Donny Cates' Venom run ain't slowing down any time soon.
One might think with Ryan Stegman taking a couple of issues off that any big deal stuff might be on hold until his return but, nope, this is a must read.
The fallout from the series' first run begins to be dealt with as Eddie finds himself in a mysterious holding cell and being interrogated by a figure who we don't immediately see for ourselves.
This figure is grilling Eddie on the whereabouts of the sample this person's team took of the dead symbiotic dragon. Eddie doesn't know what this person is talking about. As far as he's concerned, after he passed out after roasting the dragon in a blast furnace, the next thing he knew, he was in this cell.
Eddie assumes he's being held by S.H.E.I.L.D. but his interrogator tells him that's not the case. We see that the person questioning Eddie is none other than the Reed Richards of the Ultimate universe, known as The Maker. The Maker is currently working with an organization calling itself Project Oversight and they believe Eddie knows where the sample went to.
When Eddie reiterates that he went from passing out by the blast furnace to waking up in custody, The Maker informs him that that isn't the case. The symbiote took over Eddie, fought The Maker's team (killing several members), and went on the run for three weeks.
They finally found him at Brock's father's house in San Francisco and took him in. Eddie remembers none of this, including seeing his father.
The Maker says the symboite has been protecting Eddie, shielding him from memories that it believes will upset Eddie.
When Eddie demands The Maker return the symboite to him, it's revealed that it's still attached to Eddie but is now silent. The damage it sustained in the battle with its god has silenced it and removed its personality. When Eddie tells The Maker to fix it, The Maker explains that the only way to restore its original makeup would be to reconnect it and restore it from the central hive itself. He notes that Flash Thompson was the only person to survive that experience and now that Flash is dead...
A shocked Eddie stops him. This is the first time he's learning that Flash has died.
TO BE CONTINUED.
-------
I really dug this issue. Rather than the slam-bang action of the first arc, this is more of a dramatic, psychological issue that lays down tracks for what's next.
After reading Immortal Hulk today, I didn't think anything else could out shock that issue but the reveal of the The Maker here floored me. Totally unexpected to see him pop up in this book. What he and Project Oversight are up to (and who else is in Project Oversight, for that matter) should make for some interesting reading, to say the least.
I also liked the brief glimpse of Eddie father here and am intrigued by the promise that we'll be getting an exploration of Eddie's relationship with his dad.