Venom
- Debut: The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May 1988)
- Created By: David Michelinie & Todd McFarlane
Several people have become Venom in Marvel Comics. That is because Venom is essentially a symbiote from an alien planet far from Earth. This symbiote needs a host to survive and can pop around from living being to living being. Yet it is hard for the symbiote to stay with one host unless that host happens to be a good match for it to bond with. Initially, the best host for Venom was Peter Parker. This is what gave us the infamous “Black Suit Spider-Man.” Yet the symbiote is alien to Earthly beings and therefore does not understand them or Earth itself, making it relatively nefarious. Parker then rids himself of the symbiote to avoid problems.
Yet just five months later, it bonds with Eddie Brock, one of Peter Parker’s rivals at the Daily Bugle. Since Brock hates Parker while also hating Spider-Man, Venom helps his host remove the barriers holding him back. This turns Venom into a prominent villain. Eventually, Brock is able to control Venom more and become an Anti-Hero. In another universe, Parker’s school bully Flash Thompson bonds with Venom. Since Flash loves Spider-Man, he has no ill-will toward him. He is also able to control it better than Brock, becoming an anti-hero almost immediately. Yet he started out as one of the biggest Spider-Man villains the webhead had.