Spider-Man Poster #107 Black Alien Symbiote Venom by Mike Zeck Secret Wars

Description

The classic Mike Zeck cover to Secret Wars 8 in poster form! The first appearance of Venom’s alien costume! The original idea of a new costume for Spider-Man that would later become the character Venom was conceived of by a Marvel Comics reader from Norridge, Illinois named Randy Schueller. Marvel purchased the idea for $220.00 after the editor-in-chief at the time, Jim Shooter, sent Schueller a letter acknowledging Marvel’s desire to acquire the idea from him, in 1982. Schueller’s design was then modified by Mike Zeck, becoming the Symbiote costume. David Michelinie would later write the backstory of Eddie Brock as the alien’s new host that became the popular villain Venom. The omnipotent Beyonder gathers Earth’s greatest heroes and villains and dumps them on a planet of his own creation, commanding them to battle. The winning side gets all of their hearts’ desires. He can do this, because he’s the Beyonder. After ruining his red and blue one in battle on Battleworld, the Hulk tells Spider-Man about a machine operated simply by thinking of what kind of suit, weapon or equipment someone needs. When Spider-Man thought of a new costume, the machine gave him a black sphere. When he touched it, Spider-Man found himself covered in a new black costume. Later on in Secret Wars #12, Spider-Man sees that other heroes are getting costumes from a different machine, not the one that he used. This costume has a large white spider emblem on the chest and back and white organic web-shooters on the backs of the hands. Unbeknownst to Spider-Man, the costume is actually an alien symbiote that was able to copy his abilities. The alien also learned the chemical composition of Spider-Man’s webbing, the frequency at which his spider-sense operates (which allowed Venom to dampen Spider-Man’s sixth sense), and could also copy his ability to stick to walls. Because of this, Venom’s powers are similar to Spider-Man’s. Also, having copied all of Spider-Man’s movements, the alien started sneaking back on to Peter’s body after Peter had removed it and fallen asleep. It would then carry the unconscious body of Spider-Man through a typical session of fighting street crime (albeit without speaking a word). Thus, for as long as he had the symbiote costume, Peter found himself inexplicably tired every morning, for though his mind slept, his body was getting no rest at night. Upon discovering the true nature of the costume, Peter rejects the creature by using high frequency sonics. It is implied that Galactus, devourer of worlds, consumed a world which they had conquered and where they had thrived, based on Carnage’s reaction to the Silver Surfer, former herald of Galactus. It is shown through the Carnage symbiote that this was a world whose dominant life forms had been overrun by the marauding symbiotes, though whether or not it is the world on which the symbiotes originated is never clarified.

Near mint condition.