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Venom, or the Venom Symbiote, is a fictional extraterrestrial life form appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually those featuring Spider-Man. The creature is a Symbiote, a sentient alien, with a gooey, almost liquid-like form that requires a host, usually human, to bond with for its survival, as with real world symbiotes, and to whom it endows enhanced powers. When the Venom Symbiote bonds with a human, that new dual-life form refers to itself as Venom.

The Symbiote's first known host was Spider-Man, who eventually separated himself from the creature when he discovered its true nature. The Symbiote went on to merge with other hosts, most notably Eddie Brock, its second and most infamous host, with whom it first became Venom and one of Spider-Man's archenemies.

Comics journalist and historian Mike Conroy writes of the character: "What started out as a replacement costume for Spider-Man turned into one of the Marvel web-slinger's greatest nightmares." Venom was ranked as the 22nd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time in IGN's list of the top 100 comic villains, and 33rd on Empire's 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters.

Publication history

Spider-Man first encountered the Venom Symbiote in Secret Wars #8, in which he unwittingly merged with it. After Spider-Man rejected it, the Symbiote merged with Eddie Brock, its most well-known host, in The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May 1988). Its next host was Mac Gargan, the villain formerly known as Scorpion.

Originally, the Symbiote was portrayed as a mute and lonely creature craving the company of a host. More recently, it has been shown as increasingly abusive of its hosts, and having the power of speech. The Venom Symbiote has no known name, as "Venom" is essentially the moniker it has adopted since its history with Spider-Man on Earth. According to S.H.I.E.L.D., it is considered one of the greatest threats to humanity, alongside Magneto, Doctor Doom, and Red Skull.

The original idea of a new costume for Spider-Man that would later become the character Venom was conceived of by a Marvel Comics reader from Norridge, Illinois named Randy Schueller. Marvel purchased the idea for $220.00 after the editor-in-chief at the time, Jim Shooter, sent Schueller a letter acknowledging Marvel's desire to acquire the idea from him. Schueller's design was then modified by Mike Zeck, becoming the Symbiote costume. David Michelinie would later write the backstory of Eddie Brock as the alien's new host that became the popular villain Venom.

Fictional character biography

Pre-Venom

The creature that would become Venom was born to a race of extraterrestrial parasites, which lived by possessing the bodies of other life-forms. The parasites would endow their victims with enhanced physical abilities, at the cost of fatally draining them of adrenaline.

According to the Planet of the Symbiotes storyline, the Venom Symbiote was deemed insane by its own race after it was discovered that it desired to commit to its host rather than use it up. The Symbiote was then imprisoned on Battleworld to ensure it didn't pollute the species' gene pool.

Main hosts

Spider-Man

In Secret Wars #8 (December 1984), Spider-Man damages his costume in combat on Battleworld and is directed to a facility which can provide a new one to him. Before having the chance to recover a new suit, Spider-Man stumbles into the prison module the Symbiote has been trapped in. He then activates the machine which releases the Symbiote in the form of a black liquid. Spider-Man's "spider-sense" initially tingles, and then stops upon Spider-Man's first contact with the liquid; it covers his body and, reacting to Spider-Man's thoughts about the costume worn by the second Spider-Woman, forms a new costume and symbol. To Spider-Man's surprise, the costume can mimic street clothes and provides a seemingly inexhaustible and stronger supply of webbing.

Once back on Earth, Spider-Man enjoys the costume's convenience and style until he starts becoming lethargic and witnesses its eerie ability to move on its own. After having a nightmare, involving a power struggle between the monstrous costume and his original costume, Pete finally decides to have the black costume analyzed by Reed Richards. He then learns the costume is a sentient alien Symbiote that wishes to fuse permanently with him and often controls his body while he sleeps resulting in his lethargy. With the aid of Mister Fantastic and the Human Torch, Spider-Man discovers the Symbiote is vulnerable to sound and flame, and he uses sonic waves to remove it and flames to scare it into a containment module. The Symbiote escapes and finds its way to Peter Parker's closet and disguises itself as a spare red and blue costume. It then attempts to forcibly bond itself to Spider-Man and prevents him from physically removing it or seeking Mr. Fantastic. In a desperate attempt to rid himself of the symbiote Spider-Man crashes himself into a church belltower. As the bells ring to sound the hour, Spider-Man fights through willpower to reject the Symbiote, leaving both the alien and Spider-Man weakened. In an act of sympathy, the Symbiote, uses its remaining strength to carry an unconscious Spider-Man to safety from the bells before it slithers away. Spider-Man believed the Symbiote to be dead, yet alternately began wearing a home-made version of the black suit in conjunction with his original. Spider-Man's rejection of the Symbiote would later leave it murderously embittered towards him, a trait it would share with future hosts.

