Maximum Carnage part 1

Maximum Carnage part 1

Spider-Man Unlimited #1, Web of Spider-Man #101, Amazing Spider-Man #378, Spider-Man #35, Spectacular Spider-Man #201

Originally released in 1993

Written by Tom DeFalco (Unlimited), Terry Kavanagh (Web), David Michelinie (Amazing, Spider-Man), J.M. DeMatteis (Spectacular)

Art by Ron Lim (Unlimited), Alex Saviuk (Web), Mark Bagley (Amazing), Tom Lyle (Spider-Man), Sal Buscema (Spectacular)

The Marvel MaXimum Collection, a collection of Marvel games by various publishers, was recently released.  The games included range from popular hits that haven't been officially available for years (X-Men: The Arcade Game) to games that are insanely frustrating and would otherwise be forgotten about (Silver Surfer, where everything in the game, from walls to individual bullets, kills the nigh-invincible Silver Surfer in one hit), but for me, the only game that I'd played going into it was the SNES version of Maximum Carnage, a side-scrolling beat-em-up. (I played a bit of it as a refresher, and even by stage 2, it's as janky as I remember, with the simple act of climbing a building feeling like QWOP or Octodad: Dadliest Catch, where the controls feel like they're out to get you)

Still, I figure I could use this as an opportunity to read the story arc that inspired this game, a fourteen part event that deals with Carnage breaking out of Ravencroft shortly after the death of Harry Osborn. This event is spread out over five titles, which feels like it would be a lot to keep up with. (For the audience and the writers - the story is split between at least four different writers, who would presumably have to coordinate with each other to make sure the story makes sense)

Thanks to some of his symbiote remaining in his blood (I'm not sure which part of Ravencroft is less competent - the security for not noticing that there's a symbiote inside of Cletus Kasady, or Doctor Pournella for continuing to insist that that she can help Carnage as he prepares to brutally murder her), Carnage breaks free and slaughters any Ravencroft staff that he can find.  Freeing fellow inmate Shriek, the two form a twisted family unit that includes a multi-armed feral Spider-Man doppelganger (who goes by Doppelganger) as a sort of baby.

Peter is one of the few attendees at Harry's funeral, along with Mary Jane, Harry's son Normie, Flash Thompson, Felicia Hardy, Richard and Mary Parker (Peter's super spy parents who are seemingly alive), and J. Jonah Jameson, among others. Naturally, Jameson blames Spider-Man for Harry's death, and Peter is tempted to agree with him.

Peter is worn down, frustrated that all of his enemies keep coming back (aside from Harry), and feeling like he needs a break.  Naturally, that's about the time that he hears about the break-out and gets attacked by Shriek and the Doppelganger.

Returning to the Daily Bugle and hearing that Carnage is free, Jameson is tempted to flee the country, but Carnage has already broken into Jameson's office, wanting to use the editor to find Venom.

If the game is any indication, this story has a LOT of cameo appearances in it, starting off with Cloak and Dagger in the second issue to defend Spider-Man from muggers trying to kill him.  Meanwhile, Mary Jane goes to comfort Liz Allen as Normie looks incredibly creepy for no apparent reason.

A fight breaks out in the church that Cloak and Dagger call home, which aggravates Peter's injuries.  Meanwhile, a familiar fanged face has arrived in New York - Venom.  With Carnage being created as something of an evil doppelganger for Venom once Venom became an anti-hero, the two seem practically joined at the hip, especially this early on.

Naturally, Peter feels responsible if Carnage and company are out there killing, so despite New York having what feels like hundreds of other superheroes and Spider-Man having a very indirect role in Carnage's creation at best (he brought the symbiote to Earth, where it joined with Eddie to make Venom and spawned another symbiote that became Carnage), he's going to stop them even if he has to die trying.  Mary Jane doesn't take this well, especially when he just said that he'd take a break from being Spider-Man for both of their sakes.

Compounding Peter's problems is the appearance of Demogoblin.  He looks like a demonic Green Goblin knock-off, which is a little odd when the Hobgoblin has been around for about ten years by this point and seems to fill a similar role as a Green Goblin stand-in.  Spider-Man manages to fend him off, but he's in rough shape by this point, and he heads home.

Shortly after he arrives, he finds Venom crawled to his door, as Eddie tried to stop Carnage only to be attacked by Shriek and Doppelganger.  Venom may have formed a truce with Peter, but he still hates the wall-crawler and needs a place to recuperate.  Meanwhile, Demogoblin tracked down Carnage, Shriek, and Doppelganger in order to kill them, but when he starts talking about wanting to kill every sinner, Carnage suggests an alliance.

Peter forms an alliance as well, agreeing to work with Venom and Black Cat on the condition that he intends to prevent anyone from dying, on either side. (so if he has to stop his allies from killing Carnage, then so be it)  A fight in a warehouse leaves Peter with a difficult choice - save Venom (who was weakened by the flames) and Black Cat (who is trapped in the collapsed warehouse) or stop Carnage and his murderous allies from escaping.

For Spider-Man, the choice is easy - save Eddie and Felicia, even if Eddie hates him for doing so. Though even Felicia calls him out for going back to save them; both of them are more willing to kill than Peter is, and they feel like Peter should prioritize Carnage's potential victims when the two of them can take care of themselves.

Even this early, Carnage's alliance seems to be falling apart.  He abuses Shriek for thinking she can take charge, attacks Doppelganger for jumping to her aid, and practically blows up at Demogoblin for even suggesting that they should have a plan.

Peter turns to Aunt May for advice, who tells him to listen to his heart and he'll know the right thing to do.  Richard Parker overhears this conversation and has his own take on the matter, which is far more cynical - fight fire with fire before you get burned.

Carnage gets a fifth and (as far as I can tell) final member of his group, Carrion, who literally climbs out of the sewer and wordlessly joins them for no apparent reason. (his costume seems to be based on the Green Goblin - part of me feels like they were planning on having Norman come back as a zombie or a demon or something of that nature, and Demogorgon and Carrion were tests for that concept)

Part five ends with a riot breaking out in New York City, though I'm not sure if this is people acting on their darker impulses or a power of one of Carnage's allies influencing their minds. (then again, it's Marvel's New York - for all I know, the Fantastic Four villain the Hate Monger could be back in town, or MODOK or the Red Skull could be testing a psychic superweapon)

Whatever the reason is, Spider-Man has had enough, seemingly taking Richard's advice to heart out of sheer frustration at the situation.  While I doubt he's going to cross any major moral lines like killing, it's clear that he's had it with everything that's been going on, in what seems to be a reaction to the anti-heroes who were willing to kill that were popularized throughout the 90s like X-Force.

This was all right, though the story being fourteen parts means that events feel stretched out (Spider-Man fighting Carnage only for Carnage to escape has already happened at least twice in the span of five issues), and I'm not a fan of how Mary Jane is written as a wet blanket. (I get that it's relatively early on in their marriage, and she's justifiably terrified for Peter's safety, but it seems like her main role in this is to be critical of Peter being Spider-Man, at least in these early parts)  Still, I'm interested enough to continue this at a later date.