Customer Reviews

Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read the storyline when it was initially published across the Spider-man titles. I was entertained by it then, but upon re-reading the story this time, I'm much more conflicted.
The story has very little development, and it is effectively the same thing over and over - Carnage and friends go out on a killing spree, Spider-man and friends feel a need to stop it.

In a certain way, I feel like the story raises a question - when a person is dangerous enough, do they warrant a death sentence? In Spider-Man's mind, he wants to avoid killing at all costs. This is a major character trait, and confronting him with that issue is really the highlight.
I like a little bit of the interplay within Carnage's team, but otherwise, don't feel like the storyline was as great as it could be. Perhaps if there were more events than just confrontations at different locations.

On the plus side, I've always had a soft spot for Bagley's artwork, while Sal (I think that's his name) of the Spectacular Spider-Man issues has a much more interesting style than I remember. And it's very nice to have the storyline arranged in order, unlike the Infinity War book.
Worth picking up, but only if you like Carnage.

published back in 1993, this was a major 'crossover' event in the various Spider-Man affiliated titles that were being published by Marvel comics in the early 1990's. The concept followed a murderous plot to terrorize the city of New York by the psychotic serial killer Kletus Kasady, aka Carnage-- a man whose body has been possessed by an alien parasite, giving him spider-man's powers combined with weapon-morphing abilities like Terminator 2's T-1000, creating blades & spikes with his hands.. Carnage forms alliances with an assortment of gruesome Spider-Man foes, including the DemoGoblin, the Doppelganger, Carrion, and others..

Spider-Man, meanwhile, reacting to the crisis, forms a loose-knit team of allies including Firestar, Captain America, Cloak & Dagger, Iron Fist, Deathlok & Nightwatch, to combat the riotous mayhem that is unleashed.. However, the last, and most reluctant ally of Spider-Man is his sworn foe, Venom-- who also possesses similar abilities given by an alien "symbiote" parasite.. Failed reporter Eddie Brock (who was embarrassed and fired after Spider-Man caught a wanted killer, "the Sin eater" and exposed a fraud posing as said killer who had given Brock an exclusive interview) was contemplating suicide in a church when the alien 'costume' (which was rejected by Spider-Man when he found out of its parasitic nature) sensed his hatred for spider-man and bonded with him, thus creating Venom-- Despite Venom's irrational hatred for Spider-Man and repeated attempts to kill him-- not to mention the maiming/and or murders of several innocents and law enforcement-- Venom fancies himself a "lethal protector" of the innocent, and grudgingly joins forces with Spider-man's band.. Spider-Man knows that Venom's symbiote spawned the one that bonded with Kasady, and thus he has an edge in both finding him and defeating him in battle..

In my assessment, the serial nature of this story was perhaps a good idea in theory, but the execution, which crossed over into several monthly and quarterly titles with different writers and artists-- makes the visual transitions somewhat awkward to adjust to, and the resolution is ultimately somewhat lackluster..

The early 90's were a hotbed of ultra-vigilantes in both independent and mainstream comic books, as well as the trend of multiple-chaptered crossover stories between different publications-- including multiple covers, and covers enhanced with colored foil and other experiments that quickly became tedious..

By this time, traditional do-gooders with clear-cut moral centers like Spider-Man and Captain America had become quaint to certain fans, especially younger ones, who helped to make the X-Men's Wolverine a top-tier favorite, whose frequently lethal tactics gave him a rebel/punk edge over hsi more stern predecessors.. And in the case of Spider-Man, Venom became a dark mirror-image of the wall-crawler-- his popularity as a villain had become so intense that apparently corporate and/or editorial powers-that-be decided to make him the protagonist of his own book, which first began publishing in 1992.. To bulwark the obvious objections that many would have in promoting this clearly mentally unstable character as a 'good guy', the character of Kasady/Carnage was created, as an unrepentant serial murderer, to give both Venom and Spider-Man a common foe-- but Spider-Man still had to watch his back whenever Venom felt like having a little payback.. At one pint, Venom's popularity genuinely rivaled Spider-Mans, and his sympathetic portrayal and promotion, despite his obvious dementia and documented killings of non-criminals, was, in my opinion, unforgivable.. I wasn't even 20 at the time and I was already feeling a generation gap between myself and kids that were clearly enamored with Venom, and the even more psychotic Carnage.. In fact, in the vast majority of their conflicts, Spider-Man never seemed to enjoy a clear-cut physical victory over Venom-- he always seemed to 'beat' him via some odd trick or the 11th hour intervention of someone else-- sometimes just as Venom was about to deliver the death blow.. it was sickening..

by the late 90's, it seemed as if both characters had run their course, and they were slowly phased out of the books.. only to return circa 2003/4..

