Venom, or the
Venom Symbiote, is a fictional
supervillain appearing in American
comic books published by
Marvel Comics, commonly in association with
Spider-Man. Venom was originally depicted as a
supervillain when he made his full first appearance in
The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May 1988), but the character has since evolved into the role of an
antihero. Venom is a
symbiote, a sentient alien, with a gooey, almost liquid-like form. As with real world
symbiotes, it requires a host, usually human, to bond with for its survival. After bonding, the symbiote endows its enhanced powers upon the host. When the Venom Symbiote bonds with a human, that new dual-life form refers to itself as "Venom."
The Venom Symbiote's first known host was Spider-Man, who eventually separated himself from the creature when he discovered its true nature. The Symbiote went on to merge with other hosts, most notably
Eddie Brock, its second and most infamous host, with whom it first became Venom and one of Spider-Man's
archenemies. According to
S.H.I.E.L.D., it is considered one of the greatest threats to humanity, alongside
Magneto,
Doctor Doom, and
Red Skull.
Comics journalist and historian
Mike Conroy writes of the character: "What started out as a replacement costume for Spider-Man turned into one of the Marvel web-slinger's greatest nightmares." Venom was ranked as the 22nd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time in
IGN's list of the top 100 comic villains. IGN also ranked Mac Gargan's incarnation of Venom as #17 in their list of "The Top 50 Avengers", while the Flash Thompson incarnation was ranked as #27. The character was listed as #33 on
Empire Magazine 's 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters.