Venom: Lethal Protector #2 (2022)

Kicking in a ground-floor window, Eddie Brock climbs into the cellar of an apartment building, cradling the seemingly-dead Venom symbiote. Lamenting the apparent loss of his beloved Other, Eddie makes his way over to a furnace, cutting his feet on the broken glass. Complaining about the cold, he opens the vent door to let more heat out and a spark lands on the symbiote, resuscitating it. Eddie is overjoyed, noting that Humbug's sonic blast must've knocked the symbiote unconscious until the spark acted as a defibrillator. Cradling the symbiote to his chest, Eddie tells it to rest and recover, since tomorrow they'll have their revenge. The next morning, Humbug notes to a cockroach that the police have cordoned off his apartment building, preventing him from feeding the insects he keeps there or collecting his unemployment check. As he glumly wonders what he's going to do now, Blood Spider and Death-Shield appear and say they have a few suggestions. Walking down the street, Eddie plans to get breakfast and passes a large puddle, wondering if it rained the night before. The symbiote alerts him to danger, and as it engulfs him Eddie turns to see the puddle is actually Hydro-Man. Stating that it's about time Venom showed himself, Morris Bench says he's been waiting for three days for Venom to show himself and now intends to claim his reward. Snarling that he's not a prize to be won, Venom lunges at Hydro-Man only to pass right through him. Mocking Venom, Hydro-Man solidifies his fists and punches him from behind, knocking him to the ground. Incredulous, Venom wonders what happened to his fierce strength and power, before noticing a nearby delivery truck loaded with industrial laundry supplies. Noting strategy is a form of power, Venom goads Hydro-Man into attacking and dodges so that he hits the truck instead. Mixing with the spilled soap, Hydro-Man is mortified to find himself suddenly comprised of pink suds. Borrowing a nail gun from a nearby hardware store, Venom gleefully starts popping bubbles until Hydro-Man begs him to stop and flees into the sewers complaining about how embarrassing this is. Venom notes that between Taskmaster's protégées and Hydro-Man it seems he's the target of a bounty before wondering why. Elsewhere, Humbug demands to know if Blood Spider and Death-Shield have come to mock him again. Death-Shield says they were wrong about him, Blood Spider making a morbid joke about their partner Jagged Bow's death. Death-Shield says they were impressed by how easily Humbug took down Venom, Blood Spider offering to make him the new leader of their team. Humbug immediately accepts, but when Blood Spider and Death-Shield say they want him to take down Venom again as payback for Jagged Bow he notes that his Trans-Species Liguitron is still in his apartment. Blood Spider and Death-Shield assure him that he won't need it, as Venom will find him the same way they did -- the phone book. As Humbug happily notes he's finally getting the recognition he deserves, Blood Spider whispers that while Venom's distracted mauling him they'll burn him to a crisp with their flamethrower. Arriving at the Daily Globe building, his former workplace, Eddie decides to put his skills as an investigative journalist to good use. Disguising himself as a security guard, he sneaks past the front desk and breaks into one of the offices. Noting they haven't changed the passwords since he was last there, he researches Humbug for a way to counter his sonic attacks. Hoping against hope, Eddie searches for Anne Weying's name and is dismayed to find a recent newspaper announcing her pending marriage to Allen James Hoffman, a wealthy psychiatrist with a Park Avenue office. His jealous grumbling is interrupted by one of his old coworkers, Dallas, recognizing him. Eddie tries to play it cool, recalling they'd worked together covering a scandal involving Roxxon and suggesting they chat about the good old days over some coffee, but Dallas panics -- saying that he knows Eddie has turned into a monster. Transforming, Venom calls Dallas a traitor and backs him towards a window, Dallas cringing in terror... only to see Venom has vanished. Web-swinging away as Venom, Eddie contemplates the symbiote's mental voice bemoaning not gutting Dallas and eating his brains but says that mirroring his betrayal would've made them no better than him and that they can always eat him later. Noting that the Daily Globes records provided them with Humbug's address, Venom spots Humbug himself standing on a nearby rooftop, seemingly alone. As Venom drops down behind him, Humbug says he's been waiting and unleashes a sonic blast. Quipping that he's learned from their last fight, Venom dodges and webs Humbug's sonic emitters, snarling that he's deduced Humbug will be helpless without them. Freeing his hands with a sonic blast, Humbug shouts that he's never helpless. As Blood Spider and Death-Shield hide nearby, Venom snarls that Humbug's amplified insect sounds present a unique problem, but he's researched Humbug's weaknesses as well and it's only a matter of time before he gets the upper hand; snaring a rooftop air conditioner and throwing it at Humbug. The symbiote notices Blood Spider attempting to sneak up behind Venom and alerts Eddie to the new threat, Venom clogging the flamethrower's nozzle with webbing and causing it to explode. Horrified by his other longtime partner's death, Death-Shield flees. Venom demands to know why Humbug was looking for him, but Humbug snaps that all he was looking for was a job - something that Venom ruined. Blasted into a wall, Venom rips open a junction box and grabs the wires, Humbug aghast at him risking electrocuting himself. Venom comments that his symbiote can handle the voltage, and even better channel and reduce it. Coiling an electrified tentacle around Humbug, Venom shorts out his equipment. Humbug surrenders and tells Venom to get it over with and kill him. Surprised, Venom asks if Humbug really wants to die, and Humbug says that all he wanted was to show the world how insects could benefit humanity, only to be laughed at and have his grant money taken by Empire State University. Noting that Humbug was an innocent wronged by evil men who took everything he cares about, Venom says he understands what that's like and leaves Humbug kneeling on the rooftop. Exiting the apartment, Eddie notes that they should leave before the police arrive only to be identified and approached by Dr. Dana Harwood, who says she has a proposition for Eddie and his symbiote. Suspicious, Eddie asks how she found them and Dr. Harwood says the organization she works for enabled her to access almost every security camera in the city -- including the one on the roof of the apartment. Angry at being spied on, Eddie prepares to transform into Venom but stops when Dr. Harwood says she can make his symbiote immune to sonic attacks.