VENOM

Venom's story begins with Spider-Man while he was on a planet known as Battleworld. He was transported there along with other super heroes and villians by a god-like being known as the Beyonder. The Beyonder wanted to find out who would win in a battle of good vs. evil. While there, Spider-Man's costume was shredded by the Absorbing Man. He was told by Thor that there was a machine to make new clothing. Spider-Man thought he found this machine(which was really a container with a symbiote in it.) He remove a black ball that triggered his Spider Sense. The ball engulfed him and became his new costume. It looked similar to the new Spider-Woman's costume. See the Secret Wars Trade Paperback for more details.

Spider-Man returned back to Earth with his costume. He thought it was great. It could mimic any type of clothing and he did not have to wear web shooters. However, over time Spider-Man was becoming increasingly tired. He went to Reed Richards to have his costume investigated and found out it was a symbiote. Richards was able to remove it with a sonic gun and put it into a holding cell. However, it escaped and attempted to completely bond with Spider-Man. Peter was able to get it off him by luring it to a bell tower at a church where the loud noise force it off of him. Peter thought this was the end of his problems. However, part of the symbiote escaped and bonded with Eddie Brock.

Eddie Brock was a reporter with the Daily Globe. He was doing a story on the serial killer known as the Sin Eater. He used his rights as a reporter to keep the identity of the killer a secret until he could publish his story. Eddie wrote his article saying Emil Gregg was the killer. However, Spider-Man soon revealed the real Sin Eater was Detective Stan Carter. Brock was a laughing stock in the newspaper business. He contemplated suicide. He went to Our Lady of Saints Church in Manhattan to pray for forgiveness. However, while he was there he was bonded with the symbiote. The two became one entity known as Venom.

Venom has all of Spider-Man's powers and knows his secret identity. Brock has haunted Peter Parker throughout his career as Venom. He has proven to be one of Spider-Man's toughest foes. He has aided Spider-Man on certain occasions (like the Maximum Carnage storyline). In the past few years he has become a lethal protector of the innocents in San Francisco. However, if the recent storylines of Spider-Man, Venom will be joining the Sinister Six and will cause a lot of trouble for Peter.