#But with Johnny the way he is somethings Kitty would pursue them only to end up like this from time to time

[deep-spacediver577]

[gwenjoon]

Flash Thompson is Gay: A Comprehensive Visual Essay

TRIGGER WARNINGS: alcoholism, abuse, homophobia, brief reference to The Child Within, which contains pedophilia 

Over the last year and half or so, I have read a number of Spider-Man comics and have reached many conclusions about them, but my utmost conclusion is that Flash Thompson is a gay man. It is very difficult for me to label male characters as gay, since we’ve all seen the way fandom can completely brush off women in favor of imagined gay men, but once this idea took hold, it stuck. I do not see Flash as truly having been intended to be gay since his conception, or even highly coded that way like Kitty Pryde or Johnny Storm. But along the lines of Bobby Drake, I just feel that it would be the final puzzle piece that would make his 50+ years of character development make sense.

This is not intended as propaganda or a way of seeing representation where it doesn’t exist, but a simple compilation of evidence.

We begin in high school.

Flash will probably always be known as something of a high school bully, even though he was only in high school for 28 issues in the 60s. It’s still hotly debated by fans and Spider-Man writers about how MUCH of a bully he was. In Lee and Ditko’s original comics, it certainly seemed like he and Peter were more mutually antagonistic towards each other, with the caveat that Flash was popular and Peter wasn’t.

No matter what, Flash had a fanboy obsession with Spider-Man, and maybe a bit of an obsession with Peter Parker, too, something both Peter and their classmates noticed and teased him for.  

There were times when Flash actually made some sort of attempts to be Peter’s friend, but Peter being Peter, and Flash being Flash, the attempts didn’t go well.

Flash was dating Liz Allan at this point. She teased Peter too, but eventually got sick of Flash berating Peter and dumped him. She then pursued a bit of a crush on Peter (which didn’t really go anywhere since Peter was pretty into Betty at this point). Flash didn’t like being dumped, but he seemed to focus more on the Peter part of this situation and ended up, like, stalking him. In a cute way.

SO Peter and Flash both get scholarships to ESU and kind of . . . accidentally become friends. How does it happen? I don’t know. They don’t even know. But it happens. Basically, Flash is friends with Gwen and Harry and they all hate Peter and Gwen starts NOT hating Peter and then Harry starts not hating Peter so Flash might as well not hate him either. 

Also, Peter is kind of hot now which helps everyone adjust.

Go get friendly with him, Flash. 

It’s just hard to buy Flash as being into girls when he likes men SO much. Like in Spider-Man: Blue when Gwen and MJ are dancing and probably making out and Harry, like most people who are attracted to women, thinks that’s neato, but Flash waits for his husband to return from war.

Flash goes off to the army pretty quick. Harry and Peter watch Flash make out with their girlfriends because he is nonthreatening and handsome.

When Flash comes back from the army, he is even more handsome, but he tells Gwen that he’s super into her and Gwen is like “if you loved me you’d be nice to my sexy boyfriend Peter” and Flash is like “okay” so Flash starts being nice to Peter. Real nice. It gets weird. Did a threesome happen? I don’t know. But Peter is definitely getting hot and Flash is definitely noticing.

Gwen dies. Everyone is sad, me most of all. But Flash feels the need to clarify some stuff to Peter. 

They graduate, Flash and Peter move in together, two bros chillin in a hot tub, five feet apart ‘cause they’re not gay.

Peter moves out and Flash thinks Glory Grant is hot but the relationship never goes anywhere because Flash is gay and Marvel comics is racist, but then Flash moves in with Harry. Flash was LONELY, you see. 

And then Flash is getting up the courage to confess his undying love to Harry when none other than Liz Allan swoops in and snatches him right from under his nose. 

But it’s gonna be okay because then Flash and Peter accidentally start dating! 

It might not be an accident for Flash.

In his defense, Peter really can’t just say things like that.

Also this happens. I do not generally find CPR romantic but, like, what were they going for here? The shirtlessness. The rain. The close up on the mouth to mouth. This sure was some way to frame life-saving efforts between two manly men.

