Venom, Vol. 2: Deviation

Venom (2021)

by Al Ewing (Writer), Ram V (Writer), Bryan Hitch (Penciler)

Dylan Brock, the new Venom, is in the fight of his life — and he may be in it alone! As Dylan and his symbiote continue to learn to live together without Eddie Brock, the Life Foundation has activated a deadly new operative named the Spearhead! Dylan and Venom aren’t the only ones dead in his sights — every single symbiote that they (and you!) have ever known and cared about is a target as well! Just days ago, Dylan thought his biggest problem was his father’s preoccupation with running the symbiote hive as its King in Black. Now, Eddie is gone — and the only vestige left of him is in Venom! But without Eddie’s guidance, Dylan stands poised to fulfill his destiny, and give into the same darkness that his father once did…

COLLECTING: Venom (2021) 6-10

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Spider Man, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Superheroes

112 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2022

Reviews

[Subham]

Reread: 13/05/2024
This actually made for a great reread and I love how you're seeing the connections like the first story of Dylan in the town of Baywater and the trouble with bikers there which is a fun story and then vs Bedlam and then seeing Eddie's journey through time and well meeting Kang and then learning his history of who he is and who these new foes are and yeah its topsy turvy but its so connected, its mind boggling and the evolution of Eddie into becoming the villain will be interesting, really fun twist and can't wait to reread the next volume and the art is growing on me!!
_______________________________________________________________
This was pretty fun lol!

So we see whats going on with Dylan in that town of "Baywater" and there are some fun characters there and you get to see him become a hero and all which I love and might have been the best part of the book and the big twist with Bedlam!

And then finally seeing where Eddie has been and the time-stream and his relation to it, the return of Kang and yeah I loved the fight there but its what happens after it as Eddie learns who Meridius and other symbiotes are and how its connected to Dylan in the present and yeah thats a big twist/retcon and Idk if I like it. Its a lot to take in for sure and may not end in the way they expect it to be but then again lets see how it turns out to be.

Overall a decent read and good art for sure though it could use some improvement in coloring and ha cool moments for both Eddie and Dylan and you will definitely enjoy this sci-fi venom series!

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant]

Remember when Spider-Verse was a success and Marvel started creating a verseworld for every superhero? This is the same thing all over again, but with the Immortal Hulk plotline, that's right, Al Ewing is doing the same thing all over again for Venom, with different takes here and there, of course, but it's basically the same dish, just with different condiments, and I won't be surprised if we see this idea being applied to a ton of other titles. I just took a small peek at upcoming titles and there's already an Immortal Thor coming out, shocking.

I gotta be honest, Marvel is basically dead to me at this point, there's nothing of interest coming out, I'm still on board with Daredevil, and the X-Men, but even that brand is going downhill in quality since Hickman left, so I guess my best hope as a customer is to basically wait for the next big relaunch.

[Robert]

I tried, people, but this one had two things I find particularly off-putting- 1. Greasy Bikers and 2. Lots of Timey-Wimey plot. The art is great, for what it has to show, so 3 stars seems fair but I won't be continuing the series.

[Alex Sarll]

Well, apparently I'm sticking with this at least up to Dark Web. Now fully bifurcated, it opens with two Ram V issues of Dylan Brock trying to be a non-lethal protector, and making a terrible hash of it. Apart from Dylan's whining annoying me as much as it did the symbiote, I didn't buy the key detail where the gang leader treats 'symbiote attack on the stash' as the obvious bullshit it would be in our world. Surely on Marvel Earth, mere months after a worldwide invasion of the bastards, this is as unexceptionable as 'trespassers on the line' here?

The other three issues, by Al Ewing, are better - timey-wimey body horror in service of a deeper unease. But the lead at odds with his other selves was so much more compelling in Immortal Hulk, and a guest spot for Kang only serves to remind us that he already does the All You Zombies temporal version of this schtick pretty definitively.

[James DeSantis]

Venom is trying too much with saying very little.

I enjoy both writers work but they seem extremely disconnected here in this title. Dylan doing whatever with Venom as his weapon, and it's kind of just dull. And you have Eddie still traveling through time and shit and it's not very good or interesting. The art, which I usually enjoy Hitch, feels a bit stiff too. Overall, it's readable, but just boring if I'm being honest. A far cry from Cates much stronger run.

A 2 out of 5.

