Venom
From Batman Wiki
| Venom | |
| Official Name: | Venom |
| First Appearance: | Batman: Vengeance of Bane |
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Type: | Drug |
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Used by: | Bane Batman Lex Luthor |
Venom is a potently addictive strength-enhancing super-steroid. According to JSA Classified #17 (November 2006), Venom is based on the Miraclo formula developed at Bannerman Pharmaceuticals, the drug company formerly owned by Rex Tyler, the original Hourman. The first appearance of the drug was a five-part story arc, Batman: Venom, in Legends of the Dark Knight issues 16-20. Batman became addicted to the drug while searching for a way to cope for his imperfections. Later, it resurfaced as the power source for Bane, who used it to overpower and cripple Batman in the Knightfall story arc. A version of it is used by President Lex Luthor in the first "Superman/Batman" story arc.
In the Batman Beyond universe, steroid patches known as "Slappers" contained small doses of impact-release Venom. They were mainly used as performance enhancers in competitive sports, although the use of multiple patches could produce Bane-like combat abilities.
In the Batman & Robin, Venom is based on snake venom sample taken from Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy) which were to be injected into plants to give them the power to defend themselves like animals. Her coworker Dr. Woodrue steals the venom samples to engineer the Venom compound to create a super soldier army of which Bane is the prototype. These venom samples are also part of Isley's transformation into Poison Ivy.
Batman: Arkham Asylum introduces a altered version of Venom called Titan. This formula was developed by Dr. Penny Young to strengthen the imates of Arkham asylum so that they may undergo most stressful treatment methods. After Joker learned of the chemical's potential, he funded Young's research, allowing her to have Bane covertly tranfered to Arkham and drain Venom from his blood, causing Bane to suffer debilitating side effects and near-constant pain.
Titan is much more potent then Venom, requiring only a small amount for a Bane-like reaction. The treatment has a price, as the sudden release of endorpines and adrenialine, aloung with the extreme pain of the tranformation, results in the resipiant going into a crazed, psycotic state. Only the Joker managed to keep his "sanity" after injection, as he was already insane.
