Marvel Comics “What If…” — how was this year’s run?
By Mark Lynch
How do the stories from this year’s run of Marvel Comics “What If…” comics stack up.
In 1977, Marvel Comics created a run called What If… where they explored the concept of what would happen if things went differently for characters. Some examples were “What if Thor was the herald of Galactus?” and “What if Uncle Ben had lived?” This is something that fans have looked forward to over the years. Some of them were amazing ideas like “What If Jessica Jones had joined the Avengers?” And, some of them were big disappointments like the “What If Civil War” story. This year’s batch had some good, bad, and very weird stories.
Image Source: Marvel Digital Comics
What if Flash Thompson became Spider-Man?
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Diego Olortegui
Cover artist: Patch Zircher
One of the reasons the spider totem picked Peter Parker to receive its powers is because he wasn’t a bully. He wouldn’t abuse the powers given to him. Flash Thompson is what happens when the power falls into the hands of a power-hungry child seeking attention. Flash wasn’t being a hero to help people. He just wanted the glory. The story ends with Flash killing Peter Parker, because he thought Peter’s pictures turned the public against him. Iin the end, Flash turned himself in to the police for murdering Peter.
Grade: B+
First, Flash’s costume was cool. Hopefully they’ll use it for downloadable content in the PS4 Spider-Man game. This was a cool idea and well executed. We always knew Flash was a bully, but to see the lengths he resorted to for attention confirmed our theories. He can’t be Spider-Man. The only issue here is there wasn’t enough backstory. But, you can only do so much with one issue.