Welcome to the Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide, where we take you through the Wellington City Libraries’ collection of a comic book character. This post is all about those two gruesome toothsome puddles of alien goo, Venom and Carnage!
(GIFs via Giphy)
Who is Venom?
Venom is a ‘symbiote’, a race of alien creatures that parasitically bond to other beings to survive. When one of these symbiotes bonded to Spider-Man and was rejected, it found its way to disgruntled reporter Eddie Brock, who had a vendetta against Spider-Man. Eddie and the symbiote formed a partnership over their mutual hatred of the Wall-Crawler, transforming into a hulking ink-black monstrosity – Venom.
In addition to granting its wearer increased strength, durability, and the power to shapeshift and manifest weapons out of its body, the symbiote also replicated all of Peter’s powers and memories. Due to its previous bond with Peter, Venom also cannot trigger Spidey’s danger-alerting ‘Spider-Sense’, which makes Venom one of Spider-Man’s deadliest villains. Fortunately, the symbiote’s biology makes Venom weak to high-pitched sounds and extreme heat, a vulnerability that Spider-Man can always exploit.
Over the years, Venom has also spawned new symbiotes, including the maniacal Carnage, the quintuplet Life Foundation symbiotes (Riot, Lasher, Phage, Scream, and Agony), the inverted copy Anti-Venom, and the good-natured Sleeper.
Symbiote Spider-Man
Spider-Man first gained the symbiote in the original Secret Wars, where he thought it was just an all-black version of his costume. While Peter initially embraced the symbiote, over time it began to amplify his negative emotions and control him against his will, leading Peter to reject it.
Black Suit Spider-Man appearances
Symbiote Spider-Man / David, Peter
Symbiote Spider-Man : crossroads / David, Peter
Symbiote Spider-Man : king in black / David, Peter
Spider-Man has rejoined with the symbiote on occasion, such as when he fought a Carnage-powered Green Goblin, or when a Doc Ock-possessed Peter (see ‘Superior Spider-Man’ in our Spider-Verse blog) tried the symbiote on for size as the Superior Venom. Some What If? stories explore what would have happened if Peter had kept the symbiote permanently, like the recent miniseries Spider’s Shadow.
The amazing Spider-Man : Red Goblin / Slott, Dan
The Superior Spider-Man. 5, Superior Venom / Slott, Dan
Spider-Man : Spider’s shadow / Zdarsky, Chip
Venom: Lethal Protector
Venom initially tried to be a hero, calling himself a ‘Lethal Protector’ following a simplistic eye-for-an-eye morality. During this period, Venom moved to San Franciso and was later captured by the Life Foundation, who forced him to create his first five offspring.
‘Lethal Protector’ era Venom reading order
Venom: Lethal Protector (only on Libby)
Venom : lethal protector : heart of the hunted / Michelinie, David
Venom : planet of the symbiotes / Michelinie, David
Venom : the complete collection / Way, Daniel
Mac Gargan as Venom
Eddie would eventually lose the symbiote, and Mac Gargan (the Spider-Man villain know as the Scorpion) became its new partner. As Venom, Gargan worked with the Thunderbolts, and using the suit’s ability to shapeshift, passed himself off as Spider-Man on Norman Osborn’s ‘Dark Avengers’.
Mac Gargan as Venom appearances
Thunderbolts : caged animals / Ellis, Warren
Thunderbolts : secret invasion / Gage, Christos
Mac Gargan as ‘Spider-Man’ appearances
Dark Avengers (only on Libby)
Siege : Mighty Avengers / Slott, Dan
Anti-Venom
Remnants of the symbiote in Eddie fuse with his white blood cells to create Anti-Venom, a symbiote with none of Venom’s weaknesses and no mind of its own. Anti-Venom is harmful to other symbiotes and has the ability to cure any disease or ailment, leading Brock to gain a messiah complex over his newfound power to heal.
