Eddie Brock is in a dark place. He lost the Venom symbiote then decided to bond with Carnage after the Venom War, one of the most dangerous symbiotes out there. Eddie thought he could control Carnage’s bloodlust and use him to kill killers.
But things didn’t go as planned and he was arrested for the murders they committed. At the start of King in Black: Venom Unchained #1, Eddie is powerless and locked up in a high-security prison for superhumans called the Raft.
Eddie’s Prison Blues
“I think we might have screwed up,” Eddie says from inside his cell, where he’s known as inmate number 1337.
“Mistakes were made,” says a voice from behind him.
The unseen speaker is the symbiote but which one? The shadow on the wall admits that it’s hard for the two of them to be apart, so maybe Venom is still with him in some form. Two guards in teal-visored armor come to take him to an appointment with his attorney. Eddie guesses it’s Matt Murdock, who has represented him pro bono before. Feeling optimistic, Eddie says he’ll be “out of here before lunch.”
But Murdock isn’t representing Eddie this time.
Eddie’s lawyer is Jerry McLeod, a smiling public defender who goes where the state sends him. And Eddie is in a LOT of trouble. He’s accused of ripping off the arm of FBI agent Misty Knight, plus there are murders the Bureau can tie to him. Eddie insists those victims were serial killers and he was doing the FBI’s job. Also, he doesn’t have superpowers anymore so why is he in the Raft in the first place? McLeod explains the authorities can’t be sure his powers are gone or that he will behave. Eddie is technically in pretrial detention, but they can delay his trial for years, decades even.
There is a loophole Eddie could exploit. McLeod suggests his client wait for a crisis in which only he can save the day, then “seize the moment” and make a deal. “Anything special about you?” McLeod asks.
“Not anymore,” Eddie says.
McLeod says he’ll do his best but it isn’t very good. He can’t save Eddie; Eddie has to find that special thing about him and save himself.
Visitor’s Day
Every week, the prison guards announce Visitors’ Day and put a list of inmates on a board. Villains like Anaconda, Griffin, Icemaster, Nexus, Piledriver, Pulverizer, and Quicksand get visitors, but Eddie’s name is never on the list.
On week one he’s eating alone. By weeks two and three, Eddie has grown a beard and just grunts “Hnh.” When week four comes around, the guard starts the announcement with the board shows fewer names each time. Eddie stays unbothered, even reading a book. Finally on week ten another inmate says, “Brock, ain’t you gonna go?” and the board shows “Brock, Edward.” Finally he has a visitor.
And it’s none other than Peter Parker aka Spider-Man.
Peter says he came to check on Eddie because he knows prison must be tough. A hostile Eddie doesn’t want Peter’s sympathy. He says if Peter really cared, he would break Eddie out of prison. Peter tells Eddie to calm down and suggests this might be a good thing. Eddie’s father died recently and after everything he went through during the “Torment” storyline, Eddie could use a break to clean up his life.
“But historically, yeah, you and symbiotes…you know,” Peter points out. Bonding with symbiotes rarely works out in Eddie’s favor. “You voluntarily bonded with Carnage. Do you know what that–?”
Eddie finally hits his breaking point. “So did you, Parker. Hypocrite. I don’t need your moralizing. I need to get out of here.”
He asks if Matt Murdock knows he’s in the Raft. Peter says he knows and if Murdock thought Eddie should be free, he would have helped him already. Before Peter leaves, Eddie asks about his son, Dylan. Peter says Dylan is doing okay and that Eddie should worry about himself.
Riot in the Raft
Everyone inside the prison cafeteria watch a live news broadcast of what looks like an alien invasion. A black symbiote soldier announces that the area is now a base for the “Symbiote Alliance.” Civilians are to leave or be destroyed in the name of the “Queen in Black.”
Eddie realizes this is his moment. Just like his lawyer advised, a major crisis is happening. And if you need an expert on symbiotes, Eddie is the one person you turn to. He runs over to a guard asking to make a phone call. He says he can help stop the threat. The guard asks who he wants to call, and Eddie hesitates before saying, “The… Avengers?” The guard tells him to sit down and ignore the news.
Eddie refuses to back down and insists he can save lives if they let him out. Other inmates start making fun of Eddie by claiming to be symbiote experts too with jokes about being an “aficionado” and an “affogato”. Eddie tells them to shut up and gives the guard an ultimatum. Make the call or he’ll find someone who will. Then Eddie punches the guard in the face.
The cafeteria devolves into a full-scale riot. Prisoners start jumping into the fight, with one inmate yelling, “It’s riotin’ time!” Emergency alarms start blaring across the facility, directing all security units to Cafeteria Nine.
During the chaos, Eddie grabs the guard’s phone and demands that the operator connect him to any heroes outside, like Spider-Man or the X-Men. The operator asks Eddie for his security staff ID number. Out of frustration, Eddie throws the radio at a different guard, hitting him right in the face. The guards say the cellblock is a war zone, which Eddie uses to his advantage. As he sprints down the hallways, a guard shoots him in the back with a taser.
Now in solitary confinement, Eddie says “We’re going to get out of this. Just a matter of time, right?”
“Of course we are, Eddie.” But the voice doesn’t belong to Venom. Dark, purplish-blue tendrils creep across his cell. The voice says he should never be alone, and that he deserves better. A small black cat-shaped symbiote with tiger-like orange stripes and red eyes materializes in front of Eddie.
“After all, you’re very special,” it says as it walks towards him.
