Symbiote Suit

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Venom symbiote's first human host was Spider-Man himself, who eventually discovered its true nefarious nature and separated himself from the creature in The Amazing Spider-Man #258 (November 1984)—with a brief rejoining six months later in Web of Spider-Man #1 (April 1985). The symbiote went on to merge with other hosts, beginning with Eddie Brock, its second host, with whom it first became Venom. Venom has endured as one of Spider-Man's most prominent villains, and was initially regarded as one of his three archenemies, alongside Norman Osborn and Doctor Octopus. Since his debut however, Venom has evolved into an antiheroic figure, slowly distancing himself from his initial goal to ruin Spider-Man's life to try and do good instead, even putting aside his differences with and helping Spider-Man at times. In 1993, Venom would transition into having a role as an antihero vigilante in the Venom: Lethal Protector comic book series. After Brock, numerous other hosts for Venom followed, including the villain Mac Gargan, who was the main incarnation of Venom from 2005 to 2009, and Flash Thompson, who became the superhero Agent Venom from 2011 to 2016, before Venom returned to Brock in 2017, with Brock's biological son Dylan Brock becoming Venom's next host in 2021. Venom is also depicted as having spawned several children—Scream, Lasher, Phage, Agony, Riot, Sleeper, and Carnage, the last of whom becomes Venom's archenemy after bonding with serial killer Cletus Kasady.

In Their Own Story

The original idea of a new costume for Spider-Man that would later become the character Venom was conceived by a Marvel Comics reader from Norridge, Illinois named Randy Schueller. In 1982, Jim Shooter, Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, sent Schueller a letter acknowledging Marvel's interest in the idea, which they ended up purchasing from him for $220. Shooter came up with the idea of switching Spider-Man to a black-and-white costume, possibly influenced by the intended costume design for the new Julia Carpenter version of Spider-Woman. Artists Mike Zeck and Rick Leonardi designed the black costume. Writer/artist John Byrne says on his website that he conceived a costume of self-healing biological material when he was the artist on Iron Fist—to explain how that character's costume was constantly being torn and then apparently repaired by the next issue. Byrne says explaining that he ended up not using the idea on that title, but that Roger Stern later asked him if he could use the idea for Spider-Man's alien costume. Stern in turn plotted the issue in which the costume first appeared but then left the title. It was writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz who established that the costume was a sentient alien being that was vulnerable to high sonic energy during their run on The Amazing Spider-Man that preceded David Michelinie's. With the nature of the symbiote established, Michelinie felt it could serve a character concept he had been toying with for some time. When Michelinie first began working on Spider-Man stories he noted that the most unique ability Spider-Man possessed as a superhero was his spider sense, which Michelinie claimed gave the character a level of invulnerability on par or better than much stronger Marvel superheroes. While other Spider-Man antagonists such as Green Goblin and Mysterio had been able to temporarily disable Spider-Man's spider sense through chemical means, Michelinie was fascinated by the idea of a villain who could permanently evade Spider-Man's spider sense and what kind of consequences that would have on both Spider-Man as a superhero and Peter Parker's personal life. After initially coming up with characters who were able to evade Spider-Man's spider sense through cybernetic means that were rejected by Marvel editors, Michelinie posited that the symbiote would make a human host be able to evade Spider-Man's spider sense through it being mutated by absorbing Spider-Man's genetic material when Spider-Man was its host. This idea was approved by Marvel editors and Michelinie was given the green light to further refine the character. The symbiote was first introduced as Spider-Man's new black costume in The Amazing Spider-Man #252 (May 1984) as part of a story called "Homecoming!" The story takes place after Spider-Man's return from the events of the miniseries Secret Wars, where he first obtains the black costume. The full first appearance of Venom is in The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May 1988), after the symbiote bonds with Eddie Brock.

Reader's Guide

The symbiote was first introduced as Spider-Man's new black costume in The Amazing Spider-Man #252 (May 1984) as part of a story called "Homecoming!" The story takes place after Spider-Man's return from the events of the miniseries Secret Wars, where he first obtains the black costume. The full first appearance of Venom is in The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May 1988), after the symbiote bonds with Eddie Brock. The symbiote is vulnerable to both fire and high sonic energy. It was in that storyline that the costume would envelop Peter Parker while he slept, and go out at night to fight crime, leaving Parker inexplicably exhausted in the morning. Parker had the costume examined by Reed Richards, who discovered that it was alive, and when Parker realized it was trying to permanently bond to Parker's body, he rejected it, and it was subsequently contained by the Fantastic Four. The symbiote escaped and bonded again to Parker, who used sound waves from a cathedral's church bell to repel it. But the symbiote had grown an emotional attachment to Peter, so he willingly left Peter's unconscious body and moved him to safety before disappearing.

Did You Know?

• The original idea for Spider-Man's black costume was conceived by a fan named Randy Schueller, who sold it to Marvel for $220 in 1982.
• The Venom symbiote's first human host was Spider-Man himself, who separated from it in The Amazing Spider-Man #258 (November 1984).
• Venom was initially regarded as one of Spider-Man's three archenemies, alongside Norman Osborn and Doctor Octopus.
• The symbiote is vulnerable to both fire and high sonic energy, as established by writer David Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane.
• Venom has spawned several children, including Carnage, who becomes Venom's archenemy after bonding with serial killer Cletus Kasady.