Real Name: Edward “Eddie” Brock
Occupation: Former journalist for the Daily Globe
Identity: Known to legal authorities
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with a criminal record
Other Aliases: None
Place of Birth: New York City, New York
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Base Operation: New York
First Appearance: (as alien costume) SECRET WARS #8, (behind the scenes) WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #18, (actual appearance) AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #300

History: On Battleworld, a planet created by a being calling himself the Beyonder, the crime fighter known as Spider-Man obtained a sleek, black costume when his familiar red-and-blue one was ripped into tatters. After the Asgardian thunder god, Thor had acquired a new cape and helmet from a bizarre machine that replicated fabric, Spider-Man attempted the same feat, but mistakenly reached into a machine that housed a strange symbiote, one of the many odd life forms encountered on Battleworld.

When Spider-Man grabbed the little black ball, it instantly slithered over his body, covering him from head to toe. But it did not pattern itself after his red-and-blue costume. Rather, it took on the appearance of the garment worn by the new superhuman adventurer on Battleworld and Spider-Woman, whom Spider-Man had been admiring.

The web spinner was amazed at the properties of his new suit, but never question the mechanism behind them. For instance, it could mimic any type of clothing whatsoever, making Spider-Man’s need for spare clothing obsolete. It also contained a “dimensional aperture” where he could place his camera, spare change, and other items without adding to the bulk of the costume. The costume was also equipped with its own web-shooter and seemingly contained an unlimited supply of webbing.

Once Spider-Man returned to Earth, the alien costume could not tolerate being separated from its host for long periods of time. At night, when Spider-Man’s alter ego, Peter Parker, slept, the symbiote would engulf him and send the somnambulator to battle evil.

Late, Spider-Man battled the Puma, who perceived that the wall-crawler’s webs were organic. Startled by this revelation, Spider-Man accepted Reed Richards’ offer to study the costume. Richards learned that the costume was actually a living alien symbiote, a parasite trying to graft itself permanently to Spider-Man both mentally and physically. Richards succeeded in separating the alien costume from its host by shooting it with a “sonic blaster.” He then contained the being in a special environmental cell.

But the alien was much more intelligent than anyone perceived. It escaped from its cell and made its way to Peter Parker’s closet where it waited, disguised as a spare red-and-blue costume. Spider Man unwittingly donned the costume, which immediately made itself apparent. He brought it to the tower at Our Lady of Saints Church gambling the intense sound of its bells would destroy it.

Spider-Man lost the gamble, and he succumbed to the bells before the costume did. However, the empathic parasite had preyed upon the emotions of Spider-Man long enough to learn how to feel, and in feeling, to act. Sacrificing itself, the alien costume save Spider-Man, who assumed it then, crawled away to die.

Actually, the symbiote, weak and dying, slithered down into the church where Eddie Brock kneeled in prayer at the altar. Raised a Catholic, he was begging forgiveness for the suicide he was contemplating. Brock had been a successful columnist for the newly revived Daily Globe until he began writing a series of articles about the “Sin-Eater murders”. A bogus offender had confessed to Brock about committing the murders. Protecting the “murderer’s” identity under the First Amendment, Brock related his story everyday in the Globe until mounting pressure from the authorities forced him to write an exclusive revealing the murderer.

Although that edition of the paper sold out immediately, Spider-Man soon revealed the true identity of the Sin-Eater to be Detective Stan Carter, making Brock a laughingstock among his fellow journalists. Fired from the Daily Globe, he was forced to write venomous drivel for scandal newspapers. Brock blamed his predicament on Spider-Man.

Brock began an intense physical workout program hoping to reduce the stress his life had become. However, such physical exertions only increased his violent obsession with Spider-Man. Although his body had been honed to near-perfection, Brock’s mind was reduced to an all-consuming vessel of hatred.

It was this statement of fierce emotion that attracted the empathic parasite. In order to survive, the alien costume had to feed off the nearest and greatest source of emotion. The symbiote joined mentally and physically with Brock, whose emotions overwhelmed the already confused alien. The dominant thought on both their minds was that of Spider-Man. But Brock’s sheer hatred for the crime fighter twisted the costume’s feelings to a similar extent. In effect, Brock’s emotions drove the symbiote insane, just as their bonding may have driven Brock over the edge.