Eddie Brock

The first and most famous Venom, Eddie Brock, is a reporter for the Daily Globe before it comes to light that he has fabricated a story revealing the identity of the Sin-Eater. Shortly after the story was published, Spider-Man catches the real Sin-Eater, disgracing Brock as a news reporter and costing him his job and then his wife. Now writing for cheap gossip magazines, Brock centers his frustration on utter loathing of Spider-Man, which only escalates when it is revealed that Brock has cancer. In response to this news, Brock begins working out, bringing his body to levels of amazing athletic performance. Still unable to cope with his misfortune, Brock contemplates suicide and goes to a church to pray for forgiveness. Meanwhile, the Symbiote, having recovered and needing another human host in order to survive, finds itself psychically attracted to Brock for both his increased adrenaline and mutual hatred for Spider-Man.

In The Amazing Spider-Man #298, they formed into the first version of the dark, villainous creature known as Venom. Venom first appeared at the end of issue #299, which led into the first Venom story in issue #300. The name Venom originally applied to Brock, rather than the Symbiote—which Brock refers to as his "Other". Over the years, as the Symbiote gained more intelligence and moved to additional human hosts, the name began to apply to the Symbiote as well as its hosts. As Venom, Brock fights Spider-Man many times, winning on several occasions. Venom repeatedly tries to kill Peter Parker/Spider-Man—both when the latter was in and out of costume. Thus Parker is forced to abandon his "black costume," which the Symbiote had been mimicking, after Venom confronts Parker's wife Mary Jane.

Even incarceration in The Vault, a prison for super villains, doesn't stop Venom from escaping to torment Spider-Man and his family. The Symbiote is finally rendered comatose after being subdued by Styx's plague virus, and Eddie Brock is subsequently placed in Ryker's Island Prison. When the Symbiote recovers and returns to free Brock, it leaves a spawn to bond with Brock's psychotic serial-killer cellmate Cletus Kasady, the beginning of Carnage. Meanwhile, Venom and Spider-Man fight on a deserted island, and Spider-Man strands Venom there after faking his own death. Soon after, however, Spider-Man brings Venom back to New York in order to stop Carnage's killing spree. After being incarcerated once again, Venom is used to create five new Symbiotes, which are all paired with human hosts.

As well as helping Eddie Brock to seek continued revenge against Spider-Man, the Symbiote also aids Brock in a sporadic career as a vigilante. He and the Symbiote occasionally share a desire to protect innocent people from harm, even if it means working side-by-side with the hated Spider-Man. This is especially true when Venom combats the entity he believes to be his spawn, Carnage. When Spider-Man helps Venom save Brock's ex-wife Ann Weying, the two make a temporary truce, though this falls apart after Weying's suicide.

The symbiote is temporarily stolen by U.S. Senator Steward Ward—who hopes to better understand his own alien infection by researching the symbiote—before it returns to Brock. Now, however, it dominates its host, Brock, rather than vice versa. Eventually, Eddie Brock and the Symbiote go their separate ways as the Symbiote grows tired of having a diseased host and Eddie rejects its growing bloodlust, leading him to sell the Symbiote at a super villain auction.

