WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow #3 by Chip Zdarsky, Pasqual Ferry, Matt Hollingsworth and VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
Spider-Man is generally a light and cheery character, casually joking at his enemies' expense as he swings across the city. One exception in his publication history was during his tenure in the black symbiote costume, which turned him into a far more violent and angry individual. Now, the latest interaction of Marvel's What If? franchise is revisiting that era in Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow, taking a look at a Spider-Man who essentially becomes Venom.
His lack of the symbiote leaves Eddie Brock in a much different spot, but he's still intent on ruining Peter Parker's life for supposedly doing the same to him. Ironically, it's J. Jonah Jameson who calls out Brock's one-sided quest for vengeance, seeing his hatred of Spider-Man as misplaced anger. Here's how the story subverts one of Spider-Man's most iconic fables and foes.
Brock Ock
In the series' previous issue, Kraven, Rhino and the rest of the Sinister Six began to rally together in the hopes of defending themselves against the all-new, all-homicidal Spider-Man. At the last minute, Doctor Octopus is killed by a disguised Eddie Brock, who promptly begins using his appendages himself. The group's benefactor is revealed to be J. Jonah Jameson, who feels more vindicated than ever in his belief that Spider-Man is a menace.
Brock explains to Jameson why he's along for the ride, recalling his ordeal with the Sin-Eater and how Spider-Man essentially ruined his career. In a rare instance of sobriety considering the Webslinger, Jameson, instead of siding with Brock, tells him that he's unfairly blaming Spider-Man for his own problems. This questions Brock's entire motive for being a villain, as one of Spider-Man's biggest naysayers points out that Eddie's vendetta is based on nothing. Given that he doesn't have the Venom symbiote to further fuel his anger, it's even more likely that this should knock some sense into Brock and make him leave the path of villainy.
Eddie Brock and The Sin-Eater
In this continuity and in the original introduction of Venom, Eddie Brock's vendetta against Spider-Man was based out of vengeance and personal turmoil. Brock didn't have a great upbringing or relationship with his family, but he eventually became a relatively successful journalist. This career ended, however, when he tried to solve the mystery of the Sin-Eater.
He writes an article detailing how his contact, Emil Gregg, is in fact the Sin-Eater, but this turns out to be false, with Gregg a serial confessor for crimes that he didn't commit. Likewise, Spider-Man finds and defeats the real Sin-Eater, with the event ruining Brock's reputation and getting him fired from his job. Unable to secure work beyond tabloid rags afterward and getting a divorce from his wife Anne, Eddie Brock comes to hate Spider-Man and blames him for his predicament. This is only augmented once he bonds with the Venom symbiote.
Brock's anger with Spider-Man almost makes sense from a surface level, though his failure to vet his own sources and the resulting exposure of a fake Sin-Eater are his own fault. Jameson rightfully calls that out in the issue, even if he's as guilty of blaming his problems on Spider-Man on Brock, and for even more questionable reasons. This hard knock from reality may end up changing Brock in the story's end, but it only goes to highlight how one of Spider-Man's greatest rivalries was one born out of pettiness.