Spider Man: Carnage

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963-1998) #361-363

by David Michelinie, Mark Bagley (Illustrator)

From the back of the book: "There's a new Venom in town! And he's not as nice as the old one! Witness the savage genesis of the most terrifying villain ever created--Carnage! Cletus Kasady, a sadistic serial killer bonded with the spawn of Venom's alien symbiote, is transformed into a force of sheer destruction, sheer violence, and total Carnage! Not even Peter Parker, the amazing Spider-Man, can stop him. Alone, that is. Spider-man is forced to turn to his deadliest foe for help, the being responsible for Carnage's creation--Venom! Join writer David Michelinie, penciler Mark Bagley and inker Randy Emberlin as they take you into the living nightmare of Carnage's rampage."

Although Title page verso says "Originally published in magazine form as The Amazing Spider-Man #'s 344, 345, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363", it actually Includes only 2 pages from Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #344 & 345, and 1 page from both #359 & 360.
The last 2 pages from Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #363 are also not included.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Spider Man, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

80 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 1993

Reviews

[Matthew Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

This origin story of Carnage was a solid read! In the art and the story you can tell how psychotic Carnage is and I enjoyed seeing the internal conflict that Spider-Man had in choosing his help to defeat Carnage.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first really focused trade involving the original symbiote also features the debut of the second symbiote, Carnage.

I've been pretty positive about all of the Venom books I've read thusfar. None of them being great, but none of them being completely awful, either. This volume continues that trend. It doesn't make me love Carnage as a villain, nor does it make Venom as a hero or antihero seem plausible or anything to be excited about.

Michelinie's work is just solidly ok. His ideas, including this Venom 2 Electric Boogaloo character, are great, he has the perfect ear for late 80s/early 90s dialogue, in that there are occasional cheesy pop culture references, but he doesn't bombard you with them. Also, his characters act perfectly logically, even if they have to explain every decision they make in a series of endless thought bubbles.

I know that both of these characters are about to become much worse in the hands of other writers, so it is nice to see that, in the beginning, they were both perfectly reasonable members of Spider-Man's antagonists.

[Dylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I cannot recall how this piece found its way into my collection but since I had a free minute, I thought I’d give it a quick read—and indeed, quick it was.

This might be biased due to better graphic novels I’ve been reading previously but the overly expository writing is quite cheesy/corny. “Oh no, X which happened because of Y, back in the previous issue Z, is going to do such and such”. It doesn’t help that, at the start of each new part, we are reminded of what happened previously, with no room for subtlety.

It was fun to see a more violent marvel comic though, and Carnage and Venom are always great. I guess I just don’t remember the writing being so silly lol
Example: Carnage, a lunatic serial killer, goes to speak at a metal concert because that’s what he deems as his “most receptive audience”. I guess that says a lot about the writers worldview, yeesh.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carnage kills a bunch of people, and Spidey makes a deal with the devil to stop him - except of course, Spidey winds up winning by himself, so it was all sort of unnecessary. Solid story and art, but nothing essential if you're not of the age (as I was) to have come into comics when Venom and Carnage were all the rage.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is well written and the art is good, but there are few characters I like less than Venom and Carnage is one of them. Luckily (?) this trade features both of them.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always disliked both venom and Carnage. the wild tongue hanging out of Venom's mouth is dumber that Motley Crues 2'nd-4'th albums combined.
That being said it was kind of ok.

[Caleb Abel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good villain introduction even if the writing style is pretty old timey for a 90s arc

[Shawn Ingle · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Solid all around.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the Sam Raimi's Spider-man movies, I was very turned-off from Spider-man, hated Peter Parker, and really despised his relationship with Mary Jane. On the flip-side, I had watched the cartoons collected into the movie Spider-man: The Venom Saga and LOVED it (hence why Spider-man 3 was SUCH a bitter disappointment).

I was very resistant to read anything related to Spider-man, but my husband is persistent that the comics are much better and more akin to the cartoon I so adored. So I took a risk to read Carnage and WOW - I may need to read a lot more Spider-man!

The art was some of the best I've seen. The bright colors, the way Carnage's symbiote looked alive on the pages, and the contrast built into the cells. Amazingly done!

The story was well written, easy to follow, and didn't have any unnecessary garbage that littered the movies (no whiny Peter Parker, no drama with MJ, and a that story actually focuses on Spider-man and his villain). What a welcomed relief.

I really liked Venom's role and the other Marvel tie-ins (references to the Avengers and Fantastic Four). Spider-man recognizes that to fight Carnage (and be successful) that he will need help, and he contemplates who in the Marvel universe would best assist in taking Carnage down.

I love the ruthlessness of Carnage. A villain without a conscious and willing to prey on any no matter how innocent. Well, I'm officially hooked, Maximum Carnage is now a MUST READ.

[Chris Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the lone diamond to come from the "Venom mine". Definitely the best idea since Venom himself and even forces an uneasy truce between Spidey and Venom. This book holds a certain charm due to the glut of material that follows: remember Maximum Carnage, complete with video game? Comics are their own worst enemy sometimes: good ideas get run into the ground.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introduction of Carnage, a serial killer gets the offspring of Venom. The killer is definitely deranged, and very, very sick. No one can beat him. So an unusual team up has to be created. This story is slightly disturbing, but I did like how it showed Venom actually has a sense of honour. A very good read.

[Alex Andrasik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Latter day reread. An engaging enough idea entered into with the best of intentions, destined to drive comics deeper into the darkness (and, like Venom, to be overplayed).

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars