What's worse than one mayhem-producing symbiote? Two. What's worse than that? Three. That's right: Venom's offspring, Carnage, is about to have a baby itself - a creature of indescribable power and appetites. Question is, who's gonna bring up baby? Quick - someone call Spider-Man! Guest-starring Black Cat!
| ||||||||||||
Book Description
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- This item is eligible for our 4-for-3 promotion. Eligible products include select Books and Home & Garden items. Buy any 4 eligible items and get the lowest-priced item free. Here's how (restrictions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sooo Marvel...which of your hundreds of universes does this take place in?,
By
This review is from: Spider-Man: Venom vs. Carnage (Paperback)
If there is one thing that Marvel Comics is fantastic at doing, it is completely retconning their characters and disregarding anything that happened more than 5 years prior to the comic book they are writing in the here and now. But they aren't fantastic at just that one thing...there's one more thing they excel at more than any other publisher, and that's their scientifically improbable time paradoxes and universe-bending alternate realities. So that begs us to ask the question: Which one of Marvel's seemingly infinite universes does this comic take place in?
We must ask this question, because Venom vs. Carnage is an entry into Marvel's vault that shatters established continuity with each and every page. To put it in simplest terms, Venom vs. Carnage is basically a rehash of the original 3-part Carnage debut back in 1993. The only difference is that this time, instead of Venom birthing Carnage, the latter is about to birth his own progeny. Enter Toxin; Carnage's offspring and subsequent new nemesis. Not particularly feeling paternal toward Toxin, Carnage plans to kill him off, but Venom steps in to protect Toxin in the hopes that his "grandson" can be a new partner and help him take down Carnage once and for all. Throw in Spider-man and the Black Cat to tie it into...well, I'm not sure what Spider-man universe it ties into, but it may be the "Amazing" universe, or rather the standard Marvel universe. The non-action elements are focused on the character of Patrick Mulligan, NYC police officer and soon-to-be host for newborn Toxin. However, with a disposition towards murder and mayhem, can Toxin be controlled by the law and order-minded police officer? It's not a bad book...the art is fantastic, and I've always loved Venom and Carnage. It's major shortcoming is the fact that it simply makes no sense in the Marvel continuity...but then what does these days? Perhaps the most ridiculous part is that Black Cat has absolutely no clue what Venom and Carnage are...she's absolutely bewildered by these "weird monsters" and their similarity to Spider-man's abilities. Really? The first time she met Venom, Black Cat had her head shoved through a wall, and subsequently was almost killed by Venom at least 3 times after that. And let's not forget that whole Maximum Carnage affair...you know, when Carnage teamed up with like-minded nutjobs, and Spider-man, Black Cat and Venom teamed up to stop them? Yeah, poor Cat seems to have a bout of Marvelitis...complete amnesia to events that happened more than 5 years ago. Other things that stand out is that Venom and Carnage are still represented by Brock and Cassidy. I beleive at the time when this was written, it had already been established that Venom and Brock were no longer joined, and Carnage was already dead courtesy of the Sentry. Spider-man is also written very basically, and there seems to be an attraction between Spider-man and Black Cat. Again, which universe is this? After reading this, I can honestly say with confidence that I don't think the writer even has any idea that Spider-man's secret identity is Peter Parker. In the end, it simply boils down to an origin tale for Toxin, who would later get a limited series and never be heard from again. He made a non-speaking background cameo as part of the "50 State Initiative" resulting from Civil War, but as with quite a few characters, that was likely a non-canon cameo. In recent years, it seems that it has become standard fare for Venom and Carnage to be absolutely hated by the Marvel fanbase...something I attribute mainly to elitist snobbery. These were two characters hatched back in Spider-man's heyday...the 80's and 90's. Fact is, these two characters were always landslide sales for Marvel anytime they were featured. While I agree that the Venom character has been ruined in the years leading up to now, and Carnage was really just an excuse for a gorefest every now and then, that doesn't erase the fact that they were beloved characters then, and there's no reason why they shouldn't be beloved now. So, unless you're just jumping on the ol' bandwagon, quit being such a snob and try to remember back to the days that you adored these characters. And if you're too young even have been alive when they came out, then you missed a great time in Marvel history. Overall, check it out if you like the characters. It's essentially one long continuity error and doesn't seem to fit in with any established Spider-man title, but if you want to have a little fun with V & C, there's no reason why you shouldn't give it a whirl. Just don't try to reason the errors.
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Peter Milligan does it again,
By
This review is from: Spider-Man: Venom vs. Carnage (Paperback)
I honestly would have to say that "Venom v. Carnage" would not be a title that would instantly draw me to a comic book. I am reminded of the many ill fated crossover comics of the 1990s that languish in quarter bins everywhere. And never in a million years would I think that a Venom v. Carnage miniseries would be something that I would actually own a trade paperback of, nonetheless recommend to others.
But I was wrong on all counts. Thankfully. I picked the book up because I was going on a Peter Milligan buying spree before he took over X-Men and probably would not have even touched it had his name not been on it. I am giving the title four stars overall. I give the story four and a half and the artwork three and a half. The artwork itself seems to be very uneven, amateurish as often as it is amazing. The characters are occasionally difficult to tell apart at first glance. Clayton Crain seems to have been hired to draw the book based on what he can do with the fights between the symbiotes, not anything else in the story. Though he does seem to show a lot of promise as a comic book artist and could very well be doing amazing things in a few years. I still think the series could have had five stars with the same story and a differnet artist. Peter Milligan's story tells of a police officer who bonds with the symbiotic spawn of Carnage. The police officer is about to become a father for the first time. And there are a lot of fights between Toxin (the new spawn), Venom and Carnage. And Spider Man shows up. It's jolly good fun.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
it was a so-so effort,
By
This review is from: Spider-Man: Venom vs. Carnage (Paperback)
It was definately an interesting book but it had some major flaws. As a stand alone book it is worth reading but the art varies from good to unbearable pretty quick.
This is seen with how huge venom appears which just becomes rediculous. Another problem concerns continuity. What I refer to is The Black Cat not recognizing either venom or Carnage. Anyone who has followed spiderman comics knows that the black cat helped spiderman in the crossover series Maximum Carnage which dealt with both carnage and venom. For her not to know these two is very unlikely. That is the one thing that really bothered me because it made me feel that the author didn't do research on the characters at all but instead decided to ignore previous histories that these characters had. The whole deal with the birth seemed a bit far-fethced as well. When venom created carnage it was a spur of the moment event that didn't show him to bin in any pain. But carnage acts as if it is a painful experience. That might be nit picking but it seems like it is a bit misjointed when looked at if you remember carnage's origin. other than these major flaws the story was entertaining and one does want to continue to read the book to find out what happens.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
|
|
