Flash's "Vietnam" service

[Venomous Mask]

As it's now been retconned that Flash never served in Vietnam due to the sliding timeline, do we know much of anything about the conflict he was involved in? I was thinking that maybe going back to that country and having to tie up some loose ends might make for a good Venom story.

[atlasjj]

As it's now been retconned that Flash never served in Vietnam due to the sliding timeline, do we know much of anything about the conflict he was involved in? I was thinking that maybe going back to that country and having to tie up some loose ends might make for a good Venom story.

When did it get retconned? Sorry Venom is the only Spider-Man related book I don't read unless it crosses over with Amazing or Scarlet.

[JBGoode]

When did it get retconned? Sorry Venom is the only Spider-Man related book I don't read unless it crosses over with Amazing or Scarlet.

Well, not sure if the retcon was 'official' but with the sliding timescale it would be impossible for Flash to have served in Vietnam since he wasn't even born yet. We have to assume that these stories did not take place as originally told, but have been modified to some degree to fit the current time period. Kind of like Iron Man's origin was retconned to have taken place in the Middle-East rather than Vietnam.

[SamSpade]

Well, not sure if the retcon was 'official' but with the sliding timescale it would be impossible for Flash to have served in Vietnam since he wasn't even born yet. We have to assume that these stories did not take place as originally told, but have been modified to some degree to fit the current time period. Kind of like Iron Man's origin was retconned to have taken place in the Middle-East rather than Vietnam.

Yeah, pretty much. I think the only exception to that is The Punisher still being a Vietnam vet, but in that case, his former self was restored to peak condition from magic after that Frankencastle "thing".

[David Walton]

Flash was serving in an unspecificed Middle East conflict in the one-off where he lost his legs. Great story worth tracking down.

I think it's safe to say our troops will be involved there in some capacity for the foreseeable future, so they'll probably leave it unspecified.

[ScottyDanger]

Didn't Flash serve in the Middle East? There's an ASM book all about it, really heavy issue, great though. I forget the number but it was in the 500s.

[Kevin Nichols]

As it's now been retconned that Flash never served in Vietnam due to the sliding timeline, do we know much of anything about the conflict he was involved in? I was thinking that maybe going back to that country and having to tie up some loose ends might make for a good Venom story.

Well, by this point, he's also too young to have been in Desert Storm or Bosnia, so I'd say it wasn't a "major conflict". Maybe he was special forces sent in on some kind of intel mission? Or maybe he was part of a peacekeeping taskforce sent in to prevent some country's civil war? Maybe he was in Genosha? Whatever, I think you're right. It would make a cool story. Maybe Mad Jack could be involved before he became all disfigured. There are definite possibilities.

[Mister Mets]

The biggest retcon is that Flash wasn't drafted, and decided to join the military. But this is necessitated by the sliding timescale.

[icth]

It happened in ASM 574. It takes place in Iraq and I'm pretty sure that the Iraqi war counts as a "major conflict".

[Mister Mets]

It happened in ASM 574. It takes place in Iraq and I'm pretty sure that the Iraqi war counts as a "major conflict".

I believe it was established as the war in Afghanistan.

Guggenheim believed it was less political than the Iraq war.

[Kevin Nichols]

It happened in ASM 574. It takes place in Iraq and I'm pretty sure that the Iraqi war counts as a "major conflict".

Right, but he returned to the army to fight there. I believe the OP was talking about Flash's original military service. There really hasn't been a major conflict since Desert Storm, and Flash would have been too young to serve then anyway. It's never been established when and where Flash served originally, aside from the original story of serving in Vietnam. End of the day, it's really not all that important. Nothing but a thing, as they say.

[Kevinroc]

Right, but he returned to the army to fight there. I believe the OP was talking about Flash's original military service. There really hasn't been a major conflict since Desert Storm, and Flash would have been too young to serve then anyway. It's never been established when and where Flash served originally, aside from the original story of serving in Vietnam. End of the day, it's really not all that important. Nothing but a thing, as they say.

Just look at Iron Man. His origin story was originally tied to Vietnam. It's transitioned relatively smoothly to more recent conflicts that take place in completely different quadrants of the world.

[Loki]

Yeah, pretty much. I think the only exception to that is The Punisher still being a Vietnam vet, but in that case, his former self was restored to peak condition from magic after that Frankencastle "thing".

Punisher's been retconned too, though not every writer realises it. The Frankencastle episode could resolve how Frank himself is in peak condition while still being old enough to serve in Vietnam, but it wouldn't sort the problem of explaining why so many of the people he served with are also just as young and fit in the modern era.

[President Kang]

Hell, Frank Castle was resurrected even before Frankencastle when he was an angel punisher or something, right? I still say he's a 'Nam vet, although I haven't seen any of his compatriots pop up from that conflict. To be fair, I don't exactly read much Punisher but Nam + Frank Castle is one of the probably more important aspects of the character.