What If? Flash Thompson Became Spider-Man #1

One of the things I wanted to see during the new What If one-shots was to have the Nick Fury Watcher host the stories. Having read most of them, I had been disappointed. Finally with this one, request granted! 

One thing with this new version of Nick Fury I did not expect was for this Watcher to wax poetic. It doesn't quite fit. But I would imagine being forced to become the Watcher, it's going to result in some changes. I'm just not used to having Nick Fury talk less like a New York grunt and more like Christopher Marlowe...

As for the story itself, this What If? has Peter Parker bully, Flash Thompson getting bit by that radioactive spider and becoming Spider-Man. The Flash Thompson Spider-Man doesn't have the guilt of a dead relative on his hands. That makes this Spidey reckless, unencumbered and down right dangerous. 

This was very, very good. Gerry Conway is one of my favorite Superman writers. He's also one of my favorite Spider-Man scribes. Conway does an amazing job on this with tons of twists and shocking turns. 

She-Hulk's Diego Olortegui does an amazing job on the art. His take is full of respects given to Steve Ditko, John Romita, Sr and others. Awesome work and I hope to see more of it in the future. 

One thing about this story- it gave me an idea for a What If? The events at the end of this story would have meant down the road Spidey would not become one with the Symbiote. I know that they've done stories about what if some other superhero became Venom. But I now want to see a What If about if there never was a Venom. How would that impact the Marvel Universe. With no Venom, there be no Carnage, no Anti-Venom and no Lady Venom. (Is that one a thing or did I dream that one?) Clearly, that absence would result in void in several storylines, right? Worth exploring..., oh and Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.