10 Ridiculous Extra Superpowers That Were Phased Out Of The Comics

There appears to be a theme developing of inherently powerful characters being tipped into ‘overpowered’ territory by the added advantage of invisibility. While not the traditional kind used by Sue Storm and (I guess) Barry Allen, Venom once had a camouflage ability so profound it rendered him functionally invisible.

This was mostly used during Venom’s villainous career of the early ‘90s, as one of the many reasons he was Spider-man’s most dangerous new foe. Peter’s spider-sense was useless against this enemy, who knew how to counteract it due to the alien symbiote’s time as Spider-man’s costume. A flawless camouflage power on top of this felt unnecessary.

Marvel were clearly taking the creative approach of ‘the more powers he has, the cooler and scarier he is,’ with scant regard for subtlety. The logic is also questionable, if Venom can make himself invisible, why does he ever show himself? And why couldn’t Spider-man do this when he had the black suit?

This camo schtick hung around for a bit during Venom's antihero days, but with his slow transition to a more humane, heroic character, this invisibility power is now nowhere to be seen. Pun intended.