[Emmett Spain]

The second half of this book was way cooler than the first, as the strange, twisted nature of the villain comes together with a series of twists. This is a very trippy book. I wasn’t sold on it at first, but after this volume, I’m down for some more. 3.5 stars.

[johnny ♡]

ehhh no

[Juan Francisco]

De nuevo, no sé si me gusta. Al ser una historia de viajes en el tiempo, todas las piezas encajarán al final, por lo que es difícil evaluar cada número de forma individual. Está es una etapa que debería valorarse en su conjunto. Dicho esto, me parece que Ewing se ha fumado tremendo porro y se la pela todo.

[Cristhian]

El concepto es interesante, la ejecución es lo que se siente enredado.

[Dakota Morgan]

In Deviation, Ram V writes a few issues about Venom and Dylan as they try to save a town from a biker gang. All fine! Then Al Ewing takes over and attempts to one-up his insane Hulk run. Get this: Eddie Brock is in an endless cycle of King in Black deaths and rebirths until the end of time at which point he becomes Meridius. Head-spinning! Oh, also, he teams up with Kang at some point! Okay!

Fortunately, Ewing's high concept work is better than most, and I can surprisingly say that I set down Deviation with a pretty good idea of what was going on. It is very different from the Donny Cates run, but I guess that's fine? This is still a fast read with above average art. Now that the insane stuff has been introduced, we'll see if Ewing and Ram V can pull off an ending.

[Adam Fisher]

What happened to this title??
With Dylan as Venom and Eddie stuck off on adventures through time with Kang, this book became almost incomprehensible. To save me confusion in the future I will just say this.... At the end of this Volume, Eddie realizes that he is all the future versions of Venom, but has only seen six iterations so far. There is a seventh Venom.... Who is he?
Maybe I just don't like Al Ewing's writings, as I did not like Immortal Hulk either.

Come on Marvel, quit playing the time travel game and fix Venom.

[Alex]

So a lot of the picture is coming into frame now. A lot of my predictions on the time travel turn out true, as Eddie is his own worst enemy as the loop continues on and on. There has to be way out of this. Dylan's two issues dealing with rival biker gangs feels like window dressing at best, they feel insignificant in the grand scheme.

[Jason]

4.25
The last issue pulled (saved) the whole series together in a big way. Well done. Can't believe I didn't see it.

[Chris Lemmerman]

This Venom series continues to be unlike any of the ones before it. The twin plotlines of the Meridius stuff in the future and the Dylan Brock stuff in the present begin to twist together, and there are a number of insane reveals that actually made me put the book down and do a double take. If this was anyone other than Ewing and V trying to pull this off I'd probably be worried, but I know both of them are fans of long-term planning and continuity, so I know for a fact that they know what they're doing.

The fact that Bryan Hitch has now pencilled 10 issues in a row without help should be surprising, but he did 12 in a row on Hawkman before, so I guess this is his new normal, which I appreciate a lot actually. He's always been a great artist, and being a great artist who can get stuff out on time only makes him better in my eyes.

10 issues in and we're still full steam ahead - I have literally no idea what's going to happen in either plot line from one page to the next, and with Kang in the mix now as well, the sky's the limit.

[Ross]

I guess when you have a time travel story, you REALLY have to commit
(to all the twists, turns, and overlaps)

When last we followed our protagonist, Eddie Brock was learning about the being known as Meridius. Brock was bouncing around time in the symbiote network trying to reach his son, but basically weaving himself into his own timeline in (what I'm guessing) is this gigantic Gordian knot. Time travel stories are usually messy...and any use of Kang can confirm this. He ultimately learns things about his recent past and how things end up for the 'King of Black' in the distant future.

Meanwhile, Dylan is trying to be the 'hero' and learn how to work with a Brock-less Venom. The two of them don't. quite. bond. Hard to see if there's a way out of this time loop(prison), but we have a great creative team at the helm.

Bonus: Can't have a time travel adventure without a Kang cameo...
Bonus Bonus: Bedlam is a beast

[Roman]

​​Продовжуємо розбирати ран ЕлВі на Веномі. І на черзі у нас друга арка яка вийшла кращою за першу.

У перших двох номерах у нас відбувається лінія Ділана за яку відповідає Рам Ві. Після того як малий втік з лабораторії Алкемакс він заховався в невеличкому містечку яким керує група байкерів. Як на мене то цього разу його лінія вийшла набагато цікавішою за те, що було минулого разу. Мені сподобалося як спроба Ділана бути героєм обернулася величезною катастрофою для міста. Ну і також тут малий вступив у сутичку з Бедламом (один з королів у чорному з саду симбіонтів).