So while this is all going on, Flash’s love life is getting . . . messy. I generally try not to think about it too much because it’s SO messy. Flash saves multiple young women from cults. He dates Sha Shan, cheats on her with Betty (who is in turn cheating on her vaguely abusive husband), and eventually hits Sha Shan. He is immediately horrified and runs away, Sha Shan moves out within one issue and it’s just . . . gone for decades. It went against years of character development and no one seemed to remember it happening. It might have been a way to get rid of Sha Shan (again, the racism), or a way to make you THINK Flash is Hobgoblin but surprise, it was the other abusive guy all along.

It’s really really poorly written, and a cheap plot point. Sha Shan deserved better. 

Then you have the thing with Betty. It’s like, they’re cheating! they’re forbidden! they’re in love! but it . . . doesn’t go anywhere either. Betty and Flash remain friends and seem pretty happy about it, until JM DeMatteis, the brilliant mind behind Kraven’s Last Hunt, tells us all in the 90s that actually they had a horrible breakup and Betty hates him. Wild. 

SO once that business no one wants to touch and everyone regrets has been pushed aside for some time, Flash starts dating again. He has a new girlfriend every week that he only seems to want to spend time with around, you guessed it, Peter Parker.

Here is an example. Flash is boxing and Blaze tries to literally have sex with him and he’s like “nah, hygiene” and then she comes onto Peter.

Indeed, Mary Jane. 

Then we have FLASH/FELICIA. It’s so good. I love them. Felicia starts dating Flash as revenge against Peter. Flash really wants to double date with Peter. Felicia is at first super annoyed that Flash is so GENTLE, but she falls in love with him. She even asks him to marry her.

Flash says no.

Things Flash tells Felicia Hardy when he breaks up with her: “I wasn’t attracted by your looks” and “I thought it would be cool to be this close to someone who was that close to Spider-Man.” 

These are things he tells her. They were really things he said.

While Flash is recuperating from his injuries, he starts freaking out that he and Peter aren’t actually friends (you were his best man, but you’ve never gone to a baseball game with him, so that makes sense I guess), and he starts talking about poetry. Poetry is a common way to queer code male characters. Take a look at Dead Poet’s Society or A Streetcar Named Desire.

But here’s the poem he mentions.

Make of that what you will. 

Flash gets pretty depressed. Starts drinking more. He can’t make a romantic relationship stick. He’s dreaming about the glory days. This is around when the retcon of his abuse starts to pop up too. 

And somewhere along the line, Peter Parker got hot.  

But things do get better for him! He reconnects with his sister and goes to rehab. He and Betty reconnect because APPARENTLY they’ve been fighting and Flash is a scoundrel and there is no evidence but I guess I’ll take their word for it. 

He also gets a job with Norman Osborn. Things get weird. 

In The Child Within, Norman Osborn’s abuse of Harry is paralleled with an explicitly sexual physical abuse from a father towards a son. In Sins Past, The Night Gwen Stacy died will be retconned to make it so that the woman Norman Osborn murdered will have had his children. I don’t like going there, but there becomes a distinctly sexual way that Norman’s relationships with Peter’s friends is viewed.

Flash is reminding Norman about his AIDS charity.

Flash would stick with Norman night and day if he could. 

Anyway. 

Here’s a fantasy of Flash’s! He loves Spider-Man!

Even when he’s fantasizing about a woman, he’s actually fantasizing about a man!

Okay, I will admit I have not read every Flash appearance in 616. I’m doing this whole “in order” thing right now and I haven’t gotten to a lot of Flash/Betty stuff. Maybe it will change my mind. I doubt it, but I like to keep my options open.

Moving onto Venom. Flash has been dating Betty long-term at this point, but his secret life as a superhero is tearing them apart (she thinks he’s been drinking again). Also, he just sort of . . . self-sabotages all his relationships. Guy’s got issues.

Then we have Flash involved in an incidence of gay-bashing. 

He didn’t fully understand what being gay meant. Been there, buddy.

Peter gives him the guy’s number and Flash has a chance to apologize and see two happy gay men living together.  

I don’t know, okay, but a guy calls Captain America Flash’s boyfriend. It happens. It’s there.

VENOM: SPACE KNIGHT. Please read this beautiful series about overcoming the cycle of abuse and learning to love again. Things get really gay with the alien goo.

Also, Venom has like always been pretty heavily coded as being . . . some sort of sexual metaphor. David Micheline went there real hard. Eddie Brock pretty much married the symbiote, but only Flash has the guts to make him a guy. 

