The Hunger Part 1

It’s just after 11 at night in Greenwich Village as a young woman walks home. She is just finishing a phone call with her mother before crossing through an alleyway, unaware that something is stalking her in the shadows. Suddenly, she is attacked by some strange creature.

The following morning, Peter Parker is attending a get together held by the tenants association, where he gets to know the loud and somewhat eccentric John Anderson, an immigrant from New Zealand. Finding the act of socializing with his neighbors difficult, Peter makes an excuse to retreat, leaving both Jill Stacy and Caryn Earle at the mercy of the overly friendly Anderson. As he goes down the hall, Peter is actually glad that his life has some semblance of normalcy in his life for once. That afternoon, the body of the young woman is found, and she is still alive but in serious condition. Arriving on the scene is Detective Neil Garrett arrives on the scene and is briefed on the situation. Among the other injuries and time of death, Garrett is told that this woman has a pair of puncture marks above her kidney, the same M.O. as the guy Garrett has been hunting.

Elsewhere in the city, Eddie Brock goes to confessional despite the fact that he’s sick. He tells the priest that he feels like two beings coming apart. He explains how he used to come to the church every Sunday until his life got messed up. At one point, he attempted to kill himself in this very church when his entire life changed. He explains to the priest that he feels as though the Lord has been punishing him for some terrible sin and that someone put a demon inside him. As he says this, the Venom symbiote is crawling all over the inside of his side of the confessional.[1]

Later that afternoon, Peter Parker and his Aunt May arrive at St. Mark’s Hospital to get an update on Flash Thompson’s condition. May tells Peter that he didn’t need to come, however, since Flash was put in a coma by the Green Goblin, Peter feels responsible for what happened.[2] Thinking that Flash may have suffered some kind of physical disfigurement from the accident, Peter wants to be there to tell Flash that it doesn’t matter. They enter Flash’s hospital room where they are joined by Liz Osborn. Although Flash is still in a coma, the doctor is certain that he’d be glad to see his friends came to see this. The bandages are soon removed and Peter is relieved to see that Flash’s face is perfectly fine. Still, seeing Flash like this brings Liz to tears and Peter assures her that they won’t give up and see Flash through the challenges ahead. Peter considers the bitter irony that Flash’s face remains unblemished when his mind is seemingly gone forever.

While at St. June’s Hospital, Detective Garrett is getting a prognosis that confirms that the young woman who was attacked the night before is a victim of the same mystery attacker. The doctor explains that this woman’s wounds are above the kidney and her attacker has managed to drain all the adrenaline out of her body, putting her into a coma. However, the doctor is at a loss to explain how the attacker was able to accomplish this. When the story hits the papers, the media begins calling the mystery attacker “the vampire”. When John Anderson reads this in the paper her complains about how uninventive the name is. He is asked by Randy Robertson if he’s seen Peter, but the New Zealander hasn’t seen him but ogling Caryn Earle as she hangs her laundry, thinks Peter is missing the view.

Peter is out web-slinging across the city as Spider-Man, trying to find a villain to fight so he can vent his anger over what has happened to Flash Thompson. When he reaches the railyards he hears a scream coming from one of the tunnels. Rushing to the sound of the screams, Spider-Man is shocked to see the Venom symbiote attacking a homeless man. Spider-Man pulls the homeless man free and begins fighting the symbiote, thinking that it is still bonded with Eddie Brock. However, the creature openly speaks about how Spider-Man brought it to Earth and its bond with him changed who it is. When it talks about Spider-Man’s sin, he calls the symbiote by Eddie Brock’s name. Ultimately, the creature knocks Spider-Man to the ground and tells him that there is no more Eddie Brock….[3]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Venom, Aunt May, Randy Robertson, Glory Grant, Liz Osborn, John Anderson, Neil Garrett, Caryn Earle, Jill Stacy, Flash Thompson

Continuity Notes

1. There are a few things that you should know about Eddie Brock about this point:

   • He talks about how his life was turned upside down. As explained in Amazing Spider-Man #300, Eddie Brock was a reporter for the Daily Globe who was publishing interviews with a man claiming to be the spree-shooter known as the Sin-Eater. When Spider-Man caught the real Sin-Eater (Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110), Brock was discredited and lost his job. He then went to the church for guidance where he found the Venom symbiote, as the creature lived there since Spider-Man abandoned it in Web of Spider-Man #1. (There’s the whole Deadpool: Back in Black story arc, but let’s not over complicate this explanation)

   • Brock states here that he was going to the church in order to commit suicide and the later revelation that he has cancer is both false. As explained in Venom (vol. 4) #11, the symbiote did many things to make Eddie more and more dependant upon the symbiote. Eddie’s suicidal ideation is actually an implanted memory created by the symbiote. The alien creature also altered Eddie’s body chemistry so it would seem like he was dying of cancer.

2. Some facts about Peter and May going to the hospital:

   • Flash Thompson has been in a coma since the Green Goblin orchestrated a drunk driving accident that put Thompson in the hospital. That happened in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #44-47.

   • Although not overtly said here, Peter is openly talking to May about the Green Goblin because this story takes place after May learned that her nephew was Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #35.

3. The Symbiote is not wrong: Peter Parker got the symbiote from an alien machine while on an alien world in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8. He brought it to Earth in Amazing Spider-Man #252. When he discovered it was alive and trying to bond with him in Amazing Spider-Man #258, Peter rejected the symbiote.

Topical References

• On the opening splash page, the movie theater is advertising the film 12 Monkeys on the marquee. This was nearly a 10-year-old reference when this comic was published, it should be obvious why this is considered a topical reference.

• John Anderson is wearing an X-Files t-shirt. This sci-fi series about alien conspiracies had just finished it’s wildly popular original run on May 19, 2002.