In my opinion,
collecting this story was perhaps necessary, especially since there are current venom and carnage stories in recent print by Marvel, and the company is combing its publishing archives more aggressively nowadays..

I just think there are plenty of better volumes of Spider-Man out there, and the legacy of Venom and Carnage have left a bad taste in the mouth of this longtime comics fan..

I had read a few comics recently (Batman: Long Halloween, Batman: The Killing Joke, The Watchmen) and decided to check out this classic. The dated art, simplicity of the storyline, and limited depth to the characters made the book painful to read. Eventually a gave up. I don't recommend this to readers that are new to comics.

My opinion may be a tad biased since this was the mini-series that got me in to collecting comics, but I think Maximum Carnage towers over many other collected volumes of Spider-Man simply because of its ambition. It featured several fantastic covers, detailed yet clear artwork, and an array of uniqe characters. The story may be simple, but effective. Think about it. You have an unbalanced serial killer with an alien power that basically allows him to become a living set of gnsu knives who recruits several other psychotic superpowered-villains to go on a murder rampage in New York. That's a superhero's nightmare. It's up to 2 unlikely allies (and Carnage's parents, so to speak) Spider-Man and Venom to bring it to a close. Each will be motivated by their guilt and responsibilty for making Carnage what he is. Only through determination, an occasional helping hand, and a lot of luck will they be victorious - hence it requiring 14 issues to tell.

Bottom line - essential for Venom and Carnage fans, a must for die hard Spider-Man nuts, and a good read for anyone waiting for Spider-Man 3 to come out!

The guy below me is right in a way, the story for Maximum Carnage does exist, you just have to find it. Through 14 chapters the story spreads so thin, you start to lose interest half way through. This book has lots of redeeming qualities though. Great action, good team ups, and to address the guy below me saying "unknown heroes or villians" that's crazy. Captain America, Firestar, Demogoblin, Carrrion, Blackcat, and Iron Fist unkown? You've got to be kidding. This book is worth a read, the last fight scene is great!

The story is chaotic, never takes itself TOO seriously, and captures the character of Spider-Man perfectly. My main gripe has to do with a few large out-of-nowhere plot devices that the writers insert toward the end of the story to help bring about the story's end. I chuckled at the absurdity of the sudden appearence of Deathlok's super-suit, and that was only one example. Still, an interestingly deep character study for a comic book, LOTS of action, and some gripping writing. Reccommended for Spidey fans of any age.

This great graphic novel is a must-buy for all comic collectors and Spidey fans!!

If you were a fan of Spider-man in the 80's and 90's (like myself), you will love Maximum Carnage. It incorporates many of the Spider-man villains and heroes into one storyline. Highly recommended to all who love the Wallcrawler!

First off I like to say im a big Spiderman and Venom fan and this saga ment alot to me. A long time ago when I was a kid back in 1993-94 I never had the opportunity to finish this saga because the stores I use to get comic books from didn't order them each month there for I missed out on alot of things that happen in this saga so when I found out there was a paperback version I jumped to the chance of finally finishing the story. It was every thing I thought it would be it had alot of action Carnage definitely painted the town red (alot of people died) and it was cool to see Venom in action because around that time Venom became so popular he even had his own comic books (Venom Lethal Protector). I know some fans may not like this saga because the story might not have been all that in depth but it made sense that it wasn't that in depth because when you read the book when Carnage broke out of prison he really didnt have that much of a plan except to go on a murderous rampage across New York city he even said that he had no plan which in my opinion show just how much of a powerful lunatic he really was and even without a plan he still gave Spiderman, Venom and the rest of New York hell. He does such a good job at getting on the readers nerves that you would be rooting for Venom to kill him and be booing Spiderman for having morals and no matter what he (Carnage) does Spiderman still wants to take him into custody. Overall fun read if you like Spiderman and Venom team ups just dont look for a real in depth story only pick this up if you like action. I only gave it five stars because it brought back good childhood memories what can I say im kind of bias when it comes to Spiderman.

This had so much potential and only accomplished some of it. In my view it's basically carnage and company causing terror in N.Y. The main reason it got this was because i heard it had venom in it and carnage too. So i figured it would be great. But it was only very good in some parts. I mainly like the second half of the book just because i feel like it develops into something interesting. The first half just kindof seemed like random fighting. Try to buy it for less somewhere else but if not, i think it's worth the money.