Venom (vol. 2) #20
The Truth
The Savage Six is attacking Flash Thompson’s family and loved ones. Fearing for the safety of his mother, Flash disguises himself as a delivery man and heads to her house. Using the Venom symbiote to break in, he finds Rosie Thompson’s home in shambles. He finds traces of blood and the Human Fly’s acidic vomit. As he searches the scene for clues he is ambushed by Death Adder, who rakes Venom with his poisoned claws.
Fighting the effects of the poison, Flash uses the symbiote to grab an entire set of knives to attack his foe. The commotion draws out Rosie’s neighbors. With Flash disorientated, Death Adder tries to flee, threatening the lives of the other tenants in the building. To snap out of it, Flash puts his hand in a pool of the Fly’s vomit and goes after Death Adder. He catches the villain just before he attacked a young woman and her infant child and snaps his neck. However, the frightened tenants aren’t very gracious for the rescue and orders him to leave. Venom realizes that any explanation will fall on deaf ears and leaves.
Meanwhile, Betty Brant wakes up in a locked room in an abandoned warehouse owned by the Crime-Master. At first Betty thinks she is dead until the Crime-Master — via a security camera — tells her tha she is alive, at least for the time being. He introduces himself and then opens the door to her cell, offering her the opportunity to interview him face-to-face. Crime-Master assures her that she’ll learn that they have more in common than she previously thought. At first, Betty refuses, but Crime-Master warns her that once he closes the door to her cell, it will not open again.
At that moment, at a church on the lower east side, Rosie Thompson is held prisoner in the bell tower. There she watches in horror as Agent Venom tortures the Human Fly in order to learn where they have taken Betty. The Fly pleas with Flash to stop torturing him and offers to make a deal. However, Thompson is beyond deals and rips off both of the Fly’s wings and orders him to talk, threatening to take his eyes next.
Back at the warehouse, Betty is ushered into the Crime-Master’s office where she is shocked to discover that the place is plastered with photos of her from various points in her life.[1] Crime-Master then enters the room with Megatak and Jack O’Lantern and tells her that this is a shrine to family, his family. That’s when Crime-Master unmasks himself and reveals that she is his brother, Bennett Brant, and asks her to join his new family of crime so they can kill Flash Thompson.[2]
Recurring Characters
Agent Venom, Savage Six (Crime-Master, Jack O’Lantern, Megatak, Death Adder, Toxin), Betty Brant, Rosie Thompson
Continuity Notes
There are photos of Betty and her late husband Ned Leeds. Betty and Ned started dating in Amazing Spider-Man #18 and eventually they got married in Amazing Spider-Man #156. After a rocky marriage, Ned was murdered by assassins in Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1.
Prior to this point, everyone thought Bennett Brant died when he was shot by Blackie Gaxton back in Amazing Spider-Man #11. How he survived and how he became the new Crime-Master is explained next issue.