Anything he desires. Anything at all. Whatever that might be.

Now for some Flash Thompson Looks:

Okay, let’s move onto alternate universes. 

Here, we have Flash in the Secret Wars version of Spider-Island.

He loved Lizard Betty the best he could. 

Avengers Academy! 

Then there’s Ultimate Universe: 

Love me some pen-sucking.

Not convinced? Well put this in your pipe and smoke it:

And, of course, The Amazing Spider-Man. 

“Chicks dig him,” he said.

I dig him, he thought.

Was this even about Flash being gay or about me loving him deeply and endlessly? Who knows. Who cares. It’s all true.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. 

[phantoms-lair]

1) Concept: Danny takes a couple years off after high school to earn college money/take some online courses to improve his GPA, and protecting the town from ghosts, and also to give Jazz time to get her psych degree at least mostly done (possibly starts college online). Once Jazz has her degree, Danny leaves Amity to pursue his interests in Astronomy, and Jazz returns, permanently, and

(Post Series, no Phantom Planet. Fenton Parents know by now, and Valerie figured it out based on what she learned about Dani)

“Jazz, are you sure about this?” Danny looked at the sky concerned.

“Little brother, you have given so much to this place and it’s people, now it’s your turn to follow your dream. Just relax and let me help you.”

“I think ‘Let me help you’ is as much your catchphrase as ‘Going Ghost’ is mine.” Danny gave her a wry smile. “But a lot of my enemies are dangerous. I don’ want you getting hurt doing something I should have been.”

“I’ve got this Danny. Don’t worry, I’ve been working out a plan with Valerie. We’ve got this covered.” 

At this Danny relaxed slightly. Valerie may have gotten past the ‘All ghosts are evil’ thing, but she was still one of the most viscous hunters her knew. She could keep Jazz safe.

~ (More under cut)

“Got your first patients,” The Red Huntress flew into the small clinic, Johnny 13 and Kitty is a glowing net.

“Thanks Val.” The two ghosts were unceremoniously dumped on the floor, The Red Huntress saluted before flying out again.

“Hey Jazz, long time no see,” Johnny said a little nervously.

Kitty whirled on him “And how do you know her?”

“I’m the girl Johnny chose to pretend to like so he could sacrifice me to get you back when you lost your form.” Jazz explained as calmly as if she was discussing weather. “He’s very nervous right now because obviously he knows I’m working with the Huntress and is wondering what revenge I have in store for him, and if you’re being dragged into it.”

Johnny gulped.

“I’m not going to lie, Johnny 13. Having my first romance end that way was, let’s just say unpleasant and leave it at that. But that’s not why we’re here. You two have been having another spat, and dragging the town into it, again. So we’re going to talk about what’s bothering you both.”

She reached over and took Kitty’s hand in one of hers and Johnny’s in the other. “Your love was so strong it survived your deaths. It’s strong enough to survive what you’re going through now and we’re going to make sure of it.”

~

“Thanks so much Dr. Fenton.” Sydney Pointdexter rose from his seat.

“No, thank you.” Jazz insisted. “You’re the first person from the Zone who started come here willingly. It’s helped a lot.”

“Well after how you helped the Lunch Lady and the Box Ghost, I definitely figured it was worth a try.” Rather than flat out dismissed the two obsessive ghosts, Jazz had found a way to redirect them. Upon finding out Lunch Lady could conjour food that was perfectly safe and edible to humans, she’d had her set up with various homeless shelters and relief efforts. She was now praised as a hero in her own right.

Box Ghost ended up working with relief efforts too, in his case in making sure the supply shipments got where they were going. Any shipments that would normally be lost were brought in. (The hard part had been getting him to let go of them. The simple solution was to actually pay him in his preferred cardboard boxes and bubble wrap. He easily lost interest in metal and wooden cases over those.)

“I’m glad. I feel better about myself then I think I have since long before my death. But when your brother comes back in town, could you find a way to let me know. I really need to apologize.”

“Sydney, you know Danny doesn’t hold it against you.” Jazz reminded him.

“No, but I do. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t let anyone else get bullied like I did. And not only did I not notice years of it, but I jumped to a conclusion and protected a bully and stopped the victim from standing up against him. Danny basically let Dash go after him for the next three years and I can’t help but think I’m at least part of the cause. I know there are other reason, keeping his secret identity and just how much the bullying became institutionalized at Casper High. But I still have to apologize for the part I played. I really feel like it’s something I need to do.”

