Football & Symbiotes: A Flash Thompson/ Agent Venom Appreciation

So I gotta say Venom has always been my favorite Spidey bad guy. I'm a sucker for the doppelganger trope. And I was an Eddie Brock Venom purist for years. But let me tell you, Flash has kicked Eddie off the throne as best Venom. Ever. Rick and Cullen's time on his solo was great. I loved his relationship with Valkyrie, I loved his protege Andi aka Mania. And I'm really excited to see Flash learn more about the Symbiote while he's with the GoG.

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Easily one of my favorite runs ever.

I know buy any series with Flash/Agent Venom in it.

[QUOTE=MindofShadow;25726]Easily one of my favorite runs ever.

I know buy any series with Flash/Agent Venom in it.[/QUOTE]

You know whats kinda funny if you think about it?

Flash became Venom in 2011 and its now 2014. In the three years he's been Venom; think how much he's ingrained himself into the larger MU. He's been a Secret Avenger, a Thunderbolt, now he's a GoG. He's "seeing" an Asgardian, he's pretty buddy buddy with Cap, Beast and a few of the other main Avengers, he has a sidekick.

He's a more interesting read than any other host Venom ever had. I loved the first 20 or so issues of his series, with the military angle, the heavily depressing vibe and the personal rivalry with Jack O' Lantern. Then it all started to get way too weird around the Las Vegas crossover with Red Hulk, X23 and Ghost Rider. The Philadelphia stuff had nonsense like the demonic stuff (you would think Spidey fans are not particularly interested in reading more about Mephisto), a regressed Eddie Brock and worst of all, Mania, ugh.

I love Mania!

Sure some of the more supernatural stuff he had to deal with was little odd. But Andi is a gem!

I wouldn't mind Mania teaming up with Spider-Girl at some point.

Anyway, he looks so happy in GoTG when he got new guns!

[QUOTE=The Big G;26041]I love Mania!

Sure some of the more supernatural stuff he had to deal with was little odd. But Andi is a gem![/QUOTE]

Hell, yes. She should be in more Marvel series. I also concur with Sardorim about her meeting Spider-Girl, and hmm . . . I think I got it.

Mania, Hummingbird (Aracely from Scarlet Spider/New Warriors), and Spider-Girl. Teenage superhero team-up made in heaven.

Oh, and given that Mania is in part a product of supernatural tampering/interference, there should be a comic where she meets Robbie Reyes, the All-New Ghost Rider. See how her inner demon/Hell Mark reacts to Robbie's Spirit of Vengeance and vice versa. Said angle could also work for Hummingbird/Aracely, since she is apparently the mortal incarnation of the Aztec sun/war god Huitzilopochtli and thus potentially sensitive to supernatural phenomena as well . . . hmm, Aracely/Robbie team-up, or Aracely/Andi (Mania) team-up, or Andi/Robbie team-up?

Anyone tried to play as Agent Venom in Marvel Avengers Alliance on Facebook ?

They truly used Agent Venom well within the game.

I missed FCBD and missed the GoG issue where Flash goes with GoG. Did anyone pick it up and want share with us poor unfortunate souls?

[QUOTE=Cmbmool;27904]Anyone tried to play as Agent Venom in Marvel Avengers Alliance on Facebook ?

They truly used Agent Venom well within the game.[/QUOTE]

My issue with Avengers Alliance is that they pulled a "Well Venom separated into 2 Venoms" to explain Mac Venom and Agent Venom existing at the same time story-wise.

It rubs me the wrong way as Venom is unique just like any other symbiote and the last time a Symbiote split off from it that Symbiote was Carnage.

[QUOTE=The Big G;30330]I missed FCBD and missed the GoG issue where Flash goes with GoG. Did anyone pick it up and want share with us poor unfortunate souls?[/QUOTE]

Flash is chilling with Drax and gets new space guns.

After that is spoilers.

Love Flash as Agent Venom. Wish the solo was still going.

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Pete now knows Flash is Venom...

now we must wait for Flash to learn that Pete is Spidey

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Pete now knows Flash is Venom...

now we must wait for Flash to learn that Pete is Spidey[/QUOTE]

That's actually a lot better than I thought it'd be. While it's understandable that Spider-Man would be offended and horrified that one of the closest friends he has left has been playing host to one of his worst enemies at the discretion of Captain Freaking America, it's also a good point on Cap's part that he respected Flash's right to privacy just as he's respected Spider-Man's despite reasons to the contrary (many provided by Otto as the not-so-Superior Spider-Man). Gonna be quite the complicated dynamic, though.

While I loved the Venom series itself, I'm not a big fan about how Flash is being tossed around all over the place, never really finding a home. First he's an agent for the government, then he becomes a Secret Avenger, then a Thunderbolt, now he's in space. And Flash's mission with the Thunderbolts was such a missed opportunity. Charles Soule could have helped to wrap up some of the dangling plot threads left in [I]Venom[/I], before he took off to space so that way it seemed like a bit more of a seamless from everything he's dealing with instead it looking like he just abandoned Mania and dropped everything to go to space. But now he's with the Guardians of the Galaxy and we basically have to just ignore everything he did in Philly and all the stories that didn't get a conclusion.

Looks like we'll be seeing Agent Venom again, one last time, in GotG. Bendis' last issue comes out next month:

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I really hope Flash, or this particular version of Venom, doesn't go away forever. One of my favorite Marvel characters.