Editing Flash Thompson (section)

==Publication history==
Created by writer [[Stan Lee]] and artist [[Steve Ditko]], Flash Thompson [[First appearance|first appeared]] in ''[[Amazing Fantasy]]'' #15 (August 1962), the same issue [[Spider-Man]] first appeared in. He was a regular character in ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man]]'' series for its first four years, leaving the cast in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #47 (April 1967) to serve in the Vietnam War. Though he reappeared in the comic a few times while on leave, he did not return to the regular cast until issue #105 (Feb. 1972).<ref name="back91">{{cite journal|last=Hempel|first=Darrell |title=Flash Thompson: Friend or Foe? |journal=[[Back Issue!]]|issue=91|pages=42–47 |publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date=September 2016|location=Raleigh, North Carolina}}</ref>

Though the relationship between Flash Thompson and Spider-Man's alter ego Peter Parker gradually became more cordial over the years, the major turning point towards their becoming friends was in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #138 (Nov. 1974), in which Thompson lets Parker room with him after all his other friends and acquaintances turned him away.<ref name="back91"/>

Thompson's childhood is explored in ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' #-1 (July 1997), titled "That Thompson Boy". Writer [[J. M. DeMatteis]] commented, "Despite our human tendency to want to fit people into convenient pigeonholes, no one is any one thing all the time. The main point of 'That Thompson Boy' was to show that there were other sides to Flash, to look behind the curtain and see the vulnerability, and depth, that was there. 'Flash' is a mask. Eugene is a complex, wounded human being. I think the character's history, even going back to Stan [Lee]'s stories, is a constant battle between the two, a seeking to find balance."<ref name="back91"/>

The character made his first appearance as the new incarnation of [[Venom (Marvel Comics character)|Venom]] in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #654 (February 2011). A [[List of Venom titles|second volume of ''Venom'']] started in May 2011 with Flash Thompson as the titular character. As Venom, he appeared as a regular character in the 2010–2013 ''[[Secret Avengers]]'' series, from issue #23 (April 2012) through its final issue, #37 (March 2013). As Venom, he appears in the 2012 ''[[Thunderbolts (comics)#Rek Hulk's Thunderbolts|Red Hulk's Thunderbolts]]'' series by [[Daniel Way]] and [[Steve Dillon]].<ref name="Thunderbolts">{{cite web|url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=40965|title=Way and Dillon Confirmed For Marvel NOW! "Thunderbolts"|last=James|first=Adam|work=Comic Book Resources |date= September 12, 2012|access-date=September 12, 2012}}</ref> After the [[Superior Spider-Man]] event, Agent Venom is seen in space in ''The Guardians of the Galaxy'' vol. 3, #14. He was eventually spun off into his own solo series, ''Venom: Space Knight'', written by Robbie Thompson and drawn by Ariel Olivetti. It was canceled after 13 issues. In the premier issue of ''Venom'' volume 3, Flash Thompson is seen without the symbiote.