Venom #12 Causes Separation Anxiety
by Tony Thornley
The only constant in this volume of Venom has been change, and the conclusion of the first year of the series in Venom #12 reinforces that. This is the big one until the just-announced Absolute Carnage, as Eddie and Venom really won’t ever be the same.
Donny Cates, Joshua Cassara, Rain Beredo, and Clayton Cowles close one chapter in the life of the title character, possibly setting up a difficult new status quo.
Eddie and the Maker continue their risky experiment to dive deep into the psyche of the symbiote. After Eddie confronts the symbiote about what it did to him, Venom confronts Eddie’s father for abusing Dylan. In the moments after, Eddie reunites with his son, but there might be so much more happening that it appears.
Cates fills this script with so much it’s hard to talk about beyond the fact that this is earth shattering for Venom moving forward. However, it’s all centered the relationship of the characters. Eddie and the symbiote have always had a relationship that was abusive at worst, and codependent at best. Having the characters confront that, and shape the future of the series around it, is crucial, and adds to the evolution the character has gone through the last twelve months.
Cassara fills in for regular artist Ryan Stegman here, and frankly, does far and away a better job than a normal fill in. His characters are so full of life, and personality. For example, on the first page, he shows Dylan’s mother, the late Anne Weyring, and her appearance is so frazzled, down to the fact that she’s wearing mismatched shoes. He’s got so much personality in his work and it’s totally engrossing.
Beredo’s color work is incredible too. He’s able to shift between moods ably with shifts from blues to reds to earth tones. It’s exactly what a color artist needs to do, supporting the story with their work.
We’re getting a two month break in Cates’ main story for War of the Realms, but once the crossover is over, I’m excited to see what’s next.
Venom #12 is available now from Marvel Comics.