Appearing in "Day One"
Featured Characters:
- Venom/"Hail Mary, the Mother Superior of Punishment" (Flash Thompson) (Main story and flashback)
Supporting Characters:
- Robert Fricks (First appearance)
- Andrea Benton (First appearance) (Unnamed)
- Peter Parker (Only in flashback)
- Rosie Thompson (Only in flashback)
- Enzo
Antagonists:
- Unnamed gang
- Unnamed leader
- Unnamed members
- Eddie Brock
Other Characters:
- Unnamed burglar
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Pennsylvania
- New York (Main story and flashback)
- New York City (Main story and flashback)
- Manhattan (Main story and flashback)
- Middleton (Only in flashback)
- Rose Manor Wellness Center (Only in flashback)
- New York City (Main story and flashback)
Items:
Synopsis for "Day One"
In his new apartment in Philadelphia, Flash Thompson sits in his wheelchair while a group of movers finish carrying his things in. One of the asks if he has anyone to help him unpack, but Flash retorts he's on his own. The mover, thinking he offended Flash, begins to apologize, but Flash cuts him off by saying he'll put everything in easy-to-reach cabinets before saying he was just messing with him. Thinking to himself that he didn't need to be rude and that the mover was trying to be nice, Flash notes that lately his nerves have been at the surface and he hasn't gotten much food or sleep. Admitting to himself that it would be nice to have some help unpacking, Flash decides to ask one of his neighbors to help, but his thoughts are cut off by a voice angrily demanding to know how he's supposed to sleep with all the stomping. Wheeling out into the hall, Flash is confronted by a middle-aged man, who snaps at him to keep the noise to a minimum. Flash starts to introduce himself, but the man cuts him off and berates him, saying that if he's late for work it'll be Flash's fault and that the wheelchair won't earn him any slack. As the man slams his apartment door, a teenaged girl remarks that the man, Mr. Fricks, is always angry about something and never gets further to work than a local pub. Flash introduces himself to the girl and asks if she's one of the students at West Philly High, where he applied as an assistant PE teacher, but the girl blows him off.
Flash has a flashback to when he and Peter Parker were walking home after seeing an action movie about a group of mercenaries. Peter questions the realism of the mercenaries being unscathed, but Flash replies that he likes stories where the good guys win. Flash thanks Peter for making the time to hang out, and Peter replies that they don't nearly hang out enough. Peter asks Flash if he might reconsider moving, but Flash says his mind is made up and that he needs the change. As they say goodbye, Peter tells Flash to keep out of trouble.
As Agent Venom, Flash swings through nighttime Philly thinking that trouble is exactly what he's after. Limiting his patrol beat to a few blocks for the time being, Flash thinks to himself that he hates it since on most nights it's boring and on the bad nights he gets to see the worst mankind has to offer. In an alley below, a woman leaves a nightclub followed by a man with a knife, who angrily mutters to himself that he'll kill her for leading him on. Agent Venom snares the man with webs, and the woman hears his scream and investigates. Clinging to the wall, holding the man and surrounded by writhing tendrils, Agent Venom tells the woman there are bad people out tonight and to get home quick. Carrying the screaming would-be murderer with him as he swings away, Agent Venom thinks to himself that Philly - unlike New York - doesn't have any heroes of its own and that maybe he can make a difference, though he can't go too public or else his friends back in New York would realize his identity. Tossing the man to the ground, Agent Venom tells him to shut up as he begs for his life. Noting the man is drunk, Agent Venom snarls that he could turn the man's head inside out without even thinking about it. Forming a fanged mouth, Agent Venom licks the man while saying that he'll eat his brains, and that if the man wants to live he'll turn himself in, get help, and never show his face in this neighborhood again. As the man runs away screaming for the police, Agent Venom notes that he could have broken every bone in the man's body and that a part of him wanted to, but that this is a new start for him as a hero and that he has to be better.
Flash reminisces about meeting his mother at Rose Manor Wellness Center, asking if she was getting any better. Flash's mother says the night terrors have been worse than ever and that she can't close her eyes without seeing Venom's demon form. Flash tells her that Philadelphia isn't far away and that he'll visit whenever she needs him, telling her to remember that the monsters can't hurt her anymore.
In an alleyway, a young man named Rafe is confronted by a gang of thugs. The gang's leader, Rudeboy, asks him if he thinks he's too good for them when his cousin Enzo is a member. Rafe protests and says that Enzo can do whatever he wants, but that he doesn't want to join the gang. Rudeboy says he never mentioned anything about joining, but that Enzo will do what they want anyways. The gang members restrain Enzo while they beat up Rafe, and when Enzo protests Rudeboy backhands him. A voice interrupts, demanding the gang members release the children as chains toss the thugs aside and a spectral nun wrapped in chains introduces herself as Hail Mary, the Mother Superior of Punishment. As the gang members run away, Hail Mary bursts into laughter, revealing herself to be Agent Venom in disguise. Noting that just because he has to lay low as Venom and is fighting crime to help people doesn't mean he can't have fun doing so, Flash marks his first night out as a win.
Returning to his apartment, Flash prepares a syringe of an improved version of the symbiote suppressant serum that Henry McCoy made to keep the alien under control. Flash thinks that he's still in control and won't inject himself if he has to, and that he's too exhausted to unpack or clean up, noting that he'll have to work out a schedule for fighting crime and a day job. Muttering to himself that he has to be careful or he'll start feeling like a normal person, Flash reminisces about his failed attempt to tell Betty he's leaving. A knock on the door wakes him up, and Flash incredulously realizes his things have all been unpacked and neatly put away. Opening the door, he's confronted by a pair of police officers who ask him if he's heard any disturbances last night. When Flash says he hasn't, the officer states that Flash's neighbor, Robert Fricks, was attacked and is hospitalized in a coma. Flash wonders if he was the one responsible, noting that he already knows the answer and that it scares him.
In New York, a man dressed in a black hoodie and pants knocks on the door of Flash's old apartment. An elderly woman informs the man that Eugene moved to Philadelphia and that it's too bad since he was a nice neighbor. The man, Eddie Brock, agrees and laments that Flash left without telling him.
Solicit Synopsis
MOVING DAY!
• Flash Thompson bids farewell to New York City and head’s to his new home, Philadelphia!
• As he says good bye to Peter Parker, Betty Brant and all his friends – is something TOXIC on the horizon?!Notes
- This issue takes place before Amazing Spider-Man #695.