venom story

Few Marvel characters can boast an editorial journey as tortuous as Venom. What begins as a simple change of wardrobe for Spider-Man - a black suit meant to visually renew the hero - transforms in a few years into an extraterrestrial creature capable of carrying its own title, its own mythology and, later, its own cinematic trilogy. Between the 1984 costume and the Venom we know today, there is a chain of editorial decisions, narrative twists and artist choices that deserves to be told in order, without shortcuts.

This article traces the complete genesis of the character: the birth of the black costume, its transformation into a living symbiote, the fusion with Eddie Brock, then the expansion of the mythology through Carnage, the mini-series of the 1990s and the modern series signed Rick Remender or Donny Cates. If you are looking for a ranking of runs to read or the most notable covers, head to our dedicated guides:the ranking of the best Venom runsetan overview of cult covers. Here, the angle is purely chronological and editorial: understanding how and why Venom became what it is.

A fan concept turned Marvel franchise

The story of Venom begins well before the appearance of the character himself, in 1982, when Marvel launched a competition intended to collect ideas from readers to renew its flagship titles. A 22-year-old fan named Randy Schueller then proposed a simple concept: a new black and stealthy costume for Spider-Man, supposed to be designed by Reed Richards and the Wasp using the same "unstable molecules" as the Fantastic Four's outfits. At this stage, there is absolutely no question of a living organism: it is a simple technological garment, designed to improve discretion and resistance. Jim Shooter, then Marvel's editor-in-chief, bought the idea from Schueller for $220 - a modest sum that would, in hindsight, become one of the best investments in the history of comic book publishing.

The costume takes two years to appear on paper. It is finally inMarvel Super Heroes Secret Wars#8 (December 1984), written by Jim Shooter and drawn by Mike Zeck, that Spider-Man discovers and adopts this black costume on the planet Battleworld, during the crossover event which brings together the greatest Marvel heroes and villains. But chronologically in the continuity of the monthly title, it isThe Amazing Spider-Man#252 (May 1984), by Tom DeFalco and Roger Stern on the screenplay with Ron Frenz on drawing and Brett Breeding on inking, who presents the costume to readers of the regular series, in the episode "Homecoming!". Spider-Man has just returned from his intergalactic stay and is wearing this new outfit which will quickly intrigue, then worry, those close to him.

The revelation: a living organism, not a simple tissue

The twist that transforms a simple makeover into a true horrific mythology arrives a few months later. FromAmazing Spider-Man#256, from the pen of David Michelinie who takes up the title scenario, the clues accumulate: the costume repairs its tears on its own, seems to react to Peter Parker's emotions and stubbornly refuses to be removed. The truth comes out in the following issues, notably #258 and inWeb of Spider-Man#1 (1985): it is not a tissue, but a living alien symbiote, an entity capable of bonding to a host to grant it superhuman powers while gradually seeking to dominate it psychologically.

Spider-Man accidentally discovers the creature's weakness: the sound of the bells of a nearby church paralyzes it with pain, which allows him to break away from it permanently. This detail, seemingly anecdotal, will become the pivot of the entire rest of the story, since it is in this same church that the rejected symbiote will hide, weakened and furious at having been abandoned by the one it considered an ideal partner. This sequence lays the foundations of a theme that will run through the entire Venom mythology: the question of consent and fusion, an organism which needs a human host to survive and which develops, over the course of the stories, a form of toxic attachment towards its successive carriers.

Eddie Brock: from journalistic disgrace to symbiotic fusion

The symbiote left to its own devices in the attic of the church is waiting for only one thing: to find a new host who shares its hatred of Spider-Man. It will be Eddie Brock, a journalist from the fictional dailyDaily Globe. His fall is entirely human, without any supernatural element, which makes the character particularly credible for the time. Brock built his career on a scoop: he intercepted a letter from a man identifying himself as the Sin-Eater serial killer and published a series of sensational articles on this exclusive correspondence. Driven by pressure from his editors and the police, he ended up publicly revealing the identity of the suspect, Emil Gregg.

