However, the results were not at all what he expected. Rather than merely help the healing process, the symbiot merged with Eddie and created a more-or-lesss amplified version of himself. With great strength and incredible reflexes, Eddie found there was little he couldn't do. Plus, the symbiot accentuated his personality, giving him an increased desire to fight evil in the world, while also augmenting his already supremely reckless nature.
Thus Venom was born.
The symbiot took Eddie's idolization of Spider-Man and used it to create a black and white version of the wallcrawler's suit, with powers nearly identical to his hero. Eddie has kept all his research secret to prevent the awesome power he now holds from falling into the hands of evil-doers.
Unfortunately, Eddie's soon found that his newfound abilities did not come without a price. At first, he barely recognized the subtle changes he underwent as his physiology fully merged with the symbiot, but then he tried to remove it and discovered the paralyzing agony that separation now meant--a physical and psychological withdrawal unparalleled. The symbiot, itself, also keenly experiences this withdrawal and now it too is equally unwilling to leave its partner. It is thus quite fortunate that the cellular structure of the symbiot is quite adaptive and can take on the appearance of nearly any other type of clothing.
Filled with newfound energy and furious at the portrayal of his hero Spider-Man in the press, Eddie has taken on a job as a freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle in order to prove the good nature of Spider-Man and other heroes by photographing their exploits as he fights crime beside them. Eddie has a special interest in dealing with Spider-Man's nemeses now that his hero is seemingly retired. For his part, Eddie is honored by comparisons to Spider-Man, yet tries to make it clear that he is merely a student and Spider-Man the master.
Venom, and those closest to him, were prominent victims of the recent war with The Patchwork Man: Eddie finally met his idol, Spider-Man, only to find that he now held a delusional hatred of Venom's comrade, Green Goblin II. Much worse, The Patchwork Man bound a murderous, psychopathic symbiote to the body of Eddie's girlfriend, Gwen Stacey. Emotionally traumatized by these events and wracked by guilt, Eddie almost gave up the mantle of Venom as he dedicated his life to finding a way to free Gwen from the influence of Carnage.
With the help of his mentor at Empire State University, Dr. Miles Warren, Eddie was able to free Gwen from Carnage, but only at great cost: A side effect of the process has left Gwen with highly unstable pyrotic powers that may eventually kill her; Eddie's own symbiote reacts violently whenever it gets too close to Gwen, a consequence of using a sample of it as the basis of the tailored virus that now allows Gwen to survive without the presence of Carnage; a team-wide argument following Eddie's revelation of his possibly unethical and illegal use of the Patchwork Man's research to create the cure caused a rift to form between the JLA and Green Goblin II; and, most importantly, the incident has brought into being the final form of what will become his greatest enemy.
First Appearance: Justice League of America # 26