Planet of the Symbiotes
Encyclopedia
"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.
The story centers on the invasion of Earth by an army of symbiotes and the efforts of Venom, Spider-Man, and Scarlet Spider
to stop them.
contemplates his relationship with the Venom
symbiote after Venom's spawn Phage, Riot, Lasher, Agony, and Scream struggle to control themselves against their own symbiotes. While teamed with Spider-Man against a terrorist group, Brock realizes the symbiote is influencing him to kill. Spider-Man attempts to convince Eddie to abandon the symbiote by blaming it for Brock's insanity. Brock forces the symbiote to leave him, to allow him to think about the situation uninfluenced. Angry at being rejected, the symbiote unleashes a powerful, telekinetic scream that draws a spaceship of other symbiotes to Earth.
Continuing in the same issue, the symbiotes' begin possessing random civilians and committing murders. Brock, believing his symbiote is to blame, teams with Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spider
to investigate. They eventually discover the symbiotes are creating a massive machine out of stolen Earth components. The three engage the symbiotes but find themselves overwhelmed. Scarlet Spider is revealed to be wearing a symbiote, which drags all three through the machine.
Following part 2 in the one-shot Spider-Man Super Special #1 (July 1995),, the one-shot Venom Super Special #1 (Aug. 1995), finds the three find on another planet, a world conquered by the symbiotes, the machine revealed to be a teleporter. The symbiote that had bonded with the Scarlet Spider is revealed to be Venom, who again bonds with Brock. Venom conveys the history of the symbiotes as a race of creatures intent on taking over host bodies from other races in order to feel emotion. The Venom symbiote was considered an aberration for wanting to bond with a host instead of dominating them. Venom also reveals the symbiotes intend to conquer Earth next. Spider-Man, the Scarlet Spider and Venom escape through the teleporter to Earth, but are followed by the symbiote invasion force.
The Spectacular Spider-Man Super Special #1 (Sept. 1995) continues the story with a symbiote releasing from prison the serial killer
Cletus Kassady, unleashing the bonded symbiote that makes Kassady the supervillain
Carnage
. Carnage absorbs the second symbiote and becomes stronger as a result. Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider and Venom launch an assault against the symbiote invaders but are overwhelmed. As they are about to be defeated, Carnage appears, having grown to building-size proportions by consuming symbiotes.
The conclusion in Web of Spider-Man Super Special #1 (1995; no month given) finds Carnage seeking out Venom to kill him. Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider fight Carnage while Venom attempts to create a more powerful telekinetic scream to subdue the symbiotes. Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider defeat Carnage and Brock fully bonds with his symbiote to create the necessary scream. The scream creates enough pain and despair that the symbiotes commit suicide. Venom decides he is content to be both Brock and the symbiote.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
story-arc written by David Michelinie
David Michelinie
-Biography:Some of his earliest work is for DC Comics's House of Secrets and a run on Swamp Thing , following Len Wein and preceding Gerry Conway, illustrated by Nestor Redondo. Michelinie did a run on Aquaman in Adventure Comics which led to the revival of the Sea King's own title in 1977...
and published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
in 1995. The arc spanned the five "Super Special #1" editions of the Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
titles available at the time: The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the adventures of the fictional superhero Spider-Man. Being the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a monthly periodical and was published continuously until it was...
, Spider-Man
Peter Parker: Spider-Man
Peter Parker: Spider-Man is the name of two comic book series published by Marvel Comics, both of which feature the character Spider-Man.-Volume One :...
, The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man is the name of several comic books and one magazine series starring Marvel Comics' Spider-Man.The character's main series, The Amazing Spider-Man, was extremely successful, and Marvel felt the character could support more than one title. This led the company in 1968 to...
, Venom, and Web of Spider-Man
Web of Spider-Man
Web of Spider-Man is the name of two different monthly comic book series starring Spider-Man that have been published by Marvel Comics since 1985, the first volume of which ran for 129 issues between 1985 and 1995, and the second of which ran for 12 issues between 2009 and 2010.-Volume 1:The first...
