Venom: Lethal Protector #1 (2025)

In a Manhattan parking garage, Venom battles Blood Spider, Death-Shield, and Jagged Bow, roaring for them to leave him alone. Tossing Blood Spider and Jagged Bow aside with his symbiote's tendrils, Venom mocks them for being careless while hunting him -- thereby letting him lure them into a trap -- and towers over Death-Shield, demanding to know why they're after him. Noticing Jagged Bow nocking an arrow from the corner of his symbiote's eyespot, Venom dodges and then tosses a car at him with a tendril, crushing him between two vehicles. Blood Spider and Death-Shield flee, and Venom contemplates devouring Jagged Bow's corpse before deciding against it, remarking that eating carrion would be undignified. Hiding nearby, a garage attendant films the fight and sends it to the local news station hoping to get a massive payout. Later, Professor Buck Mitty sits in his cramped office in Empire State University -- little more than a storage closet -- and laments to the insects surrounding him that his grant was rescinded, stymying his research into the potential for insects to change the world. Watching the broadcast of Venom's fight with the three mercenaries, Mitty is inspired to form a team of his own and test out his latest invention: the Trans-Species Liguitron, a machine that would allow him to communicate with other species. Noting that being part of a team would solve his money problems, Mitty opens a locker to reveal his old costume and declares that the time has come for Humbug to soar again. That afternoon, Eddie Brock sits in a tree in Central Park and assures the Venom symbiote that he's fine, grousing that the three mercenaries attacked them out of nowhere. Eddie laments that no-one questioned the ethics of ripping the symbiote from its homeworld and bringing it to Earth, cared about the anguish the symbiote felt when Spider-Man cruelly rejected and tried to kill it, or bothered to give him a second chance when his articles about the Sin-Eater was revealed to be based on a charlatan's lies; though he admits that in retrospect neither he or the symbiote questioned the their decision to form a bond based on shared anger and become what many have called a monster. Eddie laments that he and the symbiote have become a target for heroes and villains alike simply because the world doesn't understand that all they want to do is protect the innocent -- and kill Spider-Man, of course -- and notes that sometimes he envies the uncomplicated lives of New York's ordinary civilians. As he starts to say he sometimes wishes he'd never become Venom, he hears a scream for help and sees a mohawk-sporting punk in a leather jacket attempting to steal on old woman's purse. Eddie transforms into Venom and lands behind the punk, mocking his fashion sense before taking the purse, webbing him to a tree, and attempting to return the old woman's purse. As the woman runs away screaming for the police, Venom laments that a "thank-you" would have been nice and leaves the purse on the park bench, web-swinging away as a crowd films the altercation. At an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the Hudson River, Blood Spider and Death-Shield nurse their wounds and job-hunt through the newspaper. Humbug approaches and introduces himself, Death-Shield quipping to Blood Spider that Humbug's choice of name is even worse than Taskmaster's. Posing dramatically, Humbug brags about his less-than-imposing powers and declares he's come to join their team before asking if they have dental coverage, Blood Spider and Death-Shield staring at him for a moment before laughing hysterically. Still laughing, Death-Shield tells Humbug to beat it and he leaves declaring they haven't seen the last of him. That night, Eddie sits on the Statue of Liberty's torch and notes that as much as people like to give New York City a bad rap, everyone wants to live there. Looking out over the cityscape, Eddie remarks that he used to belong there, had a decent job, a loving wife, and even a dog... but now he's relegated to skulking through subways and sewers, living in abandoned buildings, and the salt-in-the-wound of knowing that his nemesis Spider-Man is free to enjoy all the things stolen from him. Eddie asks the symbiote why it's suddenly so silent before realizing that it's annoyed by him saying "me" instead of "we", and says that it's not his fault he had another life before their bonding. Noting that the same must have been true for the symbiote, Eddie asks what life on its homeworld was like and if