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* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Despite a rocky second arc, the series proved to not only be a critical darling, but a commercial smash hit frequently topping both the ''ComicBook/NickSpencersSpiderMan'' and the ''ComicBook/JonathanHickmansXMen'' runs in the sales charts.
* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** Probably knowing that fans would miss Flash Thompson, Cates begins every arc with a character wishing that Eddie ''was'' Flash Thompson, and turns Issue #7 into something of a tribute to Agent Venom.
** Once Knull shows up, Cates uses him as a vehicle to undo some broken base changes Brian Michael Bendis made to the Symbiote lore -- they weren’t originally a noble warrior race, as the Agents of the Cosmos try to be now. That they were is a lie spread by them to distance themselves from their past.
* ArcFatigue: While the ''Rex'' arc was well-received when it came out in 2018, a lot of ''Venom'' fans have come to dislike the CosmicHorror elements of Cates' run and feel that Knull -- who had been "[[ArcWords coming]]" for two years as of ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'' -- had long overstayed his welcome, wanting to see [[StatusQuoIsGod a return to Venom's status quo]] as a street-level vigilante.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Ryan Stegman channels the best aspects of the nineties into his already energetic style and the result is just beautiful.
* BrokenBase:
** Fans that enjoy the Venom symbiote and Eddie as partners have expressed distaste for Cates' run, as they see Cates going out of his way to make Brock and the symbiote's relationship out to be incredibly toxic, including using retcons to get this point across -- which is something fans object to, as in several other media depictions the relationship was depicted more as a stand-in for a romantic LGBT pairing (“The Hunger” published back in the 1990s having subtext so strong that it included sharing valentines chocolate together and holding hands). Others, however, like this depiction, viewing the relationship as having always been some level of emotionally abusive and unhealthy due to the overt codependency and they enjoy Cates acknowledging this and exploring it.
** There’s also those who don’t ship it romantically who ''still'' dislike the numerous retcons to the story and the recycled symbiote leaving Eddie plot. This ''especially'' goes for longer-standing fans of the franchise seeing certain materials they read being altered,[[labelnote: Note]]For example, Eddie's sister being revealed to be the product of FakeMemories and his initial cancer diagnosis being faked by the Symbiote.[[/labelnote]] to the extent that one reviewer called it the “One More Day of Venom”. Others are fine with the retcons since it allowed for ''Venom: Dark Origin'' to be completely erased from continuity and are excited to see what Donny does with Eddie being a father, to a human child this time. Although then some opinions split again into souring at that exploration, as the comic had Sleeper - addressed in the directly prior run by Eddie himself as his child - barely acknowledged by Eddie and said to be not his kid “unlike” Dylan.
** Opinions are split on the cosmic level of the story -- with some fans enjoying it and others insisting that Venom should only be a street-level anti-hero; and with those who like the cosmic aspect, opinions are split on how well it’s done here.
* CharacterRerailment: When Cullen Bunn took over to write the ''War of the Realms'' tie-in, he had Eddie enjoying killing the invaders to release his rage, which was dialed up to eleven by an artificial symbiote he got from the dark elves. Some found this Eddie far more likable and in-character than Cates' iteration because it has Eddie returning to his roots with him being more competent by himself, wanting to save innocents from the monsters even when he was outmatched, having him come to terms with the realization that the symbiote wasn't wholly at fault for his rage and violent impulses, and having him admit that his rage and fixation on past traumas alienated him from his friends and family; finally acknowledging his flaws taking and responsibility for himself.
* ContinuityLockOut: The tendency for important continuity details and snarls to sometimes be clarified on Twitter by the author and not in comic, such as [[spoiler:on Eddie’s cancer and the Carnage Symbiote being dead]] can be seen as this. Not everyone checks Twitter and would like the clarifications to be in-comic.
* CompleteMonster: [[CivilizationDestroyer Knull]], the [[PhysicalGod God of Symbiotes]], [[AncientEvil predates almost all existence]]. Despising the light of existence, Knull warred with the gods and consumed entire worlds before [[ArchnemesisDad creating the symbiotes]] and loosing them on civilizations to devour them, killing countless billions. Eventually betrayed and sealed off by his own "children", Knull returns and attempts to torture Eddie Brock's symbiote to relieve it of any honor and nobility, intending on recovering his old power and resuming [[OmnicidalManiac his mission]] of devouring all life-starting by consuming everyone and everything on Earth.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** [[spoiler:The Symbiote Rex]], for being a BadassNormal symbiote with some humanity and depth, being able to contain Venom with thrown-together equipment and [[spoiler:impersonate a person for years while conveying more depth than most symbiotes with only a handful of appearances]]. The ''Ve'Nam'' one-shot only helped, giving it something of a character arc and delving into its past.
** Eddie's younger half-brother -- or rather, son -- Dylan Brock has been embraced by the fandom for being one of the few brighter spots of the second arc.
* FridgeHorror: A massive one for any and all female symbiote hosts, especially ones who had their symbiote transported to them by male hosts, which even more horrifyingly includes ''teenage charges'' such as Jubulile and Andi, with the reveal of [[spoiler:the circumstances of Anne’s pregnancy, raising the questions of if while they escaped, these hosts might be or have been at risk of such a forced pregnancy too]]. Never again will it be entirely comfortable for any of them to host a symbiote.
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The run was meant to introduce a new character during its Free Comic Book Day special in 2020 named Virus. A lot of people really liked the design and noted the simple-yet-cool name that was surprisingly overlooked, given the stranger names other symbiote characters have had... then Coronavirus became a ''much'' bigger issue (and it was already an issue when the character was revealed, though obviously not nearly as much of one during the creation itself), which also resulted in the delay of said FCBD issue due to the cancellation of FCBD 2020.
* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments:
** The symbiote telling Eddie they love him. [[spoiler:Even if he cannot hear them.]]
** The FourthWallPsych at the start of Issue 25, when Eddie thanks his unseen audience, [[spoiler: really the Avengers]], for sticking with him as he tries to be a better person. It easily feels like he's thanking ''the reader'' for believing Venom can be a hero.
---> '''Eddie:''' But I wanted to say thank you. To all of you. I know things have been... insane. That I haven't always been at my best... But, for good or for bad, you've seen something in me that I can't see in myself. And you've stuck with me. So. Yeah... Thank you.
* HypeBacklash: Marvel hyped up the debut of Virus as some cool new character... it turns out to be [[spoiler: Mac Gargan]], who wears the armour and the identity for less than an arc.
* MemeticMutation:
** "''Venom'' is better than ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''." [[labelnote:Explanation]]With the high praise the series is getting, Donny Cates began to joke about how the series is better than Creator/AlanMoore's groundbreaking graphic novel, with cited reasons including how [[Film/Venom2018 the Venom film]] got a song by Music/{{Eminem}} while ''Watchmen'' didn't. [[https://twitter.com/doncates/status/1035526870551474181?lang=en Alan Moore seems to be okay with it though]].[[/labelnote]]
** "Blond Kratos" became a FanNickname for Eddie beginning in the second arc, on account of his beard and moustache resembling those of Kratos in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4''. When Dylan Brock was introduced fanart depicting him in the role of Atreus and Eddie in the role of Kratos started popping up, [[spoiler:with the comparison becoming all the more apt with the revelation that he is indeed Eddie's son]].
* {{Narm}}:
** Knull's name is ominous and invokes the nothingness and despair that he is god of... and it's also Swedish for "fuck". His humanoid appearance was also offputting for someone meant to be a primordial god of eldritch darkness.
** The Maker revealing that the symbiote's [[http://www.4thletter.net/gavok/venom/slobber.jpg green saliva]] is actually waste product, meaning that Venom is basically shitting or pissing out his mouth. Certainly casts a new light on a few old panels, like the one from ''Lethal Protector'' where he was shown drooling all over his own face while crawling along a ceiling.
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The series follows up [[ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom Mike Costa's run]], which by some was considered to be SoOkayItsAverage; and also uses Eddie Brock rather than Flash Thompson, who had only recently died. Not only that, but it was also worried the series would be too much of a tie-in to the film. Instead, the run is by some considered one of the best Venom series (to the point that it was joked that this run is better than DC's ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''). However the comic got a BrokenBase starting with the second arc, which while retconning the much reviled Dark Origin out of continuity, introduced several divisive retcons. It’s only become even more divisive as it’s gone on.
* TakeThatScrappy: Lee Price and Tel-Kar, characters from ''ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom'' who the fandom largely repudiated due to their abusive treatment of the Venom symbiote, were both killed off during ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage''. Price in particular got the short end of the stick, with Carnage laughing at Price calling himself "Venom" before killing him, and Eddie dismissing Price as a nobody when Dylan asks who he was.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** In terms of the characterization put in place for Eddie here, specifically the reveal that Carl was physically abusive and the addiction metaphors, some feel this would serve better as a Flash story -- some also note that Carl being emotionally distant in his abuse makes him more unique than yet another instance of a physically abusive father.
** Some fans have pointed out that Eddie has been fully clothed despite he being known for end up being naked when he is separated from the symbiote but never shame about it, to the point he would even interrupt a conversation bare naked. In this run, however, despite the fact that Eddie is still poor and homeless like in the 90's, he still somehow wearing clothes, more jarring when you consider that Eddie in the Costa run actually had money and a job, but the symbiote would still turn itself into clothes for him.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Symbiote-wise there was [[spoiler:Scorn and Rex, both [[EnsembleDarkHorse good characters]] with a lot of potential who were abruptly killed off.]] In terms of humans, with the plot centring on Eddie’s human family, [[spoiler: some feel this could have been used as a chance to bring Mary back and develop her properly, instead of her being unceremoniously fridged on a [[FakeMemories meta]] level.]]
