Spider-Man is our very first 'Character of the Month' and, as part of the celebration, we'll have weekly battles involving the characters that play a big role in his life! First up, we have former bully turned symbiote host Flash Thompson facing-off against the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn. Will Agent Venom's impressive physicals put Norman back in the hospital or will the Goblin's wit and dangerous equipment allow him to take down the competition? After you've read the rules (seriously, don't be lazy and gloss over them!), click the following link to leap into the debate and vote!

CLICK HERE TO PICK A WINNER!

Match Rules

• Combatants are in character (aka morals apply for both).
• This is a random encounter (aka no prep for either).
• They're fighting in a generic downtown city setting. It's unpopulated, at night and all standard city lights remain on. Assume they start roughly 80 feet apart and visible. There's a fair amount of cover between them (parked vehicles, bus stops and such). The entire area is on limits. This means alleys, rooftops, building interiors, etc.
• Both characters have their standard gear.
• For simplicity's sake, let's say the match begins with Flash in control of the symbiote and he'll attempt to keep control as the fight progresses.
• Incapacitation, knockout or death all count as elimination. Making a tactical retreat counts as a loss, too.
• Hey, you know what would be really cool? Treating everyone else in the debate with respect. If you think someone's saying something that just isn't true, go ahead and stick to the facts to point out why. There's no need at all to drop insults just because you disagree with someone. Seriously, this is just talking about a fictional fight, there's no need for immaturity and mudslinging.
• If you think the poll isn't going how it should, making an informative post about why a character is being underestimated and spreading the word is far more useful than complaining. Just saying.
• One more thing: you don't need to write an essay to be selected as the Viner Argument of the Week. Sometimes concise posts can be way more effective than a flood of paragraphs.

Viners, you have the week to research, debate and vote! This means there's no reason to vote right away if you don't have all of the info you need to make an educated decision. Check the homepage Friday for an updated article with the following:

• Thoughts from the staff.
• A Viner Argument for both characters (can't include scans and must be in the poll thread).
• If we're lucky, blurbs from industry talent.

Feel free to make future "Spider-Man Battle of the Week" suggestions in the comments below or via Twitter! Want to continue celebrating Spidey? Well, he's the topic of our latest 'Question of the Week' and we encourage you to make Spider-Man threads in the forums!

norman too smart

Osborn really has a weird taste, he once became advanced Ironman before, now he wants to play Green Goblin again?

Oooh I like this

Well,he was put in jail for the while being the whole "Iron Man" thing.......he lost everything,so the time to hunt Spider-Man came again.

With Prep, Osborn wins.

In a random encounter, it depends.

Osborn. His gear is just too versatile lol. -MB

So, is this replacing Favourite Comic Runs for the month?

I would have to go with Osborn. His standard pumpkin bombs would bother the symbiote too much, what with its poor heat resistance.

My money is on green goblin. Flash will try to take control at first and might even try to cool gg down but his destructive nature will affect the whole match. Venom throws himself toward gg at the start but gg flies over venom and throws a couple of bombs at venom. Venom gets angry and flash loses control over it. Venom grabs cars and throws them at gg . Gg avoids most of them butt gets hit by one of them which makes him lose control o the glider. He then throws a couple of emp bombs which he has(of course he has them) to venom which makes him more furious and goblin then kicks flash in the face(the symbiote is not covering his face) which knocks him out

Going with Venom because he can shapeshift so he could get close enough to Green Goblin, plus I will allows support a US Veteran.

norman ofc

Venom.

But this is quite an even match, Green Goblin could easily win this one too.

I would have dug seeing Kaine vs Norman. Then again I feel in that case Scarlet Spider wins. This I am giving to Venom since it can still go berserk from time to time when pushed.

Nice, no reason not to switch to Spidey for these battles.

if it was eddie, maybe. but norman is too smart green goblin takes it.

Venom. Let the Flash-man punch that smug ginger's teeth in.

Normie has to keep sonic bombs or some form or sound attack in that pouch of his

Since Flash has come back full cirlce how long until we get a proper Scarlet Spider vs Superior Spider-man for battle of the week?

YOu say morals apply for both, Norman has none. GG wins.

What is considered Venom's standard gear? In the most recent issue of Guardians of the Galaxy, he just went shopping with Drax for better weapons from Knowhere's bazaar in Guardians. Seemed like this upgrade would be his new standard, at least while he's rolling with the Guardians.

Venom. The symbiote has beaten Spidey time and time again and Spidey constantly defeats Green Goblin. Plus, Flash kills people if he must (as shown in Thunderbolts). Osborn may have the wits, but Venom ultimately wins.

