Carnage is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as an adversary of Spider-Man and the archenemy of his father Venom, in particular the Eddie Brock incarnation of the character, although Carnage and Venom have joined forces when their goals have aligned. The character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #361, and was created by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley, although the first published artwork of Carnage was penciled by Chris Marrinan. Stan Lee would also have some input in the character's name and attributes, pushing for a character who would be far darker and vicious than Venom, due to the latter's more scrupulous character development.
MacDonald "Mac" Gargan is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #19. Mac Gargan is a recurring antagonist of the superhero Peter Parker / Spider-Man. He debuted as a private investigator hired by J. Jonah Jameson to learn how Peter Parker took pictures of Spider-Man. In the following issue, Jameson decided to turn Gargan into a deadly adversary for Spider-Man through a barely-tested procedure, which left Gargan with an irremovable scorpion-themed armor and the predatory instincts of the arachnid. Driven insane by his mutation, Gargan instead turned to a life of crime as the Scorpion, and went on to menace both Spider-Man and Jameson, whom he held responsible for his transformation. Since then, having finally removed the armor, Gargan has also served as the third host of the Venom symbiote, and a member of the Dark Avengers as Spider-Man, but eventually returned to his Scorpion alias as it kept him alive due to the strain both the neural-armors and symbiote put on his body.
Edward "Eddie" Charles AllanBrock is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane, making a cameo appearance in Web of Spider-Man #18, before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #300 as the most well-known host of the Venom symbiote. The character has since appeared in many Marvel Comics publications, including Venom. He has endured as one of Spider-Man's most prominent villains, and is regarded as one of his three archenemies, alongside the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. He later evolved into an antihero, slowly distancing himself from his initial goal to ruin Spider-Man's life to instead do good, even occasionally allying with Spider-Man.
Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15.
The Thunderbolts are an antihero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team consists mostly of reformed supervillains. Created by Kurt Busiek, the team first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #449.
Toxin is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He has been depicted as a superhero and at times a supervillain. The character is the offspring of Carnage, the third major symbiote in the Marvel Universe, the ninth known to have appeared in the comics outside of the Planet of the Symbiotes storyline, and the first symbiote that Spider-Man considers an ally, despite several temporary alliances with Venom in the past. The Toxin symbiote's various hosts are former NYPD police officer Patrick Mulligan, Eddie Brock, and teenager Bren Waters.
Hybrid is a fictional anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Scott Washington first appeared in The New Warriors #21 by writer Fabian Nicieza and penciller Mark Bagley. The Hybrid symbiote first appeared in Venom: Along Came a Spider #1 by writer Evan Skolnick and penciller Patrick Zircher.
Guardsman was the name of a supervillain/superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The name was later applied to a squad of agents who wear suits of power armor while working security at the Vault. The character first appeared in Iron Man #43.
Venom is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a sentient alien symbiote with an amorphous, liquid-like form, who survives by bonding with a host, usually human. This dual-life form receives enhanced powers and usually refers to itself as "Venom". The symbiote was originally introduced as a living alien costume in The Amazing Spider-Man #252, with a full first appearance as Venom in The Amazing Spider-Man #300.
The Jury is a fictional group of armored vigilantes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team was first introduced in Venom: Lethal Protector #2, and were created by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley.
Venom: Lethal Protector is a six-issue comic book limited series featuring the Eddie Brock Venom, published by Marvel Comics from February 1993 to July 1993. It was written by David Michelinie and illustrated mostly by Mark Bagley, although Ron Lim and series inker Sam DeLaRosa pencilled the last three issues.
Dark Avengers is a 2009–2013 American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is part of a series of titles that features various iterations of the superhero team the Avengers, with this version of the team - unbeknownst to the public in its stories - having several members who are actually supervillains and anti-heroes disguised as the established superheroes.
"New Ways to Die" is a 2008, six-issue Spider-Man story arc written by Dan Slott with art by John Romita, Jr. and published by Marvel Comics. The arc first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #568-#573.
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. The first incarnation of the character was the one created by the third and current human host to the symbiote, Eddie Brock, and—since 2011—its fifth host, Flash Thompson. Beginning with Venom: Lethal Protector, eighteen limited series following Brock's adventures were published monthly between February 1993 and January 1998. A monthly Venom series began publication in 2003, following a new character, Patricia Robertson, and a clone of the original symbiote. The series concluded in 2004 after 18 issues. In 2011 another monthly series, following the adventures of Flash Thompson, was launched. The series resumed with vol. 3, vol. 4, and vol. 5 from 2016 to present.
The Alien Costume Saga is a superhero comic book story arc published by Marvel Comics and centred on the character Spider-Man. It was originally published in the comic book series The Amazing Spider-Man #252–263, The Spectacular Spider-Man #90–100, Marvel Team-Up #141–150 and Web of Spider-Man #1 from May 1984 to April 1985. It features Spider-Man wearing the alien costume he brought home from Battleworld during the Secret Wars limited series and his subsequent discovery that the new costume is alive.
Knull is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Venom and Carnage, and later retroactively established as an unseen enemy of Thor and the Silver Surfer, as he was behind Gorr the God Butcher's mission to hunt down and kill various deities, in addition to having come into conflict with the Silver Surfer via a temporal black hole through time. The character is depicted as an evil deity who created the weapon known as All-Black the Necrosword and the alien races known as the Klyntar/Symbiotes and Exolons. The character would go on to play a more important role in the Marvel Universe.
"Absolute Carnage" is a 2019 comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics, by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman.
"King in Black" is a comic book event written by Donny Cates with art by Ryan Stegman, and was published from 2020 to 2021 by Marvel Comics. It is a continuation to 2019's "Absolute Carnage", also containing fallout from 2020's "Empyre". In the story, Knull and his symbiotes invade Earth, leaving Eddie Brock / Venom, the Avengers, the X-Men, and numerous other superheroes to protect it.