** On an ironic case, the character of Venom has been largely missing in this run because of the symbiote's braindead state since the second arc and the story not being much about dealing with a plot but more about Eddie having his history retconned. This is not the first time when Eddie and the symbiote has been separated inside an individual story (Venom: Lethal Protector, Venom: Separation Anxiety and Planet of the symbiotes to give a few examples), but it has taken for too long, to the point it feels like Wolverine Publicity except Wolverine is missing an entire arc in one of his runs.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Because of the symbiote going away and leaving Eddie alone with Dylan, it means that the ''Wars of Realms'' event has no Venom to make a tie-in story with, so Bunn has to come up with the idea of giving Eddie a fake magical symbiote to make up for it. The first issue was liked well enough but some feel that it would have been better if Eddie and the symbiote were dealing the chaos of the event together.
* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Happening with some readers, as by issue 11, there’s only been an increasing barrage of darkness and despair and everything going horribly wrong. [[spoiler:First Eddie finds out that the symbiote is seemingly braindead, and that the symbiote was messing with his memories to make him forget traumatic events like Flash's death. In his despair, Eddie starts doubting he was ever good enough for the symbiote; and sets out to try to make amends with his estranged and abusive father, who rejects him outright. Then he finds out that his cancer is making a resurgence; only to discover that the symbiote was only pretending to be braindead, he never originally had cancer, and that it had been messing with his memories all along to make him believe he had a sister.]]
* UnintentionallySympathetic: At the end of issue 6, Venom and Rex team up to kill the Grendel symbiote, killing Rex and nearly killing both Eddie and the Venom symbiote. Before they both loses consciousness, the symbiote told Eddie that it loves him, many fans found this moment heartwarming but in an interview with Cates, it is stated it was meant to be seen as the symbiote being possessive of Eddie, causing fans to question the intentions of the Venom symbiote. The story reveals that the symbiote has been manipulating Eddie this entire time, altering his memories to think he had relatives that died of cancer and make him believe to have it to so he would be dependent on it and that supposedly it did something to Anne that is related to the existence of Dylan and what drove her crazy to the point of suicide. A lot of fans have been disgusted by this and it makes no sense for symbiote's character, in the story it is stated that it did all of this because of its nature and fans lamented how the symbiote has been treated, from being mind-controlled by Knull or supposedly brain dead yet its still antagonized for just existing. The story does show the symbiote trying to fix its mistakes but fans still think that none of this should have happened in the first place.
** Dylan calls out Sleeper at a point for killing Tel-Kar, treating the act as entirely in the wrong. Whilst Dylan thinking this, especially with him being a child, is very understandable...some readers have found that the narrative itself agreeing with Dylan is not so much. Pointing out that not only did Tel-Kar enslave the Venom Symbiote, advocate enslaving symbiotes and also make attempts to kill Sleeper and Sleeper’s parents, but that he also tried to commit genocide twice - against both skrulls and humanity - being lobotomized during his second attempt. As such, those readers are inclined to look on Sleeper doing so quite sympathetically given the circumstances.
* WTHCostumingDepartment: A sticking point for the first arc was Eddie's long hair -- evocative of his appearance in some of the 1990s comics -- which was seen by some fans as so un-Eddie that it made him look like Sabretooth. He eventually ''does'' get a new haircut in the second arc, however.
----
* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** Probably knowing that fans would miss Flash Thompson, Cates begins every arc with a character wishing that Eddie ''was'' Flash Thompson, and turns Issue #7 into something of a tribute to Agent Venom.
** Once Knull shows up, Cates uses him as a vehicle to undo some broken base changes Brian Michael Bendis made to the Symbiote lore -- they weren’t originally a noble warrior race, as the Agents of the Cosmos try to be now. That they were is a lie spread by them to distance themselves from their past.
* ArcFatigue: While the ''Rex'' arc was well-received when it came out in 2018, a lot of ''Venom'' fans have come to dislike the CosmicHorror elements of Cates' run and feel that Knull -- who had been "[[ArcWords coming]]" for two years as of ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'' -- had long overstayed his welcome, wanting to see [[StatusQuoIsGod a return to Venom's status quo]] as a street-level vigilante.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Ryan Stegman channels the best aspects of the nineties into his already energetic style and the result is just beautiful.
* BrokenBase:
** Fans that enjoy the Venom symbiote and Eddie as partners have expressed distaste for Cates' run, as they see Cates going out of his way to make Brock and the symbiote's relationship out to be incredibly toxic, including using retcons to get this point across -- which is something fans object to, as in several other media depictions the relationship was depicted more as a stand-in for a romantic LGBT pairing (“The Hunger” published back in the 1990s having subtext so strong that it included sharing valentines chocolate together and holding hands). Others, however, like this depiction, viewing the relationship as having always been some level of emotionally abusive and unhealthy due to the overt codependency and they enjoy Cates acknowledging this and exploring it.
** There’s also those who don’t ship it romantically who ''still'' dislike the numerous retcons to the story and the recycled symbiote leaving Eddie plot. This ''especially'' goes for longer-standing fans of the franchise seeing certain materials they read being altered,[[labelnote: Note]]For example, Eddie's sister being revealed to be the product of FakeMemories and his initial cancer diagnosis being faked by the Symbiote.[[/labelnote]] to the extent that one reviewer called it the “One More Day of Venom”. Others are fine with the retcons since it allowed for ''Venom: Dark Origin'' to be completely erased from continuity and are excited to see what Donny does with Eddie being a father, to a human child this time. Although then some opinions split again into souring at that exploration, as the comic had Sleeper - addressed in the directly prior run by Eddie himself as his child - barely acknowledged by Eddie and said to be not his kid “unlike” Dylan.
** Opinions are split on the cosmic level of the story -- with some fans enjoying it and others insisting that Venom should only be a street-level anti-hero; and with those who like the cosmic aspect, opinions are split on how well it’s done here.
* CharacterRerailment: When Cullen Bunn took over to write the ''War of the Realms'' tie-in, he had Eddie enjoying killing the invaders to release his rage, which was dialed up to eleven by an artificial symbiote he got from the dark elves. Some found this Eddie far more likable and in-character than Cates' iteration because it has Eddie returning to his roots with him being more competent by himself, wanting to save innocents from the monsters even when he was outmatched, having him come to terms with the realization that the symbiote wasn't wholly at fault for his rage and violent impulses, and having him admit that his rage and fixation on past traumas alienated him from his friends and family; finally acknowledging his flaws taking and responsibility for himself.
* ContinuityLockOut: The tendency for important continuity details and snarls to sometimes be clarified on Twitter by the author and not in comic, such as [[spoiler:on Eddie’s cancer and the Carnage Symbiote being dead]] can be seen as this. Not everyone checks Twitter and would like the clarifications to be in-comic.
* CompleteMonster: [[CivilizationDestroyer Knull]], the [[PhysicalGod God of Symbiotes]], [[AncientEvil predates almost all existence]]. Despising the light of existence, Knull warred with the gods and consumed entire worlds before [[ArchnemesisDad creating the symbiotes]] and loosing them on civilizations to devour them, killing countless billions. Eventually betrayed and sealed off by his own "children", Knull returns and attempts to torture Eddie Brock's symbiote to relieve it of any honor and nobility, intending on recovering his old power and resuming [[OmnicidalManiac his mission]] of devouring all life-starting by consuming everyone and everything on Earth.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** [[spoiler:The Symbiote Rex]], for being a BadassNormal symbiote with some humanity and depth, being able to contain Venom with thrown-together equipment and [[spoiler:impersonate a person for years while conveying more depth than most symbiotes with only a handful of appearances]]. The ''Ve'Nam'' one-shot only helped, giving it something of a character arc and delving into its past.
** Eddie's younger half-brother -- or rather, son -- Dylan Brock has been embraced by the fandom for being one of the few brighter spots of the second arc.
* FridgeHorror: A massive one for any and all female symbiote hosts, especially ones who had their symbiote transported to them by male hosts, which even more horrifyingly includes ''teenage charges'' such as Jubulile and Andi, with the reveal of [[spoiler:the circumstances of Anne’s pregnancy, raising the questions of if while they escaped, these hosts might be or have been at risk of such a forced pregnancy too]]. Never again will it be entirely comfortable for any of them to host a symbiote.
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The run was meant to introduce a new character during its Free Comic Book Day special in 2020 named Virus. A lot of people really liked the design and noted the simple-yet-cool name that was surprisingly overlooked, given the stranger names other symbiote characters have had... then Coronavirus became a ''much'' bigger issue (and it was already an issue when the character was revealed, though obviously not nearly as much of one during the creation itself), which also resulted in the delay of said FCBD issue due to the cancellation of FCBD 2020.
* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments:
** The symbiote telling Eddie they love him. [[spoiler:Even if he cannot hear them.]]
** The FourthWallPsych at the start of Issue 25, when Eddie thanks his unseen audience, [[spoiler: really the Avengers]], for sticking with him as he tries to be a better person. It easily feels like he's thanking ''the reader'' for believing Venom can be a hero.
---> '''Eddie:''' But I wanted to say thank you. To all of you. I know things have been... insane. That I haven't always been at my best... But, for good or for bad, you've seen something in me that I can't see in myself. And you've stuck with me. So. Yeah... Thank you.
* HypeBacklash: Marvel hyped up the debut of Virus as some cool new character... it turns out to be [[spoiler: Mac Gargan]], who wears the armour and the identity for less than an arc.
