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| Publisher |
Marvel |
| Series |
Ultimate Spider-Man |
| Published | February 2003 |
| Artist |
Mark Bagley |
| Writer |
Brian Michael Bendis |
ORIGINS Lamenting the loss of Mary Jane, Peter Parker is wallowing in his basement (and his sorrows) when he stumbles onto a hidden door in his basement. The secret room is full of boxes labeled "Parker". Inside, he finds pictures of him and his parents before they died, and also a video tape. Peter finds his way upstairs with the tape while Aunt May reminisces to Gwen about the time she proposed to Jimi Hendrix (albeit, she was on the scaffolding at the time). In his room, Peter pops in the tape. Taken 10 years back, it features a young Peter with his parents, Uncle Ben, Aunt May, Edward Brock Senior and Junior, respectively. Turns out Brock Sr. and Richard Parker were genetic researchers collaborating on a project (which we later find out is called "The Venom Project") that could have changed the face of modern medicine. Brock wants to hire a publicist, but Mary Parker (Peter's mom) says it won't do any good at their current stage. Peter's dad suggests they wait until Phase II of the project before talking about press. In the background, we see that Peter and Brock, Jr. (who looks a few years older than Peter), were best buddies in their youth. Fast forward to today, Aunt May, it turns out, was watching the tape with Peter. A bit shaken since she didn't expect to see Ben, she explains the tape to Peter and reveals that both little Eddie and Peter's parents died in the same tragic plane crash. May suggests that Peter track down Eddie, who went to live with his grandparents after the crash, and give him a copy of the tape. Peter does so, and discovers that Eddie now goes to Empire State University. Peter goes to E.S.U. to meet with Eddie, in awe and anticipating taking in all the college scenery. After meeting "the short end of the roommate stick," Eddie and Peter go out for some coffee. Eddie imparts the wisdom of his extra years to Peter, which is basically a frank stating of the academic, financial, and romantic difficulties in going to college to pursue his father's dream, spoken with just a tinge of bitterness. On hearing about Peter's recent breakup, Eddie tells him that, five years from then, Peter won't even remember her name. When the conversation shifts to their parents, Eddie laments that it's hard to remember his parents, when Peter presents him the tape. Citing it as "about the nicest thing anyone has ever done" for him, Eddie takes Peter to a lab in the Reed Richards Science Center on campus. He opens a refrigerated locker containing a large beaker of black goo. When Peter asks what it is, Eddie answers: "It's our inheritance."