As strong as Venom is, he has two major weaknesses; both fire and noise can do significant damage to the symbiote, and this allowed one low-level villain to defeat Venom with ease. While Venom has regularly gone up against heavy-hitters like Spider-Man, and dark gods like Knull, the one villain that took Venom down with ease is one only the most hardcore Marvel fans have ever heard of.
Venom: Lethal Protector #2 – by David Michelinie and Ivan Fiorelli – finds Venom under attack from many different villains, after a bounty is put on his head. While a number of rogues attempt to collect, the one who comes the closest may surprise most readers: Humbug. After ambushing Venom during a parade, Humbug proves to be surprisingly dangerous as he defeats Venom with ease.
Venom initially dismisses Humbug as nothing more than a nuisance and is quickly humbled as Humbug uses his abilities to completely remove the Venom symbiote from Eddie Brock.
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Venom Was Left Humiliated After Z-List Villain Humbug Defeated Him
Venom: Lethal Protector #1 by David Michelinie, Ivan Fiorelli, Bryan Valenza, and Travis Lanham
Even readers familiar with the most deep-cut aspects of the Marvel Universe’s lore may be asking themselves who Humbug is, exactly. The villain can mimic the noise of any insect and vastly increase it, thanks to his technology. While this certainly doesn’t sound threatening – and never proved the character to be a notable antagonist in the years since his introduction – sound is a major weakness for Venom, making Humbug a surprisingly viable adversary for Venom, or any symbiote. As a result, his encounter with Eddie Brock in Lethal Protector didn’t go as most, Eddie included, would’ve expected.
First Appearance | Creators | Abilities |
Web of Spider-Man #19 (1986) | Dave Michelinie (writer); Marc Silvestri (artist) | Use of audio technology to amplify, broadcast, and direct the sounds of insects; later, the character developed the ability to communicate with insect life directly. |
Few things can damage Venom, but the things that have proven effective have generally been depicted as causing major problems for the character. Venom can shrug off hits from the Juggernaut, doesn’t mind bullets, and even electricity doesn’t bother him, but sound and fire have always been a major weaknesses for the Venom symbiote. Task forces set up to battle symbiotes often come with sonic rifles to disrupt the symbiote, and Humbug’s equipment seems to be even more effective. Venom massively underestimated this unknown villain in Lethal Protector #1, and because of that, he suffered a major humiliating defeat.
Underestimating Humbug Was A Major Error On Venom’s Part
Humbug is one of the few villains to not only defeat Venom, but outright force him to retreat. After their first encounter, Eddie had to flee the scene and take time to help the Venom symbiote recover. Later, during their rematch, Venom was able to bring Humbug down by manipulating electricity to destroy his equipment. Since this fight took place in the early years of Venom’s career, this was possibly the first time Eddie ever encountered the symbiote’s weakness to loud noises. The fact Eddie didn’t know this means his career was almost ended by one of the least notorious opponents he’s ever gone up against.
Over the years, Venom has gotten significantly smarter when it comes to dealing with his weaknesses, and some symbiotes, such as the Carnage symbiote, have even evolved out of the weaknesses. While fire and sonics aren’t nearly as big of a problem for Venom today, back during the events of Lethal Protector, it was the quickest and easiest way to bring down this brutal vigilante. While Venom eventually went on to save the world from the King in Black and become a major hero, he almost never got the chance due to his humiliating defeat by Humbug.