* MemeticMutation:
** "''Venom'' is better than ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''." [[labelnote:Explanation]]With the high praise the series is getting, Donny Cates began to joke about how the series is better than Creator/AlanMoore's groundbreaking graphic novel, with cited reasons including how [[Film/Venom2018 the Venom film]] got a song by Music/{{Eminem}} while ''Watchmen'' didn't. [[https://twitter.com/doncates/status/1035526870551474181?lang=en Alan Moore seems to be okay with it though]].[[/labelnote]]
** "Blond Kratos" became a FanNickname for Eddie beginning in the second arc, on account of his beard and moustache resembling those of Kratos in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4''. When Dylan Brock was introduced fanart depicting him in the role of Atreus and Eddie in the role of Kratos started popping up, [[spoiler:with the comparison becoming all the more apt with the revelation that he is indeed Eddie's son]].
* {{Narm}}:
** Knull's name is ominous and invokes the nothingness and despair that he is god of... and it's also Swedish for "fuck". His humanoid appearance was also offputting for someone meant to be a primordial god of eldritch darkness.
** The Maker revealing that the symbiote's [[http://www.4thletter.net/gavok/venom/slobber.jpg green saliva]] is actually waste product, meaning that Venom is basically shitting or pissing out his mouth. Certainly casts a new light on a few old panels, like the one from ''Lethal Protector'' where he was shown drooling all over his own face while crawling along a ceiling.
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The series follows up [[ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom Mike Costa's run]], which by some was considered to be SoOkayItsAverage; and also uses Eddie Brock rather than Flash Thompson, who had only recently died. Not only that, but it was also worried the series would be too much of a tie-in to the film. Instead, the run is by some considered one of the best Venom series (to the point that it was joked that this run is better than DC's ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''). However the comic got a BrokenBase starting with the second arc, which while retconning the much reviled Dark Origin out of continuity, introduced several divisive retcons. It’s only become even more divisive as it’s gone on.
* TakeThatScrappy: Lee Price and Tel-Kar, characters from ''ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom'' who the fandom largely repudiated due to their abusive treatment of the Venom symbiote, were both killed off during ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage''. Price in particular got the short end of the stick, with Carnage laughing at Price calling himself "Venom" before killing him, and Eddie dismissing Price as a nobody when Dylan asks who he was.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** In terms of the characterization put in place for Eddie here, specifically the reveal that Carl was physically abusive and the addiction metaphors, some feel this would serve better as a Flash story -- some also note that Carl being emotionally distant in his abuse makes him more unique than yet another instance of a physically abusive father.
** Some fans have pointed out that Eddie has been fully clothed despite he being known for end up being naked when he is separated from the symbiote but never shame about it, to the point he would even interrupt a conversation bare naked. In this run, however, despite the fact that Eddie is still poor and homeless like in the 90's, he still somehow wearing clothes, more jarring when you consider that Eddie in the Costa run actually had money and a job, but the symbiote would still turn itself into clothes for him.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Symbiote-wise there was [[spoiler:Scorn and Rex, both [[EnsembleDarkHorse good characters]] with a lot of potential who were abruptly killed off.]] In terms of humans, with the plot centring on Eddie’s human family, [[spoiler: some feel this could have been used as a chance to bring Mary back and develop her properly, instead of her being unceremoniously fridged on a [[FakeMemories meta]] level.]]
** On an ironic case, the character of Venom has been largely missing in this run because of the symbiote's braindead state since the second arc and the story not being much about dealing with a plot but more about Eddie having his history retconned. This is not the first time when Eddie and the symbiote has been separated inside an individual story (Venom: Lethal Protector, Venom: Separation Anxiety and Planet of the symbiotes to give a few examples), but it has taken for too long, to the point it feels like Wolverine Publicity except Wolverine is missing an entire arc in one of his runs.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Because of the symbiote going away and leaving Eddie alone with Dylan, it means that the ''Wars of Realms'' event has no Venom to make a tie-in story with, so Bunn has to come up with the idea of giving Eddie a fake magical symbiote to make up for it. The first issue was liked well enough but some feel that it would have been better if Eddie and the symbiote were dealing the chaos of the event together.
* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Happening with some readers, as by issue 11, there’s only been an increasing barrage of darkness and despair and everything going horribly wrong. [[spoiler:First Eddie finds out that the symbiote is seemingly braindead, and that the symbiote was messing with his memories to make him forget traumatic events like Flash's death. In his despair, Eddie starts doubting he was ever good enough for the symbiote; and sets out to try to make amends with his estranged and abusive father, who rejects him outright. Then he finds out that his cancer is making a resurgence; only to discover that the symbiote was only pretending to be braindead, he never originally had cancer, and that it had been messing with his memories all along to make him believe he had a sister.]]
* UnintentionallySympathetic: At the end of issue 6, Venom and Rex team up to kill the Grendel symbiote, killing Rex and nearly killing both Eddie and the Venom symbiote. Before they both loses consciousness, the symbiote told Eddie that it loves him, many fans found this moment heartwarming but in an interview with Cates, it is stated it was meant to be seen as the symbiote being possessive of Eddie, causing fans to question the intentions of the Venom symbiote. The story reveals that the symbiote has been manipulating Eddie this entire time, altering his memories to think he had relatives that died of cancer and make him believe to have it to so he would be dependent on it and that supposedly it did something to Anne that is related to the existence of Dylan and what drove her crazy to the point of suicide. A lot of fans have been disgusted by this and it makes no sense for symbiote's character, in the story it is stated that it did all of this because of its nature and fans lamented how the symbiote has been treated, from being mind-controlled by Knull or supposedly brain dead yet its still antagonized for just existing. The story does show the symbiote trying to fix its mistakes but fans still think that none of this should have happened in the first place.
** Dylan calls out Sleeper at a point for killing Tel-Kar, treating the act as entirely in the wrong. Whilst Dylan thinking this, especially with him being a child, is very understandable...some readers have found that the narrative itself agreeing with Dylan is not so much. Pointing out that not only did Tel-Kar enslave the Venom Symbiote, advocate enslaving symbiotes and also make attempts to kill Sleeper and Sleeper’s parents, but that he also tried to commit genocide twice - against both skrulls and humanity - being lobotomized during his second attempt. As such, those readers are inclined to look on Sleeper doing so quite sympathetically given the circumstances.
* WTHCostumingDepartment: A sticking point for the first arc was Eddie's long hair -- evocative of his appearance in some of the 1990s comics -- which was seen by some fans as so un-Eddie that it made him look like Sabretooth. He eventually ''does'' get a new haircut in the second arc, however.
----
to:
* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** Probably knowing that fans would miss Flash Thompson, Cates begins every arc with a character wishing that Eddie ''was'' Flash Thompson, and turns Issue #7 into something of a tribute to Agent Venom.
** Once Knull shows up, Cates uses him as a vehicle to undo some broken base changes Brian Michael Bendis made to the Symbiote lore -- they weren’t originally a noble warrior race, as the Agents of the Cosmos try to be now. That they were is a lie spread by them to distance themselves from their past.
* ArcFatigue: While the ''Rex'' arc was well-received when it came out in 2018, a lot of ''Venom'' fans have come to dislike the CosmicHorror elements of Cates' run and feel that Knull -- who had been "[[ArcWords coming]]" for two years as of ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'' -- had long overstayed his welcome, wanting to see [[StatusQuoIsGod a return to Venom's status quo]] as a street-level vigilante.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: Ryan Stegman channels the best aspects of the nineties into his already energetic style and the result is just beautiful.
* BrokenBase:
** Fans that enjoy the Venom symbiote and Eddie as partners have expressed distaste for Cates' run, as they see Cates going out of his way to make Brock and the symbiote's relationship out to be incredibly toxic, including using retcons to get this point across -- which is something fans object to, as in several other media depictions the relationship was depicted more as a stand-in for a romantic LGBT pairing (“The Hunger” published back in the 1990s having subtext so strong that it included sharing valentines chocolate together and holding hands). Others, however, like this depiction, viewing the relationship as having always been some level of emotionally abusive and unhealthy due to the overt codependency and they enjoy Cates acknowledging this and exploring it.
** There’s also those who don’t ship it romantically who ''still'' dislike the numerous retcons to the story and the recycled symbiote leaving Eddie plot. This ''especially'' goes for longer-standing fans of the franchise seeing certain materials they read being altered,[[labelnote: Note]]For example, Eddie's sister being revealed to be the product of FakeMemories and his initial cancer diagnosis being faked by the Symbiote.[[/labelnote]] to the extent that one reviewer called it the “One More Day of Venom”. Others are fine with the retcons since it allowed for ''Venom: Dark Origin'' to be completely erased from continuity and are excited to see what Donny does with Eddie being a father, to a human child this time. Although then some opinions split again into souring at that exploration, as the comic had Sleeper - addressed in the directly prior run by Eddie himself as his child - barely acknowledged by Eddie and said to be not his kid “unlike” Dylan.
** Opinions are split on the cosmic level of the story -- with some fans enjoying it and others insisting that Venom should only be a street-level anti-hero; and with those who like the cosmic aspect, opinions are split on how well it’s done here.
* CharacterRerailment: When Cullen Bunn took over to write the ''War of the Realms'' tie-in, he had Eddie enjoying killing the invaders to release his rage, which was dialed up to eleven by an artificial symbiote he got from the dark elves. Some found this Eddie far more likable and in-character than Cates' iteration because it has Eddie returning to his roots with him being more competent by himself, wanting to save innocents from the monsters even when he was outmatched, having him come to terms with the realization that the symbiote wasn't wholly at fault for his rage and violent impulses, and having him admit that his rage and fixation on past traumas alienated him from his friends and family; finally acknowledging his flaws taking and responsibility for himself.