Mac Gargan

The Venom Symbiote approached MacDonald "Mac" Gargan, formerly known as Scorpion, and offered him new abilities. Gargan bonded with the creature, which would later give him an extra edge as part of Norman Osborn's Sinister Twelve. Even with these additional powers he was still swiftly defeated by Spider-Man (Spider-Man later notes this is because Mac Gargan does not hate Spider-Man as much as Eddie Brock had), as the Avengers dealt with the rest of the Twelve. Gargan later became a member of a sub-group of the Thunderbolts, which was drafted by the Avengers to hunt down the members of the fugitive New Avengers. It was then revealed that he had been outfitted with electrical implants by the government to keep the Symbiote in check. When in the Venom persona, Gargan retained very little of his original personality and was controlled almost completely by the Symbiote, which drove him to cannibalism. When the Symbiote was dormant in his body, he expressed nausea and fear of the organism. During a fight with "Anti-Venom" (Eddie Brock), he and his Symbiote were separated, and the Venom Symbiote was nearly destroyed. Blobs of it still existed in his bloodstream, however, so Osborn injected Gargan with a vaccine for Anti-Venom's healing powers, which restored the Symbiote by causing the remaining pieces of it to expand rapidly. Gargan dons a Scorpion battle armor over the Symbiote while it heals, causing him to become what Spider-Man calls "Ven-orpion" although when the Symbiote is fully restored it shatters the armor.

After ingesting a chemical given to him by Norman Osborn, Venom transforms into a more human appearance similar to the Black-Suited Spider-Man. Osborn introduces him as The Amazing Spider-Man, a member of the Dark Avengers, while unveiling the team. After the Siege of Asgard, Gargan and most of the Dark Avengers were taken into custody. While being held on the Raft, the Venom Symbiote was forcefully removed from him, ending his career as Venom.

Flash Thompson

On December 9, 2010, Marvel Comics announced a new "black ops" Venom owned by the government. The new Venom will be featured in a new series called Venom in March 2011. The birth of the new Venom can be seen in The Amazing Spider-Man #654.1 in February 2011. On January 28, 2011, the identity of "black ops" Venom was revealed to be Flash Thompson. Flash is hired by the government to be a special agent wearing the Venom symbiote. Flash is only allowed to wear the suit for up to 48 hours, or risk a permanent bonding with the symbiote. The Government is also equipped with a "kill switch" designed to take Flash out if he loses control. Along with the alien, Flash is equipped with a "Multi-Gun" designed to change into any type of gun Flash needs. Flash has battled Jack-o-Lantern, fought to stop Anti-Vibranium, and fought Kraven the Hunter in the Savage Land.

In the 2011 "Spider-Island" storyline, Venom goes to war with Anti-Venom, Spider-King, The Queen and Hijacker. Flash also deals with the death of his father from liver failure.

In the 2011-2012 Venom arc, Road Trip, Venom is forced by Crime-Master to pick up a package in Las Vegas with his archenemy, Jack-O-Lantern. In this story arc, Project Rebirth is shut down by Captain America, believing the symbiote is too dangerous to be used as a weapon. Venom and Captain America engage in a battle before Flash Thompson goes A.W.O.L. and steals the symbiote. In Vegas, Flash Thompson learns that the package he must pick up is the Toxin symbiote. This makes the Venom symbiote become territorial, forcing him to try to kill Toxin and Jack-O-Lantern. Flash and Jack make a deal that they'll leave each other's families alone before Jack leaves with the Toxin symbiote. Flash calls his girlfriend, Betty Brant, and breaks up with her. Then he decides to stay in Vegas and drink alcohol again, unaware that Red Hulk has been sent by Captain America to find Flash and the symbiote and bring them in.

Other hosts

Ann Weying

Ann Weying first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #375. She is Eddie Brock's ex-wife, a successful lawyer. In Ann Weying's first appearance, she is a brunette with glasses. In later appearances, she loses the glasses and goes blond. Weying assists Spider-Man by sharing some of Eddie's history with him. Later, she follows Spider-Man to the amusement park where Venom had Peter's (fake) parents. She confronts her insane ex-husband, and manages to convince Eddie to give up his vendetta. Later, Sin-Eater shoots Ann as part of a crusade against social injustice. Ann becomes She-Venom when the Venom Symbiote temporarily bonds with her to save her life.