Далі у нас йде лінії з Едді який застряг у майбутньому і починає подорожувати у часі, щоб повернутися до сина. І я дуже хочу похвалити Юінґа за креатив, хоча й реалізація суперечлива. Суть в тому, що нам покажуть події першої арки з точки зору Едді, що з одного боку класно, а з іншого відчувається як топтання на місці. Однак все моє невдоволення перекриває місцевий неочікуваний поворот який виявився дуже класним. Виявляється, що Едді потрапив у часову петлю і що королі в чорному з якими він зустрівся це Едді Брок в різні моменти цієї петлі.

Загалом серія починає розганятися і друга арка це правильний крок вперед. Лінія Едді продовжує бути найцікавішою частиною серії, але цього разу й Ділан не підвів.

[Michelle]

*Sad Trombone Noises*

Well...looks like it's not getting any better...

Look, if you like this kind of sci-fi stuff in your super hero stories, that's great. It's just Venom was a different beast you know? This whole time-travel, all the Kings In Black being Eddie, it's just boring and not really a Venom story. The whole time I was reading this, I kept wondering 'ok, but, what's the point?'

I at least enjoyed the beginning of this book when Dylan was struggling with 'what does it mean to be a hero' with the biker gang. That might be the highlight of this current arch so far. But the lack luster boring 'main plot' literally crashes into Dylan and becomes something infinitely less interesting.

I'm really hoping this series gets their act together, because I'm starting to get really annoyed.

[Sarospice]

Venom loses some of it's luster when it's just a naked character falling thru time going back and forth on all his mistakes. Someone make sure Al Ewing gets laid. Too self indulgent. Which is too bad as Eddie trying to raise Dylan to live with symbiotes is interesting enough. He doesn't need Kang to ruin things by noting everything has already been done, in the time stream... also, naked man with no genitals. Sad.

[Brandon Daniels]

This is a weird book. Al Ewing is a great writer, and he’s working in a mode that is not dissimilar to his amazing run on Immortal Hulk. Ram V is another writer who has proven himself to be consistently interesting. But you can feel them struggling here. Brian Hitch’s art is good, but he also seems to be struggling with some of the weirder stuff here. This book ends with a pretty satisfying cliffhanger that adds some much needed clarity, but the journey to get there was a little tedious.

[Sean]

This was so incredibly hard to get through. Ewing and V combine to tell an incredibly boring, thoroughly confusing, and totally lackluster book. The time travel/space god, multiple Venoms does not work at all. Dylan is still interesting and still doesn't get enough time to shine. This was a mess. Bryan Hitch does some solid work on the art side but he had so little to work with here. Overall, this book has quickly nosedived.

[Chad]

I'm finding the Ram V. / Dylan story way more compelling than the Al Ewing / timey-wimey bs. It's all boring as all get out. Dylan's story is way more straight forward and interesting to me. The time travel stuff is so cliche that none of it is surprising at this point. It just seems like a complete waste of time. Hitch's art is, of course, very good even with three different inkers.

[Travis Pipes]

issue to issue the plot feels unnecessarily convoluted. when taken in as a whole, you see the tendrils of timelines, sprawling and stretching into each other, making a big splatter of nonsense and madness; the way those CGI battles in the Venom movies elicit dumb joy despite being incomprehensible slime videos.

[Willow]

I enjoyed this one! The big reveal in the last issue was super predictable, and something I was fairly sure was coming from like issue 2 of this series, but still, the reveal was handled well and I'm still intrigued by the series and want to see where it goes from here.

[Jamie]

Weak book. Just like he did with Swamp Thing, the writer Ram V is now writing another titular character; but with a new identity: Dylan Brock rather than Eddie Brock.
Couldn’t grip me at all, and in the end I gave up.
Wouldn’t recommend.

[Joshua]

Biker gangs, time stream, yes please

[Nick]

This is great, especially the Al Ewing timey wimey issues.

[Daniel Butcher]

3.75


Trippy time travel inner soul seeking struggle. But when did Venom become the most important cosmic hero?

[Xavi (NarraTea)]

Oh….wow

[Library 87]

Ewing and Ram V are a great pair on this as far as the writing goes.

[Craig]

Not a fan of all this time travel nonsense. The focus needs to be on Eddie and Dylan and forget Kang and the evil future Venom. The art is serviceable, but little more.