Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage
Writers: Tom DeFalco, J.M. DeMatteis, Terry Kavanagh, and David Michelinie
Artists: Mark Bagely, Sal Buscema, Ron Lim, Tom Lyle, and Alex Saviuk
Maximum Carnage, while not the greatest comic, successfully delivers in it's message of staying true to one's moral code...
Ranking: 3 stars
Comic book fans can be very opinionated or divided on certain stories, and SPIDER-MAN: MAXIMUM CARNAGE is definitely one that has caused a heavy rift among Spider-Man's fan base. While the story was very popular when it was first released back in 1993, in recent years fans have drawn heavy criticism towards the story, and I've seen it on many worst Spider-Man stories of all-time lists (it even made the number one spot, and that was a list of stories excluding the CLONE SAGA; surprised ONE MORE DAY wasn't number one). Of all the complaints I've seen directed towards this comic, the most common ones I've seen are that the story is too long, it's unnecessarily violent, the cast is made up of d-list characters, the plot makes zero sense, and it's too preachy. With criticisms like those I was nervous about reading this story, but then I saw this book on LINKARA'S (I highly recommend his channel on thatguywiththeglasses.com for any comic fan) "Top 15 Comics I'll never Review" video, and he gave heavy praise for this story while contradicting the negative comments others have directed towards it. Seeing Linkara's take on MAXIMUM CARNAGE made me curious, so I decided to check out the book myself. After reading it, I can safely say that while I disagree with the main criticisms that are heaped towards this comic, and I found it's theme of morality over violence to be compelling, MAXIMUM CARNAGE does have a couple of flaws as well. The story opens in the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane where the the guards are escorting patient Cletus Kasady to have an anomaly in his blood examined. Cletus Kasady is a psychopathic serial killer who was once cellmates with Eddie Brock, who had bonded with an alien symbiote to become one of Spider-Man's deadliest enemies, Venom. Eddie used the symbiote to escape custody, but unknown to him and the symbiote, Venom spawned another symbiote which bonded with Kasady, transforming him into the murderous Carnage. Having been defeated by both Spider-Man and Venom earlier and thought to have been stripped of his powers, Kasady reveals that the symbiote had mutated his blood, allowing him to become Carnage once again. Carnage then creates an army of criminally insane killers consisting of Shriek, the Spider-Man Doppelgänger, Carrion, and Demogoblin, and they have no motive other than to wreak havoc and slaughter throughout New York City. When Spider-Man learns of Carnage's escape and knows that he can't defeat him and his gang of psychopaths alone, he joins forces with Venom, along with other superhumans like Black Cat, Cloak & Dagger, Firestar, Captain America, Iron Fist, and Deathlok. But as Spider-Man faces the destruction and chaos caused by Carnage's posse, many of his allies believe that the only way to stop the bloodbath is to kill Carnage. Spider-Man has always upheld the principles of love and kindness that his Uncle Ben and Aunt May taught him, but the widespread mayhem causes him to question his own moral code. Will Spider-Man stand by what he believes in, or will he give in to what others say and eliminate the source of violence once and for all. Both routes have dire consequences, and Spidey must decide quickly before Manhattan is lost to Carnage's insanity. I found the story as a whole to be entertaining, as the dilemma that Spider-Man kept me interested, and it's theme of standing by one's moral principles to be unique for a story infamous for it's violence. However, MAXIMUM CARNAGE wasn't as great as some people claim it to be, yet I don't hate it as many others do. In my opinion I stand somewhere in the middle as I enjoyed the story, but there were some things that did bother me. My main issue with the comic is its writing at times. MAXIMUM CARNAGE was written by four different writers, including Tom DeFalco, J.M. DeMatteis, Terry Kavanagh, and David Michelinie, and each individually wrote four issues for this story (ok one wrote two as this was a 14 issue story). Having multiple writers on a single story is a pet peeve of mine, as the writing style of one writer usually contrasts with another, which can create an inconsistent tone throughout the book. While having a book with multiple writers has worked on occasion (particularly with BATMAN: KNIGHTFALL and THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN), most of the time it can be frustrating to me. But