The following contains spoilers for Venom: Lethal Protector II #1, on sale now from Marvel Comics.

Venom started off as one Spider-Man's deadliest opponents, and he would remain this way for years. Of course, the 1990s saw him transition into the antiheroic Lethal Protector, with Eddie Brock's current miniseries taking a look back at this era. In doing so, it showcases how similar he is to his fiercest rival.

Peter Parker and Eddie Brock might seem rather different, but Brock is actually just an even unluckier version of the hero. From money problems to trouble in the romance department, Eddie Brock's life completely went downhill following his sin-eating encounters with the Wall-Crawler. Now, a journey back to his past makes this unquestionably clear while making Brock a lot more sympathetic to readers.

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Venom's New Miniseries Puts the Antihero's Life on Display

Eddie Brock returns in Venom: Lethal Protector II

In the first issue of the latest volume of Venom: Lethal Protector II (by David Michelinie, Farid Karami and Paulo Siqueira), Eddie Brock's life is still reeling from many of his actions. While now far from villainous, he certainly doesn't live a charmed life worthy of a hero. No longer the respected journalist that he once was, Eddie Brock now sleeps in the sewers on a dirty mattress, having pretty much been abandoned by everyone except his symbiote. However, one exception is an old friend named Pablo, who Venom rescues when he's attacked as part of Silver Sable's team of mercenaries. Pablo tries to help his old pal, but he only pushes him away and warns him to not try and become "Kid Venom."

All the while, Eddie still pines for his former wife Anne Weying, who he didn't realize moved away. This paints Eddie as an even more broken man. While he isn't obsessed with eating Spider-Man's brains or a single-minded killer anymore, this Eddie Brock is utterly human and rather easy to root for. In this way, he ends up becoming a much more defeated version of Peter Parker, which helps to explain why he eventually becomes a hero in his own right.

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Venom Has Always Been a Dark Reflection of Spider-Man

Venom vs Spider-Man

Peter Parker is known for his infamous "Parker luck," which in recent years has been a sort of catch-all for the routine rings that the character is put through in his tumultuous life. This is meant to make him more relatable, though it sometimes has the effect of making his life a never-ending cycle of disappointment. That's definitely the case for Eddie Brock. His life is completely in the gutters, both literally and figuratively, and it comes off as an exaggerated version of Spider-Man's dilemmas. While Peter Parker constantly struggled with things such as paying rent, he never lived in a sewer amid the muck and mire. He also always had a large group of friends and allies, though he does push them away at times. With Venom, he does just that to Pablo, who's perhaps the only friend he has left.

Spider-Man's superheroic career has brought him a lot of grief. However, it's much worse for Eddie the mere knowledge of his "other" is problematic for him. Even something as simple as getting lunch is exhausting for him, who's immediately recognized as the villainous Venom when he tries to order hot dogs. His fractured relationship with Anne somewhat resembles Peter's guilt over the death of Gwen Stacy, especially considering what happens to Anne down the road. Of course, Eddie himself would later become the King in Black, but beforehand, he could barely even be considered a pauper. And it all began when his life was ruined by Spider-Man, It's no wonder he had so much hatred for him for so long. For as bad as the Parker luck may be, the Brock curse is far more tragic.