Anti-Venom appearances
The amazing Spider-Man : the return of Anti-Venom
Amazing Spider-Man : Venom Inc / Slott, Dan (also on Libby)
Black Cat [4] : queen in black / MacKay, Jed
Agent Venom
The Venom symbiote is captured by the US government and given to Flash Thompson, a military veteran and Peter Parker’s former classmate. Flash uses the symbiote’s abilities as ‘Agent Venom‘, a covert operative performing secret missions for the Army and working alongside the Secret Avengers and General Ross’ Thunderbolts.
Agent Venom appearances
Venom [1] / Remender, Rick (also on Libby)
Venom : the complete collection. Volume 2 / Remender, Rick
Venom : the land where killers dwell / Bunn, Cullen
Agent Venom teams
Secret Avengers. [Vol. 1] / Remender, Rick
Secret Avengers [3] / Remender, Rick
Thunderbolts. Volume 1, No quarter / Way, Daniel
Thunderbolts. Volume 2, Red scare / Way, Daniel
Thunderbolts. Volume 3, Infinity / Soule, Charles
Thunderbolts. Volume 5, Punisher vs. the Thunderbolts / Acker, Ben
Venom: Spaceknight
Agent Venom later joins the Guardians of the Galaxy as their Avengers envoy (see our blog on Guardians of the Galaxy for more on this series). Here, Flash changes his symbiote form to an armored-plated look as Venom: Spaceknight.
Venom, space knight [1] : agent of the cosmos / Thompson, Robbie
Venom, space knight [2] : enemies and allies / Thompson, Robbie
Back to Brock
The symbiote eventually returns from space and is bounced between different hosts: the veteran-turned-criminal Lee Price and Venom’s original host, Eddie Brock. After settling on Brock once more (and leaving Flash with a new Anti-Venom suit to compensate), Venom spawns another symbiote, the benevolent Sleeper.
Venom. Volume 1, Homecoming / Costa, Mike
Venom [2] : the land before crime / Costa, Mike
Venom : lethal protector. Vol. 3, Blood in the water / Costa, Mike
Amazing Spider-Man : Venom Inc / Slott, Dan (also on Libby)
Venom. Vol. 4, The nativity / Costa, Mike
Venom. First host / Costa, Mike
Venom: The King in Black
Donny Cates’ run on Venom deepens the mythology of the symbiotes, expanding on what exactly they are as a species and their role in the Marvel Universe. In this series, Eddie discovers he has a long-lost son named Dylan, fights a vastly more powerful Carnage, and confronts the mind-controlling ‘King in Black’, the god of all symbiotes.
Donny Cates Venom reading order
Venom. Vol. 1, Rex / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)
Venom. Vol. 2, The abyss / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)
These first two volumes are also collected as Venom. Vol. 1 / Cates, Donny
The war of the realms : Venom / Bunn, Cullen
Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny
Venom. Vol. 3, Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)
Venom. Vol. 4, Venom Island / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)
Venom. Vol. 5, Venom beyond / Cates, Donny
Venom [6] : king in black / Cates, Donny
The ‘King in Black‘ storyline is continued in these spin-offs.
King in black : planet of the symbiotes / Chapman, Clay McLeod
King in black : thunderbolts / Rosenberg, Matthew
King in black : return of the Valkyries / Aaron, Jason
Spider-Woman. Vol. 2, King in black / Pacheco, Karla
King in black : Avengers / Thorne, Geoffrey
Savage Avengers. Vol. 4, King in black / Duggan, Gerry
Symbiote Spider-Man : king in black / David, Peter
King in black : Gwenom vs. Carnage / McGuire, Seanan
King in black : Namor / Busiek, Kurt
The Guardians of the Galaxy [2] : “Here we make our stand” / Ewing, Al
Venom and Son
In the current Venom series, Eddie ascends to becoming the new King in Black, discovering the extraordinary (and time-bendingly weird) extent of his new role. Meanwhile, on Earth, Eddie’s son Dylan becomes the new Venom and must confront a violent new symbiote named Bedlam, who has mysterious ties to his father.