* ContinuityLockOut: The tendency for important continuity details and snarls to sometimes be clarified on Twitter by the author and not in comic, such as [[spoiler:on Eddie’s cancer and the Carnage Symbiote being dead]] can be seen as this. Not everyone checks Twitter and would like the clarifications to be in-comic.
* CompleteMonster: [[CivilizationDestroyer Knull]], the [[PhysicalGod God of Symbiotes]], [[AncientEvil predates almost all existence]]. Despising the light of existence, Knull warred with the gods and consumed entire worlds before [[ArchnemesisDad creating the symbiotes]] and loosing them on civilizations to devour them, killing countless billions. Eventually betrayed and sealed off by his own "children", Knull returns and attempts to torture Eddie Brock's symbiote to relieve it of any honor and nobility, intending on recovering his old power and resuming [[OmnicidalManiac his mission]] of devouring all life-starting by consuming everyone and everything on Earth.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** [[spoiler:The Symbiote Rex]], for being a BadassNormal symbiote with some humanity and depth, being able to contain Venom with thrown-together equipment and [[spoiler:impersonate a person for years while conveying more depth than most symbiotes with only a handful of appearances]]. The ''Ve'Nam'' one-shot only helped, giving it something of a character arc and delving into its past.
** Eddie's younger half-brother -- or rather, son -- Dylan Brock has been embraced by the fandom for being one of the few brighter spots of the second arc.
* FridgeHorror: A massive one for any and all female symbiote hosts, especially ones who had their symbiote transported to them by male hosts, which even more horrifyingly includes ''teenage charges'' such as Jubulile and Andi, with the reveal of [[spoiler:the circumstances of Anne’s pregnancy, raising the questions of if while they escaped, these hosts might be or have been at risk of such a forced pregnancy too]]. Never again will it be entirely comfortable for any of them to host a symbiote.
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The run was meant to introduce a new character during its Free Comic Book Day special in 2020 named Virus. A lot of people really liked the design and noted the simple-yet-cool name that was surprisingly overlooked, given the stranger names other symbiote characters have had... then Coronavirus became a ''much'' bigger issue (and it was already an issue when the character was revealed, though obviously not nearly as much of one during the creation itself), which also resulted in the delay of said FCBD issue due to the cancellation of FCBD 2020.
* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments:
** The symbiote telling Eddie they love him. [[spoiler:Even if he cannot hear them.]]
** The FourthWallPsych at the start of Issue 25, when Eddie thanks his unseen audience, [[spoiler: really the Avengers]], for sticking with him as he tries to be a better person. It easily feels like he's thanking ''the reader'' for believing Venom can be a hero.
---> '''Eddie:''' But I wanted to say thank you. To all of you. I know things have been... insane. That I haven't always been at my best... But, for good or for bad, you've seen something in me that I can't see in myself. And you've stuck with me. So. Yeah... Thank you.
* HypeBacklash: Marvel hyped up the debut of Virus as some cool new character... it turns out to be [[spoiler: Mac Gargan]], who wears the armour and the identity for less than an arc.
* MemeticMutation:
** "''Venom'' is better than ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''." [[labelnote:Explanation]]With the high praise the series is getting, Donny Cates began to joke about how the series is better than Creator/AlanMoore's groundbreaking graphic novel, with cited reasons including how [[Film/Venom2018 the Venom film]] got a song by Music/{{Eminem}} while ''Watchmen'' didn't. [[https://twitter.com/doncates/status/1035526870551474181?lang=en Alan Moore seems to be okay with it though]].[[/labelnote]]
** "Blond Kratos" became a FanNickname for Eddie beginning in the second arc, on account of his beard and moustache resembling those of Kratos in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4''. When Dylan Brock was introduced fanart depicting him in the role of Atreus and Eddie in the role of Kratos started popping up, [[spoiler:with the comparison becoming all the more apt with the revelation that he is indeed Eddie's son]].
* {{Narm}}:
** Knull's name is ominous and invokes the nothingness and despair that he is god of... and it's also Swedish for "fuck". His humanoid appearance was also offputting for someone meant to be a primordial god of eldritch darkness.
** The Maker revealing that the symbiote's [[http://www.4thletter.net/gavok/venom/slobber.jpg green saliva]] is actually waste product, meaning that Venom is basically shitting or pissing out his mouth. Certainly casts a new light on a few old panels, like the one from ''Lethal Protector'' where he was shown drooling all over his own face while crawling along a ceiling.
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The series follows up [[ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom Mike Costa's run]], which by some was considered to be SoOkayItsAverage; and also uses Eddie Brock rather than Flash Thompson, who had only recently died. Not only that, but it was also worried the series would be too much of a tie-in to the film. Instead, the run is by some considered one of the best Venom series (to the point that it was joked that this run is better than DC's ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''). However the comic got a BrokenBase starting with the second arc, which while retconning the much reviled Dark Origin out of continuity, introduced several divisive retcons. It’s only become even more divisive as it’s gone on.
* TakeThatScrappy: Lee Price and Tel-Kar, characters from ''ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom'' who the fandom largely repudiated due to their abusive treatment of the Venom symbiote, were both killed off during ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage''. Price in particular got the short end of the stick, with Carnage laughing at Price calling himself "Venom" before killing him, and Eddie dismissing Price as a nobody when Dylan asks who he was.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
** In terms of the characterization put in place for Eddie here, specifically the reveal that Carl was physically abusive and the addiction metaphors, some feel this would serve better as a Flash story -- some also note that Carl being emotionally distant in his abuse makes him more unique than yet another instance of a physically abusive father.
** Some fans have pointed out that Eddie has been fully clothed despite he being known for end up being naked when he is separated from the symbiote but never shame about it, to the point he would even interrupt a conversation bare naked. In this run, however, despite the fact that Eddie is still poor and homeless like in the 90's, he still somehow wearing clothes, more jarring when you consider that Eddie in the Costa run actually had money and a job, but the symbiote would still turn itself into clothes for him.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Symbiote-wise there was [[spoiler:Scorn and Rex, both [[EnsembleDarkHorse good characters]] with a lot of potential who were abruptly killed off.]] In terms of humans, with the plot centring on Eddie’s human family, [[spoiler: some feel this could have been used as a chance to bring Mary back and develop her properly, instead of her being unceremoniously fridged on a [[FakeMemories meta]] level.]]
** On an ironic case, the character of Venom has been largely missing in this run because of the symbiote's braindead state since the second arc and the story not being much about dealing with a plot but more about Eddie having his history retconned. This is not the first time when Eddie and the symbiote has been separated inside an individual story (Venom: Lethal Protector, Venom: Separation Anxiety and Planet of the symbiotes to give a few examples), but it has taken for too long, to the point it feels like Wolverine Publicity except Wolverine is missing an entire arc in one of his runs.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Because of the symbiote going away and leaving Eddie alone with Dylan, it means that the ''Wars of Realms'' event has no Venom to make a tie-in story with, so Bunn has to come up with the idea of giving Eddie a fake magical symbiote to make up for it. The first issue was liked well enough but some feel that it would have been better if Eddie and the symbiote were dealing the chaos of the event together.
* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Happening with some readers, as by issue 11, there’s only been an increasing barrage of darkness and despair and everything going horribly wrong. [[spoiler:First Eddie finds out that the symbiote is seemingly braindead, and that the symbiote was messing with his memories to make him forget traumatic events like Flash's death. In his despair, Eddie starts doubting he was ever good enough for the symbiote; and sets out to try to make amends with his estranged and abusive father, who rejects him outright. Then he finds out that his cancer is making a resurgence; only to discover that the symbiote was only pretending to be braindead, he never originally had cancer, and that it had been messing with his memories all along to make him believe he had a sister.]]
* UnintentionallySympathetic: At the end of issue 6, Venom and Rex team up to kill the Grendel symbiote, killing Rex and nearly killing both Eddie and the Venom symbiote. Before they both loses consciousness, the symbiote told Eddie that it loves him, many fans found this moment heartwarming but in an interview with Cates, it is stated it was meant to be seen as the symbiote being possessive of Eddie, causing fans to question the intentions of the Venom symbiote. The story reveals that the symbiote has been manipulating Eddie this entire time, altering his memories to think he had relatives that died of cancer and make him believe to have it to so he would be dependent on it and that supposedly it did something to Anne that is related to the existence of Dylan and what drove her crazy to the point of suicide. A lot of fans have been disgusted by this and it makes no sense for symbiote's character, in the story it is stated that it did all of this because of its nature and fans lamented how the symbiote has been treated, from being mind-controlled by Knull or supposedly brain dead yet its still antagonized for just existing. The story does show the symbiote trying to fix its mistakes but fans still think that none of this should have happened in the first place.
** Dylan calls out Sleeper at a point for killing Tel-Kar, treating the act as entirely in the wrong. Whilst Dylan thinking this, especially with him being a child, is very understandable...some readers have found that the narrative itself agreeing with Dylan is not so much. Pointing out that not only did Tel-Kar enslave the Venom Symbiote, advocate enslaving symbiotes and also make attempts to kill Sleeper and Sleeper’s parents, but that he also tried to commit genocide twice - against both skrulls and humanity - being lobotomized during his second attempt. As such, those readers are inclined to look on Sleeper doing so quite sympathetically given the circumstances.
