Absolute Carnage: Scream

Absolute Carnage

by Cullen Bunn, Clay McLeod Chapman, Gerardo Sandoval (Illustrator)

THE RETURN OF A CLASSIC SYMBIOTE...AND IT'LL BE A SCREAM! Years ago, Patricia Robertson was unwillingly bonded to the clone of Venom that eventually became Mania, and she's been living in fear of symbiotes ever since. But she's also been living with a secret, and with the coming of Carnage, Patricia must take a stand - and will have no choice but to confront her demons head-on! Patricia may know symbiotes, but nothing can prepare her for their god Knull! Plus: Since the conclusion of DEADPOOL VS. CARNAGE, four of the five Life Foundation symbiotes - Riot, Phage, Agony and Lasher - have been bonded to a stray dog, wandering the Midwest. But as Carnage descends on New York, its siblings will find it impossible to resist the siren song of KNULL...

COLLECTING: Absolute Carnage: Scream (2019) 1-3, Absolute Carnage: Separation Anxiety (2019) 1

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

112 pages, Paperback

Published January 14, 2020

About the author

Cullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.

All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.

And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.

Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gotta say, I was surprised how Scream was nothing more than filler considering they gave her an ongoing book out of this. Marvel needs to keep Cullen Bunn far away from the Venom titles. The Separation Anxiety one shot was much better. It's a cool horror book with Hybrid looking for new hosts.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Considering this is supposed to be the ‘breakout’ title/character from the whole Absolute Carnage event (i.e. the only tie-in book that’s actually continuing past the end of the crossover) I would have put more effort into it, to be honest.

The three issues of Scream collected here are only so-so story-wise and the art is a dumpster fire. I’m about as enthused for the ongoing ‘Scream’ book as I am at the thought of another three months of lockdown.

This volume’s saving grace is that it also collects the ‘Separation Anxiety’ one-shot, which was far superior; a really nice slice of suburban horror that’s worth the price of entry by itself.

[Baba · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yawny yawy yawn was how I can best describe this Absolute Carnage companion volume. I mean does it really need four comic books to let us know how Scream and Hybrid are faring, in stories that don't really impact the core story line. I still manage to give this a 3 out of 12, as I have very little context having only really read the Carnage stories in the Spider books, and no others.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Scream stuff is more non-essential, fill-in crap, but the real star of this volume is the Separation Anxiety one-shot, which follows a poor family being attacked by a group of symbiotes. If this entire event had lived up to the level of horror in this single story, it might have been something really great, but it rarely reaches these heights. The artwork by Brian Level is pretty amazing here, too.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

A chore to read.

[Brian Garthoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Scream story line is pretty much one loud note (intended), but Separation Anxiety is a cool little horror comic even if it is mostly “RAWR”-ing at scared children. Overall decent, not essential to enjoying the superior main Absolute Carnage series.

[Rafa Araujo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the Scream story deserves no more than 2 stars but I LOVED EVERYTHING about the Separation anxiety chapter, the horror story and the art were just on top. 4 stars

[Lucas Savio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dispensável realmente Arte mais da mesma e n tenho muito apreço pelos personagens além de ser bem previsível a história primeiro e único tie-in que li

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another week, another Absolute Carnage tie-in trade. Pretty sure this is the last one, though.

Scream is an odd character, with a lot of odd history. So it's easy to forgive not knowing most of it - I certainly didn't. And when we get another Venom host from a series I doubt many people have read and even fewer people remember, it all gets a bit more confusing. Anchoring it all is Andi Benton, formerly known as Mania, as she tries to save/escape/kill Scream across three issues, only to find herself in an entirely different situation by the end of it. It's all a bit frantic, which feels appropriate given the state of poor Andi's life at this point, and Gerardo Sandoval's pointy artwork helps with that a lot. Cullen Bunn clearly likes this character he's created, and he's not about to let her off easily.

And the obligatory one-shot is Separation Anxiety, which is actually pretty great. Following the four Life Foundation symbiotes as they harass a little girl and her family, the horror factor rockets right up with this story. It's not essential at all (although if you're reading the Venom tie-in issues, it does feed directly into those), but it's a hell of a read even so.

This volume gets an extra star just because I really like Andi Benton and I'm feeling generous.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tie-in Volume of Absolute Carnage deals with all 5 of the Life Foundation symbiotes! A brief one-shot shows how Riot, Phage, Agony, and Lasher all move into the lives of a family and continue to keep themselves hidden (can't remember if Carnage found them in the main title...) But the majority of the Volume deals with Scream.
Highlights:
- Hearing the call of Knull (and Carnage), Scream revives herself, still attached to the dead body of Donna Diego. Patricia Robertson, having one time been the host of the clone of Venom, hears the call as well.
- Scream (DD) joins the army of symbiotes and sets off to search for Patricia Robertson. A battle between them forces Scream to abandon the dead body of Donna and join to Patricia, who then, while under the control of Knull, searches out Andi Benton, previous wearer of Mania (a portion of the Venom symbiote while worn by Flash Thompson)
- A huge battle ensues when Carnage himself shows up, and Patricia gets killed, forcing Scream to latch to Andi.
- At some point, Scream (AB) decides she can't handle Carnage on her own, so she runs. (I'm assuming this is what leads into her solo title)

Overall, I have been enjoying these Absolute Carnage tie-ins. Recommend.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the weakest of the Absolute Carnage tie-ins. Seperation Anxiety was it's own thing and MUCH better..