Current Venom reading order
Venom. Vol. 1, Recursion / Ewing, Al
Venom [2] : deviation / Ewing, Al
Venom [4] : Illumination / Ewing, Al
Venom [5] : predestination / Ewing, Al
Across the Venomverse
Did you know that Venom had his own Spider-Verse? Across the multiverse, Venom has bonded to all sorts of other Marvel heroes, including Captain America, Rocket Raccoon, Black Panther, and Deadpool. In Venomverse and its sequel Venomised, Eddie Brock teams up with these Venom variants to fight the Poisons, an interdimensional hyperparasite race that feed on symbiotes.
Death of the Venomverse / Bunn, Cullen
Ultimate Venom
In Ultimate Marvel (Earth-1610), Venom is not an alien, but a lab-grown organism created by Peter Parker and Eddie Brock’s parents. As in the original continuity, Venom bonds to Peter and then Eddie, and later spawns Carnage, which here bonds to Gwen Stacy. When Miles Morales becomes Spider-Man, he fights a deadlier, improved version of this Venom.
Ultimate Venom appearances
Ultimate Spider-Man : war of the symbiotes / Bendis, Brian Michael
Miles Morales : with great power / Bendis, Brian Michael
“Gwenom”
The symbiote appears in Spider-Gwen’s universe (Earth-65), also created as a lab-grown experiment. This Venom bonds to Gwen, creating the combo of ‘Gwenom’.
Gwenom appearances
Spider-Gwen. Vol. 4, Predators / Latour, Jason
Spider-Gwen. Vol. 5, Gwenom / Latour, Jason
King in black : Gwenom vs. Carnage / McGuire, Seanan
Renew Your Venoms
In the Renew Your Vows timeline (Earth-18119) where Peter and his family fight crime together, Mary Jane bonds with Venom to keep up with her super-powered husband and daughter.
The Amazing Spider-Man : renew your vows [2] : the Venom experiment / Conway, Gerry
The End of Venom
The miniseries The End imagines possible futures for Marvel’s heroes and villains. In Venom’s case, the symbiote comes into conflict with an artificial intelligence, starting a war that extends for over a trillion years.
Who is Carnage?
Carnage is Venom’s first offspring, created when Eddie Brock was sharing a prison cell with serial killer Cletus Kasady. The spawn of Venom bonded to Kasady and they became Carnage, a maniacal, all-red symbiote with an insatiable bloodlust.
Early Carnage appearances
Superior Carnage / Shinick, Kevin
Deadpool vs Carnage / Bunn, Cullen
Carnage off his AXIS
In the crossover series AXIS, a magic spell causes the Avengers, X-Men and their villains to have their moralities inverted, causing the heroes to turn bad and the villains to turn good. Here, Carnage grows a conscience for the first time but is unsure how to use it, turning him good but without a stable guide on how to do good.
Carnage in AXIS appearances
Avengers/X-Men : Axis / Remender, Rick
Axis : Carnage & Hobgoblin / Spears, Rick
Nova [5] : axis / Duggan, Gerry
Later reverting to his evil ways, Carnage is hunted by a police task force, before being captured and bonded to Norman Osborn to become the Red Goblin.
Carnage [3] : what dwells beneath / Conway, Gerry
The amazing Spider-Man : Red Goblin / Slott, Dan
Absolute Carnage
Over the years, Carnage has grown a god complex, and continues to evolve in his quest for universal omnicide. In Absolute Carnage, he learns he can gain power by absorbing the DNA of former symbiote hosts (by force, naturally) and begins hunting them down, putting him in the path of Venom and Spider-Man.
Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny
The amazing Spider-Man : absolute Carnage
Venom. Vol. 3, Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)
The Absolute Carnage storyline is continued in these spin-offs.
Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool / Tieri, Frank
Absolute Carnage : Miles Morales / Ahmed, Saladin
Absolute Carnage : Scream / Bunn, Cullen
Absolute Carnage : lethal protectors / Tieri, Frank
Absolute Carnage : the immortal Hulk and other tales / Ewing, Al
Extreme Carnage
Seemingly defeated after Eddie becomes the King in Black, the Carnage symbiote begins another campaign of death by hunting down various Spider-Man villains, like Hydro-Man and The Spot, and stealing their powers. This culminates in him gaining the ability to travel across the multiverse and becoming the villain of the most recent Venomverse series.
