Flash Thompson

Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a supporting character in Marvel Comics’s Spider-Man series. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962). Flash is a star high school football player and classmate of Peter Parker (secretly the superhero Spider-Man) who mercilessly bullies Peter. On the other hand, Flash greatly admires Spider-Man, an irony in which Parker takes some gratification. After graduation, Flash joins the United States Army and is haunted by his combat experiences, leading to alcoholism. Later, Flash and Peter become best friends. Flash has appeared in several other media adaptations of Spider-Man, usually in his earlier bullying incarnation. In his early appearances,...