User blog:ARTaylor/Venom Symbiote Turns 30

This year is the thirtieth anniversary of the introduction of the Venom Symbiote, first appearing in Amazing Spider-Man #252. Spider-Man first got the black suit during the Secret Wars after his regular costume was destroyed. It was Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four who realized it was an alien creature. Peter eventually rid himself of the creature but it kept coming back to haunt him as Venom by possessing Eddie Brock, Scorpion, Flash Thompson, and even Red Hulk.

The 1995 Spider-Man series had a tremendous impact on the portrayal of the symbiote. While in the comics it originally only provided unlimited webbing, the series had the creature enhancing all of Peter's powers in addition to increasing his aggressive side. This aspect became key to the character throughout the subsequent comics, films, and television series.