Venom Profile

Venom Profile

Real Name:

First: Eddie Brock
Current: Mac Gargan

Location:

New York City

First Appearance:

Peter Parker’s Black Costume – Secret Wars #8 (1984)
As Eddie Brock – Amazing Spider-Man #299 (1988)
As Mac Gargan – Marvel Knights #10 (2005)

Created By:

David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane

Powers:

The alien symbiote known as Venom has powers that rival Spider-Man’s. He is able to stick to nearly any surface. The Venom costume augments the wearer’s natural abilities making them stronger, faster, and more durable. In the case of Mac Gargan, who already had super strength, this makes in incredibly strong, being able to lift many tons.

The Venom costume also has many other attributes. Due to the fact that Venom symbiote was nearly fused with Peter Parker, Spider-Man is unable to be warned by the presence of Venom using his “spider-sense.” This makes Venom a terrible threat to Spider-Man as he is unable to know when or where he will strike.

The costume also mimicks Spider-Man’s webbing ability. Just like Spider-Man, Venom can use the webbing to swing from building to building and can ensnare opponents using the sticky substance.

With Mac Gargan, who was previously the villain the Scorpion, the Venom symbiote has been able to duplicate the Scorpion’s tail, using it to crush things in it’s path. It appears this incarnation of Venom is the most potent yet.

One weakness to note is that they symbiote is susceptible to sonic weapons. Loud sonics can confuse the alien, even to the point of causing the symbiote to flee from its host. This was how Peter Parker first got free of the Venom symbiote costume.

Team Affiliations:

Thunderbolts

Currently Seen In:

Thunderbolts
He can also see be often seen in the Spider-Man comics.

Interesting Fact:

Mac Gargan is the fifth host of the Venom symbiote, one being Eddie Brock's own wife, Anne.

Origin:

During the Marvel mini-series The Secret Wars, many of Marvel’s heroes and villains were taken to another galaxy to a planet called, “Battleworld.” While there, Peter Parker’s costume was damaged beyond repair and he came upon an alien construct that made him a new costume. It appeared that the costume was made out of an unusual material, allowing Peter to telepathically tell the costume to revert to normal clothes and back into the black costume.

After returning to earth Spider-Man continued to wear the costume, finding that it increased his already powerful abilities. He wore the costume for quite some time, until he started to feel strange. He found he was sleeping through the day and having strange dreams. He went to the one person whom I knew could help him, Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four.

While there, he found that the costume was a living thing and when he commanded it to come off, it refused. They were only able to separate Peter from the symbiote costume with a sonic gun. Mr. Fantastic kept the costume in a container, but it escaped and tried to bond with Peter yet again. Peter took them to a tower and used the thunderous sounds of the church bells at close range to finally remove the costume and drive it away.

Unbeknownst to Peter, Eddie Brock, a rival journalist who had a deep hated of Spider-Man was praying in the same church. The costume, sensing his hatred for Spider-Man, merged with him and turned him into a new villain, which would be known as Venom.

As Venom, Eddie Brock would try to destroy Spider-Man, armed as well with the knowledge that he was Peter Parker. He went after him time and again, trying to end Spider-Man, but would fail each time. It was during this time that Venom would sometimes act as an anti-hero, much like the Punisher. But the evil that was in the symbiote and in Eddie Brock always won out and he continued to renew his vendetta against Spider-Man.

When Eddie Brock discovered he had cancer, guilt began to wrack him. He decided to sell the costume to the highest bidder and give that money to charity. The winner of the auction was mob boss Don Fortunato who in turn gave it to his son, Angelo. Angelo’s tenure as Venom was short lived, however, as after losing a battle with Spider-Man the symbiote rejected Angelo and left him amidst a leap in the air. Angelo fell to the ground and was killed.

The symbiote found it’s latest host in Mac Gargan, known as the villain Scorpion. Mac also had hatred of Spider-Man and it was probably this that brought the symbiote to him. The alien offered him the opportunity to become stronger than he had ever been before, as well as the best chance to rid the world of the web-slinger that had humiliated him time and again. Mac quickly agreed.

After being defeated yet again at the hands of Spider-Man, Mac was offered the chance to work for the government to chase down wayward heroes who refused to register for the Superhuman Registration Act. Venom is now a member of the Thunderbolts, with the chance for freedom after a year’s service. Venom now works on the side of “good” but one can only know that if the chance presents itself to take down Spider-Man once and for all, Venom will certainly take a stab at it.