Writer: Ram V
Artist: Bryan Hitch
Color Artist: Alex Sinclair
Inker: Andrew Currie
Cover Artist: Bryan Hitch
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Venom is under attack from all sides, but there’s still hope. Even with the Life Foundation having captured Dylan Brock, the boy still has allies to help him out. The symbiote Sleeper has put a plan into motion to rescue him, and the Venom symbiote is trying to help him in its own way. See how Dylan and his allies get out of the grips of their enemies in Venom #12!
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Review:
This issue definitely surprised me with some of its developments, some thankfully not taking too long to come into fruition than expected. Dylan is trapped in the clutches of the Life Foundation but his mind is safe, sort of, in the Venom symbiote. But in order for Dylan to get back to the physical world, he needs to fight his way through the inner world of not only the Venom symbiote but Eddie Brock, or rather the shadow of his memories.
The issue has a solid opening with the confrontation between Dylan and this fragment of Eddie Brock. While the fight wasn’t too long, what matters is the emotional turmoil that Dylan goes through as he does so and the conclusion makes sense within the context of this series. But it’s not the end of the story for both Dylan or the comic as it continues with the Sleeper portion. Readers will definitely get immediate payoff with Sleeper and his rescue attempt of Dylan as it’s very satisfying especially with Bryan Hitch’s art and Lee Loughridge’s colors making him stand out in the comic.
After that, Ram V takes it a step further by finally delivering some payoff to the whole “Symbiote Evolution” storyline established from earlier story arcs. I won’t spoil what happens but it’s definitely something that will catch fans by surprise. After issues of villains like Meridius and the head of the Life Foundation talking about the Venom symbiote’s evolution, we finally get a more substantial development on that side of things beyond just an arm-blade and a modified Venom logo.
If nothing else, when the big moment happens, fans of Donny Cates Venom run will be even more caught off-guard by this development. Hopefully for the better as everything setup with the Meridius storyline is starting to have ripple effects on Dylan’s side of things and this feels like an element to naturally explore in this series. But it remains to be seen what Ram V and probably Al Ewing do with it in future issues.
Final Thoughts:
Venom #12 continues the journey with Dylan and the Venom symbiote in this new issue. The writing has a good balance of both emotional and physical conflicts for Dylan and his allies to deal with. The art by Bryan Hitch gets to shine with Dylan, the Venom symbiote, and Sleeper when he sees action. The ending will definitely surprise some fans, especially fans of Donny Cates’ Venom run and leaves some interesting potential for what happens next in the series.