Venom - a Character Profile
The Origin and Evolution of One of Marvel's Most Popular Villains
Venom's creation is popularly attributed to writer David Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane, although there is some dispute, given that certain aspects, such as costume design, were culled from other creators' work. The character first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May, 1988). Since then, Venom's cult status has spawned multiple limited series of his own, and today he is one of the most immediately recognizable characters in the Marvel Universe.
In the comic, Venom is actually two beings: an amorphous, symbiotic alien and the host to whom it attaches itself.
Eddie Brock
The man named Eddie Brock was once a journalist for the Daily Globe a competing newspaper with the Daily Bugle, Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man's employer. Upon being contacted by a man claiming to be the notorious killer, the Sin Eater, Brock ran a story with the man's confession, to the acclaim of his peers and readers.
Not long after however, Spider-Man caught the actual Sin Eater, exposing Brock's story as false (the man who contacted Brock, Emil Gregg, turned out to be a mentally ill compulsive confessor). Brock was fired in disgrace, became depressed, was eventually divorced and became suicidal (it was later "retconned" that Brock's having terminal cancer also contributed to his downward spiral). Brock came to blame Spider-Man for his situation as it was he who inadvertently exposed his story.
Spider-Man's Alien "Costume"
Upon discovering that the black, moving "costume" he had acquired on a distant planet known as Battleworld (Secret Wars #8, written by Jim Shooter) was in fact a sentient being intent on permanently bonding with him, Spider-Man forcibly separated himself from it using the sonic waves of a massive church bell.
The symbiote detached itself and waited hidden in the church until the suicidal Eddie Brock, a Roman Catholic, entered to pray for forgiveness for the act he seemed about to commit. The symbiote, which possessed a measure of telepathy, sensed his hatred of Spider-Man, joined with Brock and Venom was born.
Venom Not a Pure Villain
Despite his many attempts to kill Spider-Man, Venom has not been written as a completely irredeemable villain. He possesses a conscience when it comes to those he perceives as "innocents," more than once breaking off pursuit of Spider-Man to save people his actions had put in danger.
Venom's motivations are in some ways a dark mirror of Spider-Man's. Spider-Man's most central drive has always been an outgrowth of the guilt he feels at his failure to stop the man who murdered his beloved (innocent) Uncle Ben. Venom has also viewed himself as an avenger of sorts, though he sees the innocents he rescues as vicarious versions of himself; that is, as Eddie Brock prior to becoming Venom - which, again, came about indirectly as a result of Spider-Man's action.
Eddie Brock Separates from the Symbiote
Eventually, after many vicissitudes, Eddie Brock also separated from the alien when a crisis of conscience revealed to him the villain he'd become.
The symbiote, now often referred to on its own as "Venom" has taken on numerous hosts for varying periods of time, including Brock's own ex-wife, Anne Weying. Currently the symbiote resides on one Mac Gargan, the villain formerly known as the Scorpion.
The Evolving Design of Venom
Regardless of who deserves creator credit, Todd McFarlane was the first to draw Venom. His costume - the alien - appears the same as when Spider-Man wore it: black all over except for a large white spider image on his chest and back. Venom's defining feature though was his mouth. Unlike its appearance on Spider-Man, the symbiote gave Eddie Brock an exaggerated mouth, which a terrified Mary-Jane (Spider-Man's wife) said that Venom "grew" on his face when he first accosted her in their apartment.
Later, McFarlane altered Venom's look to become more menacing, giving him a longer jaw lined with sharp teeth.
Taking over Amazing Spider-Man from McFarlane was artist Erik Larsen who contributed the greatest change in Venom's appearance. Larsen made him truly monstrous with rows of jagged, uneven teeth in a gaping mouth, gushing saliva and a long, pink tongue.
Venom in Movies
In the 2007 film Spider-Man 3, Eddie Brock/Venom (played by actor Topher Grace) is given less complex motivations. Brock and Peter Parker are competing for the same position at the Daily Bugle. When Parker exposes a major story by Brock as a deliberate fabrication (as opposed to the result of bad information), Brock is fired and Parker gets the job. Thereafter bonding with the symbiote, Brock has no pretenses toward avenging innocence; he merely seeks vengeance on Spider-Man when he finds that Spider-Man and Parker are one and the same.
A Venom spin-off movie is currently being discussed, though no publicly-known specific plans exist as of this writing.
Venom
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