Age of The Nerd
Flash Thompson has been a part of Peter Parker’s supporting cast from the beginning. But, this week, Marvel Comics will be shining a greater spotlight than ever on Flash to highlight the work of the Wounded Warrior Project.
Starting in January, a special Marvel Comics storyline will delve into the trials, perseverance, and eventual triumph of wounded veterans aided and informed by one of the leading non-profit organizations dedicated to these wounded service members – Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP). The upcoming arc of Marvel Comics’ VENOM: SPACE KNIGHT will take readers through a powerful story that sees Flash Thompson abandon the alien suit, which has afforded him the ability to walk, to receive prosthetic legs. Writer Robbie Thompson consulted with WWP spokesperson and double amputee Dan Nevins to portray an eye-opening look at the everyday struggles and incremental victories that wounded veterans face as depicted through Flash Thompson’s rehabilitation process in the story.
“Working with Wounded Warrior Project has been an invaluable part of the process of writing Venom: Space Knight,” says writer Robbie Thompson. “Dan Nevins’ insight was inspiring, generous and deeply moving, allowing us to create a more realistic character and story for the book. I’m forever grateful for their ongoing help and guidance.”
Venom fights the most dangerous threats to the universe alongside Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, but now host Flash Thompson is about to encounter his greatest personal challenge to date. He’s breaking free from the alien suit that provides him with not only immense power, but the ability to walk, despite the loss of his legs during the war in Iraq. Flash will face major physical and mental adjustments during the rehabilitation process that other veterans and service members like him go through every day in the real world.
“Marvel’s team has put so much time and consideration into the development of the Flash Thompson character as he faces this physical and emotional battle that many combat veterans have faced and are facing right now,” says Dan Nevins, WWP spokesperson, who consulted on the Venom: Space Knight script. “While the story itself is clearly sci-fi/fantasy, this storyline will bring awareness to the very real struggle of the obvious and not-so-obvious challenges in having lost limbs in combat, and to ultimately showcase the fortitude and resilience of the warriors Flash Thompson represents.”
This storyline continues a tradition of Marvel characters facing real-life obstacles and adversity. In collaboration with Wounded Warrior Project, VENOM: SPACE KNIGHT’s Flash Thompson will overcome co-dependency in the cosmos and navigate through his mobility limitations beginning within VENOM: SPACE KNIGHT #3.
