Maximum Carnage part 2

 Maximum Carnage part 2

Web of Spider-Man #102-103, Amazing Spider-Man #379, Spider-Man #36, Spectacular Spider-Man #202

Originally released in 1993

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

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

With Carnage being revealed as a playable character in Marvel Tokon, I had intended to read another part of Maximum Carnage earlier in the week, but better late than never, I suppose.  I'm picking up with part 6 out of 14, and it honestly feels like this event could have been at least four issues shorter, because this issue follows the same pattern as several before it - Carnage is causing chaos with his group of supervillains, Spider-Man and company try to stop him, there's a big fight scene, and Carnage escapes, with Spider-Man internally debating on the morality of whether or not Carnage should be killed.

The main difference in this part is that Mary Jane, who's out clubbing to take her mind off of her worries about Peter, is caught up in the middle of this.  Why a club would be open in the middle of a supervillain attack on the city, riots, etc. is beyond me, but if businesses in Marvel's New York closed because of a supervillain being on a rampage for the past 24 hours, then they'd never be open.

Part 7 is where it feels like the story gets some forward momentum, as the heroes start to go on the offensive.  Also, Spider-Man realizes a key plot point - ever since Dagger's supposed death at the hands of Shriek, Dagger's partner Cloak has been determined to kill Carnage and company for that.  However, Cloak needs Dagger's help to teleport, and yet he can teleport just fine now. (this is presumably sowing the seeds for Dagger's survival; it raises the question of why Cloak didn't realize that, though maybe he's faking his anger until Dagger recovers, or maybe he's blinded by rage and grief)

Spider-Man and the assembled anti-heroes (Black Cat, Cloak, Venom, and Morbius) intend to get weapons and abilities that should hurt Carnage.  The Fantastic Four are out of town, but Reed Richards has a sonic weapon that should be effective, and Firestar makes for a good replacement for the Human Torch.

Also, Deathlok tries to stop Carnage, only to fail due to being outnumbered.  His appearance in here feels completely random; I'm not sure if it was because someone (the writer? the artist? editorial?) felt that the issue needed an action scene, or he was popular at this time and was incorporated into the story as a result.

Part 8 opens with Spider-Man and company inside J. Jonah Jameson's office; between that and Carnage getting in there earlier in the story, he really should lock his windows. (not that it will do much good, but at least it will make it a little harder for people to get in)  They plan to use the Bugle's headline to lure Carnage into a trap.

As this is happening, Peter's aunt May and his father Richard are caught up in the riots; they avoid the worst of it, but May confronts Richard on the cynical advice that he gave to Peter earlier, though Richard is still dismissive of May's attitude of turning the other cheek when faced with violence.

Also, Iron Fist shows up to help out Deathlok.  Maybe they're included to show the wide-spread impact that this is having on New York, and maybe they'll play a role later, but for now, their inclusion feels like filler.

At the orphanage where Carnage grew up, the heroes' plan seems to be not as effective as they'd hoped - Carnage's symbiote mutated so that he can shrug off sonic blasts that would destroy Venom's symbiote, though he's still vulnerable to Firestar's attacks.  Rather than having two ways of dealing with Carnage, they only have one, and with the symbiote in his bloodstream, having it blasted off of him won't work as long as he has a bleeding wound.

Part 9 has a fairly familiar plot - as Spider-Man and Firestar question the morality of working with people like Venom, there's a big fight scene between Carnage's twisted family and the heroes/anti-heroes, while Mary Jane is worried about Peter's safety and annoyed that he promised to give up being Spider-Man for a week. (I can understand to some degree, as New York City has no shortage of heroes who can handle the situation, and Peter has several broken ribs at this point, but it does come across as odd for Mary Jane to still be mad at him about that when he just saved her about a day ago)

Shriek's powers, combined with Carnage's madness, have been directly responsible for the wave of violence sweeping New York, and Spider-Man suspects that it might be having a similar effect on his group. (which helps to explain any behaviour that might be out-of-character)

The team-up between Spider-Man and Venom probably lasted longer than either one expected, but it falls apart when Spider-Man and Firestar refuse to kill Carnage.  Venom decides to kill Carnage on his own, but Shriek blasts Venom with sound waves, injuring the symbiote.  The two villains team up on the defenseless Eddie Brock, keeping him alive to make him suffer more and kidnapping him.

With Carrion, the Demogoblin, and the Doppelganger leaving as well, Spider-Man and his friends are unconscious or barely conscious on the ground.  As Spider-Man struggles to get to his feet, an off-screen voice asks him if he needs a hand in what is the highlight of this issue.

Part 10 has Captain America, Spider-Man, and Firestar trying to track Carnage down, only to discover that Iron Fist and Deathlok are hacking into the Avengers' systems.  With most of the Avengers out of the city, Cap decides that they'll take all the help that they can get.  Meanwhile, inside the Statue of Liberty, Carnage and Shriek are tormenting Venom for their own amusement.

Black Cat, Cloak, and Morbius are fighting the rest of Carnage's crew, but when things take a turn for the worse for the anti-heroes, Black Cat is saved by Spawn! (actually Nightwatch, but they were not subtle when it came to his inspiration)

Morbius chases Demogoblin, Carrion, and Doppelganger to the Statue of Liberty (where he will undoubtedly be outmatched by facing five villains at once), while Black Cat and Cloak retreat and Spider-Man joins a makeshift Avengers line-up to try and restore order, ending this part of the story.

I feel like this storyline being spread out over fourteen issues hurts it in the long run.  While I'm sure there are worse storylines in that regard (the Clone Saga covers about seventy-seven issues according to the Marvel website, and that's likely not even the complete story), it takes what should be a relatively simple plot and spreads it out so thin that it repeats the same plot points several times over.