Venom (vol. 2) #31
Day One
Flash Thompson has just moved into his new apartment in Philadelphia. After the movers are done, Flash realizes that he has to unpack everything by himself. Suddenly, his idea to move to a city where he doesn’t know anybody might not have been such a good idea. That’s when one of his neighbors starts yelling about the noise. Flash goes out into the hall to introduce himself and apologize for the noise, but Robert Fricks is furious and slams the door in his face.
Flash is then greeted by a teenager who lives in the building. She tells him to pay no mind to Fricks, a mean drunk who hardly works anyway. Flash introduces himself and asks the girl if she attends West Philadelphia High School as that is where he is going to be teaching phsyical education. The teenager is disinterested in meeting Flash and leaves without introducing herself. Flash jokes to himself about how he’s already making friends on his first day in Philly. He then thinks back to his last days in New York.
He had gone out to see a movie with Peter Parker,[1] which Flash really enjoyed because he likes movies where the good guys win. He thanks Peter for coming out with him because they don’t get to hang out like this very often. Peter asks Flash if he is changing his mind about moving to Philadelphia, but Thompson still intends to go. He shakes Peter’s hand and says he is going to miss him, a feeling that Parker shares. Peter asks Flash to do him at least one favor and try to stay out of trouble.
As Flash web-slings across the city as Venom, he thinks how Peter Parker has no idea that he’s out actively looking for trouble in his new home. However, after going on patrol, Flash admits that this is the part of being a superhero that he hates because it is so boring. Eventually, an opportunity presents itself when a jilted man leaves a bar to follow the woman who turned him down, intending on using a knife to get what he wants. Venom quickly rounds him up and then warns the woman not to get home quickly as there are bad people around. Flash then debates what to do about the would-be rapist he captured. Concerned that people might put connect Flash Thompson to Agent Venom, he decides to let the man go, but warns him that if he causes trouble again he will track him down and eat his brains. As expected, the man flees, promising to be good from now on.
He could have put this man in traction if it weren’t for his new personal philosophy that came about during his last visit to his mother at Rose Home. He assured his mother, Rosie Thompson, that he wasn’t abandoning her and said he would come back to visit often, telling her to work on getting better and promising that the monsters can’t hurt her anymore.[2]
Later that evening, Flash decides to take on a lower profile of sorts when scaring off a gang trying to recruit some kids into their ranks. He takes on the appearance of a nun in chains and calls himself the Mother Superior of Punishment. This scares everyone off and gives Flash a good laugh because of how ridiculous this idea was. He considers his first night on patrol a win and heads back to his apartment.
The following morning, Flash begins unpacking and pauses to consider taking the medication he needs to keep the symbiote sedate, recalling how the Avengers trust him to manage the alien creature on his own. However, he decides against it because he is so exhausted. He closes his eyes for a moment and dreams about his last night in New York again. He was waiting at a coffee shop in the hopes that Betty Brant would at least see him to say goodbye. When she was a no-show, he left her a voice mail instead, realizing that this would be the only way he could say goodbye.[3] Flash wakes up on his couch when the police come knocking at his door. He is shocked to discover that his entire apartment has been unpacked. When he answers the door the officers tell him that his neighbor was subject of a home invasion and hospitalized. Unfortunately, Flash didn’t hear a thing and tells them he heard nothing. However, a part of him wonders if he did this as Venom and fears what the answer might be.
While back in New York City, someone comes knocking on the door to Flash’s old apartment. A neighbor from across the hall comes out and tells the man that Flash has just moved to Philadelphia. Pulling down his hood, Eddie Brock tells the elderly woman that he is disappointed that his old pal left town without saying goodbye.
Recurring Characters
Agent Venom, Andrea Benton (unidentified), Eddie Brock, (in flashback) Peter Parker, Rosie Thompson
Continuity Notes
The narrative of the story states that this takes place before the events of Amazing Spider-Man #698-700, which was when Doctor Octopus switched bodies with Peter Parker.
Rosie Thompson admitted herself to Rose House after the death of her husband, Harrison Thompson, in Venom (vol. 2) #7 as well as after her ordeal with the Savage Six in Venom (vol. 2) #17-21.
Flash and Betty had dated on-and-off for years since Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #90. More recently, Betty told Flash that she never wanted to see him again after she discovered that he was Agent Venom. This also happened in issue #17-21.
