Characters / Spider-Man: Midtown High

Flash Thompson

Alter Ego: Colonel Eugene "Flash" Thompson

Notable Aliases: "Agent" Venom IV, "Agent" Anti-Venom II

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August, 1962)

"Flash" was a jock at Peter's high school, and thus "Puny Parker" often was the target of his abuse. However, once he became Spider-Man, Peter began standing up to Flash. Ironically, Flash was always a big fan of the wall-crawler. After college, the two went their separate ways, with Flash joining the army. His time there mellowed him out considerably. So much so, that by the time he saw Peter again, the two realized they had more in common than they thought, and soon even became friends. They even ended up teaching at their old high school together. Peter taught science, while Flash taught gym.

Enlisting in the army during the Iraq War, Flash is grievously wounded in action, losing his legs while saving his comrades. Lauded as a hero for his sacrifice, he is given an offer by the military: he can "rent" the Venom symbiote, which was subdued by drugs, for 48-hour periods (never long enough for the symbiote to establish control) for use in important missions, regaining the use of his legs in the process. Thompson agrees and subsequently becomes the new Venom, marking the character's transition to fully-fledged hero.

Liz Allan

Alter Ego: Elizabeth "Liz" Allan

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August, 1962)

Liz Allan was a high school student that attended Midtown High School together, and a minor love interest of Peter Parker and Flash Thompson. Initially she is Flash's girlfriend and considers Peter something of a loser. However, after she hears an ailing Peter had donned a Spider-Man costume in order to save Betty Brant from Doctor Octopus, she develops a crush on him. By this time, however, Peter's interest has waned considerably, as he notes that Liz never showed any real interest in him until he began dating Betty Brant, and assumes that Liz's feelings are little more than a schoolgirl crush. Betty and Liz clash several times over Peter. At the graduation ceremony, Liz admits her feelings to Peter, and says she has come to accept the fact that they are unrequited. In the same issue, Spider-Man battles the Molten Man, who in later issues is revealed to be Liz's stepbrother Mark Raxton.

When Liz returns, she dates then marries Harry Osborn, whom she meets at Betty Brant's wedding to Ned Leeds, becoming Liz Allan Osborn. The couple have a son, Normie Osborn. Their family history turns tragic, however, after Harry Osborn has a mental breakdown. In the guise of the Green Goblin, Harry kidnaps Liz, Normie and Mark, and terrorizes them within an old family mansion. Liz is deeply traumatized by this experience and falls into a state of denial about her husband's problems. Harry's madness leads to his death shortly after. Struggling to put Harry behind her, Liz breaks ties with Peter and Mary Jane.

After the events of the "One More Day" Harry is still alive, but he and Liz are no longer married.

See Spider-Man: Love Interests for more info.

Sally Avril

Alter Ego: Sally Avril

Notable Aliases: Bluebird

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August, 1962)

A classmate of Peter Parker's who wished to be famous like Spider-Man. She developed the costumed identity of Bluebird and employed gadgets to stop crime. Bluebird even helped Spider Man defeat Electro and the Eel when they demanded ten million dollars or would cripple the city's electrical supply. Avril died in car accident while speeding to battle scene involving Spider-Man in order to photograph him.

