The Book Depository Spider-man Maximum Carnage by Sal Buscema

Author: K. G. A. Alavi

Rating: 5

Review: This is one of my faverite Spider-Man story arcs. It action packed from beginning to end and securely places Spider-Man as one of the big heroes in the Marvel universe. WHERE HE SHOULD BE!!! As good as the action is there is also a good storyline between Mary Jane Parker and Peter. How he balances his life as Spider-Man and his personal life has to take a back seat in this time of crisis. I think there is a very powerful part in the of the book where Peter is out being the hero, but MJ is home worried and scared. The other thing that is done really well, is team Carnage is pretty united, the heroes are changing between oppersite points of views on how to deal with Carnage from their two leaders Spider-Man and Venom. You see both sides of the debate. Then there is how Spider-Man is held in high regard by other heroes and people. There is a great message of not giving up and doing better, which is what Peter Parker/Spider-Man has always been about before Disney devolved his character for me. Great comic collection, action packed, great story and inspirational the way comics should be.

Author: CrimsonSapphire99

Rating: 3

Review: Known as the 'Spawn of Venom' Cletus Kasady has returned as Carnage. With the Symbiote itself fused with his own blood Kasady breaks free from the Mental Institute he was taken too with plans to begin a deadly terrorising of the city itself. Breaking out with a love interest named Shriek and teaming up with Carrion, Demogoblin and the Spiderman Doppelganger everyone favourite Psycho is determined to spray chaos wherever he goes. And as the city begins to erupt in violence, riots and looting it looks like he's succeeded. Knowing how dangerous Carnage truly is Spiderman has no choice but to swing into action against him. But with the death of former Green Goblin Harry Osborn still on his mind and with no choice but to break his promise of not being Spiderman for a while to his beloved wife this maybe one fight that will take a toll on Peter Parker both emotionally and physically. Things don't get any better when it not just Spidey going after Carnage. Venom returns, hell bent on stopping his own spawn by any means. And he's found allies who agree with him including Morbius the Living Vampire and Black Cat. Then as Captain America, Firestar, Iron Fist and Deathlok join the fight Spiderman must make a tough choice. Will he uphold his beliefs and win the day fair and square, or will he take a dramatic choice and go as far as to kill his enemies for the greater good? Maximum Carnage has been calle3d a fan-favourite for many years and is among the popular Spiderman titles. I originally owned a copy of Part 6 when I was younger and it looked like a awesome story. Mass Murdering Super Villains with no mercy, Venom leading his own band of mis-matched troops to do things his way and Spiderman caught in the middle. The entire story goes like a typical 90s comic, you get the bad guys, the heroes fight, heroes are uncertain if they can win but ultimately save the day. Its got good drama and a clear message of 'what is the right thing to do?' shown here by Spiderman debating if he should bend the rules for the greater good. The Rogue Gallery of villains are great, I don't know much about them barring Carnage but they were pretty cool, Demogoblin is one of those types who believes he's saving people from sin by murdering them, Carrion doesn't speak much but when you can cause plague with a tough you know he's trouble, Shriek however I had problems with, she wasn't a psycho on the same level as Carnage. She killed because she had a crummy start in life but rejected help and turned to murdering, a form of 'look at me' syndrome. She's got some history with Cloak and Dagger who play a role in this story which helps near the end. Spiderman-Doppelganger was my favourite, I don't know what it is but seeing a six armed, clawed, razor webbed, fangs showing demonic Spiderman is just fantastic. Sadly its played like more of a wild beast or a pet at times. Venom on the other hand is his typical self whilst being fused to Eddie Brock, doing his own justice, not really a hero but not really a villain but the last issue where he hunts down Carnage in a full blown fight between the two is awesome. Venom just goes wild and clearly is wanting to tear his own spawn to pieces. Heroes wise its good to see the likes of Cap, Firestar and Iron Fist in this, crossovers and team-ups are common in comics but its works nicely here. However this book fails in some areas, for starters the idea of Carnage and Shriek causing total Anarchy and making nearly everyone violent jerks is just silly. I'd get if people were panicking but you can stick to Carnage and Co going around killing and it would still work. Show people being afraid so when they finally grow a pair it shows the villains failed (by the way the way Carnage's team are defeated is just silly). Next I don't think we need a Sub-Plot of Mary Jane worrying over Peter or how he failed to keep a promise bout not being Spiderman. You think by now she'd accept him 100% as the Wall Crawler and plus who argues with their husband like that right when someone as insane as Carnage is on the loose? Other problems I had were such things as Peter's father (his parents are alive now BTW but that's another story) having a full blown Emo Breakdown and going on about Devils and what not, its stupid basically. Maximum Carnage is a hit and miss, but look past the flaws and you get a good story, though it didn't need to be 14 issues long I still had a good read from it since Carnage is among my favourite Comic book villains. Its not everyone's cup of tea but its still fun for what it is. Go check it out.