With the
Venom movie in cinemas, I figured it would be the perfect time to shine a little light on the symbiotic
Spider-Man foe within the
MC2.
The symbiotic half of the villainous
Venom makes their
MC2 debut in
Spider-Girl #5 wherein we learn it has been held in a
S.H.I.E.L.D. Maximum Security Facility in
Mount Athena, New York for over a decade. We also learn that
Spider-Man was involved in the symbiote being separated from it's 'true' host
Eddie Brock, who later died leaving it alone and hungry for revenge.
When the symbiote learns of the existence of
Spider-Girl, it breaks out the plexisteel container and seeks out another of it's former hosts to re-bond and control:
Peter Parker.
After being defeated by
Spider-Girl with the help of
Phil Urich's sonic abilities, the symbiote is returned to it's confinement at
Mount Athena. It would not be seen again in the
MC2 until
Spider-Girl #82 when
Fury, the
Goblin Queen crashes
Normie Osborn and
Brenda Drago's engagement party and bonds the symbiote to
Normie as a 'wedding gift'.
Despite the Fantastic Five's efforts, Spider-Girl is the last one standing against
Venom and
Fury until the vigilante
Darkdevil intervenes, only to end up with a hole through the chest for his troubles.
The story continues in
Spider-Girl #83 where
Spider-Girl seeks the aid of the
Avengers to track down
Venom. When
Mayday becomes frustrated with the
Avengers approach, she dons her old black suit and recruits her 'Uncle'
Phil Urich aka the heroic
Green Goblin to pursue
Fury while she confronts
Venom.
The story concludes in
Spider-Girl #84 where
May leads
Venom to a large bakery. Wise to
Spider-Girl's plan, the symbiote is only stopped when
Normie resists the alien's influence. Just as
May is seemingly absorbed by the symbiote,
Normie and
May's combined willpower overpower the creature.
Despite
May's assertions they should hand the symbiote over to the
Avengers or
Fantastic Five,
Normie convinces her to let him keep the creature in the belief he can now control it.
Over the next several issues,
Normie and the symbiote are seen working on something in secret, suggesting
Normie may be slipping back into his former villainous ways. I think the page convey the story far better than I could.
Eventually things become clear in
Spider-Girl #93 when a crime is interrupted by a figure riding a
Goblin Glider...
However,
Normie's choices aren't without a downside, as now
Normie and his fiancé
Brenda (who was working off her debt to society by working for the
FBI's Agent Weadon) will now be in legal trouble again.
Obviously, creating several new super-weapons for the Green Goblin and harbouring a fugitive alien symbiote leads to
Normie being confronted by the
Avengers in
Spider-Girl #94 on
Tony Stark's orders. Things go awry when
Tony's 'bodyguard' (actually a cyborg
James Rhodes,
see here) goes haywire after being hit by a hex from the
Scarlet Witch.
Proving to be instrumental in ending
Rhodes rampage,
Normie declares he is turning himself over to his fiancé
Brenda, who is herself a government agent (
Spider-Girl #95).
In
Spider-Girl #96 Normie meets with
Agent Weadon and his team to offer his services and negation terms. We learn that
Normie plans to trade his services in exchange for a full pardon for
Brenda (
Spider-Girl #97). Despite projecting confidence and demonstrating control over the symbiote to
Weadon and his fiancé,
Normie privately confides in his personal assistant (
Kristy Watson) that he is relying on her to keep him in check and-should he lose control- contact
Spider-Girl to destroy him.
Later while sparring with
Kaine,
Normie and the symbiote are alerted to the threat posed to
Spider-Girl by the
Brotherhood of Scriers and their agent, the original
Hobgoblin. Soon after,
Spider-Girl and
Normie discover several allies brutally beaten; including fiancé
Brenda Drago (
Spider-Girl #98).
After frantically rushing
Brenda and the others to the hospital,
Normie heads out to help bring down the
Hobgoblin (
Spider-Girl #99).
The various threads of the ongoing plots in the series come together when Mayday is stabbed by a Scrier's poisoned blade and on the verge of death. Normie aids Kaine in driving off (and apparently killing some of) the Scriers before using the symbiote to heal May's wounds and absorb all the venom (Spider-Girl #100).
Still too weak to carry on alone and losing an internal struggle against her own demons,
May is given new hope by
Normie who offers the symbiote to her.
Normie tells
May he has banished the '
Venom' persona that corrupted the symbiote, returning it to it's original state. The symbiotic other will only feed off the emotions of it's host, whether for good or evil (
Spider-Girl #100).
Strengthened by bonding with the symbiote, May heads off the find the Hobgoblin. As a parting gift, the symbiote 'cleansed' Normie, removing his scars and hateful tattoos (Spider-Girl #100).
May finds the Hobgoblin battling her father and intervenes to save him, only for the symbiote to be driven off by the Hobgoblin's sonic device. Instead of fleeing, the symbiote continues attacking the Hobgoblin in an attempt to save May and Peter. The symbiote dies in an act of self-sacrificial redemption, with May revealing the symbiote learned these values from Normie. We learn soon after that Normie felt his symbiotic 'other' die (Spider-Girl #100).
The symbiotes death spurs Mayday on to defeat the Hobgoblin in a one on one fight. Despite the symbiotes death, she would appear one last time in Amazing Spider-Girl #29. We learn that before his death Eddie Brock was hired by Norman Osborn. Osborn used cell samples from the symbiote to transform a cloned infant May into a hybrid which possessing both the alien's abilities and spider-powers. Norman planned to use the hybrid clone in an elaborate plan against Spider-Man. After Norman's unexpected death, this hybrid would lay dormant for years until awakened and eventually taking the name April Parker aka Mayhem. But that's a story for another time...
The
Venom symbiote made a large impact on the
MC2 Universe and had, in my opinion one of the best character arcs in the
Spider-Girl series coupled and interwoven with
Normie's own arc of redemption. Who'd have thought a black blobby creature from outer space could move you to tears?
Until I stop delving deep into gooey
MC2 lore, I remain
frogoat