Now I may be biased for this one. I absolutely love Spider Man, he is and always has been one of my favorite Superheroes ever created. Part of that reason is the history of the character; and the villains. The best of which being Venom, an alien symbiote that has a love hate relationship with the titular hero.
The creature that would become Venom was born to a race of extraterrestrial symbiotes which lived by possessing the bodies of other life forms. The hosts would be granted great power at the cost of rapidly draining the host’s adrenaline. Venom however, did not share the sentiment of draining a host and moving on, rather he wished to commit to the host. On the planet of Battle World, Spider Man tried to repair his damaged suit, and stumbled into the lifeform that would be known as Venom. It attached itself to him, and upon returning to Earth, granted Spider Man a boost in ability. Eventually, with the help of Reed Richards, Spider Man learned that the symbiote was trying to take over his body. This made Spider Man get rid of the symbiote, causing resentment and hatred in Venom. Searching for a new host, it stumbled upon a disgraced reporter named Eddie Brock. This is where the character known as Venom, was born.
Eddie Brock was a reporter, one that would do anything to get the scoop. Even if the method of getting said scoop was faulty. Brock released a report revealing the identity of a villain. However, Spider Man proved the report wrong when he apprehended the actual villain soon after. This cost Eddie his job, and with his job gone, also losing his wife. Eddie Brock shared this resentment for Spider Man, and together, he and the symbiote became the newest member of Spider Man’s rogues gallery. He was strong, and brutal, proving to be quite the match for Spider Man
What I really like about Venom is how much he has evolved over the decades in comics. Starting off as a villain in the story of Spider Man, he also became an anti hero, starting his own series of very popular comics. He’s become more than “Black Suit Spider Man”, and has even gotten a massive backstory added for his species. And how can we talk about Venom without talking about his style. Todd McFarlane is quite possibly one of the greatest artists in the business, and he helped design Venom back when he was still working at Marvel. The iconic black,alien-like suit with white spider on the front is an instant classic. It’s hard to argue with just how cool he looks, and how menacing the idea was to put an unhinged jaw with rows of needle-like teeth in the face. The long, Gene Simmons-like tongue, also adds quite a bit of scariness to the design. He’s imposing, and would eat you for breakfast. That’s Venom in a nutshell.
Venom has seen a lot of representation in the modern era of comics. He has spawned many other characters from his mythos. Carnage, Anti Venom, and Agent Venom to name a few. He’s also a very prominent figure in nearly every Spider Man video game released. Venom has even gotten two big budget movies, with more coming in the future. He’s a hot commodity in the comics world, and it’s not too hard to understand why.
I don’t typically do this when talking about characters, but for Venom I for sure have to. Read the story arc “The King In Black” if you have any interest in Venom. In the story, the King of the Symbiotes, Knull, awakes from his imprisonment, with the goal of conquering the universe. This story has fantastic writing, amazing art, and a really cool look into the past of the Symbiotes, and the powers that they have hidden away. I loved every chapter of it, and I think it would be a fantastic way to experience Venom in all his glory.
I want to thank everyone who has been reading these blog posts. It’s been super fun to do and I can’t wait to do more of these. For now though, I want to wish you a Happy Holiday. The Villain Roundup will be taking a hiatus for this time. Don’t you worry, it’s not going away completely, but in an interest to branch out and try more ideas, I will be revisiting The Villain Roundup periodically rather than weekly. I look forward to making more down the line, and for now, goodbye!
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