Warning! Spoilers ahead for Venom #34
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics’ Venom, one of the coolest hosts and versions of the Lethal Protector has come back from the dead during Marvel’s King in Black event. After Knull the Symbiote God killed Eddie Brock, Eddie found himself living as a collection of memories with the symbiote codex and hivemind, where he also found Flash Thompson, the former host known as Agent Venom who died during Spider-Man’s battle with the Red Goblin. However, Eddie and Flash came up with a means to fight back, and it looks as though they both found a way to return to the land of the living (and not just as a dragon.).
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While Flash Thompson debuted as Peter Parker’s high school bully, Spider-Man inspired him to become a hero himself by joining the army, which led to his selection by the government to bond and become Agent Venom at a time when they had the symbiote in their custody. Flash later became a superhero in his own right, joining forces with Spider-Man and even the Guardians of the Galaxy, turning the Venom symbiote into a hero and force for good, a legacy that Eddie would do his best to continue once he got the symbiote back. In previous issues of Marvel’s Venom from writer Donny Cates with art by Iban Coello, Flash decided that he was going to sacrifice himself and risk being deleted from the codex in order to give Eddie a chance to reunite with Venom. However, Agent Venom’s plan went much better than they expected, and he was able to take control and pilot a symbiote, becoming transformed into a massive white dragon to technically reenter the land of the living via his new bond.
Now, the new Venom #34 sees Flash immediately going to work fighting Knull’s forces in his temporary dragon form, all while Eddie had to contend with Knull himself, who discovered that Brock’s collective memories were still alive within the hive mind. However, Venom eventually found Eddie, having broken free from Knull’s control while the Symbiote God was distracted by the real-life battle happening with Marvel’s heroes. Coming back from the dead and gaining the power of the God of Light previously known as the Enigma Force, Venom is back in action. However, Brock wasn’t the only Venom to return from the dead. Flash flew to Arlington National Cemetery where his body had been buried as a hero. Sending his symbiote into the ground, it looks as though Agent Venom has literally come back from the grave as well.
Rather than coming back as a white dragon only temporarily, this new issue of Venom seemingly confirms that Flash Thompson is back for good in the Marvel Universe, as his body has apparently been restored at the issue’s end. This is incredibly exciting for more than a few reasons, though the primary one is that Flash Thompson has had one of the most incredible redemption arcs in Marvel Comics, on par with that of Eddie Brock and the symbiote they’ve both been bonded to. As such, Flash has a huge fan following, and his return is definitely caused for excitement. Agent Venom’s return is also happening right before the highly anticipated Venom #200, which Flash will no doubt be a part of as well.
As Marvel’s epic King in Black concludes, it’s going to be incredibly interesting to see its aftermath, not only for Eddie Brock, Venom, and symbiotes in general but also for the return of Agent Venom now that he’s back from the dead. Thank goodness for symbiote codexes and their convenient ability to retain host memories in Marvel Comics.
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