IF there was ever a book called “A Dummies Guide To Creating Dastardly Comic Book Villains”, one of the most useful tips would be to take a popular superhero and create a more powerful evil doppelganger of him.
After all, this was the “formula” used for Venom, which automatically made him an A-lister in Spider-Man’s gallery of rogues.
Originally, Venom in his symbiote form was merely a fashion statement, as a result of Spidey’s desperate need of a replacement costume during his Battleworld stint (i.e. the 1984-85 Secret Wars event). Had Peter Parker not been informed by Reed Richards that his suit was alive and can eventually consume its host, the final outcome could have turned out differently.
If you want to know what could have happened, just check out the What If (Vol. 2) #4 story (What if The Alien Costume Had Possessed Spider-Man), where Peter died and the Black Cat eventually eliminated the symbiote.
Of course, Peter eventually got rid of the symbiote, which then found a worthier “host” in Eddie Brock – as their common hatred towards Spidey gave them the locus standi to be Spidey’s numero uno tormentor for five long years (1988-1993) until Venom transitioned from villain to anti-hero status.
(Un)fortunately by that time, there was already an able replacement the “evil symbiote” stakes with the introduction of Cletus “Carnage” Kasady – who not only hated Spidey but also Venom as well.
This “enemy of my frenemy” concept has lasted even until today, and has formed the plot for almost all Spidey-Venom-Carnage showdowns. Personally, I have stayed away from the last few years’ reunions due to its predictability, but I’m still looking forward to watching Venom and Carnage battle it out on screen in the upcoming Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
This week, let’s retrace Venom and Carnage’s comic book rivalry.
Although the serial killer Cletus Kasady makes his first appearance in 1990’s Amazing Spider-Man #344, he only becomes Carnage in 1992’s Amazing Spider-Man #360, which kicked off the Carnage story arc in issues #361-363.
Although Venom doesn’t appear in issue #361, Spidey’s reaction to his first encounter with Carnage sums up how dangerous the symbiote is. During that encounter, Spidey was outclassed by Carange and was lucky to survive the encounter. This prompted him to press the panic button by seeking assistance from the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, but to no avail.
As a last resort, Spidey had no choice but to seek help from Venom to halt Carnage’s, er, carnage.
Guided by his code of protecting innocents, Venom agreed to join forces with Spidey to tackle Carnage. However their first battle (#362) only proved that Carnage is more powerful than even the combined might of Venom and Spidey.
Here’s where the theory is proven that a symbiote’s offspring is more superior than its progenitor. However, they still share the same weakness towards fire and sonic, giving Spidey hope – especially when their rematch (#363) takes place during a heavy metal concert.
Cashing in on Carnage-mania, Marvel released a 14-issue story arc that resided within the Spidey-verse focusing on Carnage’s new found family (i.e. Shriek the wife and Doppelganger, Demogoblin and Carrion, the sons).
Assuming that Cletus Kasady is just a plain old serial killer after the supposedly destruction of his symbiote, the doctors at Ravencroft Institute finds out the hard way that the symbiote is actually now part of Kasady’s bloodstream.
Taking over the Institute was merely child’s play for Carnage, as he and his newfound family intends to paint the city red... with blood. This prompts Spidey and Venom to reform their unholy alliance, together with other heroes (i.e. Cloak and Dagger, Black Cat, Iron Fist, Morbius and Deathlok). Despite having the numerical advantage, Spidey’s reluctance to kill Carnage leads to more lives being endangered and lost –which is also the precise reason why I dislike this series.
Eventually, our heroes managed to halt Carnage and family’s trail of destruction but at severe cost. For the record, there was a “Minimum Carnage” event that took place in 2013, involving Carnage, a new Venom (ala Agent Venom/Flash Thompson) and the Scarlet Spider. Set in the Microverse, this minimalistic tale had one major difference – Scarlet Spider isn’t afraid of doing what needs to be done.
Venom: Carnage Unleashed was a four-issue1995 limited series that takes the Venom Vs Carnage franchise into cyberspace.
This sci-fi meets fantasy tale revolves around the launch of a Carnage Unleashed video game by Extreme Violence Video Games. The company’s exploitation of Kasady’s sick reputation and Ravencroft’s commercial greed to use the video game’s royalties for funding purposes provides Kasady with the opportunity to breakout and continue his killing spree, both physically and virtually.
Predictably, in comes Venom to save the day and he gains a new experience by battling Carnage in cyberspace. With violence and vengeance occupying most of the plot, the only thing “fresh” here is Carnage’s tendrils popping out of computer monitors (ala Ju-On fashion) to kill unsuspecting gamers.
The four-issue Venom Vs Carnage 2004 limited series in 2004 brings a new dimension to the Venom-Carnage blood feud, via the addition of Carnage’s offspring aka Toxin.
Like all their past encounters, Venom and Carnage deviates from the usual pre-natal rituals with several trail of destructions but one major exception – Spidey is absent until the final issue. Frankly, the only memorable thing here is Clayton Crain’s mesmerising art work, which distracted me from the ultimate question – “who’s the mother?”
If you want to read a lopsided Venom Vs Carnage battle that has Venom as the sole aggressor – this is it. 1999’s Peter Parker: Spider Man #10 featured that rare moment where a “reborn” Venom dismantles Kasady in record time and even had the luxury of munching on some symbiote-remains for dessert.
Prior to this issue, Carnage’s symbiote was always deemed to be more superior than its’ progenitor (i.e. Venom) due to the fact that it gestated on Earth and was enhanced by Kasady’s inherent sadistic nature. However, the new (re)union of Brock and the symbiote came with some enhancements, while on the other side, was a recuperating and captive Kasady.
By now, you should have gotten the drift that all Venom-Carnage tales come from the same creative mould. Fortunately, after 15 years of mindless bloodshed, Absolute Carnage writer Donny Cates finally made some sense out of the Venom-Carnage rivalry by injecting some granularity into the Symbiotes’ origin, Eddie’s bloodline and paving the way for the coming of Knull (Symbiote god) to Earth (via the 2020/21 King In Black event).
This 2019 production also boasts the presence (or at least mention) of every Marvel character who have been symbiote-ised. With Carnage as the lead antagonist, Brock returns as the numero uno Venom but with excess baggage in the form of his son, Dylan.
Of all the Venom-Carnage slugfests, this is my pick as I finally found some “order in chaos”.
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