The problem is that Spider-Man captures the real Sin-Eater that same day - a police officer named Stan Carter - revealing that Gregg was just a delusional, completely innocent neighbor. Brock becomes the laughing stock of the profession, gets fired, sees his partner leave him and his father disown him. Broken, he goes to the same church where the symbiote is hiding and, while he contemplates the worst, the entity senses his distress and his resentment towards the spider-man. She merges with him without him even having to ask: the common hatred towards Spider-Man seals a perfect alliance. From this union is born Venom, an adversary who knows the dual identity of Peter Parker, has a strength greater than his own and is not detectable by the spider sense, since the symbiote learned its functioning during its cohabitation with the hero.

Amazing Spider-Man #300: the official birth of Venom

If the narrative elements fall into place in 1984, it isThe Amazing Spider-Man#300, published in May 1988, which marks the very first complete appearance of Venom under his name and his definitive appearance: the immense mouth bristling with fangs, the endless tongue, the bulging white eyes. The scenario is by David Michelinie, but it is the drawing of Todd McFarlane, then a young artist on the rise and who here inks his very first issue of the series, which fixes the design of the character for good. According to accounts of the time, Michelinie had in mind "a big guy in a black suit" while McFarlane was responsible for giving him his monstrous features, transforming a simple dark silhouette into an instantly recognizable nightmarish creature.

The issue coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Spider-Man character, giving it a special 52-page format for a cover price of $1.50. Like many comics published at the end of the 1980s, during a period when print runs were very high,Amazing Spider-Man#300 remains a relatively abundant number on the market today: the CGC census counts several tens of thousands of copies submitted, including a significant portion in 9.8. This abundance does not detract from its historical importance - it is literally the birth certificate of Venom - but it explains why this issue remains much more accessible to collectors than older and rarer keys from the Silver Age.

Carnage and the expansion of the symbiote line

Once Venom is established as a recurring antagonist, the writers logically explore the idea that the symbiote can reproduce. It is done inAmazing Spider-Man#361 (April 1992, drawn by Mark Bagley and inked by Randy Emberlin), which features the first full appearance of Carnage. Cletus Kasady, a serial killer incarcerated alongside Eddie Brock, comes into contact with a fragment of the symbiote left behind by Venom and becomes a much more unstable and bloodthirsty host than his symbiotic "father". Again, this is an issue published during a period of very high circulations for Spider-Man titles, which today makes it a key book but relatively common in high grade, with several thousand copies listed in 9.8 over time.

Carnage introduces an essential nuance into the Venom mythology: unlike the original symbiote which seeks above all a partnership with its host, Kasady's offspring is devoid of any moral limits. This contrast between the two characters - Venom, brutal protector but endowed with a code of honor, and Carnage, chaos embodies without any restraint - will become a recurring narrative driving force from the 1990s until recent cinematographic adaptations, where Carnage plays the role of main antagonist of the second film of the Tom Hardy trilogy.

From solo antihero to cosmic sagas: the editorial history of Venom

The success of the character pushed Marvel to offer him his own narrative space in the early 1990s.Venom: Lethal Protector, a six-issue mini-series published between February and July 1993 by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley, marks a turning point: Eddie Brock is presented for the first time as an antihero protecting the homeless of New York rather than as a simple Spider-Man villain. This is the first solo title entirely dedicated to the character, and it benefits from a "gold" edition reserved for resellers, with a print run of only around 11,000 copies - a rarity confirmed by the CGC census, which only counted around 344 copies rated 9.8 in February 2021.

The ongoing series from the years 2000 to 2020

The character then goes through a series of formats: a regular series by Daniel Way in the early 2000s, then a major turning point in 2011 with the arrival of Rick Remender in the script. It's inAmazing Spider-Man#654 (February 2011) that Flash Thompson, a former high school friend of Peter Parker who became a soldier with both legs amputated in Iraq, is chosen by the American army to become the new carrier of the symbiote under military surveillance, under the name of Agent Venom. This version of the character, more heroic and framed, inaugurates a second volume of the seriesVenomfrom May 2011 and met with wide critical success.

