In the neighborhood a little girl named Heidi and her father are putting up posters alerting people that her cat, Mister Belvedere, has gone missing. Some of the local kids agree to look out and when they pass by Eddie Brock they pass the news along. Eddie goes inside where his sister, Mary, scolds him for wearing his church clothes on such a hot day, telling him that their father will be mad at him.[1] Eddie thinks his father won’t care, nor does he care if his sister has to wash the shirt before Sunday. He then goes downstairs to the basement where he has been keeping Mister Belvedere in a cardboard box. He then goes outside and returns the cat to Heidi, telling her that she rescued her beloved pet from the tree and her father calls him a hero. When the other kids asked him how he saved the car, Eddie Brock puts on his best smile and tells them that it was easy.

At dinner time, Eddie tries to tell his father and sister what he did that day, but neither are interested in hearing it. Later that evening, Eddie is watching the testimony of a disgraced military official testifying before Congress. The official denies any wrong doing, but Eddie can tell that the man is lying. This gets Carl’s attention who suggests that maybe Eddie should think about becoming a reporter. He then tells Eddie it’s time for bed. On his way upstairs, Mary complains about having to clean Eddie’s church clothes again, saying she isn’t his mother. All Carl can do is remind Mary that their mother died due to complications giving birth and that it wasn’t Eddie’s fault. After his father leaves the room, Mary asks Eddie what he’s pouting about and tell her that he can tell that his father is lying.

That Sunday, Eddie goes to church with his family and the priest gives a sermon that focuses heavily on the Virgin Mary and how the faithful should seek her for guidance. After the service, Eddie stops to look at a statue of Mary and Jesus. This catches the eye of one of the other church goers who asks Eddie why he’s looking at the statue so intently. He asks if the Virgin Mary is actually his mother. The woman tells him that she is after a fashion, saying that Mary watches over them all but it no replacement for his real mother. Eddie tells her that he killed his mother when he was born. She corrects the boy, telling him that he didn’t kill his mother, the Lord took her home, reminding him of the Lord givith and the Lord taketh away. He tells her that God will provide him with a means to fill the void in his life all he has to do is look for it. That’s when he notices Heidi and the other kids in the neighborhood and tells her that he looks real hard for purpose but he doesn’t think anyone is looking for him.

Years Pass…

Eddie Brock is now in high school and watching a girl named Sarah talking to some other boys in the hall and hoping she’ll notice him. When she doesn’t he approaches her and asks if she’ll be cheerleading for the wrestling team, adding that he just joined up. He then hands her back one of her pompoms. She thanks him, thinking it was stolen, but he tries to tell her that he found it under the bleachers. She is disinterested and when she tries to leave he grabs her arm a little too forcefully and asks her not to go. When she complains that he is hurting her, he lets go right away and retreats to the locker room to get ready for practice.

In reality, Eddie isn’t so much on the wrestling team to wrestle. Instead he has been hired by the coach to wash towels. When the star of the team sees that Eddie is wearing his jacket, Eddie takes it off telling him that the coach told him to wash it. When they tell him to stop acting like part of the team, Eddie tries to point out that the equipment manager is part of the team. The other boys decide that to use Eddie for practice and give him a beating.

Sporting a fresh black eye, Eddie is interested in the lecutre his teach is giving on about the role of a journalist. He tells the class that those in positions of power often use their positions to keep people from moving upward and abuse their power and that it is the job of a journalist to reveal the truth. He then shows them a copy of the Washington Post and tells them all about the Watergate scandal, and how two reporters were able to bring down Richard Nixon, the President of the United States at the time. He points out how Nixon tried to use his power an influence to present a false narrative of the truth, but it was ultimately a lie. He concludes his lecture by saying that while Presidents lead nations and captains of industry make billions, journalists get to say what’s true.

More Years Pass….

Eddie Brock is in a meeting with the Dean of Admissions at Empire State University trying to enter their journalism course. The dean is concerned about his reference for the newspaper he worked for a newspaper in San Francisco.[2] However, when he called the number he reached the custodial office. Eddie assures him that it was a mix-up as the paper was going through renovations when he left, figuring the numbers must have changed. The Dean figures this won’t affect his acceptance into the journalism program, and tells Eddie that he’ll call the paper to get the correct extension.

Since he lied about his work for the paper, Eddie rushes to a nearby payphone, interrupting a call from another student. He frantically tries to call the Dean, posing as his reference “Warren Simpson.” But as he tries to explain himself, the student he interrupted hangs up the phone and tells Eddie he owes him for the call. Furious, Eddie tries to convince them that he’s part of ESU’s Reserve’s Officers Training Corps, but they know that the university doesn’t have an ROTC on campus. Before a fight can break out, another student named Anne Weying breaks it up and asks Eddie if he’s on drugs or something. Eddie assures her he’s fine, saying he’s just new on campus. He then guilts her into helping him find his place.

