Venom (vol. 2) #4
The Same Coin…
The Crime-Master and Jack O’Lantern are overseeing the offloading of Antarctic Vibranium from a helicopter brought to them by Agent Venom. When one of his minions finds a bomb planted on the chopper, Crime-Master shoves him off the building before the explosive goes off, killing his minion in the process.
At that moment at the headquarters of Project Rebirth, General Brad Dodge has just witnessed Flash Thompson lose control of the Venom symbiote. He has just activated the kill-switch they planted on Thompson and demands to know why he hasn’t been blown up. That’s when Kate Glover — Thompson’s handler — reports that the bomb went off a few blocks away. They theorize that the symbiote must have figured out where the bomb was. Aaron MacKenzie, the scientist who implanted the kill-switch, can’t understand how the symbiote found out its location unless it somehow read his mind.
At the scene of the battle, Venom and Spider-Man continue to fight. Both men are trying to save Betty Brant, who had been left in a warehouse with a bomb by Crime-Master. However, Spider-Man has mistakenly suspected Venom of kidnapping his old friend. Flash struggles to regain control hoping he can explain the situation to Spider-Man before the enraged web-slinger kills him. The battle takes them into a pharmacy where Flash spots a bunch of sedatives and forces the symbiote to swallow them. Although this allows Flash to tell Spider-Man where he can find Betty, the symbiote is still trying to fight Spider-Man.
When the symbiote tosses a bus at the web-slinger, Flash takes the momentary break in the battle to convince the symbiote that if they stay General Dodge will kill him and the symbiote will have to find a new host. The alien creature listens to reason and allows Flash to go to Betty. However, he arrives at the warehouse just as the bomb goes off. Luckily, Spider-Man managed to get there first and save Betty. He vows to stop Venom after he gets Betty to safety and is deeply disturbed when Flash thanks him for saving her. When the symbiote finds a spider-tracer planted on it, Flash orders it to keep it active as they may need Spider-Man’s help to stop Crime-Master.
Racing back to the mobster’s hideout, Flash tries calling Kate Glover but General Dodge answers the phone. Flash quickly explains that the Vibranium shipment made it to New York and that he is on his way to destroy it. En route, Agent Venom is ambushed by Jack O’Lantern who attacks with a swarm of fire-breathing devil robots. The battle is abruptly ended when Crime-Master orders Jack to get back to the site because military officials are arriving on the scene.[1] As Jack flees he is unaware that Venom planted Spider-Man’s spider-tracer on him.
Flash then returns to Project Rebirth to be separated from the symbiote. General Dodge demands answers. Flash decides to keep secret how Crime-Master forced him to bring the Vibranium to New York and insists that he only lost control of the symbiote when it saw Spider-Man and managed to keep in check the rest of the time with the sedatives he was given by Aaron MacKenzie. Although they recovered the Vibranium, it cost the lives of a bunch of soldiers. Flash vows to track down Crime-Master and bring him back to justice. Flash is surprised when Dodge tells him that the Vibranium won’t be destroyed, saying that it is now in the hands of the “good guys”, something that doesn’t sit well with Flash. The General dismisses Thompson before he says anything else that might be viewed as insubordination, warning him to remember who is in charge. Flash takes one look at the symbiote and wheels away, telling the General that he’ll try.
Back in Brooklyn, Flash arrives at Betty’s apartment and updates her grandmother on what happened. After the call, Betty tells Flash and Peter that she believes she was targeted because she had been reporting about organized crime in the city. Peter wonders if she was targeted due to her connection to Spider-Man. Betty doesn’t buy this because her life doesn’t revolve around the web-slinger. Flash surprises them when he suggests that Spider-Man got in the middle of something that didn’t involve him. Betty reminds Flash that if it wasn’t for Spider-Man, she’d be dead. Things get a little grim, with Peter admitting that maybe Spider-Man was somehow responsible. Betty then jokingly suggests that maybe Flash was the real target all along since he is Spider-Man’s biggest fans.[2] Betty still thinks its her work that brought the attempt on her life and says she’ll need a security detail before she’s done. Left alone with Peter, Flash asks how Spider-Man knew that Betty was in trouble. He explains that he called the police and suggests that the web-slinger must have someone working with him within the police force. He then suggests that maybe Betty just got unlucky and got involved in something bad. Thinking of his new role as Agent Venom, Flash figures that much is clear.
Recurring Characters
Agent Venom, Crime-Master, Jack O’Lantern, Betty Brant, Spider-Man, Kate Glover, Brad Dodge, Aaron MacKenzie
Continuity Notes
One of the panels here shows Agent Venom wrapped up in one of Jack O’Lantern’s ghosts being dragged by the villain. This is a homage to Amazing Spider-Man #39. Jack also mentions how Venom made a grenade blow up in his face. That was in Venom (vol. 2) #1.
Betty mentions how Flash once had a Spider-Man fan club. Flash founded this group back in Amazing Spider-Man #17.
Continuity Errors
In the opening panel, the materials that Crime-Master is smuggling is referred to as Australian Vibranium. This is incorrect. It’s actually Antarctic Vibranium. This is likely an error that slipped past the editors.