GG

Hmm...the guy armed with incendiary grenades, or the guy with the heat-sensitive symbiote? Gee, let me think about that...

Norman

i can't believe venom is winning, actually.... sadly i can

@angelalfonso: Initially I would give it to Venom, but GG is extremely intelligent, not saying Flash is dumb, but GG will likely be 2 steps ahead of him in this battle. And Goblins gear will cause the symbiote major trouble.

Venom's fire resistance has increased ever since bonding with Flash. Each time he has tussled Jack O Lantern, Jackie Boy threw up Fire in his face (Point Blank) and that didn't defeat him.

im going with Agent Venom. Not only he's got the strength level on his side he also got sneaking on his side, specially in a city where he can blend with the environment at any time and either go with a head shot or guerilla tactic (like in Venom 35 against the Slayers). People may say that GG got the overall advantage(Intelligence and Mainly Fire) well Agent Venom aint no chomp and he has proven that on his ongoing. And as fire goes. well he had plenty of action against it thanks to the good ol' Jack O' Lantern, when he wasn't puking Fire from his mouth to Venom's face, (point Blank I might add) he also love to spray fire at him just for fun, in the end of the battle Venom got the upperhand (I might add in control). Also When he fought the Faux lantern the place where they were fighting was on fire, making him weak but that didn't stopped him from fighting. But there is a specific battle during Venom 16 where he fought the new Hobgoblin who if you look at was built to destroy any symbiote with his arsenal, still Venom stood on par with him, ultimately beating him (while in control). Also Agent's Venom gear consists of weapons such as multiples handgun, sniper riffle (either equipped with a silencer), grenades, stun grenades + more. Also his creative way in using the symbiote make him a real threat against Goblin and anyone, that's why im going with him. And if the symbiote is in control, oh boy. It would be priceless if Agent Venom forces Goblin to swallow a grenade like some of his opponents have. Have a good one ya all ; )

venommmmmm

Not a single one of these Spider-man polls have been easy! You guys are bringing back my Spidey fandom. I actually waited a couple days to vote on some of these, whereas with every other poll, I had no hesitation on my decisions. I think I have to go with Norman on this one. As much as I love the Symbiote, Green Goblin will fry him and being that he doesn't really have a personal relationship with Flash, he won't hold back or be manipulated.

Green Goblin wins and here is why: The contest says standard prep, that means history is a factor. Norman once led Venom in the Thunderbolts. You bet your Amazing Fantasy 15 he already knows how to defeat him. Also the Green Goblin once kidnapped Flash and terrorized him. There could be a subconscious fear of the Green Goblin that allows for Flash to lose control or pause for a second too long. Green Goblin hands down.

i'd have to give it to flash. if it's in a city flash has the element of surprise because he can just hide and blend in and only come out for a few seconds and do some guerrilla tactics. he also has strength and versatility on his side. he could also turn the cars and machinery in the city to his advantage (like the venom car from the latest series even if it was stupid it is helpful).

norman wouldnt make it easy tho. he has superior intellect and access to fire and sonics. even though those arent super effective against flash, it still hurts him.

i'd say flash wins 6 or 7 times out of 10

An in control Venom would be no match for a crazy Goblin like Osborn. Flash would try to be a superhero and put Gobby down without killing him, all the while trying to avoid pumpkin bombs and gliders. Sure he has all these cool abilities, he might be able to "Venomize" a glider, but Norman's real superpower is his ability to get into people's heads. So once he got into Flash's head, he would lose control and then it would be a more devastating fight between Venom and Osborn. Two super strong, fast beings with serious firepower on either side would put innocents at risk. Flash would regain control at some point only to end up distracted by someone almost dying. Enough time for Gobby to knock him unconscious and proceed to torture at a later date. Or maybe the symbiote saves Flash just in time to avoid that fatal blow. Too close to call but my money's on Osborn.

As much as I love Venom better... I think Norman as Green Goblin here would get an upper hand in this fight. He has the means, the tenacity, and the weapons (sonic bombs, flamethrowers) that can be a HUGE problem for a symbiote.

@abdullahzubair: Do you realize the angrier Venom gets the more violent he gets? GGs bomb would just make it harder and harder to fight Venom because of the rage.

I'm betting on Venom for this. GG would be a good combatant, but as soon as the symbiote takes over, GG will have to go very very far in order to keep himself away from Venom. As soon as GG kills innocents (depending on if this causes Flash to lose control) then Venom would go berserk on GG and either kill or almost kill him. Remember in Spider-Island when that robber ran over the girl and her mom? Venom completely lost it and had 3 TONGUES and just completely ripped the top of a TANK off! GG is all about pushing buttons, which is a horrible tactic to use against Venom.