After the incredible success and popularity of Spider-Man villain Venom, there was a quick pivot into making the black-clad symbiote an anti-hero rather than a bloodthirsty killer. That meant someone had to replace Eddie Brock as the psychopathic doppelgänger to Spider-Man, and thus, Carnage was created. Marvel, realizing that readers had a taste for the alien costumes, went full bore into giving fans ample stories featuring a whole cast of symbiote wearers, with Carnage taking center stage as the most sinister of them all. The second volume of the Carnage Epic Collection throws together a whole slew of character related stories from 1994-1997, some of my key Spider-Man-reading years. This hefty volume is a noteworthy snapshot of an era where Marvel went all-in on milking the popularity of Venom and Carnage, while still showcasing interesting artistic talent from the era. Not everything here has aged well, but Carnage fans will surely enjoy the multitude of stories featuring the psychotic villain.
There are so many different story arcs in this collection that providing a singular recap is a challenge. The issues collected include Amazing Spider-Man #403 & #410, Venom: Carnage Unleashed #1-4, Carnage: Mind Bomb #1, Sensational Spider-Man #3, Spider-Man #67, Spectacular Spider-Man #233, Carnage: It’s a Wonderful Life #1, and Venom: On Trial # 2-3, with abundant material from various other single issues and one-shots thrown in. While this collection may lack a singular story arc to follow, it does have a particular focus on the insanity that is Cletus Kasady.
With a few helpful introductions to Carnage for the uninitiated at the start of the trade, Web of Carnage then moves into the four issue Venom: Carnage Unleashed miniseries. This is the weakest arc in the book, with a by-the-numbers conflict between Venom and Carnage accompanied by rather sloppy art clearly trying to capture the energy and style of Image titles from this period to dreary results. This is followed by the Planet of Symbiotes arc that stretched across a few Spidey related titles in 1995. Since it’s a crossover, the art and writing from issue to issue is drastically inconsistent, but the concept of an alien planet full of symbiotes ready to invade earth is a fun one (and one Marvel has returned too frequently). The Venom issue in this arc is especially great, with penciler Kyle Hotz throwing out twisted, contorted visuals, each more deranged than the last. It doesn’t feel like a Spider-Man book, but it was interesting to look at, giving the title some character when compared to other issues in the series. The final Web of Spider-Man issue in the crossover also did a fine job of capturing the joyful movements of Spiderman in action with the twisted symbiote characters from previous issues.
Carnage: Mind Bomb by Warren Ellis is the best single issue in this collection, focusing on Kasady in a mental asylum. While it basically turns Carnage into the Joker for the Marvel Universe, Ellis has a sharpened sense of what makes for a twisted but engrossing character, and Kyle Hotz again provides memorable, outrageous, fitting linework.
Lastly, we get the Web of Carnage story arc. This is during the period where Ben Reilly, Peter Parker’s clone, took up the mantle of Spider-Man, believing himself to be the original. This course would quickly be reversed, but this arc does benefit from solid talent working on many of the issues. Dan Jurgens, Mark Bagley, and John Romita Jr. all do fine work as Carnage takes control of Spider-Man. It’s a perfectly enjoyable Spidey storyline from the mid-’90s that doesn’t bog itself down with too much of the title’s convoluted narrative from that era. There is a scene where Peter Parker gets out of the shower, greeted by Marry Jane wearing a Hootie and the Blowfish shirt that made me laugh out loud in how mid-’90s the book felt.
We get another Kyle Hotz tour de force with the Carnage: It’s a Wonderful life one-shot, which serves up more twisted art while exploring the twisted inner mind of Kasady. It’s an insane issue with ample over-the-top dialogue and narration, but its acute sense of impractical panache made it a joy to read.
The trade has a few sketch pages and variant covers, but it’s rather light in this area. Understandably, there weren’t as many variant covers being produced during this time, and with so much content provided in its pages, you can excuse Marvel for not adding many supplementals to this volume.
Carnage can feel like a one-note character, but this collection does provide enough narrative variety to keep readers interested in the development of psychopathic Spidey villain. While the blandness of the mid-’90s is apparent in some of the issues collected here, it also showcases just how weird Marvel was willing to let Carnage books be, stepping way outside the standard super heroics associated with Spider-Man. It’s worth reading, even if fans may wish to forget some of the editorial decisions that hampered Spiderman books from this age.
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