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

O crossover Carnificina Absoluta trouxe bastante tie-ins e spin-offs, em forma de especiais ou em forma de minisséries. Um deles, foi resgatar do limbo uma personagem que pouco apareceu no Universo marvel, uma das poucas simbiontes femininas da Marvel, Donna Diego, a Grito. Nesta minissérie escrita por Cullen Bunn - o escritor dos supervilões - e desenhada por Gerardo Sandoval - o emulador de desenhos do Joe Madureira - encontramos o simbionte Grito ligado com outras mulheres que já experimentaram uma união com o simbionte Venom: é o caso da policial Patrícia, que já foi estrela de uma das séries de Venom e da adolescente Andi Benton, que foi parceira mirim do Agente Venom, quando este era representado por Flash Thompson. O que acontece durante a minissérie é um embate entre Grito (Patrícia/Donna) com Andi, que tem poderes sobrenaturais e demoníacos. Mas além da pancadaria e do enfrentamento, infelizmente a minissérie não traz nada de novo para os leitores, a não ser a reunião de personagens obscuras, que pode satisfazer um ou outro leitor.

[Ollie Ander · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/ 5 Stars, smack dab in the middle of average. It probably would have scored a bit lower but I enjoyed the comic bringing up the end more than the rest of the issues put together.

The first few chapters were not a good origin introduction for Scream (as that's kind of what it felt like it should be). I can't say I cared much for anyone that popped into the conflict, and the narrative moved around so quickly from "this is the plan" to "oh now this is the plan" I stopped caring what they thought they were doing because it was bound to change again in a page or two. They introduced each character as they appeared in the main arc, but didn't give me any investment in them. Maybe if I was already attached to these characters from other issues? But they should hold their own weight in this one, regardless.

The last chapter was a nice bit of horror. The art was obviously beautiful but also very busy.

[Michael Rivas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe my expectations were set to higher or I didn’t know what I was getting into. While this trade paperback is primarily of scream vs carnage with the hopes of giving hype to the potential finally “absolute carnage” there is plenty of action. Which flowed way more smoothly then the previous but the whole comic talked alot but said nothing. Maybe the audience grew wiser since it’s original publication date and I was looking for more then fighting and cool drawings (aesthetically scream looks the fiercest to me) but I just spent 30 minutes reading about nothing furthering the story itself. Was this intentional…..I don’t know. Though as an individual comic the drawing is good and action is good.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This Scream miniseries made no goddamn motherfucking sense by the end. I don't understand why we start with one character who becomes the new host for Scream, and then another character who used to be the host of Scream or Venom – or I don't even fucking know, really.

There are too many goddamn symbiotes at this point. The point is, this shit is confusing as fuck. Then, in the ending, someone dies, but maybe not, as they're laying on the ground with blood all around them, and then Scream somehow is still... I don't really know.

The point is, this is the worst tie-in to Absolute Carnage, which is a shame because the rest have been either good or the main event was great. The only reason this ain't a 1 is the art is pretty great.

[Crazed8J8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love what they did with the Scream character, taking a former Venom, uniting her with the Scream symbiote, only to encounter Mania. I have not read much of either character, but appreciated these awesome women, and curious to see what happens to those that survive this experience! Great artwork, and a great story that ties into Absolute Carnage.
The additional book, too, was decent, a bit odd though, both graphically as well as the story itself. Not sure how this will tie into the overarching story, but time will tell. This last story dragged the overall rating from 5 stars to 4.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like to think that I've generally kept up with the symbiote storyline over the years, but this book pushed my recall to the limit as we had dead characters and less famous ones all coming together. this was clearly positioned as an effort to launch the new Scream, who is really the somewhat amalgamation of various characters brought together to become a new person.

It's okay, but a lot of noise and a lot of messy, gooey symbiote stuff all over the place. Then the side story tacked onto the end of things was very odd and very dark But it was an attempt at something, I suppose.

[Kris Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down.

I actually found the included horror-tinged one shot about symbiotes attacking a family to be more interesting than the main tie-in series. Scream relies a lot on past stories featuring the aforementioned symbiote, but it still moves at such a breakneck pace that you get swept into the story. Still, it would have been nice to have a bit more context.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

This surpassed the Deadpool tie in as my least favorite tie in series of the event, and also seems totally unneeded. The Scream story just seems like filler, but the one shot included is a pretty dark horror story. Still nothing all that important to the main series,though.

This was a disappointment overall.

[Fuuma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one definitely does not work outside of the larger ongoing event. But I think it was very readable and separation anxiety was well done as a horrific short. Aesthetically it was pretty neat with dynamic panels and all that. So it's alright. But it's not great.

[Ruwald Defortier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly average. Hey, it's a Marvel book in 2019, it definitely could've been worse.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story at times was confusing to me with heroes that I don't know but I am expected to have a history with. It just didn't work for me due to my background.

[Arbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun read but didn't connect much to the storyline

[Pat Blades · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to read more about the symbiotes otherwise it's really good

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

....what the flutz is this? ......This sucked more than Monica Lewinsky

[Dannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one, loved the art and the tie in to the main story.

[Santiago Fedorowicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

5
(Separation Anxiety - 7)

[Nunya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patricia, you deserved so much better.
But then again, Scream usually does.

[Gaspar Machado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andi's cool, love me some Gerardo Sandoval art, Scream's cool, what can I say?

Oh Patricia... Sorry I didn't read that issues you came from