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Absolute Carnage

Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales

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It's business as usual for Miles Morales as he finds himself squaring off with Mac Gargan, A.K.A. THE SCORPION! But as a cult of Carnage's bloodthirsty acolytes swarms New York, Miles will learn the hard way that Scorpion has a history with Venom and the other symbiotes of the Marvel Universe! When Miles sacrifices himself protecting others, will he be taken by Carnage's dark doppelgangers? Or will he be able to resist being consumed by the dark symbiote?

COLLECTING:Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales (2019) 1-3, Absolute Carnage: Weapon Plus (2019) 1

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2020

10 people are currently reading
195 people want to read

About the author

Saladin Ahmed

478 books1,768 followers
Saladin Ahmed was born in Detroit and raised in a working-class, Arab American enclave in Dearborn, MI.

His short stories have been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell awards, and have appeared in Year's Best Fantasy and numerous other magazines, anthologies, and podcasts, as well as being translated into five foreign languages. He is represented by Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency. THRONE OF THE CRESCENT MOON is his first novel.

Saladin lives near Detroit with his wife and twin children.

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5 stars
38 (8%)
4 stars
88 (18%)
3 stars
217 (45%)
2 stars
111 (23%)
1 star
18 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
Profile Image for Chad.
10.3k reviews1,060 followers
July 31, 2020
This tie in is completely skippable. Nothing happens that's not in the main book. Vicentini's art reminds me of Ryan Ottley, except he needs to work on his chaotic action sequences. Also included is a Hulkverine appearance that is serviceable but skippable.
Profile Image for Baba.
4,067 reviews1,513 followers
September 4, 2020
When tie-ins and cross-overs first came out, the at least added to the book's continuity, if not actually impacting on it; nowadays, Marvel don't even go through the motions, this is a play-it-by-numbers Symbiote vs hero stand-alone 3-parter that doesn't really bring anything to Miles' book or Carnage's event! 5 out of 12 for Ahmed's good writing.
Profile Image for Paul.
2,778 reviews20 followers
June 7, 2020
Another Absolute Carnage tie-in book that’s almost entirely superfluous. The main three-part Miles Morales story is OK, I guess, it’s just that you could remove it entirely and the overall crossover event wouldn’t be diminished one iota. The Weapon Plus one-shot that’s tacked on the end to pad the book out is... well, it’s pretty poor, really. Part of that might be my dislike of the character, though, so your mileage may vary.

All-in-all, you could skip this one and you wouldn’t be missing much.
Profile Image for Subham.
3,070 reviews102 followers
June 26, 2021
It starts off with the story about Miles as he gets attacked by the Scorpion and then carnage symbiotes comes in and they team up to fight but he gets infected and thus he has to battle them in his mind while he goes after JJJ and with his resilience we see his inner struggles and bloodlust and how he fights Carnage and preserves the sanctity of being Spider-Man. Elsewhere we follow Clayton as he is coerced into taking out Carnage and prevent the death of his beloved Janice and some stunning revelations about Weapon Plus, V and all that.

The first storyline was okayish as we see the struggles of Miles and how does he fight this mental battle and the art was for the most part good but the second story was so bad and is like ugh just not interesting both the character and the plot are for a lack of better word..trash. I hated that one but then again Miles one is interesting.
Profile Image for Craig.
2,883 reviews32 followers
February 21, 2020
Not overly terrible, but nothing too special either. This is about as good as a crossover storyline can be. Ahmed does a serviceable job of showing us what happens to Miles during the Absolute Carnage mess and there's also a totally unrelated story about Weapon H (I guess they needed something to fill out the page count?). The art is also serviceable, but no great shakes.
Profile Image for Chris Lemmerman.
Author 7 books123 followers
January 17, 2020
Miles Morales enters the world of Absolute Carnage in the lead three issue mini-series in this volume, bringing him face to face with the Scorpion as well as the monster deep within him.

Miles’ current writer Saladin Ahmed doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel with these issues, but instead fleshes out what happens to Miles outside of his appearances in the main series by digging into his thought processes, first when battling/defending the Scorpion, and then when he himself falls foul to the Carnage infection. Ahmed’s done well on the main Miles book to get inside Miles’ head, and he continues that hot streak here in these three issues. The art’s by Z, who I don’t think I’ve seen before, but he’s pretty solid as an artist if a little unremarkable.