She-Venom then lashes out against the men who had hurt her with such violence that Eddie became afraid for her (and of her) and compels the Symbiote back to him. Ann retched upon seeing the pile of bodies she had left behind. She screamed "That thing made me do that!", and Eddie replied "It can't make you do anything you don't really want to do". Later, the police incarcerate Ann on a false charge (unrelated to Ann's rampage above) in order to trap Venom. Ann uses her one phone call to warn Eddie and make him promise not to come. He promises that Eddie Brock wouldn't come to save her and instead sent his Other (the Symbiote) through the phone lines to her. After it bonds with her, she is able to escape custody.

Sometime later, Ann spots Spider-Man web slinging in an older black costume at a time when his regular red and blue suit had been stolen. Ann, still reeling from the experience of bonding with the Symbiote months earlier and unable to deal with the return of Eddie Brock into her life—coupled with Brock's transformation into Venom directly in front of her as he ran off to kill Spider-Man—sent her over the edge, and she leapt from her high rise apartment to her death. Her tombstone is shown a short time later.

Patricia Robertson

In the 2003 Venom series, Patricia Robertson was a communications specialist for the U.S. Army stationed at a radar installation in Canada near the Arctic Circle. She had joined the Army in order to "prove herself", but got more than she bargained for. During a routine supply run to an outpost owned by the Ararat Corporation, she stumbled upon a grisly scene: everyone at the installation was dead except for one lone scientist locked in the freezer. She brought the survivor back to base for medical attention, then people began dying there as well. It was revealed that the Ararat Corporation was run by an alien colony of miniature spider robots that infiltrated the American government. These creatures were partially led by an entity named Bob.

These creatures had cloned Venom in order to fulfill their objective: extermination of the human race. The clone would burn out its hosts' life, unlike the real Venom (traits which seem to be a throwback to the invading Symbiotes seen in Planet of the Symbiotes). Bob had the clone released and it caused the slaughter of the outpost.

The Venom clone hitched a ride on the survivor back to base, despite the best efforts of Robertson and her new ally. The mysterious Suit was made of the same robots as Bob, which was revealed to have been unwittingly brought to Earth by Reed Richards and made into a special agent by Nick Fury. It is unclear if the Suit's loyalties lie with Nick Fury or Bob, if either. Meanwhile, the genetically altered Symbiote killed all of Patricia's friends and coworkers. While Robertson was unconscious, the Suit cybernetically altered her, shaving her head, attaching a metal pipe in it, and placing a control collar on her so that in case the Symbiote clone bonded with her, she could control it. Meanwhile, Ararat Co. and the spider-robots nuked Voici, Canada leaving the Symbiote with few options. After the Suit sabotaged its Symbiote's favored host, Wolverine, it was forced to jump to the last surviving potential host, Robertson.

One of Bob’s agents, disguised as the Suit, told Robertson that she had to kill the real Venom or the Symbiotes would destroy all of humanity. Attempting to get to Venom, she freed him from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. Their first fight was broken up by the real Suit, and the electrocuted Venom retreated. The Suit chided Robertson for coming to New York because there were many people in the city and all of the population could be in danger if the Symbiote clone jumped hosts.

Meanwhile, Bob remotely deactivated Patricia's control collar so that nothing restrained the Symbiote but Patricia's willpower. Robertson continued trying to kill Venom, beating up Spider-Man when he got in the way. She was captured by the Fantastic Four, who used her as bait to lure Venom into a trap. Unfortunately, Spider-Man’s interference and the strength and craftiness of Venom caused the trap to fail. Fighting again, Venom absorbed Robertson’s Symbiote clone, as Bob hoped, and increased in size and decided to carry out the Ararat Corporation's goals. Patricia's fate is uncertain, and the entire plot has gone unresolved.

Angelo Fortunato

Angelo Fortunato was a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain, being the second to take on the mantle of Venom. He first appeared in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #7 and was killed an issue later. With the exception of Spider-Man himself, he is the only wearer of the Venom Symbiote to not have a protruding tongue.

