Comic Review: Venom (2018-) #10

Venom #10

Marvel Comics

Writer: Donny Cates

Artist: Ryan Stegman

Donny Cates’ Venom has proven itself as one of Marvel’s best current titles on the strength of its storytelling and art, giving us a very well written rendition of Eddie Brock. This issue largely focuses on Eddie’s backstory that had been teased in earlier issues, so this issue is a little light on symbiote action and far more about giving further context to Eddie and his relationship with his father. It’s a reasonably unconventional origin story for a character who is essentially a superhero at this point (at worst, an antihero).

Cates gives Eddie a motivation for wanting to protect the innocent that actually feels like it gels with who Eddie already is as a character, instead of making some big sweeping fundamental change to the personality or history of Eddie. It’s cleverly done and expands the character rather than changing him.

Alongside the revealing of Eddie’s past, we’re also given a couple of plot hooks to come back to later, especially a last page “what the hell” moment that should make this story even more interesting than it already has been. Besides Eddie’s superb characterization, we also get more of a sense of the kind of man Eddie’s father is in this issue, and while there isn’t too much he does in this issue, his personality is extremely clear within the few panels he appears.

Ryan Stegman’s art is outstanding, even in an issue with less panel time for action. Treading a fine line between a realistic and cartoonish aesthetic, Stegman delivers emotive facial expressions in an issue where the character’s emotions are essentially the full focus. There’s one critical page with especially nice panel work and coloring that gives it a real sense of horror and makes it an incredibly impactful page.

Even in the most mundane panels of this book, Stegman’s art is detailed and cohesive, and as ever, when symbiotes appear, he displays an incredible knack for emphasising their fluidity. The coloring in this issue is solid, largely unremarkable on pages where it isn’t too important, but well used when the issue wants the moment to feel important and dramatic. In addition, the faded, washed out colouring used for Eddie’s backstory is simple but effective, helping to create a clear distinction between panels in the present and panels in the past.