The obligatory one-shot in this volume is a little incongruous since it’s about Weapon H, and has nothing to do with Miles at all, but whatever. This is written by Jed Mackay, with art by Stefano Rafaelle, and brings back what I can only assume is some Weapon H continuity that I have no idea about, as well as a little of the Rex Mason stuff from the first volume of Venom. It’s a serviceable story, and probably great for fans of the character, but he doesn’t hold my interest at all. Watching his mother-in-law yell at him for the entirety of the story was pretty funny though.

Add extra points if you’re a Miles fan, and some extra points if you’re a Weapon H fan. Otherwise, this is pretty skippable. I’d recommend checking out the Miles mini on digital or something if nothing else.
Profile Image for Oneirosophos.
1,586 reviews73 followers
October 31, 2021
Concluding AC marathon for Haloween, with the BEST BY FAR tie-in!!!

Saladin, ma man.
Profile Image for Dan.
2,234 reviews66 followers
February 28, 2021
The main story was terrible. The last story that was a part of the main story was good.
Profile Image for AJ Kallas.
123 reviews48 followers
October 24, 2019
The Miles issues are completely skippable. Not worth reading. I have no idea why there are THREE filler issues the way they are. Nothing happens at all, really. But- the Immortal Hulk tie in is VERY fun. Definitely worth reading the back issue. But I wouldn’t buy this trade.
Profile Image for Adam Fisher.
3,594 reviews23 followers
September 25, 2020
3.5 Stars.
A tie-in to the Absolute Carnage event. This one initially finds Miles teaming up with Scorpion to fight against the hordes of Knull and Carnage. Carnage (see regular storyline for further details) is collecting tiny bits of symbiote left inside all previous wearers. The Scorpion, Mac Gargan, was Venom for quite a while.
Of course, like you'd expect, Miles gets tainted and helps Carnage on his killing spree, but is able to fight against the symbiote and overcome the urges. This Volume ends with Miles in a controlled symbiote suit, and you'll have to read Absolute Carnage to really find out how amazingly badass that is.
Overall good, but not essential to the main storyline.
Recommend, especially for a quick read.
Profile Image for James DeSantis.
Author 17 books1,205 followers
June 26, 2025
Miles's story in this fight works well. His fight against Scorpion is a ton of fun, and him dealing with the Carnage suit, and becoming the heroic Spider-Man the city needs, are all great elements. All in all, this is a solid tie-in with some great fights.
Profile Image for Quentin Wallace.
Author 34 books178 followers
June 4, 2022
Once again, not a bad read, but not really needed for the overall story. We get a glimpse of how Miles Morales came to be involved in Absolute Carnage, and then we get a somewhat relevant story starring Weapon Plus. I really wish Weapon Plus had played a bigger role in Absolute Carnage, as it's cool to see Weapon Plus and Carnage throw down.
Profile Image for Michael Rivas.
177 reviews55 followers
April 13, 2022
This was an ok tie in also. It wasn’t amazing, but there was a clean conflict nothing jumped around and it wasn’t cheesy. The bar was set really low with the first two tie ins so the bare minimum looks good as long as it entices the reader just a little bit
Profile Image for Bryan Fischer.
310 reviews7 followers
April 12, 2024
Nothing too special about this book, and didn’t really have much of an impact on the main event story.
While there was nothing inherently wrong or bad about this book, it could definitely be skipped in the reading order. Hard to say more without spoilers.
Profile Image for Rylan.
13 reviews1 follower
July 19, 2022
This was a very good marvel graphic novel. I enjoyed the unique art and the different characters like Miles Morales, scorpion and a new character by the name of Clayton. I would recommend this to a lot of people.
Profile Image for Rolando Marono.
1,944 reviews19 followers
September 19, 2020
Los tie ins de Absolute Carnage han sido absolutamente malos, todos. Miles Morales, a pesar de la participación de Ahmed, no mejora. Y se me hace extraño porque Ahmed es un muy buen autor; hizo cosas impresionantes con Black Bolt y Quicksilver y el primer tomo de Miles no estaba nada mal tampoco. Lamentablemente aquí no hay originalidad, la historia transcurre linealmente, sin giros, sin sorpresas, sólo es Miles enfrentando a simbiontes que cambian de huésped y que en un momento lo infectan a él también. Lo único que me pareció interesante es que no sufre ningún salto por parte del evento, estos tres números nos cuentan una historia completa que aunque no es muy buena, puedes leer esto y entenderla sin tener que leer el evento principal. ¿Aporta algo completamente necesario para el evento? No.