Brock soon discovered that the costume gave him all the powers of Spider-Man, and more besides. It also added bulk to his already large frame and increased his strength to superhuman levels. Calling himself “Venom,” Brock directed the costume to sprout a hideous grin and plotted his revenge.

Through the costume, Venom learned a great deal about Spider-Man, including his secret identity. Brock taunted Peter Parker with minor assaults, such as pushing him in front of a moving subway train. The alien costume could cancel out the wall-crawler’s spider-sense presumably by projecting conflicting frequencies upon the brain waves, which act as its mechanism.

Venom finally made a bold move when he confronted Parker’s wife, Mary Jane Watson-Parker, at their old Chelsea apartment. Although Venom’s twisted sense of morality did not allow him to physically harm Mary Jane, Spider-Man immediately realized the nature of this threat.

Taking the time to retrieve the sonic blaster from the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man challenged Venom at Our Lady of Saints Church. Although he fired the blaster at Venom, Spider-Man soon discovered that the symbiote could not be separated from Brock because it had completely bonded with him. Trying to escape and rethink his options, Spider-Man was caught unawares by Venom. He captured Spider-Man and secured him to the inside of the church bell with a considerable amount of webbing.

Spider-Man narrowly escaped the bell’s crushing clapper before defeating Venom by forcing him to deplete his webbing supply, of which the alien symbiote was actually comprised. Before the alien could regenerate enough of its mass to become a renewed threat, Spider-Man brought Venom to the Fantastic Four who imprisoned him in a sonic containment cell. The Fantastic Four then shipped Venom to the government super-prison in the Colorado Rockies called the Vault.

Venom later escaped the Vault by directing the alien costume to disguise itself as a guard’s uniform. A young guard who had just been assigned to the Vault was fooled into thinking that Venom was a fallen colleague and released the gate mechanism, which imprisoned the criminal. Venom killed the naïve guard and escaped to New York City, where he once again confronted Spider-Man.

This time Spider-Man used psychological warfare upon Venom, by taunting the alien symbiote to return to him. The alien, torn by its love-hate relationship for Spider-Man, tried to leave Brock and to re-establish its link with its original owner. But the trauma of trying to detach itself from Brock’s nervous system was too much to bear. The alien costume and Eddie Brock were both knocked unconscious and were subsequently returned to the Vault, where they are now incarcerated.

Height: 6 ft. 3 in.
Weight: 260 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Redish Blond

Strength Level: Venom possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift (press) almost 11 tons.

Known Superhuman Powers: The alien costume, which has grafted itself to the nervous system of Eddie Brock, somehow absorbed the powers of Spider-Man during its brief symbiotic relationship with him. These powers have now been transferred to Brock, so long as he wears the costume. Brock had conditioned himself to lift (press) almost 700 lbs. Before he came into contact with the costume. Once they merged, the costume added Spider-Man’s superhuman strength to Brock’s vast human strength, making him more powerful than Spider-Man.

The alien costume also replicates Spider-Man’s ability to cling to walls by controlling the flux of inter-atomic attraction between molecular boundary layers.

Venom can also shoot strands of the alien’s substance in the form of “webbing” at high pressure up to a distance of 70 feet. The alien’s substance seems to be composed of tough, flexible fibers of organic polymers, which regenerate swiftly after “shedding.” The strands have extraordinary adhesive properties, which diminish rapidly once they abandon their living source. After about three hours, with no source to nourish them, the strands dry up like dead skin and dissolve into a powder. The strands possess a tensile strength of 125 pounds per square millimeter of cross section.

Venom also possesses an extrasensory ability similar to Spider-Man’s spider-sense. This response is not as complicated as Spider-Man’s inherent sense since the alien costume can detect danger from every direction and conduct Brock in plenty of time. It is not as efficient as Spider-Man’s spider-sense because it takes longer to communicate the danger, and Brock’s reflexes are not as fast as Spider-Man’s, even though they are enhanced by the alien costume. It is unknown whether Venom could dodge a gunshot or a barrage of bullets.