* WTHCostumingDepartment: A sticking point for the first arc was Eddie's long hair -- evocative of his appearance in some of the 1990s comics -- which was seen by some fans as so un-Eddie that it made him look like Sabretooth. He eventually ''does'' get a new haircut in the second arc, however.
----
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Darkness Induced Audience Apathy was renamed.
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* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Happening with some readers, as by issue 11, there’s only been an increasing barrage of darkness and despair and everything going horribly wrong. [[spoiler:First Eddie finds out that the symbiote is seemingly braindead, and that the symbiote was messing with his memories to make him forget traumatic events like Flash's death. In his despair, Eddie starts doubting he was ever good enough for the symbiote; and sets out to try to make amends with his estranged and abusive father, who rejects him outright. Then he finds out that his cancer is making a resurgence; only to discover that the symbiote was only pretending to be braindead, he never originally had cancer, and that it had been messing with his memories all along to make him believe he had a sister.]]
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* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Happening with some readers, as by issue 11, there’s only been an increasing barrage of darkness and despair and everything going horribly wrong. [[spoiler:First Eddie finds out that the symbiote is seemingly braindead, and that the symbiote was messing with his memories to make him forget traumatic events like Flash's death. In his despair, Eddie starts doubting he was ever good enough for the symbiote; and sets out to try to make amends with his estranged and abusive father, who rejects him outright. Then he finds out that his cancer is making a resurgence; only to discover that the symbiote was only pretending to be braindead, he never originally had cancer, and that it had been messing with his memories all along to make him believe he had a sister.]]
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Eddie Brock confessed that it was ALL his fault during the last issue of the Venom Island arc. He never tried to project the blame on the symbiote for what he's done. Additionally, the reason why other symbiotes aren't show to be possessive is due to the Venom symbiote's history. When it bonded with Peter Parker it learned about love and it was its generally first good host, especially compared to his first two (Tel-Kar and the unamed warlord). Of course, he doesn't remember Tel-Kar, but bonding with Peter didn't want the symbiote to lose a good thing, the symbiote displays possessive behavior: using Peter's body without his consent in order to solve Peter's problems and trying to permanently bond to Peter when Peter wanted to take it off. Despite its loving nature, the symbiote isn't perfect.
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* UnintentionallySympathetic: At the end of issue 6, Venom and Rex team up to kill the Grendel symbiote, killing Rex and nearly killing both Eddie and the Venom symbiote. Before they both loses consciousness, the symbiote told Eddie that it loves him, many fans found this moment heartwarming but in an interview with Cates, it is stated it was meant to be seen as the symbiote being possessive of Eddie, causing fans to question the intentions of the Venom symbiote. The story reveals that the symbiote has been manipulating Eddie this entire time, altering his memories to think he had relatives that died of cancer and make him believe to have it to so he would be dependent on it and that supposedly it did something to Anne that is related to the existence of Dylan and what drove her crazy to the point of suicide. A lot of fans have been disgusted by this and it makes no sense for symbiote's character, in the story it is stated that it did all of this because of its nature [[labelnote:Explanation]]which is also questioned as not a single symbiote, either the parasitic symbiotes from Planets of the Symbiotes that killed their host or the Agent of the Cosmos that only partner with their hosts have ever shown being possessive or manipulative.[[/labelnote]] and fans lamented how the symbiote has been treated, from being mind-controlled by Knull or supposedly brain dead yet its still antagonized for just existing. The story does show the symbiote trying to fix its mistakes but fans still think that none of this should have happened in the first place.
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* UnintentionallySympathetic: At the end of issue 6, Venom and Rex team up to kill the Grendel symbiote, killing Rex and nearly killing both Eddie and the Venom symbiote. Before they both loses consciousness, the symbiote told Eddie that it loves him, many fans found this moment heartwarming but in an interview with Cates, it is stated it was meant to be seen as the symbiote being possessive of Eddie, causing fans to question the intentions of the Venom symbiote. The story reveals that the symbiote has been manipulating Eddie this entire time, altering his memories to think he had relatives that died of cancer and make him believe to have it to so he would be dependent on it and that supposedly it did something to Anne that is related to the existence of Dylan and what drove her crazy to the point of suicide. A lot of fans have been disgusted by this and it makes no sense for symbiote's character, in the story it is stated that it did all of this because of its nature [[labelnote:Explanation]]which is also questioned as not a single symbiote, either the parasitic symbiotes from Planets of the Symbiotes that killed their host or the Agent of the Cosmos that only partner with their hosts have ever shown being possessive or manipulative.[[/labelnote]] nature and fans lamented how the symbiote has been treated, from being mind-controlled by Knull or supposedly brain dead yet its still antagonized for just existing. The story does show the symbiote trying to fix its mistakes but fans still think that none of this should have happened in the first place.
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* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: On the other side, Eddie Brock has been pointed as this, the entire story has painted him as a victim of everything and very often he ends up crying or lamenting everything, but fans found this straight up pathetic for how much of it feels like the writer is self-inserting himself on Eddie (which doesn't seem to be a secret on Cates' part) and how the narrative seems to try to lay the blame of all of his mistakes on the symbiote, instead of continuing to take responsibility for himself and learning from it. His bombastic and charming personality from before is all gone and in its place, it just a man that laments everything that happens to him but does nothing about it. He can't even fight for himself anymore, as more often he is tied up in a chair and letting other characters scream in his face.
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Corrected an error.
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* UnintentionallySympathetic: At the end of issue 6, Venom and Rex team up to kill the Grendal symbiote, killing Rex and nearly killing both Eddie and the Venom symbiote. Before they both loses consciousness, the symbiote told Eddie that it loves him, many fans found this moment heartwarming but in an interview with Cates, it is stated it was meant to be seen as the symbiote being possessive of Eddie, causing fans to question the intentions of the Venom symbiote. The story reveals that the symbiote has been manipulating Eddie this entire time, altering his memories to think he had relatives that died of cancer and make him believe to have it to so he would be dependent on it and that supposedly it did something to Anne that is related to the existence of Dylan and what drove her crazy to the point of suicide. A lot of fans have been disgusted by this and it makes no sense for symbiote's character, in the story it is stated that it did all of this because of its nature [[labelnote:Explanation]]which is also questioned as not a single symbiote, either the parasitic symbiotes from Planets of the Symbiotes that killed their host or the Agent of the Cosmos that only partner with their hosts have ever shown being possessive or manipulative.[[/labelnote]] and fans lamented how the symbiote has been treated, from being mind-controlled by Knull or supposedly brain dead yet its still antagonized for just existing. The story does show the symbiote trying to fix its mistakes but fans still think that none of this should have happened in the first place.
to:
* UnintentionallySympathetic: At the end of issue 6, Venom and Rex team up to kill the Grendal Grendel symbiote, killing Rex and nearly killing both Eddie and the Venom symbiote. Before they both loses consciousness, the symbiote told Eddie that it loves him, many fans found this moment heartwarming but in an interview with Cates, it is stated it was meant to be seen as the symbiote being possessive of Eddie, causing fans to question the intentions of the Venom symbiote. The story reveals that the symbiote has been manipulating Eddie this entire time, altering his memories to think he had relatives that died of cancer and make him believe to have it to so he would be dependent on it and that supposedly it did something to Anne that is related to the existence of Dylan and what drove her crazy to the point of suicide. A lot of fans have been disgusted by this and it makes no sense for symbiote's character, in the story it is stated that it did all of this because of its nature [[labelnote:Explanation]]which is also questioned as not a single symbiote, either the parasitic symbiotes from Planets of the Symbiotes that killed their host or the Agent of the Cosmos that only partner with their hosts have ever shown being possessive or manipulative.[[/labelnote]] and fans lamented how the symbiote has been treated, from being mind-controlled by Knull or supposedly brain dead yet its still antagonized for just existing. The story does show the symbiote trying to fix its mistakes but fans still think that none of this should have happened in the first place.
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* ArcFatigue: While the ''Rex'' arc was well-received when it came out in 2018, a lot of ''Venom'' fans have come to dislike the CosmicHorror elements of Cates' run and feel that Knull -- who has been "[[ArcWords coming]]" for two years as of ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'' -- has long overstayed his welcome, wanting to see [[StatusQuoIsGod a return to Venom's status quo]] as a street-level vigilante.
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* ArcFatigue: While the ''Rex'' arc was well-received when it came out in 2018, a lot of ''Venom'' fans have come to dislike the CosmicHorror elements of Cates' run and feel that Knull -- who has had been "[[ArcWords coming]]" for two years as of ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'' -- has had long overstayed his welcome, wanting to see [[StatusQuoIsGod a return to Venom's status quo]] as a street-level vigilante.
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Donny's run was not responsible for either Eddie coming back as Venom or Flash's death.
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* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Flash Thompson's death and the return of Eddie Brock being Venom proved to be an extremely divisive decision, with even those ambivalent to the change accusing Eddie Brock as being [[TheArtifact a relic of the 90s]]. So it came as a surprise to many when the series proved to not only be a critical darling, but commercial smash frequently topping both the ''ComicBook/NickSpencersSpiderMan'' and the ''ComicBook/JonathanHickmansXMen'' runs in the sales charts.
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* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Flash Thompson's death and the return of Eddie Brock being Venom proved to be an extremely divisive decision, with even those ambivalent to the change accusing Eddie Brock as being [[TheArtifact Despite a relic of the 90s]]. So it came as a surprise to many when rocky second arc, the series proved to not only be a critical darling, but a commercial smash hit frequently topping both the ''ComicBook/NickSpencersSpiderMan'' and the ''ComicBook/JonathanHickmansXMen'' runs in the sales charts.
