If I hadn't already known that Rick Remender was leaving "Venom," it would've been pretty clear from the first few pages of this issue. It becomes clear that this issue is Remender's coda, his dissertation on the character of Flash. This issue reminds who he his and who he wants to be.
Remender and Shalvey deliver some pretty brutal moments throughout this issue. You'd think that they'd be the ones related to Jack O'Lantern cutting out his victims' brains and using their hollowed out heads as, well, jack o'lanterns, but they're not. They're the scenes where we see just how violent Flash's childhood was. We see Flash wale on Peter in high school because he thought it made him a man. But, Remender reminds us that Flash was trying to be a man exactly because he wasn't; he was still a child, curled in a ball on his bed in his varsity jacket after his father beat him over a speeding ticket. Of all the moments in this issue, it's perhaps the most brutal one for me, because Shalvey really managed to convey just how vulnerable Flash was. You woldn't think it could get worse, but Flash's mother blaming the beating on him just sinks the needle on the sympathy meter. By the time you get to this point, you feel like anything Flash does to Jack O"Lantern is totally justified, particularly when we discover that he's exhumed Flash's father's body.
Remender has made us feel how powerless Flash feels most of the time. We've watched him fail to impress his father with winning the game, fail to stop him from beating his sister, fail to protect his sister's husband from Jack O'Lantern. His accomplishments fade into the background; Flash himself acknowledges that "you only remember the bad stuff." By this point, we expect him to kill Jack. After all, he's killed villains previously. If anyone deserves to bear the brunt of a lifetime of frustrations, it's Jack.
But, Remender takes a stand here. Flash doesn't kill Jack. He does it by the book, defeats him and hands him to the authorities. He confesses to the Secret Avengers, giving them a complete picture of his relationship with Crime-Master. It's here, of course, that we see Flash become a man. It's not him waling on Peter that shows it; it's him taking responsibilities for his actions. But, Remender also shows that Flash has learned that he needs to trust people. Betty accused him of being selfish last issue, an accusation that definitely rang true. Flash has always insisted that he do everything on his own and he's paid the consequences, leaving out the Avengers when their help could've prevented matters from escalating with Crime-Master. In this issue, Remender implies that Flash just can't invite the judgment that would come with admitting his error, fearing the response that would come with it; he makes it clear why Flash would fear that. But, by coming clean with the Secret Avengers, Flash turns over a new leaf, accepting that he needs help, that he's not an island. In leaving Flash this way, responsible and trusting, Remender gives us hope for the future, that Flash'' be able to overcome his past and establish new patterns. We'll see if Bunn lets him.
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