Angelo was the youngest son of Don Fortunato, a prominent Mafia capo of New York's criminal underworld. Due to his frail physique and shy attitude, Angelo was frequently bullied and humiliated by his father. Tiring of his son's weakness, the Don attended a supervillain auction, where he purchased the Venom Symbiote from Eddie Brock for $100 million. Though Eddie warned of the dangers inherent in the Symbiote, the boy answered that he had nothing to lose as his life had been one of non-stop ridicule.

Once bonded with the Symbiote, Angelo discovered the secret identity of Spider-Man, whom he planned to destroy to prove himself worthy to his father. Angelo attacked Peter Parker during a high school reunion, injuring many bystanders in the process. They engaged in a ferocious battle which brought them out into the streets of New York. Learning how to use the Symbiote's mimetic abilities faster than anticipated, Angelo took the advantage in the fight. However, when Angelo killed an innocent civilian he mistook for Spider-Man, the superhero stopped holding back and beat Angelo into submission.

Angelo attempted to escape, all the while with the Symbiote berating him for his cowardice. Irritated by the boy's lack of resolve, the Symbiote ruthlessly abandoned Angelo in mid-leap, letting him fall. Spider-Man attempted to save him, only to find out he had run out of web fluid. Angelo was killed by the subsequent fall.

• Angelo Fortunato appears in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance as a Marvel Knights skin for Venom.
• In the Game Boy Advance version of Spider-Man 3, Eddie Brock dies in a similar manner to Fortunato, having the Symbiote abandon him in mid-fall.

Ms. Marvel

During the siege of Asgard, Spider-Man fought Mac Gargan in the streets of Broxton, Oklahoma. Ms. Marvel came to help Spidey and ripped Gargan out of the Symbiote. The Symbiote proceeded to take control of Carol Danvers until Spidey was able to feed her enough power to break free of the Symbiote.

The Fantastic Four

In Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #2, it was revealed that, shortly after Spider-Man initially removed the Venom Symbiote, it escaped and attempted to bond with Franklin Richards. In that course, it bonded temporarily with Reed Richards, Susan Richards, and She-Hulk. It eventually bonded with Franklin, but with Spider-Man's help, the Fantastic Four was able to separate the Symbiote from Franklin.

Powers and abilities

Though it requires a living host in order to survive, the Venom Symbiote has been shown to be adept at fending for itself independent of a host. The Symbiote is capable of shapeshifting abilities, including the ability to form spikes or expand its size, as well as mimic the appearance of other humanoids after it has obtained a host. The organism can additionally use its shape-shifting abilities to conceal itself by altering its coloration or by becoming completely invisible. It also contains a small "dimensional aperture," allowing its hosts to carry items without adding mass to the costume. The Symbiote also exhibits telepathic abilities, primarily when it needs to communicate with its host.

Because of its contact with Spider-Man, the Symbiote grants all of its subsequent hosts that hero's powers and cannot be detected by his spider-sense. As Spider-Man's fighting style is partly dependent on his spider-sense, his effectiveness was somewhat hampered when he battled Eddie Brock, allowing the less experienced/slower Brock to keep up with him.

The Venom Symbiote considerably enhances the strength of whoever has bonded with it, dependent on the bond of the relationship it has with its wearer. This allows its wearer to move at superhuman speeds and lift substantial amounts of weight, in addition to granting its host increased dexterity and agility. Retaining its memory from the time it was bonded with Spider-man, Venom is also capable of producing a limitless supply of webbing similar to Spider-man's own variety.

Venom exhibits some immunities to the supernatural powers of others such as the Penance Stare of Ghost Rider or Spider-Man's extrasensory spider-sense.Some incarnations of the Venom Symbiote have shown it able to replicate itself. This ability is shown in Spider-Man: Reign, when Venom recreates his own Symbiote to combat his loneliness. This ability is also used by Venom in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows when he discovers the ability to copy his Symbiote and uses it to take over Manhattan.

The Venom Symbiote is vulnerable to fire and sonic waves, causing it great pain and exhaustion if it sustains enough exposure. It can sense and track all of its offspring symbiotes except Carnage—which learned how to block this ability shortly after bonding with Cletus Kasady and confronting Venom/Eddie Brock for the first time.

