Writer: Al Ewing
Artists: Sergio Dávila, Sean Parsons, Ken Lashley, Cafu & Julius Ohta
Color Artist: Frank D’Armata
Cover Artists: Bryan Hitch & Alex Sinclair
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Eddie Brock has been through much this past year. He has hurtled through time to find a way to defeat his current foe Meridius who threatens him, the Venom symbiote, and his son Dylan. But to do so, he needed to time travel the real way and sought out Dr. Doom for his time machine. But Doom didn’t approve of his action and in the altercation, Eddie ended up forcing the machine on only to send them both back in time to unknown destinations. Read the oversized issue of Venom #25 to see Eddie Brock, Bedlam, and Dr. Doom in a wild journey through time, if Doom doesn’t kill Eddie first.
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Review:
Last time, Eddie Brock went looking for a time machine and traveled to Latveria to ask Dr. Doom for his Time Platform. Of course, the good doctor is not pleased with his request and a fight broke out with Eddie and Bedlam smashing the controls of the Time Platform which takes all three of them randomly back in time. There will be some slight SPOILERS here and there in the review.
The first thing I will say about this comic is that it’s fun from start to finish. It is very much what you’d expect as a weird time travel story where Eddie and Doom are taken through specific points in the Marvel Comics timeline, some with significance to the overarching plot, and some with significance to the main characters. What’s more, the comic uses the various points in time to provide the multiple artists involved in the comic a chance to illustrate Eddie and Dr. Doom in different parts of their shared journey through time. This way they all have a chance to actually illustrate a quarter of the book instead of just a few pages.
Now, the journey for Eddie and Dr. Doom leads them to various interesting points in time, one in the prehistoric era, the early modern time period and some closer to their own respective present day. The story of course finds a reasonable way to factor Kang The Conqueror into the mix, which makes all the sense in the world since he’s showed up before and if they wanted to have another time traveler in the equation, why not the guy where that’s his whole shtick. There’s plenty of great banter between Eddie and Dr. Doom, there’s also plenty of action as well, whether it’s Eddie and Doom fighting each other or fighting together against other threats. Either way, readers will undoubtedly have a fun time reading this comic.
One thing to note is that the lead star of this comic is oddly enough not Eddie or Bedlam but Dr. Doom. Al Ewing really knows how to capture the voice of Dr. Doom as he is the one who ends up narrating everything for the entire comic book and it shows all the multiple aspects of his personality on display. His ego, his genius, his aristocratic sense of taste, his eloquent vocabulary, and his brand of fury and calculated vengeance.
Just like in Fantastic Four #7, which was supposed to be an anniversary celebration for the heroes, it turned into more of a celebration of Dr. Doom. The same happens here where Dr. Doom is the breakout star of this comic while Eddie Brock is more of the tag along as far as writing and presence goes. But don’t worry, the comic ultimately circles back to the main Venom plot and why Eddie went through all of this trouble in the first place.
Final Thoughts:
Venom #25 tells an exciting story as Eddie Brock and Dr. Doom are taken through a wild journey through time. With the different time periods featured in the story, the comic allows for the multiple artists the opportunity to illustrate the comic beyond just a couple of pages. The comic does a solid job establishing an engaging dynamic between Eddie Brock and Dr. Doom from start to finish with Dr. Doom essentially stealing the show in almost every part of the comic. Overall, readers will enjoy this comic whether they’re Venom fans, Dr. Doom fans, or just a Marvel fan who likes reading a fun comic book story with great art.