We now all know who Eddie Brock is, but what about Venom? He’s the second half of this duo, but what is Venom?
Read on to find out!
Who Is Venom?
Venom is the name given to the aliens symbiote, most known for bonding with Eddie Brock, a reporter, sometimes hero, sometimes villain, of Marvel comics.
What’s A Symbiote?
A symbiote is an alien race, one with the power to bond with other species (mainly humans) and live inside their bodies as a singular being, I’ll be going into more detail about symbiote’s in another blog post later this week.
Who Has Venom Bonded With?
Venom is most known for bonding with Eddie Brock, and has been paired with him more than anyone else over the years. But some of Venom’s other famous hosts have included Spider-Man (Peter Parker himself!), Mac Gargan (aka the Spider-Man villain, Scorpion), and Flash Thompson (Peter’s high school bully).
What Powers Does Venom Have?
Venom, while being a symbiotic creature, is capable of living outside of a host body reasonably well. But, when Venom does have a host, it gives that host a few powers, which include: shapeshifting, mimicking other humanoid creatures, altering its colouration and becoming completely invisible. It’s also mildly telepathic, so it can talk with its host.
Since bonding with Spider-Man, Venom also can hide from Peter’s Spider-Sense. On top of that, it also can produce webbing similar to Spider-Man’s own, which makes him difficult to battle. Also, Venom enhances the strength of its host, and is generally depicted as having large teeth and a long tongue. It can also sense and track any of its offspring.
The only things Venom appears to be vulnerable to is fire and sonic waves.
What Should I Read To Find Out More?
For starters, I’ll direct you to yesterday’s post about Eddie, which are the most popular runs. As for Venom’s first appearances, I’d check out the original 1984 Secret Wars by Jim Shooter, and The Amazing Spider-man issue 252 (also 1984) by Roger Stern and Tom DeFalco.
As for Flash Thompson’s time as Venom (or more commonly known as Agent Venom), I’d read the One More Day by J. Michael Straczynski storyline first, to get some context. Then, I’d go on to read The Amazing Spider-Man issue 654 (2011) by Fred Van Lente, then issue 654.1 by Dan Slott, before going onto Rick Remender’s Venom series.
And that’s my guide to Venom complete! If you have any questions, please leave them down below, I’m more than happy to find the answers for you, and keep an eye for the rest of the week – I have more posts on all things Venom incoming!
The Comic Book Sanctum 
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