Me pareció mejor el número extra que incluye de Weapon plus, esa historia para se un one shot tiene un par de cosas que me gustaron. La primera es que funciona como un resumen de la serie de Venom de Cates y de los primeros números de Absolute Carnage, leyendo este título te puedes poner a corriente y agarrar el evento, eso es bueno. También me gustaron los giros que tiene con la Weapon V, el doctor y Carnage; la historia tampoco es más original pero tiene más trabajo que la de Miles.
Este tomo es completamente olvidable y tampoco creo que aporte mucho para la serie principal de Miles.
Profile Image for MatiBracchitta.
582 reviews
January 31, 2021
Bueno... entiendo que el cómic está dirigido a un público mucho más novel que yo y que por eso tiene unas características mucho más livianas. Sin embargo, esto no me parece una excusa decente para la completa falta de argumento.
Literalmente es Miles Morales peleando de un carnage a otro. Es la primera vez que leo a Saladin Ahmed y verdaderamente no me ha provocado una buena impresión. Es verdad que, según entiendo, esto forma parte de un evento mayor, pero aún así la historia debería sostenerse por si sola, cosa que no hace. Sentí que Ahmed no logró entender a algunos personajes como Scorpio (un mercenario de tal calibre de verdad) y que no brinda absolutamente ningún elemento interesante en cuanto a narrativa o trama.
Dudaba si ponerle tres estrellas, pues verdaderamente me gustó el trabajo de Federico Vicentini que si bien no maneja un estilo que me fascine, sí es verdad que los dibujos son buenos y permiten una lectura muy ágil. Dan la constante sensación de vértigo que Spider-Man debe siempre provocar, y me parece un verdadero acierto para una historia liviana como esta que apunta a un público joven.
Me decanté por las dos estrellas pues creo que si no fuera por los dibujos, la historia sería un 1 de cajón. Entiendo que a otras personas pueda llegar a agradarle, pero no ha sido mi caso.
Profile Image for M.
1,681 reviews17 followers
June 17, 2020
The Absolute Carnage crossover hits Miles Morales and Weapon H with this tie-in collection. Writer Saladin Ahmed and artist Federico Vicentini drop Miles into a street fight with the Scorpion, before siege of symbiotic killers attacks them both. Venom intercedes to rescue Gargantuas, leaving the young Spider-Man at the mercy of Carnage. Possessed by the red symbiotes, Miles is sent to kill J. Jonah Jameson. With an assist from Silver Sable, Spidey overcomes the alien and decides to use it to strike back. Ahmed does what he can with the side story, which sadly does not get resolved in these pages; Vicentini handles the exaggerated art pages in a hit-or-miss format. The volume concludes with Jed MacKay and Stefano Raffaele unveiling symbiotic soldiers from the Weapon Plus program. Forced to aid the team against Carnage, Weapon H proves to be more interested in saving his mother-in-law than his former black ops unit. MacKay’s story serves as a reminder that Weapon H is still stomping around somewhere, while the Raffaele art adequately fits the bill for this issue. Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales remains a tempting side dish, but has a long way to go before challenging the main course.
Profile Image for Alex Sarll.
7,054 reviews365 followers
Read
November 1, 2020
Fundamentally unable to rise above the general symbiote bollocks of the event to which it belongs, although there are a few nice details, like the trainers. And it's always nice to spend time with Miles, even if this does make unsatisfying pokes at the elephant in the room. "Venom. The sight of him lets loose memories from another lifetime." Does he remember that other world, with its entirely different Venom and Carnage? A story playing with that could have been a lot more interesting than what we got.

And I could really do without Ganke's man-bun.

What would otherwise have been an even skimpier collection is rounded out with an exposition-heavy Weapon Plus tie-in, chiefly notable for a passing mention of Weapon XXX. So maybe there is something in Jude Terror's theory about Wolverine's two dicks.
Profile Image for David Martínez.
63 reviews1 follower
June 14, 2023
Una introducción al evento de 'Carnage Absoluto' desde la perspectiva de Miles Morales.

Es un cómic divertido y ágil de leer, sin mayores pretensiones. Es el equivalente a una película genérica de acción (Bullet Train o The Gray Man)... vertiginosa y espectacular por momentos, pero no va más allá de un simple entretenimiento (y eso está bien).