Extreme Carnage / Johnson, Phillip Kennedy
Carnage : black, white & blood
Carnage. Vol. 1, In the court of crimson / V, Ram
Death of the Venomverse / Bunn, Cullen
Red Goblin
Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, once fused with Carnage to become the Red Goblin, using his new symbiote powers to stage an all-out assault on the Spider-Man family and forcing Peter to bond with Venom once more to face him. Later on, Osborn’s grandson Normie bonded with a symbiote named Rascal to become a new Red Goblin, becoming an ally to the current Venom, Dylan Brock.
Red Goblin appearances
The amazing Spider-Man : Red Goblin / Slott, Dan
Red Goblin [1] : it runs in the family / Paknadel, Alex
Red Goblin. Vol. 2, Nature/nurture / Paknadel, Alex
Cult of carnage : misery / Pirzada, Sabir
Ravencroft
When not raising havoc, Carnage is incarcerated in Ravencroft, an asylum for the criminally insane. Other famous inmates include Carnage’s girlfriend Shriek, the imperfect Spider-Man clone Doppelganger, Wolverine’s nemesis Sabertooth, and even Dracula.
Ravencroft appearances
Ruins of Ravencroft / Tieri, Frank
Other Symbiotes
Both Venom and Carnage have spawned new symbiotes over the years, growing a deadly family tree that continues to wreak havoc over the Marvel Universe.
Life Foundation symbiotes
The five Life Foundation symbiotes (the brute Riot, the tendril-coated Lasher, the spiky Phage, the prehensile-haired Scream, and acidic Agony) have only appeared sporadically since their creation, usually as foot soldiers for bigger villains.
Life Foundation symbiote appearances
Venom: Lethal Protector (only on Libby)
Deadpool vs Carnage / Bunn, Cullen
Venom. Vol. 3, Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny
Extreme Carnage / Johnson, Phillip Kennedy
Scream has a few spin-off titles of her own, mostly tying into Carnage-related storylines.
Absolute Carnage : Scream / Bunn, Cullen
Scream. Vol. 1, Curse of Carnage / Chapman, Clay McLeod
Agony and her current host Gemma Shin were members of Wilson Fisk’s Thunderbolts, serving as his enforcers during the Kingpin’s time as mayor of New York City. Later, she is offered redemption as a part of Daredevil and Elektra’s new team, The Fist.
Devil’s reign : villains for hire / Chapman, Clay McLeod
Daredevil & Elektra. Vol. 1, The Red Fist saga / Zdarsky, Chip
Daredevil & Elektra [2] : the Red Fist saga. Part two / Zdarsky, Chip
The Life Foundation symbiotes eventually wound up at chemical corporation Alchemax (future workplace of Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of 2099), before shortly being stolen. To track them down, Alchemax owner Liz Allan (a former classmate of Peter Parker) bonds with a symbiote fusion of Carnage and Anti-Venom, becoming Misery.
Cult of carnage : misery / Pirzada, Sabir
Toxin
Toxin is Carnage’s first offspring (and by extension, Venom’s grandchild). As the 1000th of his line, Toxin is stronger than both his parent and grandparent and more resistant to their weaknesses. Fortunately, Toxin is also the most benevolent of his family, with a strong dislike of other symbiotes.
Toxin appearances
Venom : the complete collection. Volume 2 / Remender, Rick
King in black : planet of the symbiotes / Chapman, Clay McLeod
Extreme Carnage / Johnson, Phillip Kennedy
Sleeper
Sleeper is Venom’s most recent offspring, and very protective of his ‘brother’, Eddie’s son Dylan. Like Toxin, Sleeper is a more benevolent symbiote, but is more secretive than his brethren, preferring to possess hosts without their knowledge. Sleeper also has the unique ability to generate chemical compounds from his body, such as mind-altering pheromones and corrosive acids.
Sleeper appearances
Venom. Vol. 4, The nativity / Costa, Mike
Venom. First host / Costa, Mike
Venom. Vol. 3, Absolute Carnage / Cates, Donny
Venom. Vol. 4, Venom Island / Cates, Donny (also on Libby)
Extreme Carnage / Johnson, Phillip Kennedy
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