peter’s playful smart-alecky voice. But his departure comes with good reason, given that the father-son beatdown has deescalated thanks to the Venom symbiote splitting its power evenly between them. Eddie and his son are now in perfect synergy, acting as a single unit to take down the raging Bedlam with ease while Anti-Venom swoops in at the last minute to deliver the final blow.

If there is one thing that is irksome about the writing in Venom War, it is how quickly and cleanly the cast has been whittled down. Bedlam had conveniently consumed the other Eddie variants brought back from the garden at the end of time and now he himself is out of the picture. Several issues leading up to this event made a point to emphasize Eddie and Dylan gathering allies as if to prepare for full-on civil war. With the “war” in question being more of a quick duel as the others watch from the sidelines, that whole subplot is rendered moot.

Still, the two Venoms and Flash Thompson make a stellar trio with their minimal numbers heightening the stakes as a mob of zombiotes barge into the arena. Iban Coello doesn’t hold back on the action, filling every panel with momentum and kinetic energy. He makes great use of the squash-and-stretch physics inherent to the symbiotes’ anatomy, allowing every punch to the face or kick to the chest to have exaggerated impact. Ewing and Coello’s combined imagination allows for a lot of creative teamwork between the three heroes as the way they combine the abilities to win the fight feel truly out-of-the-box. Frank D’Armata’s use of saturated yet cool blues and greens gives every scene an extra level of vibrancy that complements that epicly cartoonish nature of the action.

Although the trio wins the battle, the war is far from over as the villainous Meridius uses Carnage’s mystical power to seize control of Eddie Brock. Seeing no way to free his and father from their control, Dylan surrenders to prophecy and skewers Eddie through the chest. The lethal protector has survived much worse, but given recent news about a brand-new Venom arriving in the Marvel universe, perhaps this will be a death of true, devastating consequence.