Appearing in "Venom: Dark Origin - Chapter 1"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Mary Brock (Illusion or holographic simulation)
- Carl Brock
- Vernon Weimer (First appearance)
- Anne Weying
Antagonists:
- Eddie Brock's High School's football team (First appearance)
- Several unnamed muggers (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Heidi Gardner (First appearance)
- Mr. Belvedere (First appearance)
- Mr. Gardner (First appearance)
- U.S. Congress (Appears on screen)
- Oliver North (First appearance) (Appears on screen) (Topical Reference)
- President Richard Nixon (Appears on screen) (Topical Reference)
- Janine Brock (Mentioned)
- An unnamed priest (First appearance)
- Mary of Nazareth (Statue)
- Jesus Christ (Statue)
- Lord (Yahweh) (Mentioned)
- Sarah (First appearance)
- The Washington Post (Named only) (Topical Reference)
- Carl Bernstein (Mentioned)[1]
- Robert Woodward (Mentioned)[2]
- Eugene (An E.S.U. student) (First appearance)
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- United States of America
- California
- San Francisco
- 714 Jenkins Avenue (Eddie Brock's house)
- An unidentified church (First appearance)
- An unidentified High School (First appearance)
- San Francisco
- New York
- California
- United States of America
Items:
Events:
- Iran-Contra Affair
- Watergate Scandal (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "Venom: Dark Origin - Chapter 1"
In San-Francisco, Heidi Gardner and her father set up Missing posters for her cat, Mr. Belvedere. A passing trio of boys ask what's wrong and offer to help look for the cat, informing a boy named Eddie Brock about what's happened. Eddie enters his house, where his sister Mary Brock is washing dishes. She scolds him for wearing his church clothes, but Eddie dismisses her and walks into the basement. It's revealed he'd captured Mr. Belvedere and was keeping him in a box - using the long sleeves of his shirt to hide the scratches on his arms. Taking the agitated cat, Eddie returns him to Heidi and lies that he found him in a tree. Mr. Gardner congratulates Eddie, saying his father will be proud of him; and as the other boys ask Eddie how he found the cat so quickly, Eddie - sporting an unnaturally wide grin, says it was easy.
That evening at dinner, Eddie tries to tell his father about "rescuing" the cat, but is interrupted by Mary - who tattles on him wearing his church clothes. Carl Brock is unfazed and simply tells his children to eat their peas while he reads the newspaper. Later that night, Carl and Eddie watch a news report on Richard Nixon, Eddie accusing the President of lying and saying he can always tell. Carl remarks that Eddie should go into journalism so that the people can hear the truth for once, but when Eddie asks if he really means that Carl tells him to go to bed. Mary once-more complains about Eddie messing up his church clothes, accusing him of being at fault for their mother's death in childbirth. Carl rebukes her for the accusation, saying Eddie can't be blamed for that, but Eddie morosely notes that his father is lying.
After church on Sunday, a woman spots Eddie staring at a statue of Mary and asks what he's looking at. Eddie - thinking about the sermon calling Mary their "Blessed Mother" - asks the woman if that's true; the woman saying that while Mary watches over them she can't take the place of his birth mother. When Eddie sadly informs her that his mother died giving birth, she comforts him by saying that her death was part of God's plan and that He will give Eddie something to fill the hole in his life. Spotting Heidi, Eddie remarks that he's looking really hard, but he doesn't think anyone's looking for him.
Several years later at high school, Eddie watches Sarah - one of the popular cheerleaders - hoping that she'll notice him. When she walks past, he calls out to her and asks if she'll be cheering for the wrestling team, saying he made the cut. She tries to brush him off, but he holds out a pom-pom and asks if it belongs to her. Sarah says that it does and that she thought someone had stolen it, but when Eddie tries to return it she says it's no big deal since the school supplies replacements for free. As she walks away, Eddie grabs her arm but quickly lets go and apologizes. Stepping into the locker room, Eddie is harassed and bullied by the sports team - who he is the equipment manager and water-boy for.
Bruised and angry, Eddie listens to one of his teachers outline the purpose of the First Amendment, Freedom of the Press. He holds up the Washington Post article reporting on the Watergate Scandal and tells them that Nixon had lied to the American public and done all in his power to make everyone believe he was telling the truth. The teacher remarks that as anyone who's ever told a lie knows, the "truth" isn't always the truth. Inspired by the teacher's statement that journalists get to say what's true, Eddie applies to Empire State University.
Vernon Weimer, the Director of Admissions, notes that his reference number for the San Francisco Chronicle - where Eddie claimed to have done an internship - was for the custodial department. Eddie protests that that can't be right, quickly saying that they were doing renovations when he left before asking if this will affect his application. Weimer responds that little mistakes like this happen all the time, saying he'll get the extension for Eddie's reference number just to put the scholarship office at ease. Eddie thanks him, but the moment he's out of the office he panics and runs to a payphone outside the school, shoving people out of the way and grabbing the phone from the person about to use it. As Eddie dials the university and asks to speak to Weimer, claiming to be from the San Francisco Chronicle; Eugene - the boy who Eddie swiped the phone from - grabs him away and starts berating him. As Eddie furiously confronts Eugene, a young woman named Anne Weying intervenes and tries to get everyone to calm down. Eddie is instantly smitten, but Anne is creeped out - thinking he's high on drugs - and tries to excuse herself until he pleads with her to help him find his residence, saying he's new in the city.
Later that evening, Anne cuts off Eddie's spiel about how journalists get to make the truth, saying that's the third time he's said that. Noticing they've entered a rough part of town, Anne asks Eddie if he's sure he lives this far north. Eddie admits he lives in the dorms, but Anne's furious outburst is cut off as a group of thugs surround them. Anne trips and hits her head on a fire hydrant, while Eddie cowardly offers her to them in exchange for being spared. The thugs decide to have some fun mutilating him first, but before they can do anything Spider-Man arrives and trounces them. Spider-Man gives Eddie directions back to safety before departing, and when Anne regains consciousness Eddie tells her that he was the one who beat up the thugs and saved her, boasting that it was easy.
Solicit Synopsis
Notes
- This issue contradicts much of Eddie Brock's backstory as portrayed in Amazing Spider-Man #375, establishing Eddie as a coward and a chronic liar who was the high-school sports team's water-boy and faked his journalistic credentials as opposed to a successful scholastic and athletic person driven to excel by his desire for his father's approval.
- As of Venom (Vol. 4) #11, any mention or appearance of Mary Brock is a hallucination or falsified memory caused by the Venom symbiote.
See Also
Recommended Reading
Links and References
References