It’s been a while since we got a fairly deep character deep-dive in the recent Venom run, but boy did this issue make me realize just how starved for some primo feels. What that says about my daddy issues is another conversation entirely, but Venom #260 takes a bit of a detour from the ongoing fuss and muss of the Queen in Black event to focus more on where Dylan’s head is at.
You’d think that would be a big no-no considering that this is supposed to be a tie-in issue to the big event, and it does feel slightly misplaced, I won’t lie. But Ewing somehow manages to make this feel meaningful enough to where the POV character currently is to not feel like a complete shoe-in storyline. Therefore, Ewing continues to prove (take this as a positive or negative however you’d like) that Queen in Black’s tie-ins are outshining the main event book. And this issue is no different in that regard, even managing to pull itself back to some pretty interesting points in time from Ewing’s first run with the character from 2022.
The Father, The Son & The Venomous Spirit
This particular tie-in issue picks up immediately where Queen in Black #2 ended, with Dylan having been captured by the Symbiote Intelligence under Hela’s orders. As the monster uses its combined symbiote and Kree goo powers to try and probe through Dylan’s mind to find the secrets that Hela seeks, Dylan protects himself and Toxin by refusing to transform into his empowered Codex state. While this stops the Symbiote Intelligence from getting access to Dylan’s powers, it still forces Dylan to relive his worst memories.
The one memory in particular that Dylan is drawn back to (and one that is new for readers) was from the time in 2022 when Dylan – as Venom – faced Carnage for the first time and was subsequently killed by his sibling. That traumatic incident at the time forced Dylan’s mind deeper into the symbiote hive mind until he met the Black Engine? What is that, you ask? Well, old-time Venom readers will be quite familiar with all the Al Ewing-ness of it all and his deep lore drops with this one: the Black Engine being an Eddie Brock that finally achieves his final form at the end of time as the King in Black. Dylan is forced to confront himself and potential futures, seeking reassurance from the memory of something that wears his father’s face. Will that be enough to pull Dylan out of his funk and back into the fight? There’s definitely a bit of a tear-jerker in this issue as readers find out.
Working Through Some Issues
I believe this issue in particular manages to capture the best and worst of Al Ewing’s writing dispositions quite effectively. A recurring problem with most of his books at present is just how much deep lore Ewing likes to play with, and while this is definitely fun for readers who like finding fun little references to obscure storylines in their current runs, it can be incredibly overwhelming for new readers.
But in the few instances like Immortal Hulk where it's worked out, the results have been great to watch. Venom #260 doesn’t pull from particularly obscure books or symbiote lore by any means, going only so far as the 2022 Venom run that was co-written by Ram V, Al Ewing, and Torunn Gronbekk. But what it does manage to do with the greater metaphysical symbiote lore beats established by these writers in that story is that it contextualizes them more deeply to frame what Dylan’s currently going through in this issue. There’s genuinely a lot of trauma to unpack here for the kid, and I think Al Ewing does a good job exploring that in this issue. Dylan Brock is a boy with expectations thrust on his shoulders, and more than enough trauma to boot. He’s a McGuffin, he’s a walking apocalypse, he’s a hero in waiting. But most of all, he’s a scared, angry kid whose alien and biological parents have once again made him feel abandoned. And this issue brings those feelings to their peak.
Putting Dylan’s own headspace as the POV for this issue was a good choice in the grand scheme of things. Of course, it was unlikely we’d see Dylan free himself from the symbiote intelligence in a tie-in book, so Ewing uses this tie-in to effectively marinate that state of affairs with a quite literal deep dive into the lad’s psyche. With Dylan’s mind already in abject chaos, it’s a bit relatable that he’s put in a situation where he’s having to replay his biggest fears and insecurities. Those manifesting as memories of his father – especially in fairly literal godlike aspect – kind of puts those worries as something that’s truly eating Dylan’s mind whole. Ewing takes this even further, showing Dylan’s thoughts about the future that he’s potentially going to grow up in (even if he doesn’t know it yet) and him confronting both his own bad behaviour as well as his father’s absence. It’s great watching this play out the way it does, focusing on some real depth of character for Dylan – which was sorely missing when he was just written as a bratty kid with no one truly addressing the context for why he was acting out.
Venom #260 certainly closes on a very hopeful note, not just for Dylan but for his dad as well, who returns to save the day at the last minute. The Comeback King coming for the Comeback Kid, as Ewing puts it. I do, however, feel that even as much as Ewing did manage to balance deep lore with more character writing this time around, there are still those who might find a lot of the references overpowering. But personally, I think the more heartfelt stuff does do a good job in making this particular tie-in feel just as good as the others.
The Darkest Parts of the Mind
Carlos Gomez and Frank D’Armata continue to show their best symbiote work in this issue as well, with their linework and colors respectively highlighting the deeper metaphysical imagery that Ewing had established in his older Venom run. While these are concepts that had been tackled previously by other artists in the past, the current run’s art team finally gets a crack at showing off some fun moments from that wild series, and they do a great job with it from start to finish.
Gomez draws the Black Engine as imposingly and as deadly as it was when it first appeared, and the constant shifts across forms with Eddie as the King in Black and various other points in history are also drawn exquisitely. Dylan being the focal character gets drawn with a ton of emotionality, which Gomez has always presented with the lad through this most recent run. There are some truly heartfelt panels where “Eddie” and Dylan really go heart to heart about both their fears and anxieties, and it’s drawn and written well enough to really tug at the heartstrings. And that’s the admirable part of this issue; it's certainly light on the action, but the emotional weight of its key moments is something Gomez is able to showcase quite beautifully in his own unique style. Oh, and of course, he gets to have first crack at showing off Eddie’s latest symbiote-powered design, combining some really cool aspects from where both Eddie and Sleeper (his other son) are currently at in their journeys. It’s fun to see, no doubt.
Similarly, D’Armata plays around with a ton of colors, but of course black is the order of the day. I like how colors blending across memories works with D’Armata’s work, where you see the greens from Dylan being trapped in the Symbiote Intelligence transitioning through memories of Black in the Black Engine and other shades as he sees memories of Carnage, the dark future, and various other realities. Pairing perfectly with Gomez’s linework throughout, D’Armata certainly stamps his own mark on this issue and this Venom run as a whole with his work.
Some Much Needed Character Work
The kind of character-driven drama that feels like it’s genuinely addressing the deeper issues with characters is something I’ve felt has been sorely missing in Ewing’s current Venom run, but Venom #260 is once again one of the rare occasions where he does manage to put the whimsical and cliched action adventuring aside for a bit more pathos. And I appreciate that. As a long-time Venom reader of both his run and the character in general, I think the use of lore to really drive Dylan’s POV and help him achieve some degree of closure was done well and meaningfully.
That being said, do I think the themes covered in this issue should’ve come outside of a Queen in Black tie-in? Maybe sure, because it does feel like a bit more of a detour compared to the other tie-ins. But I am still glad we got this issue and the deeper layers it adds to such a complicated relationship between fathers and sons. Alien or human, the daddy issues are all too real, and I’m all here for it with this book.
Final Verdict: Venom #260 is a detour of a tie-in that feels somewhat misplaced, yet makes up for that by fleshing out Dylan Brock’s headspace in a refreshing and genuinely heartfelt manner.