The most significant turning point in the modern period came in 2018, when Donny Cates and cartoonist Ryan Stegman relaunched a new seriesVenomwhich brings Eddie Brock back to the center of the plot while digging into the cosmic origins of the symbiote. InVenomflight. 4 #3 (August 2018), Cates and Stegman introduce Knull, a primordial deity creator of the symbiote race and the All-Black weapon the Necrosaber, who turns out to be the true "king" of all symbiotic creatures. This issue has today become one of the most sought-after modern keys to the franchise, driven by the growing importance of Knull in the Marvel universe, particularly during the eventKing in Black(2020-2021) then in the third film of the cinematographic saga. The series then continues under the pen of Al Ewing and Ram V from 2021, confirming that Venom remains, almost forty years after his original costume, one of the most prolific characters in the Marvel catalog. To explore in more detail which of these runs is most worth your reading time, check out ourdedicated ranking of the best Venom runs.

The impact of adaptations on the rating

Unlike many Marvel characters whose popularity rises mainly at the rate of appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Venom has followed an independent trajectory thanks to the trilogy produced by Sony with Tom Hardy in the main role.Venom(2018), directed by Ruben Fleischer, suffered very mixed reviews upon its release but met with resounding commercial success: $856.1 million in worldwide revenue, making it the seventh biggest box office success of the year 2018 despite the absence of Spider-Man himself in the film, for contractual reasons between Sony and Marvel Studios.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage(2021), directed by Andy Serkis and centered on the clash between Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady/Carnage, confirms the public's enthusiasm with $506 million in global revenue and the best opening weekend of the pandemic era upon its release in the United States, with $90.1 million in three days. This release mechanically revived interest inAmazing Spider-Man#361, first complete appearance of Carnage in comics, even if the very high circulation of this issue limits its progression in value compared to rarer keys. Finally,Venom: The Last Dance(2024) closes the trilogy by directly integrating Knull, the character created by Donny Cates in 2018, as the main antagonist, with $478.9 million in worldwide revenue - a more modest figure than the two previous parts but which confirms the commercial solidity of the franchise on the big screen.

For a collector, the main lesson of this trilogy is the following: the films have not exploded the value of historical keys likeAmazing Spider-Man#300, already widely available on the market, but instead increased attention to rarer modern keys, including early appearances of Knull and Carnage-related variant covers. This is a phenomenon quite different from what we observe with other Marvel characters whose rating depends almost entirely on the MCU.

Buying guide

• Clearly distinguishes the different editions of Amazing Spider-Man #300: first printing, reprints and facsimile editions coexist on the market. Always check the publisher code and the printed cover price ($1.50 for the 1988 original) before purchasing.
• Do not neglect the condition of the corners and the backfor this 52-page anniversary issue: its greater thickness than standard comics makes it more sensitive to handling creases, a criterion that weighs heavily in the CGC/CBCS notes.
• Verify the authenticity of the gold editions of Venom: Lethal Protector #1: their limited edition of around 11,000 copies makes them a prime target for counterfeits or labeling errors on resale platforms.
• For Amazing Spider-Man #361, keep in mind that this is a very abundant issue in high grade: never pay an excessive premium just because it is the first complete appearance of Carnage, except for a truly exceptional copy (9.8 or higher).
• On modern keys like Venom vol. 4 #3(first appearance of Knull), favors first edition copies identifiable by the printing code on the back, reprints being frequent on titles that became popular after the fact.
• Always compare several recent sales rather than an isolated displayed price: the market for Venom comics moves quickly around cinema releases, with temporary peaks which then decline.
• Useda collection tracking applicationto centralize your Venom numbers, track their rating over time and spot gaps in your collection during your research.

To situate Venom in the entire Spider-Man mythology and discover the other keys, runs and significant covers around the character, theVenom character sheetof the site brings together the essentials in one place.

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