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* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Flash Thompson's death and the return of Eddie Brock being Venom proved to be an extremely divisive decision, with even those ambivalent to the change accusing Eddie Brock as being [[TheArtifact a relic of the 90s]]. So it came as a surprise to many when the series proved to not only be a critical darling, but commercial smash frequently topping both the ''ComicBook/NickSpencersSpiderMan'' and the ''ComicBook/JonathanHickmansXMen'' runs in the sales charts.
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** Fans that enjoy the Venom symbiote and Eddie as partners have expressed distaste for Cates' run, as they see Cates going out of his way to make Brock and the symbiote's relationship out to be incredibly toxic, including using retcons to get this point across -- which is something fans object to, as several other media depictions the relationship was depicted more as a stand-in for an romantic LGBT pairing (“The Hunger” published back in the 1990s having subtext so strong that it included sharing valentines chocolate together and holding hands). Others, however, like this depiction, viewing the relationship as having always been some level of emotionally abusive and unhealthy due to the overt codependency and they enjoy Cates acknowledging this and exploring it.
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** Fans that enjoy the Venom symbiote and Eddie as partners have expressed distaste for Cates' run, as they see Cates going out of his way to make Brock and the symbiote's relationship out to be incredibly toxic, including using retcons to get this point across -- which is something fans object to, as in several other media depictions the relationship was depicted more as a stand-in for an a romantic LGBT pairing (“The Hunger” published back in the 1990s having subtext so strong that it included sharing valentines chocolate together and holding hands). Others, however, like this depiction, viewing the relationship as having always been some level of emotionally abusive and unhealthy due to the overt codependency and they enjoy Cates acknowledging this and exploring it.
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** There’s also those who don’t ship it romantically who ''still'' dislike the numerous retcons to the story and the recycled symbiote leaving Eddie plot. This ''especially'' goes for longer-standing fans of the franchise seeing certain materials they read being altered,[[labelnote: Note]]For example, Eddie's sister being revealed to be the product of FakeMemories and his initial cancer diagnosis being faked by the Symbiote.[[/labelnote]] to the extent that one reviewer called it the “One More Day of Venom”. Others are fine with the retcons since it allowed for ''Venom: Dark Origin'' to be completely erased from continuity and are excited to see what Donny does with Eddie being a father, to a human child this time.
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** There’s also those who don’t ship it romantically who ''still'' dislike the numerous retcons to the story and the recycled symbiote leaving Eddie plot. This ''especially'' goes for longer-standing fans of the franchise seeing certain materials they read being altered,[[labelnote: Note]]For example, Eddie's sister being revealed to be the product of FakeMemories and his initial cancer diagnosis being faked by the Symbiote.[[/labelnote]] to the extent that one reviewer called it the “One More Day of Venom”. Others are fine with the retcons since it allowed for ''Venom: Dark Origin'' to be completely erased from continuity and are excited to see what Donny does with Eddie being a father, to a human child this time. Although then some opinions split again into souring at that exploration, as the comic had Sleeper - addressed in the directly prior run by Eddie himself as his child - barely acknowledged by Eddie and said to be not his kid “unlike” Dylan.
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* CharacterRerailment: When Cullen Bunn took over to write the ''War of the Realms'' tie-in, he had Eddie enjoying killing the invaders to release his rage, which was dialed up to eleven by an artificial symbiote he got from the dark elves. Many found this Eddie far more likable and in-character than Cates' iteration because it has Eddie returning to his roots with him being more competent by himself, wanting to save innocents from the monsters even when he was outmatched, having him come to terms with the realization that the symbiote wasn't wholly at fault for his rage and violent impulses, and having him admit that his rage and fixation on past traumas alienated him from his friends and family; finally acknowledging his flaws taking and responsibility for himself.
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* CharacterRerailment: When Cullen Bunn took over to write the ''War of the Realms'' tie-in, he had Eddie enjoying killing the invaders to release his rage, which was dialed up to eleven by an artificial symbiote he got from the dark elves. Many Some found this Eddie far more likable and in-character than Cates' iteration because it has Eddie returning to his roots with him being more competent by himself, wanting to save innocents from the monsters even when he was outmatched, having him come to terms with the realization that the symbiote wasn't wholly at fault for his rage and violent impulses, and having him admit that his rage and fixation on past traumas alienated him from his friends and family; finally acknowledging his flaws taking and responsibility for himself.
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* FridgeHorror: A massive one for any and all female symbiote hosts, especially ones who had their symbiote transported to them by male hosts, which even more horrifyingly includes ''teenage charges'' such as Jubulile and Andi, with the reveal of [[spoiler:the circumstances of Anne’s pregnancy, raising the questions of if while they escaped, these hosts might be or have been at risk of such a forced pregnancy too]].
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* FridgeHorror: A massive one for any and all female symbiote hosts, especially ones who had their symbiote transported to them by male hosts, which even more horrifyingly includes ''teenage charges'' such as Jubulile and Andi, with the reveal of [[spoiler:the circumstances of Anne’s pregnancy, raising the questions of if while they escaped, these hosts might be or have been at risk of such a forced pregnancy too]]. Never again will it be entirely comfortable for any of them to host a symbiote.
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* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The series follows up [[ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom Mike Costa's run]], which was generally considered to be SoOkayItsAverage; and also uses Eddie Brock rather than Flash Thompson, who had only recently died. Not only that, but it was also worried the series would be too much of a tie-in to the film. Instead, the run so far is considered one of the best Venom series (to the point that it was joked that this run is better than DC's ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''). However the comic got a BrokenBase starting with the second arc, which while retconning the much reviled Dark Origin out of continuity, introduced several divisive retcons.
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* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The series follows up [[ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom Mike Costa's run]], which by some was generally considered to be SoOkayItsAverage; and also uses Eddie Brock rather than Flash Thompson, who had only recently died. Not only that, but it was also worried the series would be too much of a tie-in to the film. Instead, the run so far is by some considered one of the best Venom series (to the point that it was joked that this run is better than DC's ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''). However the comic got a BrokenBase starting with the second arc, which while retconning the much reviled Dark Origin out of continuity, introduced several divisive retcons. It’s only become even more divisive as it’s gone on.
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The tone doesn’t address that it’s not just “fan interpretation” and recent media — the comics have alternated with explored that angle for quite a while.
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** Once Knull shows up, Cates uses him as a vehicle to undo the unpopular changes Brian Michael Bendis made to the Symbiote lore -- they weren’t originally a noble warrior race, as the Agents of the Cosmos try to be now. That they were is a lie spread by them to distance themselves from their past.
to:
** Once Knull shows up, Cates uses him as a vehicle to undo the unpopular some broken base changes Brian Michael Bendis made to the Symbiote lore -- they weren’t originally a noble warrior race, as the Agents of the Cosmos try to be now. That they were is a lie spread by them to distance themselves from their past.
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** Fans that ship the Venom symbiote and Eddie have expressed distaste for Cates' run, as they see Cates going out of his way to make Brock and the symbiote's relationship out to be incredibly toxic, including using retcons to get this point across -- which is something fans object to, as after Mike Costa's run and the ''Venom'' movie, this relationship was seen as a stand-in for an LGBT pairing. Others, however, like this depiction, viewing the relationship as having always been some level of emotionally abusive and unhealthy due to the overt codependency and they enjoy Cates acknowledging this and exploring it.
to:
** Fans that ship enjoy the Venom symbiote and Eddie as partners have expressed distaste for Cates' run, as they see Cates going out of his way to make Brock and the symbiote's relationship out to be incredibly toxic, including using retcons to get this point across -- which is something fans object to, as after Mike Costa's run and as several other media depictions the ''Venom'' movie, this relationship was seen depicted more as a stand-in for an romantic LGBT pairing.pairing (“The Hunger” published back in the 1990s having subtext so strong that it included sharing valentines chocolate together and holding hands). Others, however, like this depiction, viewing the relationship as having always been some level of emotionally abusive and unhealthy due to the overt codependency and they enjoy Cates acknowledging this and exploring it.
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None
Changed line(s) 7 (click to see context) from:
** Fans that ship the Venom symbiote and Eddie have expressed distaste for Cates' run, as they see Cates going out of his way to make Brock and the symbiote's relationship out to be incredibly toxic, including using retcons to get this point across -- which is something fans object to, as after Mike Costa's run and the ''Venom'' movie, this relationship was seen as a stand-in for an LGBT pairing. Others, however, like this depiction, viewing the relationship as having always been some level of emotionally abusive and they enjoy Cates acknowledging this and exploring it.
to:
** Fans that ship the Venom symbiote and Eddie have expressed distaste for Cates' run, as they see Cates going out of his way to make Brock and the symbiote's relationship out to be incredibly toxic, including using retcons to get this point across -- which is something fans object to, as after Mike Costa's run and the ''Venom'' movie, this relationship was seen as a stand-in for an LGBT pairing. Others, however, like this depiction, viewing the relationship as having always been some level of emotionally abusive and unhealthy due to the overt codependency and they enjoy Cates acknowledging this and exploring it.
