Also published during this time was the prequel one-shot comic Venom: Seed of Darkness #-1 (cover dated July 1997), following a pre-Venom Eddie Brock.

[1] According to editor Tom Brevoort, the series was cancelled because "The return on the book had declined to the point where any immediate financial reward was overshadowed by [then editor-in-chief Bob Harras's] discomfort with the character starring in his own title.

In 2011, an ongoing Venom series began under writer Rick Remender with Spider-Man supporting character Flash Thompson in a leading role.

Remender was unsure how to develop the Thompson narrative until he realized that he was a tragic hero: a violent man, haunted by a drinking problem and physical abuse suffered at the hands of his father.

Remender decided that making him a parallel of Thompson would create a stronger nemesis; therefore, Jack was also given a traumatic childhood in which he was exploited by Crime Master.

The event was initially conceived as a reunion of New Fantastic Four members Hulk, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and Spider-Man as part of a Venom-Wolverine crossover.

Editor Tom Brennan explained, "His superhero career almost cost him everything...this is a good man with a troubled past who needed a fresh start...to take his next steps in becoming the hero he was born to be.

Bunn was informed of the decision while writing Venom #31-#38, which he stated gave him time to bring some plot threads to a conclusion, but having originally outlined thirty issues worth of stories, there would be some ideas left to be told.

[7][8] As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel line-wide relaunch, a new ongoing title Venom: Space Knight was launched with writer Robbie Thompson and artist Ariel Olivetti.

As part of the Fresh Start line-wide relaunch, a new volume of Venom was launched (cover-dated July 2018, published May 9) written by Donny Cates.

The fifth and current ongoing volume of Venom is written by Al Ewing, Ram V, and Torunn Grønbekk with art by Bryan Hitch, CAFU, Rogê Antônio, Ramón Bachs, Ken Lashley, Sergio Fernandez Dávila, Julius Ohta, and Rafael T. Pimentel.

[9] Venom: Lethal Protector initiated the character's transition from unambiguous villain to anti-hero, and introduced several new characters (including Venom's symbiote offspring Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher and Agony,[10][2] who would recur in Marvel comics until the 2011 Carnage, U.S.A. limited series,[11] vigilante group The Jury, its creator General Orwell Taylor, the Sentry, Bomblast, Ramshot, Screech and Firearm).

The Avengers and Freedom Force attempt to defeat the villains in a race against time because the prison's final fail-safe, a powerful explosive device, has been activated by Vault warden Truman Marsh.

The story continued Brock's adventures in San Francisco, dealing with street gangs in an uneasy alliance with the Punisher, and saw the creation of the villain Pyre.

When Beck pursues a lawsuit against Scarmore Industries for employees poisoned by a sentient liquid-mercury virus, Venom is injured trying to protect her from the Juggernaut's kidnap attempt.

[20] In a four-part series published between August and November 1994, Brock teams up with the anti-hero Vengeance to fight the Stalkers, a group of alien-technology-enhanced humans who have kidnapped Beck (and others) with Venom's protection.

When Brock accidentally paralyzes her boyfriend Clive, Kirstin asks her mother to avenge him; this storyline continues in Venom: Sinner Takes All.

[24][1] A five-part series published between August and December 1995, it marks the first appearance of She-Venom after the symbiote bonds with Brock's wife Ann to save her from gunshot wounds.

[26] A four-part series published between January and April 1996, the story begins with the New York Police Department using Brock's wife, Ann, to trap him.

[33] A three-part series published between December 1996 and February 1997, this marks the return of Scream; Wolverine and Venom collaborate against the villains Dirt Nap and Chimera.

[35] In a three-part series published between June and August 1997, the story continues with Venom as a government agent controlled by a bomb implanted in his chest.

[36] In a two-part series published between September and October 1997, Venom continues his career as a government agent, working as a bodyguard for foreign president Franco Santera.

The Ararat Corporation is run by an alien colony of miniature spider robots (led by an entity named Bob) that have infiltrated the U.S. government.

[41] Robertson finds an ally in the Suit, a mysterious individual made of the same miniature robots as Bob (which were accidentally brought to earth by Reed Richards).

[48] The 2012 six-part story "Circle of Four" saw Thompson end his long-term relationship with Betty Brant for her safety; Venom joined the Red Hulk, Ghost Rider and X-23 to defeat Blackheart and the forces of hell (which are encroaching on earth).

[50] The 2012 story "The Savage Six" sees the return of a symbiote-less Eddie Brock, who is intent on exterminating all of the symbiotes (resulting in the deaths of Scream and Hybrid).

Bunn's tenure began with the "Monsters of Evil" arc explaining a villainous turn by Daimon Hellstrom in Bunn's Fear Itself: The Fearless,[64] and continued a plot thread from Remender's "Circle of Four" arc which saw Venom, Hulk, X-23 and Ghost Rider unknowingly branded with Mephisto's mystical symbol (marking them as Mephisto's potential heirs).

[69] In Philadelphia, Thompson gains employment as a high school gym coach,[70] while as Venom he comes into conflict with the U-Foes, who kidnap and experiment on victims with alien technology.

When the U-Foes knock Venom, the demon takes control of his body and uses the alien technology to teleport the villains to their apparent death in space.

Brock returns as Toxin in Venom #30,[71] to pursue Thompson while he himself is hunting the result of one of the U-Foes experiments: an alien-lifeform infested human turned into a cannibal.