Hours later they end up north of Fifth Avenue in a rough neighborhood. By this point, Anne is starting to get worried and asks Eddie if he lives this far up north. This is when he says he guesses he lives down near the dorms. Anne cannot believe what he’s saying and he’s about to tell her that he was making this all up so she would spend time with him. She tries to tell him it’s not safe, but he tries to convince her that he’s in the ROTC. That’s when a gang of muggers breaks a bottle over his head. Shoving Anne to the ground, she is knocked out when her head hits a fire hydrant on the way down. Eddie begins to panic and cowardly offers them the girl if they leave him alone. Luckily, Spider-Man swings by and knocks out the thugs, but doesn’t stick around longer than to tell Eddie to be careful this far uptown and swings away. When Anne wakes up and sees all the crooks knocked out, Eddie tells her that he did it all himself and when she asks him how he puts on his trademark smile and tells her it was easy.

Recurring Characters

Eddie Brock, Carl Brock, “Mary Brock”, Anne Weying, Spider-Man

Continuity Notes

1. It’s later revealed in Venom (vol. 4) #11 that aspects of Eddie Brock’s memories were altered by the Venom symbiote in an effort to make Eddie more dependant upon the alien creature. In particular, Mary Brock was a complete fabrication. Other aspects of this story could be false as well, however I will only be addressing memories that can be confirmed as false.

2. Although unclear here, Eddie spent his time growing up in San Francisco as identified in Venom: Lethal Protector #1.

On Continuity

Like other limited series in the 2000s, Venom: Dark Origin has received any proper chronology placements either official or semi-official. Which is kind of hard to understand because this series is one of the least problematic ones to fit into continuity since it mostly deals with Eddie Brock’s early life up to his first battle with Spider-Man as Venom. Subsequent stories (notably the fourth volume of Venom) a lot of elements of this story have been revisited.

The only contentious issue of this story is the appearance of Mary Brock who, as we learn in Venom (vol. 4) #11, was a fabrication created by the symbiote. This series is unique however as it presents a version of events without Eddie being diagnosed with cancer nor is that given as a reason for him attempting to commit suicide. This suggests that Brock always intended to commit suicide (as depicted in issue #3 of this series) the only difference is the reason why was changed when the symbiote altered his memories. Without further ado, below is my chronology for fitting this series. I’ve tried to also include additional flashbacks that were revealed in Venom (vol. 4), but I might have missed some as I skimmed through the series.

Chronology

• Venom: Lethal Protector #3 (page 13, panel 3-7): Eddie Brock is born, his mother dies giving childbirth. As a child, Eddie trie to impress his father. Consumed by his work and resenting his son, Carl Brock ignores his son.

• Venom: Dark Origin #1 (page 1-11): Eddie "saves" Heidi's cat. Shows his father he can tell when someone is lying. Learns his father resents him for the death of his mother. Goes to church, learns about the Virgin Mary, and is told her mother was "taken back by God".

• Venom #152 (page 1): Eddie is bullied by one of the local kids.

• Venom: Dark Origin #1 (page 12-16): Eddie is in high school. Tries to get Sarah to notice him. Becomes equipment manager of the wrestling team. Gets beat up. Learns about how the Watergate Scandal broke and shows his first interest in journalism.

• Venom: Lethal Protector #3 (page 13, panel 8): Teenaged Eddy Brock throws out a trophy because his father was disinterested. Venom (vol. 4) #10 (page 4-6, 8-11): Eddie got drunk and went joyriding in his father's car and killed a neighborhood kid. Carl Brock beat his son into pleading innocent. Although Eddie wasn't punished by law, the ensuing lawsuits financially ruined the Brock family.

• Venom: Dark Origin #1 (Page 17-23): Eddie goes to ESU. Lies about his internship in San Francisco. Meets Anne Weying, tricks her into finding his non-existent dorm. They get mugged. Spider-Man saves them when Anne is knocked out. Eddie takes credit for Spider-Man's rescue.

Topical References

This story is framed to take place in the 1980s and as such is rife with topical references that should not be taken literally. These are:

• Carl Brock reading an article by Norman Mailer. Mailer

• Carl and Eddie are watching testimony being given by Oliver North over the Iran Contra Affair. That happened in July 1987.

• Eddie Brock’s work at the San Francisco Chronicle should be considered topical because that’s a real world business.

• Pay phones costing a quarter isn’t a thing anymore either.

That said, the Nixon/Watergate scandal references in this story are not topical because they are being taught to Eddie Brock’s class in a historical context