Maximum Carnage

Carnage, Shriek, Doppelganger, Demogoblin, and Carrion goes on a killing spree in New York.

Name:

Maximum Carnage

Publisher:

Marvel

Aliases:

First issue:

Spider-Man Unlimited #1 Maximum Carnage, Part 1: Begins Here

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Plot Summary

Maximum Carnage is a crossover that ran in the Spider-Man titles in '93. Spider-Man and Venom have to team up to take out Carnage and his 'family'.

The story is that Carnage, Shriek, Doppelganger, Demogoblin, and Carrion goes on a killing spree in New York, and Spider-Man and Venom has to team up to stop them assisted by Black Cat, Captain America, Cloak, Dagger, Firestar, Deathlok, Morbius, Iron Fist and Nightwatch.

While attending Harry's funeral, Peter promises MJ that he'll take a break from super-heroics for a while. Meanwhile, Carnage has just escaped from prison and has formed an alliance with the super-villainess Shriek, and together they go on a hunt for Spider-Man and Venom. During their hunt, they encounter Spider-Man's doppleganger and they take him in as their "pet". When Peter learns of Carnage's escape, he breaks his promise and dons his costume to fight this menace.

He is eventually confronted by Carnage and his team-mates and is easily knocked out. Before they could finish him off however, Cloak and Dagger appear and teleport Spidey just in time to tend to his wounds. They are then attacked by Doppleganger and Shriek before Carnage himself joins the fight and lays waste to the heroes before they could escape. Elsewhere, Venom discovers of Carnage's return and decides to return to New York and attempts to fight them on his own but he is defeated. While Spidey was searching for Carnage, he discovers Demogoblin in a park and fights him, but the villain manages to escape. When Peter returned home, he found a defeated and injured Venom asking for his help in defeating Carnage who has recruited Demogoblin and Carrion to his "family".

Spider-Man has now formed his own team consisting of himself, Venom, Cloak, Dagger and Black Cat. They attack the villains but they are again defeated. Venom then recruits Morbius into their team and they fight Carnage's team again at a night club but the fight ends with the villains' escape and Spidey's team helping the civilians. After that, they obtain a Sonic gun from Reed Richards and recruit Firestar. They lead Carnage to his old foster home and ambush him with Firestar and the Sonic Gun, giving Venom an opportunity to kill Cassady but is stopped by Spider-Man. Shriek then attacks Venom, giving Carnage the chance to recuperate and the two team clash again before Captain America appears and joins the heroes. Venom is kidnapped and tortured by Carnage while Spidey and his team-mates rendezvous at Avengers Mansion where they recruited Deathlok and Iron Fist.

Soon Nightwatch joins the team and they follow the villains to the Statue of Liberty where Venom is being held. Venom was able to escape and he joins the heroes in their final clash against the villains. Iron Fist and Dagger combine their powers through Deathlok to channel an energy that calms and weakens the villains, giving the heroes the chance to gain the upper hand and defeat their foes except for Carnage who was able to escape. Venom and Spider-Man confront Carnage at a Cemetery where they fight and Carnage is defeated in an explosion. Venom makes his escape and Carnage is placed in a stasis chamber while the rest of his "family" are taken to prison. Black Cat is fearful of Carnage's return but Peter tells her after looking at the Osborns' graves that "not all monsters return".