• Ascended Extra: A bit-parter in Amazing Fantasy #15, she was made a major character in Untold Tales of Spider-Man.
• Asshole Victim: Played With. Sally Avril was a cruel and uncaring jerkass who mocked and bullied Peter Parker and was desperate to be famous. When Peter's uncle dies, she does not care, and when she sees her friend Liz Allan talking to him (she is offering him her condolences), she coaxes Liz away rather than offer her own sympathy to Peter. Eventually, to become famous, Sally tried to become a superhero and called herself Bluebird, and even tried to blackmail Peter into taking pictures of her superhero identity by threatening to reveal his Spidey photography to the rest of her friends, which forced Peter to announce it himself at school. Sally failed as a superhero because she was not much of a fighter, and her gadgets didn't work most of the time. What causes Sally to quit being Bluebird is that Spider-Man lets thugs beat her as a warning and tells her she can't be a superhero. So Sally decides to try and get famous by becoming a photographer like Peter, only to end up dying in a car crash when she forces Jason Ionello to drive faster than he should to take pictures of a Spider-Man fight. Peter starts blaming himself for Sally's death and acts like she was a good friend whom he failed. It takes the Human Torch to get Peter out of his funk, calling out Sally as a careless thrill seeker who would've probably gotten herself killed much sooner if Spider-Man hadn't held her back. All in all, while Sally's death is sad, she wasn't a nice person, and her own stupidity led to her death.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Ascended Extra Sally Avril serves as one for the Kid Hero in almost the exact opposite direction from Peter. Rather than some injustice, Sally is motivated by fun and glory. She uses weapons developed by her friend Jason, but despite him being of above-average intelligence, they either have no combat function or are so poorly conceived and useless that it earns her the mockery of villains. Finally, despite being a skilled gymnast and a descent fighter, when Spider-Man decides she needs to learn her lesson and refuses to help her, she ends up on the receiving end of a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown from a street thug who any other Kid Hero would have absolutely no problem with. When Spidey finally forces her to call it quits, she decides to get her adrenaline fix as a photographer, convinces the unlicensed driver Jason to run a red light, and is killed in a car crash because she was hanging out a window.
• Dropped a Bridge on Her: Sally finally give up with the heroic act, but was still determined to act out her secondary goal of taking pictures of Spidey, which led to tragedy when she, while trying to get photos of Spider-Man's aerial battle with Black Knight, forced Jason to drive recklessly, causing a fatal crash.
• The Load: Heady with the idea of being a super-hero, she created a blue-and-white costume, called herself Blue Bird, and tried to help Spider-Man with an arsenal of egg-themed gadgets. Unfortunately, her inexperience and malfunctioning eggs caused her to be such a burden that Spider-Man even allowed one villain to hurt her quite badly in an attempt to dissuade her.
• My Greatest Failure: Spidey blamed himself, believing that she would still be alive if he had let her continue as Bluebird until talked out of it by the Human Torch.
  Spider-Man: She'll never laugh again. She'll never toss her head the way she did, instantly dismissing whatever she didn't want to think about in favor of something new. She'll never smile, never capture everyone's attention with a few words, never light up a room with her determination and humor. She could be obnoxious, even pushy, but she was vital and alive and fun to be around and now she's gone...
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Sally Avril was an awful person to Peter Parker in her life. She mocked and bullied him, didn't care about his uncle's death, and when she saw Liz talking to him (she was offering him her condolences) she coaxed Liz away rather than offer her own sympathy to Peter. When Jason Ionello attempted to prank Peter by stealing all the clothes in his gym bag while he's showering, she was the only one who approved of the prank when all of her friends thought Jason crossed the line from funny to overly cruel. She even tried to blackmail Peter when she became the superhero Bluebird to take her pictures. But when she died in a car accident trying to take pictures of a Spider-Man fight, Peter acted like he lost a good friend and wonderful person in his life. He talked about how she was vital and alive and fun to be around. While it's understandable why her friends miss her because they were also unpleasant people, Peter had no reason to mourn her. However, Peter blames himself for her death and it was implied that his guilt was causing him to project Sally as a better person than she was. It was only while talking with Johnny Storm, who pointed out that her death was not his fault and given her behavior she was likely to get herself killed sooner or later no matter what Spider-Man did or didn't do, did he let go of his guilt.
• No Sympathy: She had no sympathy for Peter when his Uncle Ben died, in fact when she saw Liz talking to Peter (she was offering him her condolences) she coaxed Liz away rather than offer her own sympathy to Peter.
• Too Dumb to Live: Lampshaded. After her death, Spidey somehow finds a way to blame himself, and is mourning at her grave when the Human Torch shows up. Upon hearing the story, Johnny shows a surprising amount of insight and knowledge of human nature by cutting through Spidey's guilt bullshit and putting all of the blame on Sally, pointing out that her behavior proved she was an adrenaline junkie who was going to get herself killed sooner or later no matter what Spider-Man did or didn't do.

Seymour O'Reilly

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August, 1962)

Charlie Murphy

Alter Ego: Charles "Charlie" Murphy

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #8 (January, 1964)

Jason Ionello

Alter Ego:

First Appearance: Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1 (September, 1995)

Part the "popular crowd" along with Flash Thompson, Brian "Tiny" McKeever, Seymour O'Reilly, and Sally Avril who were often picking on Peter Parker.

Tiny McKeever

Alter Ego: Brian "Tiny" McKeever

First Appearance: Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1 (September, 1995)

Brian McKeever was a classmate of Peter Parker at Midtown High School, whom he would often bully and tease, although Tiny eventually gained a measure of respect for Peter after the latter helped him with his homework. Tiny had an unhappy home life and an abusive father.

Carl King

Alter Ego:

First Appearance: Spider-Man's Tangled Web #1 (June, 2001)

See Marvel Comics: Spiders for more info.

Jessica Campbell

Alter Ego: Jessica Campbell Jones

First Appearance: Alias #1 (November, 2001) ^note First actual appearance; Amazing Spider-Man #4 (September, 1963) ^note Retroactively

See Jessica Jones for more info.