So here's my conundrum. I really don't like Venom whatsoever, but I really freaking love Donny Cates' writing.

And throughout this entire collection, there was that constant push/pull thing going on. Decent art, verging occasionally on spectacular. And while I still didn't like Venom or Eddie Brock or pretty much anything about this series, Cates' writing transcended my dislike more often than I expected. He's got a way with making observations about human nature that simply cut through the crap and hit you right in the heart. And, as I've said elsewhere, he's got a better grasp on the cosmic than any writer working in the field. Possibly the one that might have come close would have been Jim Starlin or Chris Claremont in their glory days, but I still think Cates kicks both their asses in that regard.

In the long run, I followed all the twists and turns of this story. I wasn't crazy about the story overall, but the level of excellence Cates brings to the table elevated this tale to the point where I could dig it far more than I expected. ( )

Now THIS is a comic book. It delves into the lore of the alien symbiotes in a way that I had never considered... plus there's a giant DRAGON. Alien fights, Venom with guns and explosions, this comic even includes Miles Morales- the best Spiderman.

Very excited for this series to continue. ( )

Eddie Brock is having nightmares about his "other" in another life. He has also lost his job. He is still trying to do good and fight the bad guys as Venom but it's hard controlling a creature that wants to constantly kill. When he's going after a fake Jack O'Latern he is kidnapped by a strange man named Rex Strickland with a story to tell.

Flash Thompson wasn't the first symbiote user. A long time ago they created super soldiers using the symbiote and Rex was one of them. They had these men going around the world killing people for the American government. He discovered that you don't age when you wear the symbiote. He got out of the program and went to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. but his buddies weren't so lucky. They bonded too well with their symbiote and went insane so they were put on ice.

Now that S.H.I.E.L.D. is disbanded they are going to destroy the men and Rex just can't let that happen to his men. Rex gives him the coordinates for an underground road that S.H.I.E.L.D. uses to transport their problems and he is there to rescue them and get answers. Something comes and kills the symbiotes and blocks Eddie from his "other" so he doesn't know what's going on. He hears a strange language and asks his "other" what it means and he tells him that it says "God is coming."

Eddie blames Rex for setting him up but Rex had no idea about the dragon-like being that is flying over San Francisco. He thought it was dead. It was something he saw when he became a symbiote when he was almost killed in the war in a vision that told him that "God is coming." Now Venom is heading out to defeat the god before it destroys the earth.

This was a good comic that really explores some of the histories of the symbiotes. Eddie is alone in this one until he meets Rex which is why I think he is secretly happy to have him around to talk to about being a symbiote and just have a human being to be around. I really did enjoy this book and I give it four out of five stars. ( )