Hardy/Thompson Family Tree *Redux*

Now's as good a time as any to put out a new-ish family tree. This time we'll be revisiting and expanding on my previous entry to cover the Hardy's and Thompson's extended family. Both Felicia Hardy and Flash Thompson play significant roles in the Spider-Man mythos so it would be a disservice not to cover them with a bit more detail, even in this MC2-centric series.

First we have Eugene Thompson, better known as Flash who first appeared way back in Amazing Fantasy #15. Flash's initial role in early Spider-Man stories was that of an antagonist to Peter Parker and Number One Fan to Pete's alter ego Spider-Man. Over the years, Thompson's character would grow in depth, becoming a good friend to Peter. We'd learn much more about who he was and why he behaved the way he did.

We'd learn about Flash's family life for the first time in a backup story from Amazing Spider-Man #372. It's here that Flash tells Peter that his father was an intelligent and studious man who was always disappointed in his son and didn't care for his athletic talents. According to Flash, his father died of a heart attack years prior.

The issue with this backup lies in the subsequent stories that feature Flash's family. In the Untold Tales of Spider-Man #19, we see a young Peter Parker meet Sergeant Thompson who kindly takes Peter to socialize with his son Flash.

 So, Mr Thompson seems to be not only different from how Flash described him, but very much alive. Over in Spectacular Spider-Man #248-250 and Spectacular Spider-Man #-1 we learn that Flash's father, Harrison Thompson was an alcoholic who abused his children -Flash and Jesse- while his wife, Rosie Thompson struggled to keep up the pretence the family was supportive and happy in an attempt to prevent Harrison doing further harm to himself and his children. Spectacular Spider-Man #-1  shows Harrison in a somewhat more well-rounded if not sympathetic light, with his alcoholism clearly causing self-loathing after his violent outbursts.  We also learn that Flash would act out as a result of both his father's violence and self-pity and his mother's inability to address the family's problem.

Lining up with this story, we get another appearance of Sergeant Harrison in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #24, this time demonstrating his drinking habits, which coupled with Spectacular Spider-Man #-1 also integrated the police sergeant aspect into Harrison's story, combined the two separate series' depictions into one.

Through these far more extensive appearances in two separate series, both separated in-continuity by around a decade, it seems obvious the backup story from Amazing Spider-Man #372 was either cast aside or unknown to both subsequent writers to cover the Thompson family. Either way, the initial information Flash recalls about his father appears to be a continuity error. Or perhaps Flash was lying?

Let's move on to the far more straightforward Hardy family. Felicia Hardy, also known as the Black Cat first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #194. In the same issue, we meet Walter Hardy, a former cat burglar who has been in jail for several years following his capture. Learning that her father was now terminally ill, Felicia conceived a plan to break her father out of prison so that he could be with his family before he died.

Despite interference from Spider-Man, Felicia (as the Black Cat) succeeded in delivering Walter to his family home. Having never wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps, Walter is distressed when Felicia reveals her criminal identity to her father. We learn that Felicia's mother Lydia Hardy had concealed Walter's criminal activities and subsequent imprisonment, telling Felicia her father had died in a plane crash instead (Amazing Spider-Man #195).

Before Walter can tell Felicia his wishes, she leaves so that her mother Lydia can be with him. Due to Spider-Man's arrival and interference, Felicia does not see her father before he dies.

Beyond this, the only other member of the Hardy family I can find is a Lou or Louise Hardy, apparently Felicia's niece, though I can not find any appearances for this character. Just a mention in Black Cat's handbook entry. Anyone with more information, please feel free to let me know.

Now for the MC2 part of this entry. We meet Felicity Hardy in Spider-Girl #37 and we soon discover she has not only stolen May's Spider-Girl costume and figured out her secret identity, she dons her own costume and quickly adopts the Scarlet Spider identity in an attempt to become her...'partner.'

Despite a throwaway reference much earlier (which actually foreshadowed his later behaviour) we don't meet Eugene 'Gene' Thompson Jr until Amazing Spider-Girl #1. When we do finally meet him, he's already in a relationship with Mayday. Throughout the Amazing Spider-Girl series we discover Gene has a problem with May running for student council. I'm probably going to go in-depth on Gene at some point so I'll save that discussion for later.

Finally, Diana is Felicia's current partner, who first appears in Spider-Girl #47. We don't have a known last name for Diana but we learn that she met Felicia six years prior in the role of a contract operative in Felicia's detective agency. It's unclear if the two are married- at the time of publication it would not have been possible for real world same-sex couples to wed- as this is both a fictional universe and an alternate reality all bets are off. Regardless, I've chosen to include her on the family tree.

There are several interesting dynamics the combined Hardy/Thompson family presents, both implemented and untapped, that I feel it deserves more coverage than this post can do justice. I may touch on some in the future. For now, I just hope I've improved over the original family tree post.

Until I find more time to dedicate to this blog, I remain

frogoat