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* FridgeHorror: A massive one for any and all female symbiote hosts, especially ones who had their symbiote transported to them by male hosts, which even more horrifyingly includes ‘’teenage charges’’ such as Jubulile and Andi, with the reveal of [[spoiler:the circumstances of Anne’s pregnancy, raising the questions of if while they escaped, these hosts might be or have been at risk of such a forced pregnancy too]].
to:
* FridgeHorror: A massive one for any and all female symbiote hosts, especially ones who had their symbiote transported to them by male hosts, which even more horrifyingly includes ‘’teenage charges’’ ''teenage charges'' such as Jubulile and Andi, with the reveal of [[spoiler:the circumstances of Anne’s pregnancy, raising the questions of if while they escaped, these hosts might be or have been at risk of such a forced pregnancy too]].
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* HypeBacklash: Marvel hyped up the debut of Virus as some cool new character... it turns out to be [[spoiler: Mac Gargan]], who wears the armour and the identity for less than an arc.
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None
* TakeThatScrappy: Lee Price and Tel-Kar, characters from ''ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom'' who the fandom largely repudiated due to their abusive treatment of the Venom symbiote, were both killed off during ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage''. Price in particular got the short end of the stick, with Carnage laughing at Price calling himself "Venom" before killing him, and Eddie dismissing Price as a nobody when Dylan asks who he was.
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* WTHCostumingDepartment: A sticking point for the first arc was Eddie's long hair -- evocative of his appearance in some of the 1990's comics -- which was seen by some fans as so un-Eddie that it made him look like Sabretooth. He eventually ''does'' get a new haircut in the second arc, however.
to:
* WTHCostumingDepartment: A sticking point for the first arc was Eddie's long hair -- evocative of his appearance in some of the 1990's 1990s comics -- which was seen by some fans as so un-Eddie that it made him look like Sabretooth. He eventually ''does'' get a new haircut in the second arc, however.
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Deleted line(s) 29,34 (click to see context) :
* OutOfCharacterMoment: Several, such as:
** Eddie seeking out his abusive father Carl for help, when he has been very clear in the past on how this is something he would never ever do - even shooting the suggestion down when they got in a dire enough situation that the ''symbiote'' suggested they do so.
** Eddie, a character known for always being protective of children and having just been explicitly desperate for some family in the previous issue - being fairly disinterested and annoyed at the restaurant with his little brother, who has clearly just been beaten, trying to connect with his big brother and ask for some help. Eddie still treats Dylan to some food and hears him out - but it's clear his mind is preoccupied with other stuff, namely what's going on with the symbiote.
** Anne leaving her son with Carl, even calling Carl family and trusting him to properly take care of Dylan. She very much knew how abusive he was to Eddie and her opinion of the man was not positive, so she would not have left a baby with him -- though Cates retconned this on Twitter, saying she had no idea how bad a person he really was.
** Within the first couple of pages of their return, the Sleeper symbiote explicitly and suddenly explains itself as “unlike” Dylan not to be Eddie’s actual child, an explanation repeated to the extent that in ''Absolute Carnage'' #3, Brock barely reacts to seeing Sleeper again. This directly contradicts the explanation and views expressed in Sleeper's debut miniseries, where it was specifically said by itself and Eddie to also be his child, with Eddie doting on it.
** Eddie Brock, the "Lethal Protector" who even if he started killing less never became entirely opposed to those he saw deserving of it, suddenly expressing complete horror at the idea of killing [[spoiler:''Norman Osborn'']] of all people.
** Eddie seeking out his abusive father Carl for help, when he has been very clear in the past on how this is something he would never ever do - even shooting the suggestion down when they got in a dire enough situation that the ''symbiote'' suggested they do so.
** Eddie, a character known for always being protective of children and having just been explicitly desperate for some family in the previous issue - being fairly disinterested and annoyed at the restaurant with his little brother, who has clearly just been beaten, trying to connect with his big brother and ask for some help. Eddie still treats Dylan to some food and hears him out - but it's clear his mind is preoccupied with other stuff, namely what's going on with the symbiote.
** Anne leaving her son with Carl, even calling Carl family and trusting him to properly take care of Dylan. She very much knew how abusive he was to Eddie and her opinion of the man was not positive, so she would not have left a baby with him -- though Cates retconned this on Twitter, saying she had no idea how bad a person he really was.
** Within the first couple of pages of their return, the Sleeper symbiote explicitly and suddenly explains itself as “unlike” Dylan not to be Eddie’s actual child, an explanation repeated to the extent that in ''Absolute Carnage'' #3, Brock barely reacts to seeing Sleeper again. This directly contradicts the explanation and views expressed in Sleeper's debut miniseries, where it was specifically said by itself and Eddie to also be his child, with Eddie doting on it.
** Eddie Brock, the "Lethal Protector" who even if he started killing less never became entirely opposed to those he saw deserving of it, suddenly expressing complete horror at the idea of killing [[spoiler:''Norman Osborn'']] of all people.
Deleted line(s) 36,39 (click to see context) :
* StuffedInTheFridge:
** The first two women characters mentioned in the series, Scorn and Mary Brock, are both BackForTheDead. [[spoiler:UpToEleven with the reveal that Mary ''[[FakeMemories didn't even exist]]''.]]
** Anne Weying also suffers with the revelation that [[spoiler:the Venom symbiote effectively raped her during her transformation into She-Venom, with the codex it left in her body incarnating as a human/symbiote hybrid]].
** Even the Carnage Symbiote, which sometimes goes by she/her such as in ''Carnage USA'', [[spoiler: had been confirmed dead, with Cletus bonding to an offshoot of the Grendel symbiote]]. Considering how Cletus viewed the Carnage symbiote as his soul mate, it's off that Cletus himself wasn't particularly upset by this aside from crying out in anguish before dying in ''Web of Venom: Carnage Born''.
** The first two women characters mentioned in the series, Scorn and Mary Brock, are both BackForTheDead. [[spoiler:UpToEleven with the reveal that Mary ''[[FakeMemories didn't even exist]]''.]]
** Anne Weying also suffers with the revelation that [[spoiler:the Venom symbiote effectively raped her during her transformation into She-Venom, with the codex it left in her body incarnating as a human/symbiote hybrid]].
** Even the Carnage Symbiote, which sometimes goes by she/her such as in ''Carnage USA'', [[spoiler: had been confirmed dead, with Cletus bonding to an offshoot of the Grendel symbiote]]. Considering how Cletus viewed the Carnage symbiote as his soul mate, it's off that Cletus himself wasn't particularly upset by this aside from crying out in anguish before dying in ''Web of Venom: Carnage Born''.
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* ArcFatigue: While the ''Rex'' arc was well-received when it came out in 2018, a lot of ''Venom'' fans have come to dislike the CosmicHorror elements of Cates' run and feel that Knull -- who has been "[[ArcWords coming]]" for two years as of ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'' -- has long overstayed his welcome, wanting to see [[StatusQuoIsGod a return to Venom's status quo]] as a street-level vigilante.
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Changed line(s) 7 (click to see context) from:
** There’s also those who don’t ship it romantically who ''still'' dislike the numerous retcons to the story and the recycled symbiote leaving Eddie plot. This ''especially'' goes for longer-standing fans of the franchise seeing certain materials they read being altered,[[labelnote: Note]]To be specific, Eddie's sister being revealed to be the product of FakeMemories and his ''initial'' cancer diagnosis being faked by the Symbiote.[[/labelnote]] to the extent that one reviewer called it the “One More Day of Venom”. Others are fine with the retcons since it allowed for ''Venom: Dark Origin'' to be completely erased from continuity and are excited to see what Donny does with Eddie being a father, to a human child this time.
to:
** There’s also those who don’t ship it romantically who ''still'' dislike the numerous retcons to the story and the recycled symbiote leaving Eddie plot. This ''especially'' goes for longer-standing fans of the franchise seeing certain materials they read being altered,[[labelnote: Note]]To be specific, Note]]For example, Eddie's sister being revealed to be the product of FakeMemories and his ''initial'' initial cancer diagnosis being faked by the Symbiote.[[/labelnote]] to the extent that one reviewer called it the “One More Day of Venom”. Others are fine with the retcons since it allowed for ''Venom: Dark Origin'' to be completely erased from continuity and are excited to see what Donny does with Eddie being a father, to a human child this time.
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* BrokenBase: To the extent that a VocalMinority have given the author death threats. That minority aside, disagreements include:
to:
* BrokenBase: To the extent that a VocalMinority have given the author death threats. That minority aside, disagreements include:BrokenBase:
Changed line(s) 49 (click to see context) from:
* WTHCostumingDepartment: A sticking point for the first arc was Eddie's long hair -- evocative of his appearance in some of the 1990's comics -- which was seen by some fans as so un-Eddie that it made him look like Sabretooth. He eventually ''does'' get a new haircut in the second arc, however.
to:
* WTHCostumingDepartment: A sticking point for the first arc was Eddie's long hair -- evocative of his appearance in some of the 1990's comics -- which was seen by some fans as so un-Eddie that it made him look like Sabretooth. He eventually ''does'' get a new haircut in the second arc, however.however.
----
----
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Changed line(s) 28,34 (click to see context) from:
* OutOfCharacterMoment: Several, such as-
** Eddie seeking out Carl for help, when he has been very clear in the past on how this is something he would never ever do - even shooting down when they got in a dire enough situation that the ''symbiote'' suggested they ask.
** Eddie, a character known for always being protective of children and having just the previous issue been explicitly desperate for some family - being fairly disinterested and annoyed at the restaurant with his little brother who has clearly just been beaten, trying to connect with his big bro and ask for some help. Eddie still treats Dylan to some food and hears him out- but it's clear his mind is preoccupied with other stuff.
** Anne [[spoiler: leaving her son with Carl, even calling Carl family and trusting him to properly take care of Dylan. She very much knew how abusive he was to Eddie and her opinion of the man was not positive, so she would not have left a baby with him -- though Cates retconned this, saying she had no idea how bad a person he was]].
