Published Jun 12, 2026, 6:27 PM EDT
CBR senior staff writer Brian Cronin has been writing professionally about comic books for twenty years now at CBR (primarily with his “Comics Should Be Good” series of columns, including Comic Book Legends Revealed). He has written two books about comics for Penguin-Random House – Was Superman a Spy? And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed and Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? And Other Amazing Comic Book Trivia! and one book, 100 Things X-Men Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, from Triumph Books. His writing has been featured at ESPN.com, the Los Angeles Times, About.com, the Huffington Post, Vulture and Gizmodo. He features legends about entertainment and sports at his website, Legends Revealed and other pop culture features at Pop Culture References. Follow him on Twitter at @Brian_Cronin and feel free to e-mail him suggestions for stories about comic books that you'd like to see featured at brianc@cbr.com!
After the hit Venom film trilogy, if you asked fans who Venom's host was, your average fan would almost certainly still say "Eddie Brock." However, Eddie Brock lost the Venom symbiote during the 2024 crossover event, The Venom War. The current host of the Venom symbiote is Mary Jane Watson.
Eddie, instead, bonded with the Carnage symbiote, with the hope that he could control it, and make it a force for...if not GOOD, at least not AS evil as it normally is. He did this by agreeing to, in effect, "feed" it serial killers. He would let it kill, but only the most evil people on the planet.
Eddie, however, underestimated how well he could control the symbiote, as Carnage secretly made a connection with the serial killer villain known as Torment, and, using information it learned from its bond with Eddie, told Torment the secret identities of Spider-Man and Venom, and Torment began killing their relatives as he closed the "spiral" around them until he would finally kill Mary Jane, Peter, AND Eddie.
Carnage then left Eddie entirely to bond with Torment, leaving Eddie Brock a wanted criminal...and symbioteless. So Eddie is now in prison, but after Hela took control of all symbiotes as the Queen in Black (a role Eddie once held as the King in Black), Eddie knows that he HAS to get involved, with a symbiote or not! Marvel is sharing with us four first look pages from Queen in Black: Venom Unchained #1, which is out next month!
What is the Solicitation for Queen in Black: Venom Unchained #1?
QUEEN IN BLACK: VENOM UNCHAINED #1 (OF 3)
CHARLES SOULE (W) • JUANAN RAMÍREZ (A) • COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YU
VARIANT COVER BY PEACH MOMOKO • VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY PEACH MOMOKO
VARIANT COVER BY SKAN • VARIANT COVER BY EMA LUPACCHINO
EDDIE BROCK: IMPRISONED!
Eddie Brock is in prison after a failed bond with Carnage, and the Queen In Black is coming!!! Eddie wants to get back to Venom. But without a symbiote, how will he escape?!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
What Happens in the First Look Pages for Venom Unchained #1?
Writer Charles Soule talked about the story in a press release from Marvel when the project was announced, "When I agreed to write a new chapter in Eddie Brock's ongoing story a few years back via Eddie Brock: Carnage, I had no idea it would end up continuing through all these dark little paths. From Carnage to Death Spiral and now to VENOM: UNCHAINED, I've found there's a lot to explore with Mr. Brock and his relationships with various symbiotes. Very glad to spend this time with Eddie - he's a fascinating guy."
The first look pages show Eddie Brock as he is sent to prisson for the first time...
Image via MarvelThe next first look page, though, shows that a lot of time has passed, as Eddie now has a long beard...
Image via MarvelWe get a glimpse of an invasion of symbiote soldiers working for Hela, the new Queen of Black, and obviously, with something like this going on, Eddie feels he needs to help (especially since, again, he abdicated his role as the King in Black)...
Image via MarvelFinally, we see Eddie attacking a guard at the superhuman prison he is being held in (despite not being a superhuman himself)..
Image via MarvelAs Eddie gets involved in the crossover, will he gain a new symbiote? Will he reunite with Venom? Check it all out next month when the Queen in Black crossover begins!
English (US) · 