Guest post by Venom vlogger Siike Donnelly
With a tip on the true identity of a killer named the Sin-Eater, who recently took the life of New York City Detective Jean DeWolff, journalist Eddie Brock wrote a story that identified the killer, leading the police to arrest the monster that had been terrorizing the Big Apple, and taken the life of one of its best officers. Unfortunately for Eddie, he identified the wrong guy.
Spider-Man captured the real Sin-Eater, and Eddie’s career and reputation were ruined. Not only did Eddie lose his job, but his wife, Anne Weying, divorced him as well. To top it all off, Eddie Brock also learned that he had cancer. The city that once remained glued to every word Eddie typed, now spewed venom at him.
Imagine that in today’s world. It’s not that difficult. Eddie’s blue Twitter checkmark would be removed after thousands, or maybe even millions would tag him and his employer in the hopes of getting him fired. This is why Eddie is a unique character in today’s world of comics and fiction, and why I think he is one of the most relevant. His life was destroyed overnight. Just as Spider-Man rejected the alien black costume, so too has New York City rejected Eddie. This leads him down a very dark road, which ends in an attempt at suicide. Sadly, this is something we’ve all seen in the world today. To me, this is why Eddie is worth reading about, and why he deserves his own film.
So if you’re going to prepare for the movie by reading about Eddie Brock, and his alien symbiote from the planet Klyntar, you need to understand that first and foremost, Eddie is just a guy. He screws up. He makes mistakes. Some driven by ego, some driven by greed, or inexperience, or just overlooking the obvious. He’s not necessarily a bad guy, nor is he good. But whether he’s worth forgiving is something you as a reader will have to decide for yourself after reading the following stories.
1. The Death of Jean DeWolff
To know the pain New York City felt, and why they would hate Eddie Brock after pinning the Sin-Eater crimes to the wrong guy in an article, you have to know the importance of the Sin-Eaters victims; namely Detective Jean DeWolff. This graphic novel collects Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #107 – #110, which originally printed in 1985-1986 by Peter David, Rich Buckler, and Brett Breeding, is one of my favorite Spider-Man stories, and key in understanding what Spidey and New York City lost before Eddie Brock gets involved. Note: Eddie nor Venom show up in this story, but its still essential reading in order to fully make up your mind on how you feel about Eddie Brock.