fortunately for MAXIMUM CARNAGE, the writers do collaborate well enough to make the story flow consistently and keep me entertained, but the book could've been stronger in my opinion if they stuck to one writer, or if all of them contributed something to each issue like they did with DC Comic's 52 miniseries. Another issue I had was that some of the dialogue felt corny at times. Maybe this was partially due to it being written in the 90's, but there were many one-liners that I found insufferable (cheesy one-liners can irritate me). Apart from those two issues, I have no major complaints towards the story. The story itself was very well put together in my eyes, and I feel that many fans are biased when it comes to this story. The criticisms that I see directed towards this book by other fans feel unfair in my opinion, and don't completely make sense to me. People complain that MAXIMUM CARNAGE is way too long, and that it should've been resolved in four or five issues. To be honest, I never felt that the book was dragging, and that it kept it's focus where it needed to be, providing enough time for everything to play out and be resolved. MAXIMUM CARNAGE is often criticized for being excessively violent, and while I can say that it is, that's part of the point of it. The writers wanted to show that even face of dark and over-the top bloodshed, our heroes should not have to resort to the methods of their enemies, and that good can only triumph after enduring the darkest forms of evil. I've seen many complain about the characters being d-list heroes and villians, which I honestly don't get. I take no issue the cast being made-up of secondary characters, as writers can still find ways to develop them in unique ways and still make them interesting (and nobody complained about it in the critically acclaimed 52, where the book solely focused on B-list superheroes). Another criticism I don't understand is that the plot makes no sense when it's actually pretty straight forward: Carnage and a band of psychopaths are wreaking havoc on New York, and Spider-Man and others must stop them. The last complaint is that the book is too preachy, but in my opinion, MAXIMUM CARNAGE's greatest strength is it's themes of morality versus senseless violence. Amiss the chaos Spider-Man is divided on what he should do to stop Carnage. Many of his allies believe that the only way to stop Carnage is to kill him, and have their own personal reasons for feeling it necessary to do so. But this heavily contrasts with Spider-Man's own beliefs, as he was raised to believe that violence and force would not stop conflicts, but that only compassion and love could. Because Carnage and his gang represent a massive threat to the city, Peter questions whether or not he should abandon his own morals. He knows that Carnage is likely to kill more innocents if he holds back and stays true to himself. Likewise, if he gives in and kills Carnage, he would betray what he stands for, making him no better that the evil he fights against. Such questions make this story captivating, as we know that both roads can lead to serious consequences, and we feel Peter's struggle to decide on what we should do. The reader is also given insight on Carnage and the psychopaths that make up his posse, as each one has their own psychotic beliefs. We are able to see why they make their choices and can understand their viewpoints despite knowing that they are wrong. This allows us to connect with the villains, making them more than simple psychopaths as they each have their own insane reasons for what they do, and are united by their desire to spread insanity and violence. For me, SPIDER-MAN: MAXIMUM CARNAGE is one of those stories that is weak in one area, yet strong in another. While I found the writing to be jumbled at times, and the one-liners too cheesy for my taste, the story itself was well-paced, and focused on an interesting conflict that is rarely seen in Spider-Man comics. While I had my own issues with some aspects of the comic, I strongly disagree with the ones that other fans have given, as I feel that their unfair, and blind people to the positive aspects of this story. This a comic that I feel doesn't deserve the hatred it gets, as it's themes were unique, and the writers clearly had a message that they wanted to provide to their readers. So while I have mixed feeling towards the writing and dialogue, MAXIMUM CARNAGE is definitely worth the time and money. Check it out for yourselves so that you can draw your own conclusions towards it. "A person is born with feelings of envy and hate. If he gives way to them, they will lead him to violence and crime, and any sense of loyalty and good faith will be abandoned." -Xun Zi
