The Trial of Venom
After being incarcerated in the Vault again, Eddie is due for trial and Matt Murdock is going to represent him, having Spiderman as a hostile witness
Murdock speaks with Brock who tells him the symbiote committed suicide after still longing for Spiderman
The People vs Eddie Brock commences and Matt begins asking Spiderman questions regarding his relationship with Venom
There is no evidence that Brock had a murderous agenda against Spiderman and it’s believed that he was heavily influenced by the genocidal symbiote. The jury finds Brock not guilty and Murdock too believes he is innocent until Spiderman provokes him and Brock reveals the symbiote is still bonded to him
Spiderman and Daredevil fight Venom and Spiderman lures him back into a cell in the Vault making Venom think it was a cave using holographic tech
Daredevil and Spidey talk on a rooftop afterwards and discuss Brock’s sanity which Murdock still believes is intact and is not responsible for his actions
(End of Trial of Venom)
The next chapter introduces two beings that are able to suck bodily energies who happen to be murdering a man, causing an armored transport truck to stop, killing the guards, and inadvertently release the captive within- Venom, who strangely seeks justice for their deaths
Venom follows the killers and happens to be on the same path as two bearers of the demon Zarathos- Daniel Ketch (Ghost Rider) and Johnny Blaze (former Ghost Rider)
While Spidey is swinging through NYC with a captive Hobgoblin (Jason Macendale), they are surprised by the appearances of Demogoblin (a demon fused with Hobgoblin by N’astirh for more power, now expelled) and Spiderman’s doppelganger from the Infinity War
Demogoblin wishes to purge HG from existence
In the sewers where Blaze and Ketch followed Hag and Troll (the demonic beings, known as Deathspawn and followers of Deathwatch), Venom crosses their path and teams up with them to take Hag and Troll down
Spidey takes Hobgoblin to a church to hide and protect him which the priest obliges to. Demogoblin and Doppelganger attack
Venom webs up Hag and Troll and leaves the sewers going upwards through a hole Blaze created leaving the other two to fend against the Deathspawn. Venom happens to land exactly in the basement of the same church Spidey is in, sees him, and of course, goes after him
Everyone including the Father becomes embroiled in the conflict as it goes back into the darkness of the sewers
Venom again goes after Spiderman after which Blaze shoots him with hellfire-induced ammo to incapacitate him and ask him what he wants. Venom tells him he wants to kill Hag & Troll, and Spiderman
The 3 jump down a long hole to the bottom where Ghost Rider has sensed innocents. There they find people gathered where the Deathspawn harvest their energies
Spiderman, Hobgoblin, Demogoblin, Doppelganger, and the priest are found captive and released by Ketch, Blaze, and Venom who makes an attempt AGAIN at Spiderman but is held back by Ghost Rider
The Deathspawn make an escape with the body of Deathwatch and Ghost Rider is forced to make a hard choice between going after them or saving the people which the remainder of the Deathspawn went after
Backstory on Demogoblin is he gained a physical body after being exorcised out of Hobgoblin by Ghost Rider’s hellfire chain
Venom finds Doppelganger, Demogoblin, and Hobgoblin who is about to be killed by his demonic counterpart
Spidey backtracks and finds and helps Ketch and Blaze
Spidey hears Hobgoblin’s screams as he’s about to be finished by DG but Spidey saves him
Venom lunges at Spiderman for the 4th time after DG is swarmed by the Deathspawn and Ghost Rider holds him back again
After allowing Spidey to escape, Venom fights Blaze and GR who are all swarmed and taken by the Deathspawn, Hag, and Troll
Spidey hands HG over to the Vault and goes back and helps the captives
Hag, Troll, and a shortly revived Deathwatch are defeated and Venom and DG are put into Vault custody. Blaze and Ketch take the 3 demons and go and seek Dr. Strange’s counsel
The next arc shifts to Venom being taken to an astral dimension by Nightmare where he is pit against Wolverine who was originally looking for Nightmare and likewise put there by Nightmare
After a physical confrontation, Venom and Wolverine team up
Nightmare is beaten when Professor X links to Logan’s mind and gives Nightmare a psychic backlash. Wolverine and Venom part ways
Venom escapes YET AGAIN this time after seeing a picture of Peter and his parents in the paper
Brock is so desperate he even puts the symbiote through a sonic wall to escape and get past the guards
Brock encounters the Parkers on the street just as Spiderman is swinging back from a university class
Venom of course attacks Spidey and a fight ensues on the streets. Venom KOs Spidey and kidnaps his parents
Spidey talks to Brock’s ex-wife Anne Weying to get clues on where he took his parents and goes to an amusement park
Brock claims he wishes to protect Peter’s parents from him
Anne surprisingly follows Spiderman and talks to Eddie offering him a fresh start with everything including them when he is ambushed by Silver Sable’s Wild Pack who have been hired by Jonah Jameson. Venom believes it was Spiderman’s doing
Venom dispatches with Wild Pack and saves the Parkers from a fire. He and Spidey continue to fight. As he’s about to suffocate Spiderman, he’s incapacitated by a Wild Pack member with a sonic gun who gets knocked out by Anne
A ferris wheel is about to fall on Anne, and Spidey helps Venom save her. Anne helps Brock see Spiderman is a good guy and makes a deal to not harm Spidey if he promises not to come after him
Venom’s next adventure leads into Lethal Protector