Slott suggested that the new Crime Master's secret identity would be Bennett Brant, the thought-dead brother of Thompson's then-girlfriend Betty.
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.
The series was born after Thompson was first unveiled as the new Venom by writer Dan Slott in The Amazing Spider-Man #654. Issue #18 featured the return of Brock, who killed Hybrid and Scream in his crusade against the symbiotes and eventually bonded to the Toxin symbiote. The first issue introduced new versions of the villains Crime Master and Jack O'Lantern, who became recurring antagonists for Thompson. The character regained the use of his legs while using the symbiote following their loss during his service in the Iraq War (as shown in The Amazing Spider-Man #574). In 2011, an ongoing Venom series began under writer Rick Remender with Spider-Man supporting character Flash Thompson in a leading role. Eighteen issues were produced by Way through November 2004, comprising the story arcs "Shiver" (#1-5), "Run" (#6-10), "Patterns" (#11-13), and "Twist" (#14-18). This series followed a new character, Patricia Robertson, and a clone of the Venom symbiote. Ī new Venom series began in June 2003, written by Daniel Way.
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 discomfort with the character starring in his own title." The limited-series run consisted of 60 issues. Larry Hama wrote the most individual series (eight in total), including the 1997 final installment ( Venom: The Finale, which saw the symbiote apparently killed).
Seventeen other series were printed between August 1993 and January 1998, including 1994's Venom: Separation Anxiety (which continued the story of Venom's offspring and spawned the 1995 " Planet of the Symbiotes" cross-series story arc), 1996's Along Came a Spider (which introduced symbiote anti-hero Hybrid) and 1997's Venom: On Trial (which saw Eddie Brock tried for his crimes as Venom). The story began the character's transition from unambiguous villain to anti-hero and introduced the symbiote offspring ( Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher and Agony), who would recur in Marvel comics until the 2011 Carnage, U.S.A. The first Venom title, Venom: Lethal Protector, was published in January 1993 and written by Venom co-creator David Michelinie.
In 2011 another monthly series, following the adventures of Flash Thompson, was launched. The series concluded in 2004 after 18 issues. A monthly Venom series began publication in 2003, following a new character, Patricia Robertson, and a clone of the original symbiote.
Beginning with Venom: Lethal Protector, eighteen limited series following Brock's adventures were published monthly between February 1993 and January 1998. The first incarnation of the character was the one created by the third and current human host to the symbiote (the first two being Spider-Man and Tel-Kar), Eddie Brock, and-since 2011-its fifth host, Flash Thompson. Venom is the title of several American comic book series published by Marvel Comics focusing on the various heroic and villainous incarnations of the character Venom, which have usually consisted of a human host and amorphous alien being called a symbiote.