** Within the first couple of pages of their return, the Sleeper symbiote explicitly and suddenly explains themself as “unlike” Dylan not to be Eddie’s actual child, an explanation repeated to the extent that in Absolute Carnage 3, Brock barely reacts to seeing Sleeper again. Directly contradicting the explanation and views expressed in their debut miniseries, where Sleeper was specifically said by themself and Eddie to also be his child, with Eddie doting on them.
** Eddie Brock, lethal protector who even if he started killing less never became entirely opposed to those he saw deserving of it, suddenly expressing complete horror at the idea of killing [[spoiler: ‘’Norman Osborn’’]] of all people.
to:
** Eddie seeking out his abusive father Carl for help, when he has been very clear in the past on how this is something he would never ever do - even shooting the suggestion down when they got in a dire enough situation that the ''symbiote'' suggested they
** Eddie, a character known for always being protective of children and having just
** Anne
** Within the first couple of pages of their return, the Sleeper symbiote explicitly and suddenly explains
** Eddie Brock,
Changed line(s) 38,39 (click to see context) from:
** Anne Weying also suffers with the revelation that [[spoiler:the Venom symbiote effectively raped her during her transformation into She-Venom]].
** Even the Carnage Symbiote, which sometimes goes by she/her such as in Carnage USA, [[spoiler: had been confirmed dead, with it being the Grendel Symbiote Cletus is using now]]. Something that oddly enough, [[spoiler: Cletus]] himself has not even particularly reacted to at all yet, as of #16.
** Even the Carnage Symbiote, which sometimes goes by she/her such as in Carnage USA, [[spoiler: had been confirmed dead, with it being the Grendel Symbiote Cletus is using now]]. Something that oddly enough, [[spoiler: Cletus]] himself has not even particularly reacted to at all yet, as of #16.
to:
** Anne Weying also suffers with the revelation that [[spoiler:the Venom symbiote effectively raped her during her transformation into She-Venom]].
She-Venom, with the codex it left in her body incarnating as a human/symbiote hybrid]].
** Even the Carnage Symbiote, which sometimes goes by she/her such as inCarnage USA, ''Carnage USA'', [[spoiler: had been confirmed dead, with it being Cletus bonding to an offshoot of the Grendel Symbiote symbiote]]. Considering how Cletus is using now]]. Something viewed the Carnage symbiote as his soul mate, it's off that oddly enough, [[spoiler: Cletus]] Cletus himself has not even wasn't particularly reacted to at all yet, as upset by this aside from crying out in anguish before dying in ''Web of #16.Venom: Carnage Born''.
** Even the Carnage Symbiote, which sometimes goes by she/her such as in
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Added DiffLines:
* OutOfCharacterMoment: Several, such as-
** Eddie seeking out Carl for help, when he has been very clear in the past on how this is something he would never ever do - even shooting down when they got in a dire enough situation that the ''symbiote'' suggested they ask.
** Eddie, a character known for always being protective of children and having just the previous issue been explicitly desperate for some family - being fairly disinterested and annoyed at the restaurant with his little brother who has clearly just been beaten, trying to connect with his big bro and ask for some help. Eddie still treats Dylan to some food and hears him out- but it's clear his mind is preoccupied with other stuff.
** Anne [[spoiler: leaving her son with Carl, even calling Carl family and trusting him to properly take care of Dylan. She very much knew how abusive he was to Eddie and her opinion of the man was not positive, so she would not have left a baby with him -- though Cates retconned this, saying she had no idea how bad a person he was]].
** Within the first couple of pages of their return, the Sleeper symbiote explicitly and suddenly explains themself as “unlike” Dylan not to be Eddie’s actual child, an explanation repeated to the extent that in Absolute Carnage 3, Brock barely reacts to seeing Sleeper again. Directly contradicting the explanation and views expressed in their debut miniseries, where Sleeper was specifically said by themself and Eddie to also be his child, with Eddie doting on them.
** Eddie Brock, lethal protector who even if he started killing less never became entirely opposed to those he saw deserving of it, suddenly expressing complete horror at the idea of killing [[spoiler: ‘’Norman Osborn’’]] of all people.
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Virus doesn't have a symbiote.
Changed line(s) 15,17 (click to see context) from:
** Eddie's younger half-brother Dylan Brock has been embraced by the fandom for being one of the few brighter spots of the second arc.
* FridgeHorror: A massive one for any and all female symbiote hosts, especially ones who had their symbiote transported to them by male hosts, which even more horrifingly includes ‘’teenage charges’’ such as Jubulile and Andi, with the reveal of [[spoiler: the circumstances of Anne’s pregnancy, raising the questions of if while they escaped, these hosts might be or have been at risk of such a forced pregnancy too]].
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The run was meant to introduce a new symbiote character during its Free comic Book Day special in 2020 named Virus. A lot of people really liked the design and noted the simple-yet-cool name that was surprisingly overlooked, given the stranger names other symbiote characters have had... then Coronavirus became a ''much'' bigger issue (and it was already an issue when the character was revealed, though obviously not nearly as much of one during the creation itself), which also resulted in the delay of said FCBD issue due to the cancellation of FCBD 2020.
* FridgeHorror: A massive one for any and all female symbiote hosts, especially ones who had their symbiote transported to them by male hosts, which even more horrifingly includes ‘’teenage charges’’ such as Jubulile and Andi, with the reveal of [[spoiler: the circumstances of Anne’s pregnancy, raising the questions of if while they escaped, these hosts might be or have been at risk of such a forced pregnancy too]].
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The run was meant to introduce a new symbiote character during its Free comic Book Day special in 2020 named Virus. A lot of people really liked the design and noted the simple-yet-cool name that was surprisingly overlooked, given the stranger names other symbiote characters have had... then Coronavirus became a ''much'' bigger issue (and it was already an issue when the character was revealed, though obviously not nearly as much of one during the creation itself), which also resulted in the delay of said FCBD issue due to the cancellation of FCBD 2020.
to:
** Eddie's younger half-brother -- or rather, son -- Dylan Brock has been embraced by the fandom for being one of the few brighter spots of the second arc.
* FridgeHorror: A massive one for any and all female symbiote hosts, especially ones who had their symbiote transported to them by male hosts, which even morehorrifingly horrifyingly includes ‘’teenage charges’’ such as Jubulile and Andi, with the reveal of [[spoiler: the [[spoiler:the circumstances of Anne’s pregnancy, raising the questions of if while they escaped, these hosts might be or have been at risk of such a forced pregnancy too]].
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The run was meant to introduce a newsymbiote character during its Free comic Comic Book Day special in 2020 named Virus. A lot of people really liked the design and noted the simple-yet-cool name that was surprisingly overlooked, given the stranger names other symbiote characters have had... then Coronavirus became a ''much'' bigger issue (and it was already an issue when the character was revealed, though obviously not nearly as much of one during the creation itself), which also resulted in the delay of said FCBD issue due to the cancellation of FCBD 2020.
* FridgeHorror: A massive one for any and all female symbiote hosts, especially ones who had their symbiote transported to them by male hosts, which even more
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The run was meant to introduce a new
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Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The run was meant to introduce a new symbiote character during its Free comic Book Day special in 2020 named Virus. A lot of people really liked the design and noted the simple-yet-cool name that was surprisingly overlooked, given the stranger names other symbiote characters have had... then Coronavirus became a ''much'' bigger issue, which also resulted in the delay of said FCBD issue due to the cancellation of FCBD 2020.
to:
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The run was meant to introduce a new symbiote character during its Free comic Book Day special in 2020 named Virus. A lot of people really liked the design and noted the simple-yet-cool name that was surprisingly overlooked, given the stranger names other symbiote characters have had... then Coronavirus became a ''much'' bigger issue, issue (and it was already an issue when the character was revealed, though obviously not nearly as much of one during the creation itself), which also resulted in the delay of said FCBD issue due to the cancellation of FCBD 2020.
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Added DiffLines:
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The run was meant to introduce a new symbiote character during its Free comic Book Day special in 2020 named Virus. A lot of people really liked the design and noted the simple-yet-cool name that was surprisingly overlooked, given the stranger names other symbiote characters have had... then Coronavirus became a ''much'' bigger issue, which also resulted in the delay of said FCBD issue due to the cancellation of FCBD 2020.
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None
Changed line(s) 27 (click to see context) from:
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The series follows up [[ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom Mike Costa's run]], which was generally considered to be SoOkayItsAverage; and also uses Eddie Brock rather than Flash Thompson, who had only recently died. Not only that, but it was also worried the series would be too much of a tie-in to the film. Instead, the run so far is considered one of the best Venom series (to the point that it was joked that this run is better than DC's ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''). However this view has begun to change with the second arc, which while retconing the much reviled Dark Origin out of continuity, introduced several controversial retcons and had the Venom symbiote pretend to be brain dead for seemingly no reason.
to:
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The series follows up [[ComicBook/MikeCostasVenom Mike Costa's run]], which was generally considered to be SoOkayItsAverage; and also uses Eddie Brock rather than Flash Thompson, who had only recently died. Not only that, but it was also worried the series would be too much of a tie-in to the film. Instead, the run so far is considered one of the best Venom series (to the point that it was joked that this run is better than DC's ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''). However this view has begun to change the comic got a BrokenBase starting with the second arc, which while retconing retconning the much reviled Dark Origin out of continuity, introduced several controversial retcons and had the Venom symbiote pretend to be brain dead for seemingly no reason.divisive retcons.
