Venom (vol. 2) #18
Public Enemies
After a failed attempt to assassinate the Crime-Master, Agent Venom rushes to Betty Brant’s apartment to discover that nobody has been there. When he tries calling her, he gets Betty’s voice mail. He begins losing his temper when she continues to not answer until he sees a note on the fridge reminding her that she is going out with coffee with Peter Parker that evening.
At Java Empire, Betty gets annoyed that Flash keeps on calling her after they broke up. Unfortunately, Peter doesn’t have much in the way of relationship advice. Betty thinks she only attracts losers, but she can’t figure out what’s going on with Flash.[1] She debates on answering the call, but Peter suggests she waits until she’s not so angry, but she should definitely listen to what Flash might have to say. When it’s time for Peter to go, he tells Betty that he’s always there if she needs someone to talk. After he is gone, Flash calls again and Betty ignores the call. When she gets up to get another coffee, Jack O’Lantern steps in to pay for the coffee. She remembers Jack from the funeral held for Flash’s father, where he told her that he was one of Flash’s old war buddies.[2] He tells her that he needs to talk to her about Flash and asks if they can speak somewhere more private. When she isn’t sure, he insists and grabs her arm hard enough it hurts.
That’s when Agent Venom comes crashing in through the storefront window. Flash is relieved that Betty hasn’t been hurt. However, Jack tries to take advantage of the fact nobody knows about Agent Venom to label him a villain. When Venom attacks Jack, Betty mistakes him for a threat and sprays Flash in the face with mace. He quickly disarms her and tells Betty to run. When Flash tries to question how Jack found Betty he is ambushed by Megatak, who transmits himself into the coffee shop through Jack’s cell phone. Flash quickly recovers and tosses Jack into Megatak before racing off to find Betty.
However, when Flash tries to contact the Avengers, he is attacked once again by Megatak who transmits his fist through the screen on Flash’s phone, forcing him to drop it on the ground. Alone, Flash catches up to Betty and carries her up to the top of the Empire State Building. She protests this, but he tries to convince her that he’s trying to save her life. When she pulls her cell phone, Venom grabs it and throws it off the building to prevent another ambush by Megatak. Flash begins to lose his temper and tells her to stop fighting him and stops short of threatening to hit her. He then tries to swing away but the pair are ambushed by Toxin, who uses his symbiotic tendrills to separate the pair and toss Betty to the ground. Venom breaks free and saves Betty, carrying her safely to the ground. He then tells everyone on the street to run for it.
When Toxin catches up, the two begin to fight and Flash quickly recognizes the voice of Toxin’s new host, Eddie Brock. During their struggle, Flash uses a sonic grenade to knock out Toxin.[3] For a brief moment he debates putting a bullet in Eddie Brock’s head, but webs him up. He then tells the bystanders to call the police and continues his search for Betty. He finds her trying to hide in a nearby alley. He tells her to come out, promising not to hurt her as he has done that enough already and then reveals his true identity to her.
Recurring Characters
Agent Venom, Betty Brant, Peter Parker, Savage Six (Jack O’Lantern, Megatak, Toxin)
Continuity Notes
Betty lists all of the losers from her past they are….
Her brother Bennett, who — as far as she knows — died after getting shot by Blackie Gaxton in Amazing Spider-Man #11. In reality, Bennett is still alive and is the new Crime-Master, something Betty won’t learn until Venom (vol. 2) #21.
She also mentions her late husband Ned Leeds. The pair started dating in Amazing Spider-Man #18 got married in Amazing Spider-Man #156. From there, Ned’s job, Betty’s bout of infidelity, and Ned getting brainwashed by the Hobgoblin made it a troubled marriage. Ned was eventually murdered by assassin in Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1. For more on the Hobgoblin thing see Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #1-3. As for the infidelity….
Betty and Flash dated on and off for years starting in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #90 while Betty was still married to Ned. The pair also endured a demonic invasion and Flash’s alcoholism. See Spectacular Spider-Man #148 and 248-250.
More recently, Flash and Betty got back together in Amazing Spider-Man #648 until Flash broke up with her in Venom (vol. 2) #12. Betty later said in Venom (vol. 2) #15 that she would not get back together with him again.
Harrison Thompson was a life long alcoholic that died of cirrhosis of the liver in Venom (vol. 2) #7. His funeral was in issue #10 and that’s when Jack met with Betty.
Toxin refers to the Venom symbiote as it’s “grandfather.” That’s not entirely accurate. The facts:
The Venom symbiote begat the Carnage symbiote in Amazing Spider-Man #345 and it bonded to Cletus Kasady. From there, Venom and Carnage referred to each other as “father” and “son”.
However, the original Carnage symbiote was consumed by Venom in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #10. Later, Kasady obtained an identical symbiote from the Negative Zone in Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #14.
It was this symbiote that spawned the Toxin symbiote in Venom vs. Carnage #1. I’ve written at length about this at length here.