Road Trip Part Three

Flash Thompson, forced into helping the mobster known as Crime-Master, is at the Devil’s Den Casino acting like a drunk so security takes him into a back room. There, he drops the ruse and uses his military training to knock them out. He is concerned about what they have come for since something about this place is upsetting the Venom symbiote.

When he reports in to Jack O’Lantern, who has been watching Flash’s performance after hacking into the casino’s security system.

Disguising himself as one security staff, Flash is able to access a staff elevator. There, his thoughts about how he was forced into do this job for the Crime-Master in order to protect his family and his growing rage causes the symbiote to begin taking control.[1] Guards are stationed outside the elevator after he disabled the camera and they are not prepared when Venom, in his full fury, begins his attack. After dealing with the guards, Venom breaks through a vault to get into a secret lab and uncovers what they are storing there, the Toxin symbiote. However, instead of trying to recover the symbiote, the Venom symbiote’s pathological hatred for the creature causes Flash to try and kill it.[2]

Seeing this, Jack O’Lantern comes crashing into the lab demanding to know what Venom is doing. Jack blasts Venom aside and quickly contains the Toxin symbiote in a canister. However, Venom still wants to kill Toxin and lunges at Jack. This sends them both crashing out onto the Vegas Strip where Jack decides its time to go back to trying to kill Venom. Jack reports the situation back to Crime-Master who advises him to run since Thompson has lost control of his own symbiote. As he flees, Jack orders Flash to take back control from the symbiote or he will kill his beloved Betty Brant. However, Venom continues to chase him until Jack crashes into a massive casino sign.

Venom catches up but Jack manages to convince Flash to get his symbiote back under control by warning him that continued insubordination will result in Crime-Master killing Flash’s mother. Flash succeeds in reigning in the symbiote and Jack takes off, promising him that his family will be safe as long as he does what he is told. With police arriving on the scene, Flash quickly disguises himself as a normal citizen and retreats into the crowd.

Later, Flash goes to a pay phone can calls Betty. At first he wants to tell her the truth, but instead tells her that he can’t handle the demands of his “job” at Veteran Affairs and their relationship. He then tearfully tells her that it is over and hangs up. He then goes to a local liquor store and buys himself a bottle of booze and finds a homeless man with a radio. Sitting next to the old man, he listens to the radio reports of his battle against Jack O’Lantern and chugs from the bottle of whiskey. He then hands the bottle over to the homeless man. When asked if he’s going through hard times, Flash tells him “we’re getting used to it.”

At that moment, the Red Hulk touches down at a nearby gas station and asks for the best way to get to Las Vegas. Not turning his head away from his television, the gas station attendant tells him the best route, telling him it’ll take a while to walk — as he didn’t hear a car pull up. The Red Hulk tells him that he isn’t going to walk and leaps into the sky.

Recurring Characters

Agent Venom, Jack O’Lantern, Crime-Master, Red Hulk

Continuity Notes

1. Flash has been indentured to the Crime-Master since Venom (vol. 2) #2 when his identity was discovered by the mobster. He mentions being trapped just like his father. This is a reference to his father’s alcoholism. For more on Flash’s dad see Spectacular Spider-Man #-1. He died of cirrhosis of the liver in Venom (vol. 2) #7.

2. When last seen, the Toxin symbiote was still bonded to Patrick Mulligan in Toxin #6. It’s later explained in Venom (vol. 2) #13 that Mulligan was killed by Blackheart who then took the symbiote.

Topcial References

• Outdated pop-culture references: Nicholas Cage

• There are a number of landmark casinos seen during Venom and Jack O’Lantern’s battle in Las Vegas including Caeser’s Palace, Circus Circus, and the Flamingo Hilton. These should be considered topical references because these are real-world casinos. These should be considered topical as Vegas casinos become defunct for one reason or another.

• The gas station attendant is depicted as watching TV on a CRT television. These models are obsolete.