A new variant cover for Venom #18, drawn by the talented Paco Medina, gives Eddie Brock the true King in Black treatment, casting the former host of Venom as a valiant warrior with impressive armor, an Odin-like missing eye, and a new version of All-Black the Necrosword, honoring his status as Marvel God.
Eddie Brock famously killed the dark God Knull in King in Black #6, becoming the new King in Black as well as earning the title of God of Symbiotes, but since then the troubled man has been in freefall, trapped outside of time by a villainous future version of himself named Meridius, and becoming estranged from his son Dylan Brock, the new host of Venom.
Venom #18 - written by Al Ewing with art by Cafu - sees Eddie's dark and mysterious journey continue after the conclusion of the tumultuous Dark Web event, and while Brock is perhaps in the most desperate place he has ever been, Paco Medina's gorgeous variant cover (shared by League of Comic Geeks) honors Eddie's time as the God of Symbiotes, while instilling hope that he might regain that status sometime soon.
“ILLUMINATION” STARTS HERE! As Dylan Brock builds an army, his father and the original Venom, EDDIE BROCK, finds himself more alone than ever before, working through a change unlike any he’s been through ever before! But the real question is: what will Eddie become once he’s on the other side?
The God of Symbiotes Has Been Hurt Like Never Before
Eddie's fall from grace has been spectacularly bleak, first getting his physical form killed as Venom before having his consciousness transported to the Garden of Time, trapping him in a vicious time loop fighting against future versions of himself like the rage-filled Bedlam and godlike Meridius. Brock's time as the formal God of Symbiotes was short-lived, and while throughout this new dark era he has remained the King in Black, using his connection to the symbiote hive mind several times, he has been very disconnected from his full power as a cosmic Marvel God.
However, even when he is in a downward spiral, he continues to collect god-like aspects, like his recent loss of an eye, sliced from his face by his own son Dylan while he was in his vicious Bedlam form. Just like the Norse god Odin, who sacrificed his eye to gain the wisdom to defeat Ragnorak and save Asgard, and Odin's godly son Thor, Eddie is now a cyclopean God as well, and while he did not willingly sacrifice his eye, there is a chance that this final betrayal will lead him to gaining the wisdom he needs to save himself, his son, and his status as a God and hero.
Eddie Brock Is About To Transform Into A Symbiote Magician
Paco Medina's medieval art featuring Eddie as a fierce King in Black warrior - towering over a flaming field of the skulls of his presumed enemies - is the perfect cover for the start of Brock's new "Illumination" arc, which will see the former host of Venom becoming a powerful magic wielder in the Marvel mythos, continuing to deepen the complex lore of the symbiotes. Specifically, Venom #17 ends as a symbiote voice narrates that Eddie will need to choose between becoming a magician that adheres to the philosophy of "white magic" or "black magic," before a Venomized mystical Hand of Glory appears before him. This scene was shown in the FCBD 2022 Spider-Man/Venom issue, but what the FCBD issue reveals that Venom #17 does not is that past the "Un-beyond, the Qlippoth of Omega" lies the "Heart of the Hive," which is an engine room that serves as the "true home of the King in Black."
While the original Venom may have fallen from godhood in recent issues, Paco Medina's impressive variant cover shows that the powerful Eddie Brock may be living up to his King in Black potential once again, becoming not only the God of Symbiotes, put something much more.
Venom #18 from Marvel Comics debuts April 5, 2023.
Source: League of Comic Geeks