Carnage, Part 3: Savage Grace!

The serial killer known as Carnage has selected J. Jonah Jameson as the next target of his murder spree. Breaking into the Daily Bugle, the lunatic confronts Jameson in his office. He explains that he has chosen Jameson as a target due to his endless crusade toward law and order. Intending to prove that these are merely empty words, Carnage tosses Jameson into his desk. Jameson scrambles for a call button, summoning Joe Robertson, giving Carnage a much-wanted audience. Meanwhile, Spider-Man has made an unholy alliance with his greatest enemy, Venom, in order to track down Carnage and put an end of his murder spree. He thinks about how he tracked down Venom and brought him back to Manhattan after putting in so much effort to convince his foe that he was dead.[1] When the wall-crawler suggests that they enlist the aid of the Avengers, Venom flat out refuses, intending to deal with Carnage on his own, much to Spider-Man's chagrin. While at the offices of the Daily Bugle, Joe Robertson has just finished telling police how Carnage absconded with J. Jonah Jameson. That's when Spider-Man and Venom arrive and promise to stop Carnage themselves. After learning that Carnage took Jameson to kill him before a larger audience, Spider-Man assures the police that Venom is needed to stop Carnage and that he takes full responsibility. Soon, the two are back on Carnage's trail. With this latest development, Joe Robertson orders that Jameson's obituary be updated in the event he doesn't survive the night.

Spider-Man and Venom soon find a crowd of people who have gathered around a woman that Carnage shoved through a wall. Looking for clues, Venom is about to use violence to coax it out of the bystander, but Spider-Man spots a poster on the wall above the victim. It's an advertisement for a heavy metal concert happening at Madison Square Garden called "Headbanger Heaven". Remembering what was said about Carnage seeking out a captive audience, the wall-crawler hopes he's that he is not wrong. Spider-Man's hunt proves right, as Carnage arrives in the middle of the performance and kills his way on stage. Carnage begins inflaming the audience, preaching his message of anarchy and murder. This speech is interrupted by the arrival of Spider-Man and Venom. Venom leaps in and pulls Jameson to safety, but is smashed through the floor to the subway platform below. When Spider-Man joins the battle, his opening kick sends Carnage falling through the hole in the floor as well. Carnage takes the opportunity to kill a number of commuters at random before fleeing down the tracks. When Venom tries to follow after him, he is stopped by a security guard. Before Venom can harm him, Spider-Man leaps in and stop him.

Reminding Venom of their task, the pair follow Carnage down the subway tunnel. They catch up with Carnage and in the ensuing battle, they knock the murderer onto the electrified third rail of the subway track. Unfortunately, the thousands of volts of electricity have no effect on Carnage, who escapes once again. Spider-Man and Venom follow Carnage back to Madison Square Garden where they discover that their foe has strung up J. Jonah Jameson. When Spider-Man asks Jonah why he didn't escape, he is ambushed by Carnage, who explains that Jameson foolishly stopped to call in the situation to the Daily Bugle, making him easy to recapture the publisher. Venom ambushes Carnage from behind, freeing Spider-Man. This also give the wall-crawler time to free Jameson. In doing so, Spider-Man spots the sound booth and leaps up into it. He then cranks up the sound and blasts the two combatants with deafening heavy metal music. This causes pain to both symbiotes. When Spider-Man offers to pull Eddie Brock to safety, he refuses, insisting that his symbiote is stronger that Carnage's. When Cletus Kasady's symbiote is seemingly destroyed he passes out from the pain. Spider-Man swings down and promises Venom he will shut off the speakers once he is certain it is safe. However, with Carnage defeated, Eddie Brock turns his strength against Spider-Man once more, willing to fight the pain in order to destroy his hated foe.

Although Venom overpowers Spider-Man, he is blasted from behind by Mister Fantastic and his sonic blaster. Fantastic and the Human Torch have arrived in the nick of time to lend assistance to Spider-Man. As it truns out this was all pre-planned by Spider-Man in order to assure that Venom was recaptured in the end. Furious at this betrayal, Brock is even more convinced that Spider-Man is anything but innocent. Soon enough, soldiers from the Vault have come to collect Venom and explanations are being made all around. As usual J. Jonah Jameson has heavy criticisms for Spider-Man, pointing out that someone like Captain America would have kept his word no matter what. Furious, Spider-Man explains that Captain America would never have had to rely on someone like Venom in the first place. He also points out that, unlike Captain America, he is just a man and he had to make the choice he made and live with them.

Meanwhile, at an airport in Germany, an elderly couple are preparing for a flight to New York City.[2] They are returning home after decades away and with their loved ones thinking them deceased. The woman in particularl is concerned how it will alter the lives of their family forever. The woman looks at an issue of Now Magazine that contains a photo taken by Peter Parker. She points out that Peter's life in particular will be the most impacted by their return.[3]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, Venom, Carnage, Joe Robertson, Human Torch, Mister Fantastic

Continuity Notes

1. Spider-Man tricked Venom into thinking that the wall-crawler was dead in Amazing Spider-Man #347. This was just after Brock escaped from Ryker's Island leaving a symbiote spawn for Cletus Kasady to take for his own in Amazing Spider-Man #345.

2. The narration states that the airport was part of what was, until recently, East Germany. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.

3. This pair appear to be Peter's parents Richard and Mary Parker. The couple were CIA agents who were killed in action decades ago, as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5. These, however, are not Richard and Mary Parker, but simulacrum's created to destroy Spider-Man as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #388.