“I’ll let him know when he’s back on break.” Jazz promised. “He knows where to find you, right?”

“Yeah, I’m staying with Klemper now.” It would be a while before Sydney went back to his own ‘lair’. He’d created his own living Hell, rebuilding the place and people who’d tormented him over and over. It had temporarily gotten better after his encounter with Danny, but had soon reverted.

Thanks to Dr. Fenton he realized how much damage it was still doing to him in terms of his anger issues and his self worth. Sure most ghosts found Klemper annoying, but Sydney found a kindred Spirit in the lonely soul who just wanted a friend. Not to mention how much it warmed his heart that no mattered how often he was around, Klemper’s face lit up whenever he saw him. The chilly ghost treasured his first real friend, and knowing that someone truly cared and wanted his company did as much for healing Sydney’s hurts and these sessions with Dr, Fenton. If he ever managed to turn the School into something less toxic, he’d certainly be bringing Klemper back with him.

Sydney left and Jazz began to pack up. She had plans for tonight. 

Plans that were interrupted by a dour ghost wearing a spiked crown.

“Prince Aragon,” Jazz greeted cautiously. She recognized him from Danny’s files.

““Miss Fenton,” The ghost greeted with a hint of contempt.

“Doctor Fenton, if you don’t mind.”  Jazz held herself firm. Somehow she doubted the exiled Prince was here to enlist her services.

“I do mind. I’ve been hearing of you ‘fixing’ ghosts, letting them fit into human society. So I’ve come to ask you woman, if you think you can fix me.”

He was obviously trying to be intimidating, but Jazz just met his gaze evenly. “No.”

“So you admit-”

“In order to help anyone, I need one thing. That the individual I’m helping wants to improves, wants things to be better. You don’t care about bettering yourself. You don’t care about adjusting to have an easier time in the world. You want the world- both worlds- to bend to your whim, or to break them if they don’t. So know, I can’t fix you. The only thing I can do is help put you down like the overstuffed peacock you are.”

Prince Aragon snarled at the insult, his teeth sharpening as he began to change into his dragon form. The change had barely started when Jazz moved suddenly and there was immense pain for where his heart would be. “What…have you done…”

Jazz opened the chamber on the gun she had pulled out. “Ecto-Electrical bullets. Fenton works latest. Doesn’t do lasting harm, but can disrupt almost any ghost powers.” She loaded another round in the Chamber. “This one is a weaker version of Dad’s Ecto-Dejecto. The working version. It won’t wither you away to nothing, but it will sap your powers until your weaker than Spectre in Nirvana.”

She placed the gun between the fallen ghost’s eyes. It was a more brutal style than she preferred, but if there was one thing Jazz Fenton understood, it was psychology.

Ghosts were physiologically very different from mortals. With the semi-exception of Halfa’s they had no such things as bones or internal organs. Even the ones that did, it was more that they expected them to be there rather than to serve a purpose. Putting a bullet between Aragon’s eyes was no more dangerous than his kneecap or even his hair. But most ghosts were once human, and Aragon was no exception. The way his eyes shrunk to pinpricks show he instinctively recognized this as a killing shot. 

Jazz refused to let her face change as she fired the energy draining bullet, then sucked him up in the thermos, and only then allowed herself to falter. Aragon would be weak for months before the dejecto wore off, he wouldn’t be a threat to anyone till then. And she’d achieved what she needed. She’d made him afraid of her.

He might avoid her afterwards. He might seek her out to conquer his fear metaphorically and literally. She didn’t know. But fearing her was acknowledging she could harm him. It was a small step first step to getting rid of his misogyny, but a step none the less.

Valerie whistled as she walked in. “Looks like one of the spooks gave you some trouble.”

“Prince Aragon.” She lifted the thermos. “He won’t be bothering anyone else for a while, at least.”

“We’ll drop him off when we pick up your Mom. If you’re still up for tonight.”

“Yeah, a night off is exactly what i need.” Jazz pulled on her jacket, slipping the thermos in. 

“That’s good, because Sam’s already waiting with Kitty and Ember. All we need is to pick up Mrs. Fenton and Dani. Girl’s Night Out is go!” Valerie cheered.