It has been 38 years since Marvel Comics introduced what became Spider-Man’s most iconic villain over the years. In 1998, Spider-Man had a new creative team, with writer David Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane bringing the Wall Crawler to a new generation of fans. It had been almost four years to the date that Spider-Man debuted a shocking new costume, returning from Secret Wars with the black costume that eventually turned out to be an alien life form. After Spider-Man eliminated the alien and went back to normal, things moved on, but that alien lifeform was still out there. It was 38 years ago today that the alien found a new host and Venom was born.
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On January 12, 1988, Eddie Brock made his first full appearance in Marvel Comics, and he was the new host for the symbiote that now called itself Venom.
Venom Debuted 38 Years Ago and Changed Spider-Man Comics Forever
As the 300th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, it was time to do something big. What Michelinie and McFarlane did was bigger than most people could have believed at the time. They introduced a hulking and deadly new villain that had only one goal in life. Venom wanted to make Spider-Man pay for rejecting him, and Eddie Brock wanted to make Peter Parker pay for costing him his reputation.
It was an interesting issue since Peter Parker was wearing a regular black costume that looked a lot like the symbiote costume, which, of course, enraged Venom even more. It should be noted that this is not the Venom that people know today. This version of Venom was willing to kill, and even murdered a young police officer who thought he was stealing from a local church. However, it was still interesting to hear Venom claiming to be the innocent victim that Spider-Man ruined.
Unlike many retellings of Eddie Brock’s story, he was an honest reporter who believed he was telling Sin-Eater’s story for the Daily Globe until he found out he was duped. He blamed Spider-Man for his downfall after he revealed Sin-Eater’s real identity. It, honestly, made Eddie even more pathetic, but it also made him a tragic tale. He was at a church, ready to die by suicide, when Venom saved him.
This issue from 38 years ago showed several things that would play out in the future battles between Spider-Man and Venom. For one thing, Venom didn’t activate Spider-Man’s spider-sense. He was also bigger, stronger, and faster, and all Spider-Man had going for him was his experience. Spider-Man also realized that the symbiote had completely bonded with Brock, meaning that Eddie was now as much an alien as Venom was. This was also the issue where Spider-Man went back to his old red and blue costume, a welcome change to the norm.
Of course, Venom has changed drastically over the years, and he has become an antihero rather than a villain. He is even bonded now to Mary Jane Watson, while Eddie is bonded to the Carnage symbiote. However, 38 years ago, Amazing Spider-Man #300 officially introduced the world to the symbiote, and it changed everything about Spider-Man’s world forever.
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images courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
