Hate Is in the Air

Maximum Carnage continues from Amazing Spider-Man #379...

The island of Manhattan has is giving into lawlessness across the city since the start of Carnage's massacre. At the offices of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson tells Ben Urich and the rest of the reporters in the bullpen to go out there and report on the truth, no matter how ugly it is. Retiring to his office, Jonah discovers Spider-Man, Venom, the Black Cat, Firestar, and Cloak waiting for him. Jameson is unhappy with his office being invaded by costumed vigilantes. However, the heroes explain that they want to use the Daily Bugle to set a trap. This angers Jameson even more since this is the second time his publication has been invaded in a number of days.[1] However, Jameson changes his tone when Cloak and Venom begin intimidating him. Watching this, Firestar begins to question the tactics that this group are using in order to stop Carnage and begins wondering where the line is. A short time later, the Daily Bugle prints an edition with a front-page story reading "Carnage Go Home!" Seeing someone reading the newspaper, prompts Carnage to kill the man in order to read the story.

Meanwhile, Aunt May and her in-laws, Richard and Mary Parker, arrive outside of Peter and Mary Jane's Soho loft.[2] As they walk up the stoop they are confronted by members of the Bedrock Gang, who claim the neighborhood as their own. Before they can harm the Parkers, Flash Thompson comes to their aid and is joined by Mark Raxton, the reformed criminal formally known as the Molten Man. The pair send the gang packing and bring the Parkers upstairs. There they are welcomed boy Liz Osborn, her son Normie, and Peter's wife Mary Jane.[3] At that moment, Carnage and his "family" arrive at the ruins of the Brooklyn orphanage where Cletus Kasady grew up. He takes Shriek, Spider-Doppelganger, Demogoblin, and Carrion on a tour of the facility. As he does so, he relives the memories of the place. Bullied by the other orphans and abused by the headmasters helped shaped Kasady into the serial killer he is today. He vows never to allow himself to become a victim again.

That's when something on the roof causes debris to come shifting down on their heads. Suspecting that they were being spied upon, he orders Shriek to blast a hole through the ceiling. That's when Spider-Man and his allies ambush Carnage's "family". Elsewhere, electrical crews try to free the cyborg known as Deathlok after he was strung up on an electronic billboard by Carnage and his gang. Unfortunately, the free-flowing electricity makes it nearly impossible to cut him loose. Salvation eventually comes when the martial artist known as Iron Fist arrives on the scene. Focusing his chi into his iron fist technique, he punches through the live electrical wires, cutting off the power. Freeing Deathlok, Iron Fist sprints away with the cyborg in his arms. Back in Brooklyn, Spider-Man and his allies force Carnage and his minions out of the orphanage and into the park next door. As they fight, the sun begins to set, triggering the release mechanism on Michael Morbius' hyperbaric chamber. While in Brooklyn, Spider-Man is snared in Carnage's tendrils but is freed when Firestar blasts Carnage in the back. This causes Carnage great pain and he lets the wall-crawler go. This proves to the heroes that Carnage's symbiote may have the same weaknesses as Venom.

That's when Venom uses the sonic blaster they stole from the Four Freedoms Plaza against Carnage.[4] With the combined force of Firestar's microwave powers and Venom's sonic cannon, it appears that they kill the Carnage symbiote, leaving behind the naked form of Cletus Kasady. That's when Morbius arrives on the scene to join the battle. The other villains are being fought off when Venom attempts to kill Cletus. However, Spider-Man refuses to let Venom murder and pulls Brock away. This allows Shriek to get close enough to slash open Kasady's face with her fingernails. To everyone's surprise, Cletus Kasady's blood begins flowing out and covering his body, turning into a brand new symbiote. With his powers restored, Cletus Kasady proclaims that Carnage never dies.

... Maximum Carnage continues in The Spectacular Spider-Man #202

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Venom, Firestar, Cloak, Black Cat, Morbius the Living Vampire, Deathlok, Iron Fist, Carnage, Shriek, Demogoblin, Spider-Doppelganger, Carrion, J. Jonah Jameson, Ben Urich, Mark Raxton, Aunt May, “Richard and Mary Parker”, Flash Thompson, Mary Jane Watson, Liz Osborn, Normie Osborn,

Continuity Notes

1. The Daily Bugle was invaded by Carnage in Web of Spider-Man #101. Cloak mentions the apparent death with his partner Dagger, which happened in that same issue. She turns up alive and well next issue.

2. This couple are not the real Richard and Mary Parker, but imposters as revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #388. The real Richard and Mary were killed decades earlier as explained in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5.

3. Peter and Mary Jane are referred to as husband and wife here. However, years later, their marriage is erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. As such they should be considered a common-law couple here.

4. Venom, Black Cat, and Spider-Man stole the sonic blaster in Amazing Spider-Man #379.