En lo personal: pude sacarle más jugo a la historia anexa, relacionada con Arma H, Arma Plus y Arma V. Ayuda a plantear un preámbulo sólido que pivota en torno al terror cósmico, el fanatismo religioso, la ciencia ficción y la brutalidad propia de un personaje cuyo nombre ya sugiere una carnicería (literal).

Lectura muy ligera, para matar los tiempos muertos.
Profile Image for Ottery Chocolat.
71 reviews15 followers
May 4, 2020
DISCLAIMER: To begin with, I did not finish this book. That said, take the following as you like.

Life is too short to read bad books. I've tried over the last couple of days to read this, but I just can't. The art is pedestrian at best. And the writing is forced. Saladin Ahmed is a good writer, I was praising him just last GN, but clearly when you force creative people to write crap for EVENT BOOKS they may or may not want to be involved in, where they're handed a pre-built story you're going to get mediocrity at best.

And this was not Ahmed's best mediocrity.

So no.

Sorry, Miles and Ahmed deserve better. Read at your own peril.
Profile Image for Sean.
4,154 reviews25 followers
March 5, 2025
This wasn't good and is incredibly pointless to the Absolute Carnage storyline. Here, Miles gets wrapped up in the Carnage event by running into Scorpion who gets attacked by Carnage-infected prisoners. This leads to symbiote shenanigans and a completely pointless inclusion of two Spidey guest stars. The Absolute Carnage book itself handled this portion of the story well enough making this book superfluous. Added to that is an unwanted reintroduction to the Weapon H world which is also unneeded. The art wasn't bad at all though. Fresh and energetic. Overall, a waste of a tie-in.
Profile Image for Rocky Sunico.
2,277 reviews25 followers
October 28, 2020
Crossover events tend to result in weird mini story-arcs for ongoing comics, and this is a classic example of this. Miles Morales dealing with the impact of Absolute Carnage had some interesting potential but on the whole, didn't feel all that satisfying a read. Then add in how the second half of the book involves a Weapon Plus-focused story that makes this compilation feel a bit more disjointed than it needed to be. But that's what we get for crossovers.
Profile Image for Matt.
2,606 reviews27 followers
February 9, 2020
Collects Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales (2019) issues #1-3 and Absolute Carnage: Weapon Plus (2019) #1

This collection includes an uninteresting Miles story that ties into the 2019 event "Absolute Carnage," as well as a Weapon H story that has nothing to do with Spider-Man.

Marvel gave up on making things feel important, and every character gets to be infected by a symbiote now.
Profile Image for Danielle.
3,051 reviews1 follower
February 18, 2020
I'm not following the main Absolute Carnage storyline, which definitely impacted my enjoyment of this volume. It's interesting, but doesn't hold a lot if you aren't already invested in the plot or are jumping in from Miles' current run. There was some alright characterization but this is really skippable.
Profile Image for Crazed8J8.
759 reviews2 followers
June 13, 2020
I liked the Miles story, it took a while for it to get integrated into the overarching story, but it eventually did. Decent art, decent plot, and good to see Miles coming into his own...
But the Weapon Plus story was blah! Easily skippable and uninteresting. Mediocre art and plot. It really dragged down the rating from a 4 to a 3.
Profile Image for Joey Nardinelli.
874 reviews2 followers
June 25, 2022
Wasn’t really sure what was going on with this volume. A quarter of it has nothing to do with Miles and the stuff that does is all in service to an external narrative arc about Carnage with no really thematic or character connections back to the regular MM line. Just more crossover narrative pedaling.
1,062 reviews
July 27, 2023
Mostly three stars elevated by the addition of Weapon Plus/Ultimate Hulk despite the fact that Miles plays no part in it.

I'm not even going to pretend these are what I consider a graphic novel; they are comic books, plain and simple. Then again I've always liked comic books.

Recommend: Nope
519 reviews
October 14, 2019
Catching up on comics on Sunday night. A great read. Wonderful art and a nice reminder of what makes Miles Miles. Not necessarily needed to understand the events of Absolute Carnage or the main Miles comic but a nice breezy read
Profile Image for Kris Ritchie.
1,645 reviews16 followers
March 11, 2020
2.5 rounded up.

It's mostly filler for the main course..er event, but it still sounds and feels like Miles. Ahmed gets the character well, but it just doesn't add much to the overall story.

Also, Weapon Plus is a snooze-fest.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews

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