Disgraced and suicidal with a growing irrational hatred for Spider-Man, Eddie comes into contact with an alien symbiote, rejected by Peter Parker.

[8] 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".

[9] Writer David Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane are generally credited with the character's creation, based on a number of plot ideas and concepts from various other creators.

At that time, David was the writer on The Spectacular Spider-Man and wrote the "Sin Eater" storyline from which Eddie Brock's backstory would be derived, well before McFarlane was assigned to the art duties on Amazing.

The original idea of a new costume for Spider-Man that would later become the character Venom was conceived of by a Marvel Comics reader from Norridge, Illinois named Randy Schueller.

It was writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz who had established that the costume was a sentient alien being, and that it was vulnerable to high sonic energy during their run on The Amazing Spider-Man that preceded Michelinie's.

[12] In an interview with Tom DeFalco, McFarlane states that Michelinie did indeed come up with the idea of Venom and the character's basic design ("a big guy in the black costume").

The character would remain unseen and inactive until Amazing Spider-Man editor Jim Salicrup required a villain for that book's 300th issue, and Michelinie suggested a villain consisting of the alien symbiote grafted onto the body of a human female; seeking revenge for the deaths of her husband and miscarried baby who would accidentally die as the unfortunate result of Spider-Man battling another supervillain.

Michelinie contends that the plots for issues #298–299, as well as the visual descriptions of the character, were written and bought by Salicrup before McFarlane was ever assigned to the book.

He first pushes Peter in front of a moving subway and later reaches from behind a window and dislodges him as he scales a building, both times without activating his spider-sense.

[39] However, after they defeat Carnage, Spider-Man betrays Venom (who had also resumed his plan of revenge and tried to throttle the arachnoid hero to death) by summoning the Fantastic Four and sending him back to prison.

[44] With Spider-Man's help, Brock is reunited with the symbiote and they seemingly destroy his spawn, Phage, Lasher, Riot, Scream and Agony, before escaping.

Venom's spawn: Phage, Lasher, Scream, Riot, and Agony are revealed to still be alive and arrive to free Brock,[54] seeking his help to gain control over their symbiotes.

[21] The story follows the efforts of Brock, Spider-Man, and Scarlet Spider (Ben Reilly) to stop the invasion and defeat an escaped and empowered Carnage.

[68] Brock is captured in his sewer hideout and put on trial, with Matt Murdock acting in his defense, his symbiote held in check by a chemical inhibitor.

Brock is left reliant on the suit to live, and pursues Spider-Man also out of fear that he will take the symbiote back, rather than just for revenge over his lost career.

[97] During the 2011 "Spider-Island" storyline in which 99% of New York City's population are transformed into spiders mind-controlled by Adriana Soria, Brock is forced to sacrifice the symbiote—and being Anti-Venom—so that it can be converted into a powerful curative capable of healing the infected millions.

[110] After stopping a robbery, Brock encounters Scorpion and manages to defeat him, until the symbiote takes him to a church and reveals that it attacked the priest.

[111] Venom found that remnants of Stegron's Dinosaur People experiments were living in the sewers, and he had to defend them from Kraven the Hunter, Shriek, and the NYPD.

[113][114] In the "Go Down Swinging" storyline, Eddie is blackmailed by J. Jonah Jameson into helping defend Spider-Man's inner circle against Norman Osborn, who has bonded himself with the Carnage symbiote to become the Red Goblin.

The symbiote then completely overtakes Eddie, compelled by a mysterious external influence, nearly killing Jack in the process before being subdued and captured by a man named Rex Strickland.

[119] Eddie Brock recovers, and the Maker interrogates him about the incident revolving around the Grendel symbiote and Knull while stating that he is not the Mister Fantastic that he is familiar with.

In addition, he also talked about how the Venom symbiote was in a feral state and has been deleting Eddie's bad memories like when he found out that his father had remarried and has a child named Dylan Brock.

[123] After being framed by a resurrected Knullified Cletus Kasady for the murder of Lee Price, Eddie and Dylan are on the run and rescued by Venom, while seeking help from many available superheroes in New York, such as Peter, Miles, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers, including the villains Mac Gargan and Maker, in order for Dylan, as well as Normie Osborn to be tested if they have symbiote codex within them.

[125] After Eddie subsequently kills Knull, he becomes a human symbiote and the new King in Black, along with a council of the "Kings in Black" consisting of his future selves Tyro, Wilde, Finnegan, Bedlam, Meridius, and The Eventuality (all caught in a time loop), while Venom joins up with Dylan, with father and son (and future selves) eventually being drawn into "war" with one another.

[85] Anti-Venom is created when the healing energies of Martin Li cause Brock's white-blood cells and traces of the Venom Symbiote still within his body to combine into a new suit composed of human/alien hybrid antibodies possessing powerful restorative abilities.

[89][91] Brock is capable of rapidly healing significant injury as Anti-Venom, recovering almost instantly after being shot in the head and suffering damage to his brain.

[90][133] He displays similar abilities to Venom, possessing super strength, speed,[134] negating Spider-Man's spider-sense,[133] and being able to block damage entirely from some guns and knives.

[128] Anti-Venom is also immune to the weaknesses of the Venom Symbiote, showing no damage or effect from direct blasts of fire, heat and sound.

[131][132] The only shown weaknesses of the Symbiote are a highly toxic "super venom" created as a direct countermeasure using remnants of Anti-Venom's suit, and Mr.