. The plot continued a narrative first published in the four-part limited series Venom: Separation Anxiety
Venom: Separation Anxiety
Venom: Separation Anxiety is a four-issue comic book limited series, published by Marvel Comics from December 1994 to March 1995.The plot line features Eddie Brock separated from his symbiote costume...
(1994) where doubt is placed in the mind of Eddie Brock
Eddie Brock
Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...
about who is in control of the relationship between himself and the sentient Venom
Venom (comics)
Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...
symbiote that grants him his powers.
The story centers on the invasion of Earth by an army of symbiotes and the efforts of Venom, Spider-Man, and Scarlet Spider
Scarlet Spider
Scarlet Spider is a fictional character who appeared in the Marvel Comics series Spider-Man. His costume was designed by Tom Lyle. The identity of the Scarlet Spider has been used by several characters: Ben Reilly, Peter Parker , Joe Wade , a group of three Michael Van Patrick clones working with...
to stop them.
Story
Starting in the one-shot comic The Amazing Spider-Man Super Special #1 (April 1995), Eddie BrockEddie Brock
Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...
contemplates his relationship with the Venom
Venom (comics)
Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...
symbiote after Venom's spawn Phage, Riot, Lasher, Agony, and Scream struggle to control themselves against their own symbiotes. While teamed with Spider-Man against a terrorist group, Brock realizes the symbiote is influencing him to kill. Spider-Man attempts to convince Eddie to abandon the symbiote by blaming it for Brock's insanity. Brock forces the symbiote to leave him, to allow him to think about the situation uninfluenced. Angry at being rejected, the symbiote unleashes a powerful, telekinetic scream that draws a spaceship of other symbiotes to Earth.
Continuing in the same issue, the symbiotes' begin possessing random civilians and committing murders. Brock, believing his symbiote is to blame, teams with Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spider
Scarlet Spider
Scarlet Spider is a fictional character who appeared in the Marvel Comics series Spider-Man. His costume was designed by Tom Lyle. The identity of the Scarlet Spider has been used by several characters: Ben Reilly, Peter Parker , Joe Wade , a group of three Michael Van Patrick clones working with...
to investigate. They eventually discover the symbiotes are creating a massive machine out of stolen Earth components. The three engage the symbiotes but find themselves overwhelmed. Scarlet Spider is revealed to be wearing a symbiote, which drags all three through the machine.
Following part 2 in the one-shot Spider-Man Super Special #1 (July 1995),, the one-shot Venom Super Special #1 (Aug. 1995), finds the three find on another planet, a world conquered by the symbiotes, the machine revealed to be a teleporter. The symbiote that had bonded with the Scarlet Spider is revealed to be Venom, who again bonds with Brock. Venom conveys the history of the symbiotes as a race of creatures intent on taking over host bodies from other races in order to feel emotion. The Venom symbiote was considered an aberration for wanting to bond with a host instead of dominating them. Venom also reveals the symbiotes intend to conquer Earth next. Spider-Man, the Scarlet Spider and Venom escape through the teleporter to Earth, but are followed by the symbiote invasion force.
The Spectacular Spider-Man Super Special #1 (Sept. 1995) continues the story with a symbiote releasing from prison the serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
Cletus Kassady, unleashing the bonded symbiote that makes Kassady the supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
Carnage
Carnage (comics)
Carnage is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . The character first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #344 , and was created by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley. The character is frequently depicted as an enemy of Spider-Man...
. Carnage absorbs the second symbiote and becomes stronger as a result. Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider and Venom launch an assault against the symbiote invaders but are overwhelmed. As they are about to be defeated, Carnage appears, having grown to building-size proportions by consuming symbiotes.
The conclusion in Web of Spider-Man Super Special #1 (1995; no month given) finds Carnage seeking out Venom to kill him. Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider fight Carnage while Venom attempts to create a more powerful telekinetic scream to subdue the symbiotes. Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider defeat Carnage and Brock fully bonds with his symbiote to create the necessary scream. The scream creates enough pain and despair that the symbiotes commit suicide. Venom decides he is content to be both Brock and the symbiote.
External links
- "Planet of the Symbiotes" (story arc) at The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators