Venom: Lethal Protector

Last updated
Venom: Lethal Protector
Venom Lethal Protector no 1.jpg
Cover to Venom: Lethal Protector #1, "Darksoul Drifting", February 1993. Art by Mark Bagley
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
Scheduleweekly
Format Limited series
Genre
Publication dateFebruary – July 1993
No. of issues6
Main character(s) Eddie Brock
Venom
Creative team
Written by David Michelinie
Penciller(s) Mark Bagley (#1-3)
Ron Lim (#4-6)
Sam DeLaRosa (#4-6)
Inker(s) Sam DeLaRosa (#1-3)
Al Milgrom
Letterer(s) Richard Starkings
Rick Parker (#3)
Colorist(s) Marie Javins
Editor(s) Danny Fingeroth
Collected editions
Venom: Lethal Protector ISBN   0-7851-0107-1

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.

Contents

This marked the first time Eddie Brock received a series in which he was the main character, and showed Venom's progression from a villain to an antihero. Lethal Protector would serve as the first limited series to explore Eddie Brock's background before he became Venom. [1]

Story

Before the story begins, Venom makes an agreement with Spider-Man that they will leave each other alone, on the condition that Venom commits no crimes. Venom then moves from New York City to San Francisco, and takes up with a group of Californian mole people. Shortly thereafter, Orwell Taylor, the father of one of Venom's victims, seeks him out with a group of super-powered mercenaries to take revenge.

Spider-Man, seeing misleading coverage of Venom on television, heads to San Francisco to confront him and instead winds up fighting alongside Venom against five new offspring of the Venom Symbiote. [2] Due to the symbiote's asexual reproduction abilities, the Life Foundation managed to extract "seeds" off Venom and accelerate them to become: Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher, and Agony.

Life Foundation

Run by Carlton Drake, the Life Foundation was an organization involved in illegal scientific studies bent on creating a futuristic utopian society that could withstand an apocalyptic event. [3] Nearing the end of the Cold War, the foundation believed a nuclear holocaust would be the end result; destroying modern civilization. Their belief led to the creation of a large nuclear fallout shelter for their clients.

Life Foundation symbiotes

Scream a.k.a. Donna Diego was hatched through an experimental procedure forcefully performed on Venom by the sinister Life Foundation. Before being chosen to host the symbiote, Donna Diego was a security guard for the Life Foundation ordered to protect the foundation's buildings and communities for a future utopia. [4] To test her new abilities, she attacked a mall in Salinas, California. Spider-Man appeared and confronted Scream, but after a short battle, she fled and returned to the base in the Mojave Desert. Back at the base, Spider-Man battled Scream again and the other offsprings. Once Eddie Brock recovered his symbiote, he used a metabolic accelerator to speed up the symbiotes' age and turn them into dust.

Riot a.k.a. Trevor Cole was a mercenary hired by the Life Foundation to defend the foundation's future utopia. He volunteered to be one of the five symbiotes forcefully extracted by Venom. Along with the four other symbiotes, Riot confronted Spider-Man and Venom. After their confrontation, Eddie Brock recovered his Venom symbiote and used the metabolic accelerator to defeat the five by turning them into dust. [5] Worse than his siblings, Riot was extremely aggressive and lacked any sense of sympathy. The Riot symbiote made its live action debut in the 2018 film Venom , [6] serving as the main antagonist of the film.

Phage a.k.a. Carl March was a mercenary employed by the Life Foundation to serve as a "guardsmen" for the community the sinister company was preparing for. Proclaiming himself the leader of the five symbiotes, Phage and the rest of his "siblings" were forcefully extracted from a captured Venom. To test their new abilities, the offsprings battled Spider-Man while Venom was incapacitated. One unique attribute of Phage is his ability to throw projectiles from his symbiote and turn them into an acidic substance strong enough to melt through metal. Like his siblings, Phage met the same demise when Eddie Brock used the accelerator and defeated the offsprings. [7]

Lasher a.k.a. Ramón Hernandez was a mercenary for hire employed by the sinister Life Foundation. Along with the other symbiotes, Lasher confronted Spider-Man and Venom. Defeating Spider-Man and Venom would serve as the final test for the five and would prove how effective they are as "guardsmen". However, once Eddie Brock and Venom were re-bonded, Venom used the metabolic accelerator to obliterate them into dust. Unique to Lasher, he possesses the ability to produce multiple tendrils and lash at his opponents.

Agony a.k.a. Leslie Gesneria was chosen by the Life Foundation to host a symbiote and become a "guardsmen" for the organization. With the combined efforts of her counterparts, Agony attacked Spider-Man and Venom. Not enough to thwart the heroes, Venom used the metabolic accelerator and sped up the symbiotes' age leaving their remains in dust. Agony possesses the ability to use her metabolism to produce an acid she can spit at her opponents. The acidic liquid can burn through almost anything.

Collected editions

In July 1995, the series was collected in a trade paperback with new cover art by Simon Bisley ( ISBN   0-7851-0107-1). In February 2011, the series was reprinted in a new second edition trade paperback, complete with a new cover (using the same cover art as issue #5 of the series) ( ISBN   978-0-7851-5847-9). In February 2018, a new third edition trade paperback was released, now using the same cover art as issue #1 of the series as the book's cover ( ISBN   978-1-3029-1176-8).

In other media

Film

Literature

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnage (character)</span> Character in the Marvel Universe

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 more vicious than Venom, due to the latter's more scrupulous character development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Brock</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toxin (character)</span> Marvel Comics character

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cletus Kasady</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

Cletus Cortland Kasady is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer David Michelinie and artist Erik Larsen, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #344 as the first and most infamous host of the Carnage symbiote, an offspring of Venom. Originally a deranged serial killer, Kasady bonded with the symbiote while sharing a cell with Venom's human host, Eddie Brock, and broke out of prison using the super-human abilities granted by it. Since then, he went on to menace both Venom and Spider-Man, resulting in various unlikely alliances between the two to defeat him. Kasady and Carnage are a perfect match, as they both have sadistic personalities, and the symbiote only increases Kasady's already existent violent tendencies. After being separated from the redeemed Carnage symbiote in Absolute Carnage, Kasady nonetheless continued calling himself Carnage, bonding with Grendel, Mania and several other symbiotes to become Dark Carnage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scream (character)</span> Comics character

Scream is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Scream symbiote has appeared in Spider-Man comics, as one of five symbiote spawns created simultaneously and has had four different types.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Weying</span> Fictional character

She-Venom is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is the ex-wife of Eddie Brock. She is the first character who goes by the She-Venom identity, and she is also colloquially referred to as the Bride of Venom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symbiote (comics)</span> Fictional race in Marvel Comics

The Klyntar, colloquially and more commonly referred to as symbiotes, are a fictional species of extraterrestrial parasitic life forms appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with Spider-Man. The symbiotes, as their alternative name suggest, form a symbiotic bond with their hosts, through which a single entity is created. They are able to alter their hosts' personalities and/or memories by influencing their darkest desires, along with amplifying their physical and emotional traits and personality and thereby granting them super-human abilities. The symbiotes are also weakened when in range of extreme sounds or sonic frequencies. There are more than 40 known symbiotes in the Marvel Universe.

<i>Venom: Separation Anxiety</i>

Venom: Separation Anxiety is a four-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics from December 1994 to March 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hybrid (Scott Washington)</span> Comics character

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venom (character)</span> Marvel Comics character

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Venom</span> Marvel Comics character

Anti-Venom is a fictional antihero appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #569, and was created by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. The creature belongs to a race of amorphous extraterrestrial parasites known as the Symbiotes and is regarded as Venom's symbiotic brother. His physical features include white "skin", a black face, and spider symbol across his chest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild Pack</span> Fictional comic book group

The Wild Pack is a fictional mercenary team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team is led by Silver Sable.

<i>Planet of the Symbiotes</i> Marvel Comics story arc

"Planet of the Symbiotes" is a five-issue comic book story arc written by David Michelinie and published by Marvel Comics in 1995. The arc spanned the five "Super Special #1" editions of the Spider-Man titles available at the time: The Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Venom, and Web of Spider-Man. The plot continued a narrative first published in the four-part limited series Venom: Separation Anxiety (1994) where doubt is placed in the mind of Eddie Brock about who is in control of the relationship between himself and the sentient Venom symbiote that grants him his powers.

<i>Venom</i> (comic book) Several comic book series by Marvel Comics

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.

<i>Venom</i> (2018 film) Superhero film by Ruben Fleischer

Venom is a 2018 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Venom. The first film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), it was directed by Ruben Fleischer from a screenplay by the writing team of Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, along with Kelly Marcel. Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock and Venom alongside Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, and Reid Scott. In the film, struggling journalist Eddie gains superpowers after becoming the host of an alien symbiote, Venom, whose species plans to invade Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mania (character)</span> Comics character

Mania is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in Venom #1 and was created by Daniel Way and Francisco Herrera. Belonging to a race of amorphous extraterrestrial parasites known as Symbiotes, its hosts are Patricia Robertson, Andrea "Andi" Benton and Lee Price.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knull (character)</span> Marvel Comics supervillain

Knull is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Venom and Carnage. He was 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Absolute Carnage</span> Comic book crossover storyline

"Absolute Carnage" is a 2019 comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics, by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venom (Sony's Spider-Man Universe)</span> Sonys Spider-Man Universe character

Venom is a fictional character primarily voiced by Tom Hardy appearing in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) media franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Introduced in Venom (2018), Venom is depicted as a symbiote who binds with human investigative journalist Eddie Brock after landing on Earth, with the duo subsequently becoming a vigilante jointly known by Venom's name, and later as the Lethal Protector, facing Venom's former team leader, Riot, and later Venom's son, Carnage, in combat. They are the second incarnation of the character in film, after Topher Grace's and Tobey Maguire's respective portrayals of Eddie Brock / Venom and a symbiote-enveloped Spider-Man in Spider-Man 3 (2007).

"Venom War" is a 2024 American comic book crossover event written by Al Ewing with art by Iban Coello and published by Marvel Comics. The event follows Eddie Brock and his son Dylan who, after seeing glimpses of each other's potential future, engage in a war to determine who will be the one true Venom. Meanwhile, artificial zombified symbiotes known as Zombiotes attack New York.

References

  1. Phillips, Jevon (3 Oct 2018). "Venom through history: A look at the origins and past iterations of the Lethal Protector". Los Angeles Times (Online). ProQuest   2116084310 . Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  2. Anderson, J (21 Aug 2019). "Venom: 10 Things You Never Knew About the Klyntar". cbr. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  3. Jasper, Gavin (22 July 2018). "Venom: Riot and the Life Foundation Symbiotes Explained". den of geek. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  4. "Scream (Donna Diego)". Marvel. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  5. "Trevor". Marvel. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  6. Geisinger, Gabriella (9 Oct 2018). "Venom: Who is Riot? What is the symbiote in the Venom movie?". Express (Online). Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  7. Jasper, Gavin (22 July 2018). "Venom: Riot and the Life Foundation Symbiotes Explained". Den of geek. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  8. Chitwood, Adam (December 9, 2017). "The 'Venom' Movie Will Be Primarily Based on These Two Comic Runs". Collider . Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  9. Chitwood, Adam (9 Dec 2017). "The 'Venom' Movie Will Be Primarily Based on These Two Comic Runs". Collider. Retrieved 19 May 2021.