it had a mate or pets, but the symbiote refuses to answer. Deciding to find someone else to talk to, Eddie shoots a webline at a passing helicopter and hitches a ride back to the mainland. At her apartment, Anne Weying sings to herself while applying makeup only to be startled when Eddie abruptly walks in and admonishes her for not locking the door. Anne tells Eddie that the police are looking for him and he shouldn't be there, but Eddie says that by her side is exactly where he belongs and where he'd still be if he hadn't gone off the deep end and made her life as miserable as his own. As Eddie notes they had some good times, Anne agrees but says they can't go back to the way things were now that he's a wanted criminal. Anne is interrupted by a man's voice callign out to say their cab has arrived, and Anne turns to see Eddie has vanished. The speaker, Allen, enters the room and says he grabbed an umbrella so her hair wouldn't get wet, revealing himself to be Anne's new fiancé. Watching from outside, Eddie seethes with jealous rage and transforms into Venom, roaring that they'll tear Allen apart and eat him piece by piece... before stopping and admitting that he won't since doing so would hurt Anne even more than he already has. The next morning at the Kelner Scientific Innovations' Long Island branch, Dr. Harwood videoconferences Life Foundation CEO Carlton Drake and informs him that her new metagenic formula is undergoing the final round of animal testing as they speak. Smiling sinisterly, Drake warns her not to disappoint him lest she wind up a test subject herself, leaving her terrified. In an abandoned subway tunnel, Eddie Brock benchpresses a massive set of weights but snaps the metal bar before he can reach five-hundred, lamenting that working out doesn't assuage his anger like it used to. The symbiote suggests they pick a fight with Spider-Man, and Eddie enthusiastically agrees and says they can go for ice-cream after. While prowling through Chinatown, Eddie brusquely sneers at an elderly homeless veteran who begs him for some change and is admonished by the symbiote, noting the old man is likely as much a victim of society as he is. Robbing a nearby jewelry store, Eddie dumps the pilfered necklaces and jewels into the old man's lap and apologizes for his earlier rudeness, walking away and applauding his generosity while failing to notice the old man being arrested by a pair of policemen. Taking a shortcut down an alley, Eddie reminisces about his days as an investigative reporter before coming out onto the main-street just in time to see a parade passing by. Expositing to the symbiote about the procession and displaying knowledge of Chinese folklore, Eddie spots someone suspicious in the crowd and narrowly evades Humbug blasting him with a sonic beam. As the symbiote engulfs him, Eddie confronts Humbug, who says he's impressed that Venom was able to avoid his attack. Expressing disdain at Humbug's codename, Venom demands to know how Humbug found him, the would-be vigilante proudly declaring he can talk to insects. Saying that that's weird, Venom plucks a cockroach off his shoulder and eats it; Humbug letting out a scream of anguish and blasting him with a full-force sonic beam. Dazed, Venom attempts to web Humbug up, but he counters with another sonic blast that disperses the symbiote from Eddie's hands. Leaping onto the roof of a building to recover, Venom launches himself at Humbug with his fangs and claws bared... only to be blasted point-blank by another sonic wave that rips the symbiote from his body. Realizing he can no-longer hear the symbiote's voice in his head, Eddie gathers it off the ground and escapes while Humbug is distracted by the arrival of the police. Cradling the seemingly deceased symbiote, Eddie begs for it to not be dead, lamenting that without it he's nothing. At their warehouse hideout, Blood Spider and Death-Shield are flabbergasted to learn that Humbug managed to defeat Venom and contemplate accepting him into their group while plotting to find an excuse to withhold his cut of the take. At Kelner Scientific Innovations' facility, Dr. Harwood informs Carlton Drake that her formula met the expected parameters in every test, Drake admonishing her not to get ahead of herself since there's no way to pretest whether it will work as planned on its intended target. Dr. Harwood states she'd bet her life on it that it will work as-planned, and when Drake reminds her that she already did she nervously assures him that within 48 hours Venom will be his to command.