Other versions

As a fictional character, Venom has appeared in a number of media, from comic books to films and television series. Each version of the work typically establishes its own continuity, and sometimes introduces parallel universes, to the point where distinct differences in the portrayal of the character can be identified. This article details various versions of Venom depicted in works including Marvel Comics' Ultimate universe and What If issues.

In other media

Television

• Venom appears in Spider-Man, voiced by Hank Azaria. Eddie Brock appears as Venom at the end of "The Alien Costume: Part Two", after Spider-Man rejects the symbiote. He was defeated at the end of "The Alien Costume: Part Three". Venom's last appearance was in Season Three, where he teams up with Spider-Man and Iron Man against Carnage, Dormammu, and Baron Mordo.

• Venom (along with Carnage) appeared semiregularly in Spider-Man Unlimited, voiced by Brian Drummond.

• Venom appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, where he is voiced by Ben Diskin. The symbiote appeared at the end of "The Uncertainly Principle", after John Jameson brought the space shuttle home from space. After discovering its true nature, Spider-Man rejects the symbiote and attempts to destroy it. A short time later, Brock bonds with it and becomes Venom at the end of "Intervention", though he was ultimately defeated in the episode "Nature vs. Nurture". Venom reappeared in Season Two episodes "First Steps", "Growing Pains", and "Identity Crisis", where he attempts to expose Spider-Man's secret identity, but he was defeated at the end. It was unknown if Venom would return in Season Three, due to the show's premature cancellation.

• Venom will appear in the Disney XD animated series Ultimate Spider-Man.

Film

• Venom's first appearance in a motion picture was originally planned for a titular film written by David S. Goyer and produced by New Line Cinema, in which Venom would have been portrayed as an antihero and Carnage as the antagonist. Goyer said in an interview the film rights to Venom ultimately reverted to Sony.
• Venom appears as one of the main antagonists in the 2007 feature film Spider-Man 3, played by Topher Grace. In the film, the symbiote, after being rejected by Peter Parker, joins with Eddie Brock after Brock, a rival freelance photographer, is exposed by Parker to have used a fake photograph, which ruins him publicly. Venom seeks an alliance with Sandman to kill Spider-Man, but is thwarted in his plans, and killed by one of the New Goblin's pumpkin bombs.

• In July 2007, Avi Arad revealed a spin-off was in the works. In September 2008, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese signed on to write, while Gary Ross will direct. Variety reported that Venom will become an anti-hero, and Marvel Entertainment will produce the film.

Video games

Venom is a playable character and boss character in a number of video games across several platforms.

• His first appearance was in the Game Boy side-scroller The Amazing Spider-Man released in 1990, as the game's primary villain.
• Venom's second appearance was in the Spider-Man: The Video Game arcade game, released in 1991. Venom is featured prominently in the game as the first major boss character and he is encountered several times throughout the game.
• He is a main character and playable for the first time in Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage and Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety.
• Venom is encountered several times in 2000's Spider-Man, with the Venom costume also featuring as an unlocked item for Spider-Man.
• He appears in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe as one of the most powerful partners in the game.
• Ultimate Venom is a recurring enemy in the Spider-Man missions of Ultimate Spider-Man, where he is the first and final boss. He also has his own missions that alternate with Spider-Man's.
• He is one of the playable characters in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, and Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.
• He is also the final boss in Spider-Man 3 in a condensed version of the movie, voiced by Topher Grace.
• Venom serves as the main antagonist of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. During this game part of his Symbiote leaves him, and bonds with Spider-Man. He later starts making replicas of the Symbiote, in an invasion of New York City.
• He is also included in the downloadable expansion "Villains Pack" for the Xbox 360 version of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance with the Symbiote costume also available as alternate attire for Spider-Man.
• The Mac Gargan incarnation of Venom appears as a playable character with the Eddie Brock version as an alternate costume in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2.
• Venom appears as a downloadable costume in the PS3 exclusive game LittleBigPlanet.
• In Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Ultimate Spider-Man is provided a copy of the Venom suit by Madame Web.

See also

• List of Venom titles

References

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2. Conroy, Mike. 500 Comicbook Villains, pp.358, Collins & Brown, 2004.
3. Goldstein, Hilary (2006-02-01). "Spider-Man villain poll". IGN. Retrieved 2006-10-01.
4. "Venom is number 22". Comics.ign.com. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
5. "Empire | The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters". Empireonline.com. 2006-12-05. Retrieved 2011-02-08.
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7. Mark Millar (w), Terry Dodson (p), Rachel Dodson (i). "Venomous" Marvel Knights: Spider-Man, #7 December 2004 Marvel Comics
8. "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed Extra: Randy Schueller's Brush With Comic History | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources". Goodcomics.comicbookresources.com. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
9. August 3, 1992 letter from Jim Shooter to Randy Schueller. Comic Book Resources. Retrieved November 21, 2011
10. Jim Shooter (w), Mike Zeck (p), John Beatty (i). "Secret Wars" Marvel Super Heroes, no. 8 (December 1984). Marvel Comics.
11. Tom DeFalco (w), Ron Frenz (p), Josef Rubinstein (i). "The Sinister Secret of Spider-Man's New Costume" The Amazing Spider-Man, no. 258 (November 1984). Marvel Comics.
12. Fantastic Four, no. 274 (November 1984). Marvel Comics.
13. Louise Simonson (w), Greg LaRocque (p), Jim Mooney (i). "Til Death Us Do Part" Web of Spider-Man, no. 1 (April 1985). Marvel Comics.
14. David Michelinie (w), Todd McFarlane (a). The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May 1988). Marvel Comics
15. "(Eddie Brock) - Marvel Universe: The definitive online source for Marvel super hero bios". Marvel.com. 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
16. The Amazing Spider-Man #299
17. The Amazing Spider-Man #315
18. The Amazing Spider-Man #317
19. The Amazing Spider-Man #333
20. The Amazing Spider-Man #344-345
21. The Amazing Spider-Man #347
22. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #361-363
23. Venom: Lethal Protector #1
24. The Amazing Spider-Man #375
25. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 2 #19
26. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #22
27. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man, 2004
28. Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #9, 2004
29. Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #10
30. Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #11
31. Civil War #4
32. Civil War: Choosing Sides #1
33. Heroes for Hire Vol. 2 #2
34. Thunderbolts #112
35. Dark Avengers #1
36. The Amazing Spider-Man #648
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39. "New Venom Identity REVEALED". ifanboy.com. 2011-01-28. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
40. Venom #1-3 (2011)
41. Rick Remender (w), Tom Fowler and Stefano Caselli (a). Venom, vol. 3, no. 6-9 (October 2011 - January 2012). Marvel Comics.
42. Venom #12 (2003)
43. Mozzocco, J. Caleb (January 10, 2012). "'Ultimate Spider-Man' Cartoon to Kick Off Disney XD Marvel Programming Block April 1". Comics Alliance.
44. "(no date): "David Goyer Interview"". Ugo.com. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
45. Paul Fischer (2007-07-24). "Interview: Avi Arad for "Bratz"". Dark Horizons. Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
46. Leslie Simmons (2008-09-06). "Two more films on the way" (Registration required). The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
47. Fleming, Michael. "Gary Ross takes on 'Venom'", Variety, October 7, 2009
48. Fleming, Mike. "More Details on the Ross 'Venom' Film", Variety, October 7, 2009
49. "Venom - LittleBigPlanet™". Littlebigplanet.com. Retrieved 2011-02-08.

External links

• Synopsis and Reviews of the Venom 2003 Series at Spiderfan.org
• History of the alien costume on Marvel.com
• List of Venom Comics at TheVenomSite.com
• http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/venomfortunato.htm

• Marvel Comics supervillains
• Characters created by David Michelinie
• Characters created by Mike Zeck
• Characters created by Todd McFarlane
• Comics characters introduced in 1984
• Extraterrestrial supervillains
• Fictional amorphous creatures
• Fictional mass murderers
• Marvel Comics aliens
• Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
• Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength
• Spider-Man
• Fictional parasites